Day 35: Monster Truckin' Around Denali National Park

Amazing Views, Cute Animals, Fording Rivers, and Bob & Lisa Finally Take a Hike

Monster Truck from Denali Sightseeing Safaris

Most people who visit Denali National Park take the school bus tour on the restricted park road that takes all day and goes into the park, drops you at the viewing station to try to get a glimpse of Denali, and then takes you back the very same road.

NOT US!

Lisa is only a few inches taller than the monster truck tires

We took our tour of Denali National Park with Denali Sightseeing Safaris.  They take you into the dirt-path, back-woods, portion of the park in an open-air Monster Truck that provides great views of the park and the animals (but not of the mountain today).  Sure we got a bit wet when it began to drizzle (happily no more rain than that), and we got a bit cold with the wind whipping in our faces (but they provided blankets), but we had a total blast on our 6 person tour.

And, that truck took us to places that the tour buses couldn't even dream of going.  Like right through the river.  (Fun fact:  The bridge over the river came down in the 1964 earthquake, and the riverbed itself was then classified as a road, so our truck was permitted to drive through it.)

What is it like to drive through a river?  Glad you asked.

This video is a view from above in the truck:




And this video gives you the ground-level view of the wheels.



The ride itself was a bit rough, but the seats in the truck had huge springs (like the ones on Bob's Hokie Chair), which absorbed a bunch of the bounces, but also occasionally sent me up in the air. Like I said, great fun!

This video provides some highlights of the trip-- note the shaky camera (due to that bouncy truck).



Our guide (the bearded guy mugging for the camera in the video), grew up on a farm and had lots of experience driving heavy equipment.  He told us that his previous tour guide experience was as a guide for extreme mountain climbing, and that he had retired from that for the much safer profession of driving monster trucks through fast running rivers.  We were happy to be in good hands.

Animals

While the trip did not yield lots of animal views, we did have a few notable ones. The guide claimed to have located a big bear off the in distance, but we never did see it.  We did see this moose:

Moose in Denali National Park

And this beaver.  Here he is in a still, and hard at work in the following video.

Busy Beaver hauling a leafy branch in Denali National Park

We also spotted a herd of caribou which appeared to follow us (from a great distance) as we moved around the park.  Here they are:

The Hike

While the day was largely overcast and spitting a bit of drizzle, the sun did come out for a bit and our guide suggested that we hike to the top of a large hill to get a great view of the area.

It was only a 20 minute hike each way, or so, and the trail was pretty easy though it was straight uphill.  But, it was definitely a Goldfarb type of trail, as it came with really yummy built-in snacks everywhere.

Wild Blueberries in Denali National Park (a yummy treat on a short hike)

The views were as spectacular as advertised.  Here are just a few pictures (we had a hard time narrowing it down.)

Fall Colors in Denali National Park

Bob & Lisa in Denali National Park

Mountains, River, and Crevasse in Denali National Park

View from the Hilltop in Denali National Park (with a bit of help from Photoshop)

A Bit of Home

On our way into and out of the National Park, we passed through the town of Colorado, Alaska.  This little, mostly abandoned town, is home to an active gold mine, where we are told they are mostly poking around and not finding anything that can be cost-effectively mined.  But, it was nice to see a little piece of home on our trip.

Colorado, Alaska (yes, really)

Another Good Dinner

After a long day of trucking, we decided to head back over to 229 Parks for dinner again tonight.  As we ate our way through another delicious meal, we listened to all of the local conversation and found out that the chef had just competed in (but not won) the latest season of Top Chef that will air beginning in October.

It was a great way to end our day and our time in and around Denali National Park.  Tomorrow we head off for Fairbanks.

--Lisa

Bob's Blog Contribution:  About the Monster Truck

Lisa in the Monster Truck

The “monster truck” consisted of a deuce and a half (2 1/2 ton) army truck frame, with a Chevy Silverado pick-up truck body on top, powered by a Chevy 454 cubic inch V-8 engine.  It used two transmissions, a three speed and a five speed, and was capable of driving all four wheels.  The tires were tractor tires, about five feet in diameter.  Top speed was likely less than fifty miles per hour, but more importantly it could ford about three feet of water since the ground clearance was close to three feet.  The truck was limited only by the velocity of the stream and how much the water could push the three foot closed wheels during a crossing.  The key to crossing was to put both front wheels into the water simultaneously to avoid twisting the frame.  

We loved it!

--Bob