Seeing Denali--at Last: September 14, 2017

After checking out of the Dome Home in Healy, we quickly drove to Denali Air. They were able to fit us in to the first flight of the day. The day was mostly clear but the the ride was oh so turbulent. I was sitting on the right side of the plane, but the pilot seemed to favor the left side (Dan's side). He dipped his wing to give Dan the postcard view of Denali, but did not offer the same view on my side. I finally took a photo of Denali through the windshield to make sure that I had one.

The landscape from the air was amazing, amazing. I kept trying to take photos but turbulence was so very bad.

We saw rivers, glaciers, mountains that I cannot name while I struggled to keep my breakfast down. The pilot turned the plane back toward the airport and I couldn't hold it any longer. I grabbed the air sickness bag and lost some of my breakfast. It was good to be back on the ground. Dan was completely unfazed by the turbulence. Despite the rough ride, it was worth it.

Back on the ground we returned to Denali for one last trip on the 15-miles of road we were allowed. We once again saw the lone female moose at the same crossing point. It looks like she's adjusted to the audience just fine.

Denali is like nowhere else in the world!

Our favorite restaurant near Healy is the 49th State Brewing Company. It was one of the few restaurants still open, and it was very good. One of their beers is called "The Great One." It is.

On the grounds of the restaurant they have a copy of the "Into the Wild" bus. This one was used for the movie.

"Into The Wild" movie bus

We had a long drive today from Denali through Fairbanks to Tok. Until now we've avoided driving when it is getting dark so we have a better chance of seeing animals on the road. Just before reaching Fairbanks, we saw a female moose roadside so we stopped to watch. She looked like she was going to disappear back into the trees, but instead she brought out her two young ones and they all ran across the road in front of us to get to tastier greenery.

We kept passing hunters parked roadside waiting for unsuspecting animals to emerge. It was completely dark when we arrived at Caribou Cabins in Tok.