SEEING MOUNT DENALI FOR THE FIRST TIME

We slept pretty good for a night at the Anchorage Walmart and left in the morning to gas up, empty the holding tanks, top off the propane and fill with fresh water.  The nearby Tesoro gas station wasn’t crowded and we did all that in lightening speed.  We pulled into Saint Anthony’s Church at exactly
8:30, just in a nick of time for mass.

Very friendly parish

The parish was extremely friendly and all the visitors were asked to come to the front of the church and receive a special blessing.  We were asked to join them for coffee and donuts, which we did.  We learned that Fr. Fred Bugarin is from the Philippines and in the 1960’s, the  missionary priests of La Salette came to visit his village.  They made a film in which his father was asked to play a role.  The missionaries made a profound impact on Fr. Bugarin.  But wait, the story gets more interesting.  Denis spent two years at La Salette Seminary in New Hampshire and when Father found out he was amazed because of the coincidence.  Father has been trying to get a copy of the film and hopes Denis might be able to help him.

During his homily he talked about the challenges of our environment.  Specifically, about GMOs (Genetically Modified Organisms), the greed and power of companies like Monsanto, the people who go hungry in the United States and Alaska’s bill for adequate labeling of foods.  Basically, he talked about those subjects that “light my fire”.  His parish is doing their part and have a beautiful community garden using non-GMO seeds and organic farming.  I bought a bunch of spinach greens to help support their endeavor.

We drove about 175 miles from Anchorage through Palmer, Wasilla (Sarah Palin‘s hometown), Willow, Talkeetna and into Denali State Park.  I know you’ve all heard about Denali National Park but the state park is nothing to sneeze at.  The Denali State Park and Preserve is 324,420-acres and borders the Parks Highway between the Talkeetna Mountains and the Alaska Range.  We are truly blessed because only 25% to 30% of the people who visit Denali actually get to see North America’s highest mountain.  We started the day with overcast skies but when we got to Denali Viewpoint South the skies were clear and blue.  Our view of Mount Denali (McKinley) standing 20,320 feet was crystal clear and totally breathtaking.

Our first view from the road

From a distance

This was our stop for great views of Denali

Zoomed in

Just magnificent

We drove a little further down Parks Highway to a double-ended paved turnout with a great view of the Alaska Range and settled in for the night.  We’re less than an hour away from the Denali National Park entrance and plan to get there early tomorrow morning and find a place to stay for a couple of nights.

Our free view for tonight

That’s all folks!  Thanks for stopping in.