TripTracker.net - Alaska and the Pacific Northwest 2010, Denali

New York, United States Almost ready ...A stop in Indiana Bismarck, ND in 2 days Calgary, Alberta Banff National Park of Canada Jasper, Alberta Dawson Creek, British Columbia Liard River Hot Springs Park, Canada Whitehorse, Yukon Territory Vehicles Seen on the Alaska Highway Fairbanks, Alaska Denali National Park Driving through Denali Denali Girdwood, United States, Alaska Anchorage, United States, Alaska Portage and Seward Girdwood, United States, Alaska Tok, Alaska Haines, Alaska Juneau, Alaska Sitka, Alaska Ketchikan, Alaska Prince Rupert, British Columbia Vancouver Island Back in the Lower 48!Olympic National Park Seattle, Washington Mount Ranier National Park Mount St. Helens Portland, Oregon Oregon Coast Ashland, Oregon Oregon Caves National Monument, United States, Oregon Mitch and Brenda's wedding Crater Lake, United States, Oregon Bruneau Dunes State Park, Idaho Idaho Yellowstone Badlands National Park, South Dakota Great Wolf Lodge One last stop We're home!

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Alaska and the Pacific...

Denali

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Jul 31 2010, 12:00 PM

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Location

Denali National Park and Preserve, United States, Alaska

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On Saturday we hung out at the campground and hiked along the Teklanika River. At Denali, they do not have established hiking trails in a further effort to keep the park wild, so you are kind of on your own when you are hiking. We got a bit nervous when we came across fresh grizzly bear scat and moose tracks, but we did not encounter these animals. We're a lot more comfortable seeing them from inside a vehicle. We were all a bit relieved when we got back to the park road and caught a ride back to our campground on a passing shuttle bus. We know all the rules about what you're supposed to do when you come upon these animals in the wild because we have attended a lot of ranger-led educational programs, but being alone in the wilderness with 4 kids is a different story.

On Sunday, we packed up and drove out of Denali. We stopped at the Visitor Center so that Julia and Clint could turn in their Junior Ranger activity books and get sworn in as Junior Rangers. All the kids have done the junior ranger program at numerous other parks, but Jake and Nick decided they were too cool to do it this time. We left the Visitor Center a little after noon to head further south towards Anchorage. We later found out that at 3:15, just about 3 hours after we left, a cargo plane with 3 people on board crashed in the park very close to the Visitor Center. No one in the park was hurt, but it caused a small fire and killed the people on board.

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08/01/2010
02:56 PM

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	44. We're home! Sep 3 2010, 07:30 PMNew York, United States, New York We made it home just in time to watch the world premeire of Camp Rock 2 on the Disney Channel and beat Hurricane Earl. We were gone for 46 and a half days and drove 11,763 miles. It was an amazing trip, but it's also great to be home.

	43. One last stop Sep 2 2010, 08:13 PMElkhart, United States, Indiana One last overnight stop in Elkhart, Indiana. It's Mindy's hometown. More importantly, it's a town on I-80 with lots of motels.

	42. Great Wolf Lodge Sep 2 2010, 12:23 AMWisconsin Dells, United States, Wisconsin After another long day of driving, we have stopped for the night at one of the Great Wolf Lodge chain's hotels with an indoor water park. This one is in Wisconsin Dells, which seems to be an area full of indoor water parks. We're going to spend some time playing here before moving on...

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