Mama & baby

The mother moose have moved into the campground and are having their babies, even tho we have seen this for 3 years running it is so exciting to see them back again. We knew this on Saturday night when we got several reports from guest seeing a mother & twins and a mother with a single calf. We also got several reports that there was a grizzle bear chasing them all through the campground. We had to call National Park service and the ranger and Dennis did the best they could trying to catch up to the bear. As luck would have it the bear never caught the calves and finally moved on. This went on from around 7:30 p.m. to midnight. The NPS rangers said if there had been a kill site then they would close down the campground and everyone would have to leave. Several guest got pictures of the bear as he did what they call a bluff charge at them. The NPS ranger also said they think this was a juvenile bear as it was not really skilled at catching the calves. Also the mother moose seem to know how to keep away from him. ALLS WELL THAT END WELL

Moose who wanted to know

We had twin yearlings on our lot this morning and one seem to want to know what everything was. She was checking out our screen in area and our wood pile and then came right up next to the Motor Home to check and see what Dennis walking sticks were. They then moved on as people were moving around and they did not like that. We are pretty sure these are yearling as the Mother moose come into the campground area and chase off their yearlings so they can have their new babies.

Strange camping

We see all kinds of camping units but had not ever seen one like this.

Spring in Denali

Spring has come to Denali. The kids are out playing and the flowers are blooming, spring will not be here long but the weather has been great and we are hoping that it stays that way all summer.

Cold in Alaska

If you do not think it is cold up here in the morning, you can see from Socks our cat that it can get cold. She is on our bed hiding in the blankets.

Gator

Instead of a golf cart this year they gave us a John Deere Gator. The bad thing is that there is no top, so Dennis being who he is went to the bus barn to see if there was anything we could use. They were throwing out a couple of old golf carts so they said we could have the top off one of them. Dennis brought it back to our site and we put on to the Gator. Problem solved, now we have a top so when it rains we can stay dry.

Water

On May 21st we had another day off and we drove out to Savage River as the camp host there had some wood for us that had come from trees falling down. It was not long after we got back that the water got turned on and that made for a very good day. Now we can shower and wash dishes with out worrying if we are using to much of our water that we had in our tanks. As you can see this allows Dennis to do some dust control. It has been warm and dry here since we arrived. We got alittle rain this morning but not much. We have started slow this year in the campground only having about 20 to 25 guest. We are use to have 50 to 60 guest. This coming weekend is Memorial weekend and our boss says that this weekend will tell how they will think the rest of the year will go. They are saying that the reservations are down by 70%, but only time will tell if we are going to get busy later or not. They have cut back employees in all departments because of their predictions.

Stampede trail

On May 20th we had a day off so we drove out the Stampede trail so Dennis could look for diamond willow trees. They make great walking stick and he likes doing that. First you have to strip the bark off the stick and let it sit for several days so it can dry. FYI the Stampede trail is where the young man by the name of Christopher Johnson McCandless walk into the wilderness and camped out in a old bus that had been left there by workers. Four months after he walked into the wilderness moose hunters found his decomposed body. There was a book wrote about him called "Into the Wild". We can not go back as far as he did but we drive back as far as we can. He hiked back farther into the wilderness and crossed the Tek river.

More wild life

It is Thursday May 14th and we had the day off. No meetings, no training so we took another ride out to mile post 30. We seen a moose and her male yearling calf, we seen grizzles bears out on one of the river bed, and we seen two different lynx. They are very hard to get good pictures of and they are hard to see as they like to keep to the brush. The one sat behind a spruce and watch us for around 10 minutes before finally moving off into the distant. If there is anything that is the best in Alaska it is the wild life. To be able to see them and be this close to them is just the best and makes our traveling here and working here all worth while. It is my wish that everyone could have the chance to see Alaska and all her beauty.

Arrived in Denali

We traveled into the North Pole on Thursday and got to see our first site of the Alaskan mountains and our first moose. We arrived in Denali on Saturday May 9th and got started setting up for the summer. We spend Sunday doing paperwork, Monday we did orientation with Aramark and on Tuesday we had orientation with the National Park service. We also took part of today and put new tags on all the post in the campground. Tomorrow we do golf cart training. Friday the 15th the campground opens and our season will begin. On Sunday morning the 10th we drove out to the 30 mile marker and on the way we seen a male moose, a grizzle bear, and a porupine.

Wood Bison

Between Toad River & the US border we seen several of these bisons. This group had two babies with them.

USA Crossing

We crossed the US border this morning at 11 a.m. Alaskan time. We finally have the internet and cell phone service for the first time in two days and it is great to be back in the real world. Of course it started to snow and is cold here but we only have one more days travel and we will be in Fairbanks area for a couple of days. We will probly travel into Denali on Sunday the 10th and get set up for the summer. It will be nice not to have to pack down and move everyday. Watch for more pictures and tells of our adventures this summer

Haines Junction

On Tuesday the 5th we stayed at Haines Junction and the moutain view was beatiful. Tomorrow we will cross back into the USA and we will be glad to be back.

Toad River

We stayed at Toad River British Columbia on Monday the 4th, it was cold and the lake was still frozen. We seen a moose, caribous and a fox today.

Dawson Creek

We arrived in Dawson Creek on Saturday the 2nd and we will stay here till Monday the 4th, then on to Toad River. Dawson Creek where the mile post is and is the start of the Alaskan Highway. We met up with our friends from Florida yesterday as they pulled in in the afternoon. No more snow so far and am praying it stayed that way

Crossed into Canada

We crossed into Canada this morning and was one more time searched. They must think we look like bad people. We are in Edmonton, Alberta for the night and it is so much differents in the weather. It must be 60 degress here as you can see Dennis is washing the windshield with no coat on.