Family Hunger Genealogy

© Copyright Todd Neel

9/12/2024 Thursday – Day 12 of 39 of road trip

A disappointing day. The weather didn’t let me see The High One – Denali Peak.

I had made a reservation for a shuttle bus tour inside Denali National Park for this day. The Savage River Campground, where I’m staying, is 13 miles into the park on the only road in the park. On the previous day I drove to the Savage River Loop Trailhead at the 15-mile marker. This is the furthest point in the park where the public is allowed to freely drive without advanced reservations, obtained up to a year earlier if you’re lucky. Further access would only be to a few other campgrounds up this road, but then you’re supposed to park and use the buses or hike or bike if you’re going to explore. One can also take a tour or shuttle bus to the end of the road from a bus stop, which I did. The Park Service didn’t want to spoil the wilderness by allowing open access to the end of the road, closer to the famous peak.

I visited with a young man at the road closure who was spotting sheep with his cell phone mounted on his telescope. He is a former U.S. Marine currently employed with Black Gold Transport as a truck driver. I had seen those trucks in the Fairbanks area. They transport ore from the Kinross Manh Choh Mine to the Fort Knox mine and refinery near Fairbanks, AK. He said they always have cameras on the employees, so they can’t pick up and keep any gold if they spot some. He said sometimes, in the dark, if headlights are on the mudflaps they sparkle with gold flakes. (See photo below  – courtesy of the Black Gold Transport website) (Note: I must be desperate for something to write about if I have to include pictures of a truck. Must be a Guy Thing. But you gotta admit that’s a pretty impressive truck!)

The shuttle bus picked me up at the Savage River Campground and we proceeded past the public road closure at milepost 15. The bus driver was animated and told many stories of scenes and wildlife from her previous trips. Still, only goats were observed from a distance on this trip. I took a Non-Narrated tour for $8.25. I got off the bus at mile 43 as the road was closed beyond this due to a landslide. I walk across the bridge over the Tolkat River.

“Due to the Pretty Rocks Landslide at Mile 45 of the Denali Park Road, the destination for Transit and the Tundra Wilderness Tours will be Mile 43 of the Denali Park Road for the entire 2025 season. To learn more about the Pretty Rocks Landslide and the improvements being made in the Polychrome area of Denali National Park and Preserve, please click on the links provided.” (This text is from the bus company web site – see Denali National Park website to access this).

After repairs future bus rides will continue to the end past the Eielson Visitors Center (mile 66) and turning around Wonder Lake (mile 85) and also at Kantishna (mile 92).

Below is a selfie photo taken of where Denali would be seen on a good day.

Can you see it? The High one?

They say it’s there!

Due to the road closure and weather, this was a very disappointing part of the trip. I could not see the peak of Denali again, and so only saw it on day of my trip approaching the national park from Fairbanks on highway.