Sep 4-5 - Autumn in Alaska - fall colors

"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!  For perspective, that is a quarter on the mushroom at the bottom of the picture.  

We walked around the property the other day, just absorbing the beauty of fall.

 

This is where the raft companies launch their rubber rafts for their float trip adventures on the Nenana.

We hopped on the Savage River Shuttle, and were treated to these beautiful fall colors.  The yellow in the foreground is willow and birch; the red and orange in the background is dwarf birch.  

What a great job I have! This is the view from the cockpit of my bus...everyday for the past 2 1/2 weeks. Well, some days it rained, but still...a pretty decent office window.

This is fireweed turning to cotton.  Fireweed is kinda like a dandelion, where the top turns white and floats away in the wind.  The expression here in Alaska is, "When fireweed turns to cotton, summer is soon forgotten."  For Alaskans, its time to check the engine block heater, make sure the antifreeze is good to -40 degrees, and the studded snow tires are ready to put on the truck.  

Other colors we saw during the summer were some awesome rainbows. This one was from the front window of my bus, looking across the street to the Grizzly Bear Lodge. 

From the side window of my bus crossing the railroad tracks at Horseshoe Lake Trailhead (hint of a double rainbow)...  

and coming down the hill from from the railroad tracks in the park.  

Going down the Parks Highway towards the railroad tracks.

Can't remember where this one was.  

And one of the highlights of the summer was seeing the colors of the Aurora Borealis.  We were awakened by some whooping and hollering outside our dorm, and had heard the Northern Lights might be out.  It was just after 10 and we were both asleep.  But we threw on our clothes and saw some incredible colors float across the sky.

Amazing as it was miraculous.  We've been out several time since then, but the Northern Lights have not been back out to play.  There are several apps that show when the Lights will be out, and many times it's during the day.  Of course, no chance then!  But what a thrill to just walk outside and see this magical display.  

The season is now over.  We got here May 23rd, and witnessed the explosion of wildflowers.  For several weeks, the sun never set. (Well it did, but it was still so light outside, we slept with our eye masks on.  Looking forward to using those again for the all night - and all day - flight home.  FAI->SEA->ATL via Alaska Airlines.  Delta wouldn't allow us to change flights without $1500 in charges. But I digress...)  During the season, the only road into Denali is closed to traffic at Mile 15 - Savage River.  To get beyond there, visitors must be on a green transit bus or brown tour bus to get to Teklanika (Mile 30) or East Fork (Mile 43).  But at the end of the season, NPS opens up the road to private vehicles driving to Teklanika.  So we borrowed a car and saw more colors.  Although muted, the colors have transformed from red and orange to purple.  But the yellow/gold of the aspen, birch, and willow are still bright, even on the dull, overcast day we had to drive out to Teklanika.  

 

I know this blog has been longer than usual, but Autumn in Alaska is like that.  And just as exciting, we get 2 autumns: one here in Alaska and one when we get home!  Yet as Ranger Emma said, "Things in Denali are fleeting."  As Susan and I were walking around the property exploring the fall colors here, we found this interesting woodwork.  

I've got one more blog to come - trains and moose.  In the meantime, thanks for hanging in there with me on my fall colors blog.  Wishing you the best...