We stayed at the Princess McKinley last night and woke up mega early to be at the Talkeetna airport by 6:30 am for the package deal we had reserved through Talkeetna Aero Services – $375 per person (but we had a buy one get one free from the Tour Saver) which included the flight up to Healy from Talkeetna, flight back to Talkeetna from Healy, bus tour 60 miles into Denali National Park, van transportation to and from the Healy airstrip to the park, and lunch and snacks. Here’s the map from Talkeetna Aero Services’ website of this trip:
The plane was what Walter calls a puddle jumper. Including the pilot it holds 10 people. It was a Piper Navajo Chieftain. The pilot was a lady named Erica and her co-pilot was Trent. Here are Walter and I with them outside the plane, and Walter and I in the plane:
Walter and I sat in the next two front seats, and the six people behind us were a family – a mom and dad; their three boys; and the dad’s mother, Doris, who was visiting from Bogota, Colombia. They were so nice – they gave us a bag full of souvenirs as a wedding present! Here they are:
The flight up to Healy was neat, but didn’t compare to the flight back to Talkeetna. We flew over mountains and rivers and Erica and Trent pointed everything out to us. When we got to Healy there were some state workers mowing the airstrip so we had to circle around. Then we got on a van to go to the park.Talkeetna Aero Services packed a huge lunch/snack for us:a big turkey and cheese sandwich, a bottle of grape juice, a bottle of water, a pack of chocolate chip cookies, a granola bar, peanut butter crackers, Fritos, and fruit.
The bus tour driver was Mark Anderson. For some reason I couldn’t get the Neo character from the Matrix movies out of my head, not because he looked like him, but because of the agent saying, “Mr. Anderson…” Mark was great. He had a great sense of humor and was really nice.
The first fifteen miles of the road into the park are paved and accessible to private vehicles. After that it is by special permit only, or on these tour buses. The vast majority of the park is open access, except for some spots that are known to be areas where the animals frequently hang out. They told us that if you make noise bears will likely stay away, and they were selling these jingle bell type things to wear. They also said that if a bear sees you not to run, because it will take that as a challenge/prey type of thing and chase you. On the other hand, moose are very aggressive, especially the cows with calves, and will stomp you to death, but it’s OK to run from them. Walter is quite aggravated by the fact that people are allowed to go anywhere in the wilderness, but you’re not allowed to carry firearms to defend yourself.
On the bus trip we saw a moose, some bears, and some caribou. The scenery is breathtaking – you are driving in a mountain range. The driver stopped when we saw the animals so we could take pictures and such. My cheapie 5 mp digicam has no zoom, so we didn’t get many good photos, but the camcorder has a great zoom and we got some good video. At some point I’ll edit that into small enough blocks to post. We also saw from a distance some Dall sheep up on the mountain, and a wolf walking up the road before going off into the brush. Here are Walter and I in front of the mountains:
We stopped every hour and a half or so for port a potties, and at one place they had antlers that they’d found laying around from when they shed. Here’s Walter with moose antlers:
And with caribou antlers:
When we got to the point where we’d reached the end of the tour but had to turn around and go back Walter and I were both tired and napped some. The bus was bumpy of course so I wasn’t able to sleep. Somehow Walter did though!
Next post: scenic flight around Mt McKinley back to Talkeetna
Carolyn and Walter's Alaska Wedding 