Denali Adventure 2015 - Day 1

After a busy Summer of working on the peony farm followed by a week of rain, we decided to get "the hell outta Dodge!" and take the kids camping in Denali.  It's a good thing we had two vehicles, because with eight of us, we had a ton of gear!  We packed up and headed out in a light rain.

Each vehicle was packed to the brim.

Here is our motley crew: Amanda, Paul, Taylor, Aaron, Kelly, and Allison.  Amanda, Paul and Aaron, have already successfully survived a camping trip with the Russells, but this trip to Denali was a first for Taylor, Kelly and Allison.  In fact, neither Kelly nor Allison had ever been camping!  They were in for a great adventure!

We stopped at the farm to grab a cooler and make sure the place was battened down, and as we made our way up Pheasant Farm Road, we flushed this female Spruce Grouse and her young chicks!

We arrived at our campsite just south of Denali National Park, and were thrilled to see that we were camping right on the Nenana River!

After the tents were pitched, we got out the camp chairs and enjoyed just "being".  The rain had ended, and the river valley was damp with low hanging clouds.

It feels so good to disconnect - no cell service, no internet, no laptops!  I love this photo of Dave!

The next morning we headed into Denali on the green shuttle bus, and saw this caribou off to the south side of the road.

Then as we rounded a bend, we could see Denali standing massively in the background.

At Polychrome we pulled off to the side of the road to get great shots of Denali.  It was an absolutely beautiful day, and we spent a long time watching the clouds move past the peaks of Denali.