This morning, we stopped by Denali Visitor Center to watch the video (which isn’t that great) and view the exhibits. Afterward, we ate an early lunch at the nearby cafeteria and headed to the Murie Science Center for a ranger talk. Unfortunately, there was no ranger talk today. Instead, they showed a video about raptors (the birds, not the dinosaurs) that was interesting, but not interesting enough for us to stay 50 minutes to watch it.

A Wilderness Access Center (WAC) employee recommended the Horseshoe Lake trail to us because it is short and easy. We walked along it to its terminus near the lake, stopping briefly to admire a moose near the trail. The lake was pretty, but nothing spectacular. Since the hike was so short, we had time to drive to the Park Headquarters for a demonstration of dog sleds. The dogs were cute and friendly and seemed very excited to take part in the demonstration in which they pulled a sled around a short gravel road (very similar to the Iditarod demonstration). Afterward, we took another short hike along the Meadow View trail.

Since we failed yesterday, we headed back to 49th State Brewery. Valerie got the all-you-can-eat roasted pig (only offered on Fridays).

Tomorrow, we’re planning to head to Talkeetna, but we’re not sure what we’ll do there.

We decided to take the 11-hour shuttle bus ride through Denali National Park to Wonder Lake. We woke up early to board the 07:15 shuttle. While the shuttle was technically not a tour bus, the driver told us about the park during the drive. He also stopped the bus whenever something interesting came into view (e.g. Mt. McKinley, animals) to let passengers take photos. The park service says that only about 30% of visitors to the park get to see Mt. McKinley as it is often obscured by clouds. Luckily, we were in that 30% and got a mostly unobstructed view in the morning and only a small amount of cloud cover later in the day. During the drive, we saw a great deal of wildlife, including some caribou, lots of ground squirrels, a golden eagle, two red foxes, a mama grizzly and two cubs, and a lone grizzly bear. Wonder Lake wasn’t that wonderful (lots of mosquitos) and, in retrospect, I’d say that Eielson Visitor Center was the last worthwhile stop.

After our shuttle ride, we headed to Healy to pick up dinner. Our first choice, 49th State Brewery, was full, so we headed to Rose’s Cafe, which serves some really delicious breakfast food and sandwiches. Tonight, we’re staying in an Iceworm room, which seems much nicer and quieter than Yanert, but lacks WiFi.