Denali in July. Caribou, bears and fireweed.

We’re back from 5 days at our favorite place on earth, Denali National Park. We camped at the Teklanika campground and as usual used the shuttle buses to access the park road where we mountain biked or hiked. Rain and drizzle the first couple of days, but then it cleared up—except for the noticeable wildfire smoke which left a definite blue haze when skies cleared . The weather in the Park has been very hot and smoky this summer with temperatures far above normal. One thing that was immediately apparent was the profusion of fireweed. In all the years we’ve been visiting Denali, we’ve never seen anything like it.

Not any really close bear photos this trip, but lots of very close caribou—in fact I got to play chicken with a big bull caribou while on my bike!

As usual, way too many pictures. Come along for the ride!

I can see clearly now...

I swear, the clearest skies we’ve had in over a month. Our temperatures are back towards normal, and it’s really nice not to have that smoke taste in the mouth day after day. The fires aren’t out by any stretch, but at least the wind direction has blown it out of Bear Valley for today.

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We got very lucky this afternoon in Anchorage.

What we’ve been absolutely dreading. Late this afternoon in the heart of Anchorage a wildfire broke out near Elmore Road and MLK drive. We just set the hottest and driest June in Alaska history, so when I saw the column of smoke building rapidly it was time to prepare to evacuate. We only have one road leading into Bear Valley and the winds were blowing the fire in our direction. It’s one of the biggest fears in Anchorage, a fire that gets onto the Hillside.

The Anchorage Fire Dept. hit the fire hard and fast, and very quickly there were retardant drops by Forest Service aircraft and helicopters. They did an incredible job and had the fire 30% contained within 3 hours. Hats off to all those fighting it.

The view from Bear Valley after it had just started. It’s several miles away, but there’s nothing but trees between it and Bear Valley.

Retardant drop on the leading edge of the fire.