Denali National Park

Denali State Park!!

/ Ed Armstrong
I love to look at Denali!

I left Denali National Park this morning and headed south to the adjacent Denali State Park. The drive was beautiful, and the State Park provides some great views of Mount Denali. Denali is the highest peak in north America and is always covered with snow. The weather was beautiful with clear skies, minimal clouds, and no smoke from the nearby forest fires. This provided a spectacular view of beautiful Denali. All along the drive, cars pull over everywhere and people take photos of this truly beautiful mountain.

This view of Denali from the southern viewpoint in Denali State Park if a great view of this spectacular mountain.

The water, trees, and mountains of Alaska are gorgeous!

This is the view of Denali from the northern viewpoint in Denali State Park. Denali is rising up behind the smaller peaks in front of it.

It is a cause of celebration to see such amazing scenery!!

Denali is Simply Beautiful!!

/ Ed Armstrong
I had the opportunity to go on a hike near the campground and the entrance to Denali National Park. The area is spectacularly beautiful! From the green trees, to the water, to the mountains, to the sky, Denali is truly amazing!

Looking closely at the glacier runoff, it is filled with silt. Fish cannot live in it because of all the silt in the water.

I love the colors of Alaska. I do not understand why I waited so long to visit such a beautiful location?

This fresh water stream was beautiful and very clear

Here the clear fresh water stream is flowing into the glacier runoff river. The cloudiness is the silt from the glacier.

The trees are a bit different and I was surprised to note that the pine cones were quite red in color.

Grizzly Bear!!

/ Ed Armstrong
This is my first grizzly bear sighting in Denali National Park. He is a bit small despite using my 300 mm telephoto lens. There is a balance, you want to be close enough to take a reasonable photo, but far enough away so that he does not attack you. There were no fences between this bear and me!

I liked the reflection of the water flowing down from the melting snow and glaciers.

I went on a hike today and this sign was at the beginning of the trail. Reading this certainly causes you to pause and reflect on the balance of seeing beautiful scenery and wildlife with the risk of being attacked by a bear. I was by myself, but certainly had my bear spray immediately available!

This fellow was fun to watch as he zoomed around the ground.

I loved the bright color of flowers!

I loved the color of these blue bells!

These colors were so vibrant!

I liked watching the light break through the clouds to isolate one section of the mountain range.

The simplicity and richness of the flowers in Denali is beautiful!

This bird was splashing around in the water and did not mind me walking up to him to take his photo.

It looked ominous as the clouds started building up over the mountain range.

This caribou found relief simply standing on the patch of snow to cool down a bit.

Mount Denali!!

/ Ed Armstrong
Mount Denali is covered by clouds 70% of the time. Our tour today was especially fortunate because it was a sunny day and Mount Denali was not obscured by clouds! Our group is now part of the “30% club!”

We saw this moose on our tour too!

The mountains in Denali are beautiful!

It was a “hot day” by Denali standards with a high in the mid-60s. This male caribou found a patch of snow to lie down and cool off.

This neighbor was looking for his own patch of snow so he could cool off too.

Back near the visitor center, this mamma moose and her calf were enjoying an afternoon meal.

Denali National Park!!

/ Ed Armstrong
For as long as I can remember, I have wanted to visit Denali National Park! It is spectacular!

Since I started driving through Canada and Alaska, I have been trying to catch a photo of a moose. This special lady was enjoying breakfast near my campsite and decided to come out of the shadows and eat some leaves in the sunshine. Finally, I found a moose I could photograph!!

After a few minutes, she moved so her whole body was in the sunshine.

She was having a great time eating breakfast, but right after this photo was taken, she ran back into the forest.

I later went on a hike and was captivated by the flowers along the trail.

These dainty purple flowers were pretty!

I loved the symmetry with these white flowers. Everything is so green in Alaska.

I love all the rich colors in the flowers!

Later on the hike I crossed a walking bridge over a beautiful stream.

Water a lush greenery is a beautiful theme in Alaska!!