DENALI NATIONAL PARK -- We pulled into the parking lot of the visitors' center just as a hint of pink began peeking over the mountaintops. At 6:45 a.m. on that dark and frosty mid-September morning, our strategy was to get into the park early enough to be ahead of traffic from other winners of the annual Denali National Park road lottery. We expected animals to be on the move early and didn't want to miss any opportunity to observe wildlife.
We hustled toward the brightly lit windows of the log center and joined a few other people at a long counter manned by four cheerful green-uniformed rangers who were almost too perky for this early in the morning. The man ahead of us, voice rising with excitement, told the rangers that he'd tried for 27 years to be drawn for the road lottery permit before finally succeeding this time.
Minutes later, we walked out with a permit slip for the dashboard and a $10 lifetime senior national park pass in hand. Next stop was the coffee shop across the sidewalk where a smiling barista encouraged us to get mochas loaded with real milk, caramel flavoring, whipped cream and chocolate syrup for this special morning. He chatted as he worked, explaining how eager he was to get home to the Dominican Republic after his summer stint with the park service ended in a few weeks. We added donuts to our coffee, settled into the car, and followed the signs out of the parking lot as the sun rose on what promised to be a splendid clear day.
The six hour drive north from Eagle River the afternoon before was made in brilliant fall sunshine with a spectacular Mount McKinley beckoning ahead. A stroll along the quaint main street of Talkeetna, ice cream cones in hand, made a delightful break in the drive.
Quickly, a Dall sheep
We checked into our lodge in what's known as Denali Canyon, a bustling, mile-long strip of accommodations, shops, restaurants and a gas station near the park entrance at Mile 238 on the Parks Highway. Aware that services wouldn't be available inside the park the next day, we filled up with gas, had a big dinner, stocked the car with water, and made sure the peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and snacks were packed.
We'd been right to start out early that morning. Within a half hour of leaving the parking lot, we pulled to the side of the road next to another car whose occupants were standing outside gazing at a large white animal on a nearby hillside. The presence of a Dall sheep with curled horns here was puzzling, and its behavior was even more so since it stared stoically back at us, unusual behavior according to my hunter husband.
Farther along, we stopped to watch the first of four grizzlies we'd see that day. The huge, lumbering, cinnamon-colored bear meandered along, nose to the ground, intent on whatever it was eating or seeking, oblivious to human activity. Awed at being close enough to see how the wind ruffled the blond fur across its shoulders, we could hear its feet crunching through the frost-covered ground cover.
Park rangers monitored spectators at other wildlife sightings during the day, encouraging us not to disturb wildlife in any way. Small groups of people moved slowly, closing car doors as silently as possible, speaking in hushed, reverent whispers, cameras in almost every hand. We were reluctant to leave each sighting, but since we had only this one day to drive the 85 miles to the end of the road at Wonder Lake and return, we moved along.
We'd been advised that this treacherous, narrow, winding ribbon of a gravel road would be dangerous and challenging. And it was -- tight hairpin turns very high up, steep cliffs, no guardrails, falling rocks, lanes so narrow that we held our breath when meeting other cars. I even got a bit carsick.
We pulled off several times. Once to watch six half brown, half white ptarmigans with fluffy, white, feathery socks prancing along the shoulder of the road. We stood outside while thousands of migrating sandhill cranes swirled above us, their unique trilling cries a raucous chorus we could hear even inside the car with the windows closed. Immense flocks of the huge birds circled and swarmed close above the road, while thousands more milled over the surrounding high tundra wetlands.
Bear cubs and caribou
Later a red fox, white-tipped tail flashing, scooted across the road ahead of us. An odd brown spot way up in the road ahead turned out to be a bull moose with a broad rack. It stood crosswise in the road, staring at us and making it very clear who was king of the road. Mesmerized by the close encounter, we waited until he went on.
By mid-afternoon, we'd turned around at Wonder Lake and were heading back against the steady stream of those who had started later than we did. All traffic yielded to those driving out per park rules, and we were glad to have the right-of-way as we squeezed by other vehicles on the cramped road. By now, the many cars parked bumper to bumper and nose to nose along one side of the road, per regulations, alerted us to the presence of wildlife. Knots of quiet spectators stood outside their cars, cameras pointing, awestruck by romping bear cubs and a distant herd of caribou.
Unbelievably, as we neared the end of the trip, that same Dall sheep was still on the hillside. We were lucky enough to see it finally scamper up and over the crest of the hill.
What a day: Wild animals in their natural habitat, stunning scenery so vast and grand that even the best camera couldn't fully capture the beauty, mile after mile after mile of amazing vistas, air of a clarity seldom experienced, pristine, jagged, white mountains nestled against each other, all set in a stillness and peace unique to the wilderness.
And over it all, North America's tallest peak, Denali, stood sentinel in all its glory, highlighted by autumn sunshine.
Yes, we'll apply for the lottery again, every year -- and you can too, until the end of May.
Applying for a Denali lottery permit
The annual Denali road lottery is a four-day event during the second weekend following Labor Day after shuttle buses (the only vehicles allowed inside the park) finish their trips for the season. It's the only time private vehicles can drive all the way into the 6 million acre park. Applications are accepted through May 31. In a typical year, more than 9,000 applications are received, with 1,600 permits awarded (400 for each of the four days), and approximately 1,400 vehicles take advantage of this unique Alaska experience.
This year, the four days are Sept. 17, 18, 20, and 21. Military Appreciation Day for service members and their families stationed in Alaska will be Sept. 19. Road lottery applications can be made online at www.recreation.gov or by phone at 877-444-6777. Military Appreciation Day permits will be distributed by military personnel. Fees for the permit and park entrance will be waived for active military. For others, the nonrefundable road lottery entry fee is $10. Winners will be charged $25 in June when entrants are notified about their status. Those selected will receive an email confirming the day of their permit. By June 15, the names of individuals drawn for permits will be posted on the park website at www.nps.gov/dena/planyourvisit/road-lottery.htm.
Mary Wasche is a freelance writer from Eagle River.