August in Denali - Autumn Undeniably Upon Us

Saturday, August 3, 2019 - 
Quiet days, autumn is settling in already.

Wow, this is a big Denali size mushroom! Recent rainy, cold weather has really encouraged them to grow.

The night before last, quiet time at Otto Lake park in Healy. Just watching for wildlife and enjoying a few pain-free moments. (My back and legs bothered me a lot from 8 hours of standing on my feet at work.)

Many sandpipers here and I sat very still for a few moments then was treated to several chicks scampering around feeding on minute stuff in the sand.

Sunday, August 4, 2019 - 
I'm not letting 3 straight days of rain ruin a nice hike in the park!

Savage River on June 18th

The Savage River today.

Shiny fungi

The last of the fireweed

Visited the sled dog kennels hoping to get an in-person photo of puppy Jewel, but she was staying hidden and dry in one of her two dog houses.😥

So I'll just post her NPS "new employee" photo again!💕

Tuesday, August 6, 2019 - 
Sixth straight day of nearly nonstop rain. Had fun yesterday shopping a bit and having dinner and putting together a puzzle with Nancy Bauter Kalmick and Karl. So much fun that four and a half hours just flew by!

I knew my mom, Elizabeth Holman, would love the snowshoe hare that was in our campground last evening. (Note the big chunk out of his left ear.) Too quick for a photo was a cute red squirrel carrying a big red mushroom that was nearly as big as s/he!

Thursday, August 8, 2019 - 
Sleeping Jewel 😴 I promised my mom pictures of the new park sled dog, Jewel, but that girl has been hiding from our torrential rains (last Sunday) or snoozing in the sun (today). The park road is closed for mudslide repair, but today the sun is making us all more cheerful.😊The flowers are in front of the Healy post office.

Sunday, August 11, 2019 - 
Sunday day off I traveled to Fairbanks to get a couple of supplies and play tourist with Nancy Bauter Kalmick.

Later we went off the Parks Highway to see their friend's magnificent mountain home. We enjoyed dinner and good times with life long Alaskans, George and Nancy's husband, Karl. What a treat to hear about their friends in the mining business and life in Alaska!

The 2 hour drive back to Healy was beautiful as the sun was low, creating a magical glow on the lakes and woods. . . Then the magnificent Akaska range mountains rising up to welcome me home for the night.

At the Morris Thompson Cultural Center there are usually one or two native Americans selling their crafts. Of course, I bought a necklace!

Realistic dioramas and explanations of native lore.

The museum contains gifts from each of the twelve native corporations formed in 1971. This bowl is made from salmon skin and other natural items.

Beaded headdress.

Carved paddle.

Map of the 12 native corporations. I work for Doyon Aramark, a joint venture between the Doyon corporation and the well-known Aramark company. The result for employees is a living wage and profitability and great service for Denali NP, Doyon and Aramark.

Birch bark basket and ivory carving.

Basket, colors all of natural plant dyes.

Beautiful but I cannot remember what it is made of.🥴

My favorite!

Painting of the copper mine at Wrangell St. Elias NP.

Nancy under the antler arch.

Woven grass bottle.

The fountain that is the centerpiece of a tribute to the people of Fairbanks.

Tribute to the people (including Russians who served as interpreters, spies, etc.!) in the war effort.

Lots of lovely flowers!

Nancy Kuhajda: this one is blooming right now in my yard too. Malva zebrina

Friday, August 16, 2019 - 
The rain should be letting up tonight and tomorrow, but this local new story pretty much tells what's been going on here. It was so quiet at work today because 300 visitors couldn't get back to shop at the gift store due to mud slides!

300 tourists were stranded inside the park for about 5 hours, returning at 11 p.m. The park reopened at 5:00 a.m. Saturday, Mudslides along the Alaska railway caused service to be suspended until about Tuesday.

Saturday, August 17, 2019 - 
Floods and mudslides in Denali while drought and wildfires prevail a relatively short distance south of us. ☹

Wind-driven wildfire between Willow and Talkeetna prompts evacuation notice

Sunday, August 18, 2019 - 
A happy mistake! I was asked to make a shift trade and thought I had to work today, but it's next Sunday. So I played tourist in the park.

It is 9:30 a.m. and still only 37 degrees. Wow, there was sunshine for a bit! It is fungi heaven here after all the rain. I wish everyone could see the astounding array of flora.

I also saw an owl along the road! Of course. I at first thought it was a raven so when s/he flew away my jaw dropped. How cool!

Not sure what other adventures might follow this great start to the day, but we'll see. . .

This woodland snippet is right in back of the Riley Creek Mercantile (campground store) where I thought I was supposed to work today. A magnificent array of fungi!

An abandoned roadside construction area where I hiked.

Lots of rodents LOVE to eat the mushrooms.💕

Everything going to seed. . .

Now I know where the moose hide!

Ominous clouds moving in. Alas, Denali was not visible!

More fungi along the path to the historic Savage River cabin.

I really liked this one - about 8" across collecting rain water.

A forest of fungi sprouting up!

Interpreter Mike awaiting the next tour bus. The rain was beginning to fall and before I left I was getting drenched. Poor tourists!

The Savage River ranger station, rain soaked, but rangers still out greeting each group and imploring them to create their own personal wilderness experience and, upon their departure from the park, support protection of these wild places.💕

Wow, thanks to everyone who loved and commented on the fungi photos! I have one thing to say: But wait! There's more!! The rain stopped, the sun broke out and warmed our world up to 53, and I continued hiking, completing a 9.5 mile hike called the Triple Lakes. Awesome!

Look! The "normal" looking ones blossom into the beauties on the lower right of this photo!

The underside of this one is shown next. Kinda hairy looking!

I especially love the shaggy stalk

Little black buttons in the middle of these. Wow, such diversity!

There were ones even bigger than this!

These look like something I've seen in an oriental grocery store - shiny!

Translucent from below.

Look at the clouds blanketing the mountains.

Eratics (building sized boulders left behind from glaciers).

Harmless burs caused by viruses or other trauma to the tree.

They are way bigger than my head!

The Triple Lakes trail.

Lake #3, lots of beaver activity.

The view of the mountains nearing trail's end. Finally!

I could not include the video in this book, but these are spruce grouse, not ptarmigan, taking a dust bath.💕

Woodland critter that I thought was going to climb up my leg. Fortunately it scampered up a tree instead.

Monday, August 26, 2019 - 
Autumn in Denali! It smells like fall, everything's turning color, signs are up restricting hiking in moose rut territory and darn it's pretty chilly!

There are only 22 days until I begin my 3600 mile trip home, but I am making the most of my time here! Yesterday I took the 12 hour round trip bus ride 92.5 miles to Kantishna, the only private in holding in the park. Kantishna was once a gold mining community, but now entertains well-heeled adventurers seeking a quiet wilderness retreat.

It is also the location of the cabin of Fannie Quigly who pioneered in Kantishna and provided food to the mining community. She was a really strong woman who hunted, grew a wonderful garden, and was well known for her rhubarb pies. She rendered bear fat into the lard she used in her pie crusts. What a woman - Google her!

A moose and her calf roadside as we started our ride to Kantishna.

We saw 7 grizzly bears, each one single-mindedly focused on eating berries in anticipation of winter hibernation. I was surprised to learn that their dens usually face north. If the dens faced south the spring sun would melt the snow during the day and the bears would become wet and possibly freeze at night.

The tundra changing color.

Braided rivers so beautiful!

Leaving Eielson we pass from the mountains to the bluffs then through "grassy pass" shown here. The landscape is also full of kettle ponds. Not to rub it in, but we got to see the mountain again!

I believe this is a tundra swan (because the necks of both he and his mate (not pictured) are so erect.) The bus driver said that these were the first ones he had seen this year. A little later on our return trip a coyote passed right in front of our bus at Sable Pass. He said this was the first coyote he had seen this season, that usually they and the foxes fall prey to the wolves. In a way it makes sense because they all seek the same smaller prey (snowshoe hare, arctic ground squirrels, etc.), but the wolves can take larger prey like caribou, moose, etc.

A ranger telling the Kantishna Experience group about Fannie's life. They are standing outside her cabin.

A photo of Fannie on a display at the Kantishna Air airport. In theory we employees can get a reduced price flight but none of us has ever been able to get in touch with the airline guys. Hmm. . .

The mountains across from the Toklat rest stop.

Saturday, August 31, 2019 - 
It was too overcast in my part of Alaska to see the aurora last night, but tourists who drove about 3 hours north to Chena Hot Springs shared this photo with me. So beautiful!