Shenefield Denali Alaska 2024

"Things in Denali are fleeting."  Susan and I took the East Fork shuttle to view the spectacular fall colors (success!) and see some wildlife (partial success).  When Ranger Emma got on our bus at Savage River, this quote by her really stuck with us.  This summer is winding down (fleeting) and the yellows of the aspen trees and red and orange of the dwarf birch will soon be replaced (fleeting) with brown branches.  But when I think about the Denali upthrust 60 million years ago, and over 400-thousand people coming to see that magnificent mountain each year, is it fleeting?  Today, I'll share some of the colors we're experiencing here in Alaska. This rock feature is called Musher's Monument. With a little imagination, you can see the musher standing on the back of the sled with his dogs pulling in front. The Nenana River flows past the Denali Park Village property.  Across the river is Denali National Park. Everything in Alaska is bigger.  These mushrooms are huge!

First, some context.  After watching the presidential debate Tuesday night, neither Susan nor I could get the gravity of this 9/11 date off our minds.  We have been privileged by the freedoms to explore...not just Denali...but all 42 of the national parks we've visited.  (21 remaining; no, we won't make them all.)  The nearly 3,000 innocent people who died on 9/11 pass for each one of us.  We are grateful yet saddened that they stood in the breech for us.   While time marches on, our days in this magnificent (and huge!) Denali National Park and Preserve are numbered.  On Monday Sept 16th, we catch a shuttle to Fairbanks and fly home (all night and all day!) on Sept 17th...and look forward to catching up with family and friends when we get home.  It'll be nice ( really nice ) to sleep in a comfortable bed again.  😊  So our last day off in Denali was the 43 mile bus ride back out to the East Fork of the Toklat River.   After nearly 2 weeks of on and off rain and cloudy skie

This weekend, Susan and I went to the Alaska State Fair in Palmer, about 3 hours south of Denali.  On the drive down, we continued to seek Denali, but it was not to be.  Although we are members of the 30% Club (only 30% of the people who come to Alaska see Denali), "the high one" continued to be shrouded in clouds.  Another time...   We borrowed a friend's car and stayed at a B&B.  A wonderfully comfortable mattress and a REALLY good night's sleep, followed by lemon ricotta pancakes in the morning.  Delicious all the way around. The Alaska State Fair is Thursday thru Monday, so we had only one day to take in all the sights, smells, and sounds.  We found some hilarious signs along the way (at the end of this blog), but started with a Lumberjack Show just off the midway. Although felling trees has changed over the last 150 years (from crosscut sawing to Stihl chain saws), this competition covered the full range of techniques used throughout the years.  Chopping has