DENALI - RODE BIKES; DOG SLED DEMO; PANORAMA PIZZA PUB & DIGGIN' DIRT BAND IN HEALY AREA - Friday, July 7 - Saturday, July 8, 2023

Friday, July 7, 2023 

It had rained overnight, but the sun was out and it was 53 degrees, so we decided to ride our bikes.

We took off on our bikes at 10:30 a.m. and first went to the railroad depot and then the bus depot. I was told that both places had a national park stamp.

Above is the Railroad Depot, while below is the Bus Depot. The Bus Depot did have a National Park passport stamp, but the Railroad Depot did not.

See the GPS screens of our morning bike ride routes below (3.46 miles and 3.6 miles respectively).

After lunch at around 1:00 p.m., we rode back to the Murie Science and Learning Center as it wasn't open in the morning when we had stopped.

After parking our bikes, we followed the bird tracks to the Murie Science and Learning Center.

After that, we headed back on the trail working our way toward the Sled Dog Kennels. We road our bikes over Rock Creek, which has an elevation of 2,030 feet. In contrast to many glacial fed rivers, Rock Creek is contained in a defined channel at this point. Just upstream of the bridge is C Camp, a maintenance site for the area that has had ongoing clean-up efforts to contain and dispose of contaminated soil.

We then made the turn toward the Sled Dog Kennels area.

At the Sled Dog Kennels, we walked around the kennel area and checked out the dogs. 

Then we walked a short distance from the dog kennel to the arena and found a seat on the bleachers. We watched the 30-minute demonstration, with the ranger first talking about the facility and the dogs. 

Then the dogs were hooked up to the cart or "sled" for a demonstration of the dogs pulling it over a short track. The park ranger explained that as the sled dogs are brought out, they are picked up by the collar and walked on their hind feet. Walking the dogs to the sled in such a manner also protects them, as the ranger handling the dog will not accidentally step on the front feet of the working dogs.

The highlight of the demonstration came when the five dogs were hitched to a wheeled cart and a naturalist took the dogs for a short run on a gravel track around the kennels. The dogs barked when they were ready to go.

And off they went around the track!

After the dog sled demonstration, a couple of the dogs get snuggles (see below).

 

Denali National Park has had sled dogs since 1922. Harry Karstens, the first superintendent of Denali National Park, purchased the first seven sled dogs for use in patrolling the newly established park boundaries. The park has maintained the working dog teams ever since, even though their job has evolved over the years, and they are no longer used to patrol for poachers. 

Because over 2 million acres of Denali National Park and Preserve are designated by the federal government as wilderness, no mechanical or motorized machines (such as snowmobiles) are permitted. The sled dogs play an integral part in providing transportation for many projects in Denali during the winter months. 

The Alaskan Husky breed is typically defined by its purpose -- which is that of a highly efficient sled dog. There is no breed standard appearance required of Alaskan Huskies. They come in all different shapes, sizes and colors. However, there are some consistent physical traits that all Alaskan Huskies share including: 1) long legs for breaking trail through deep snow; 2) tough feet; 3) a good, thick fur coat;  and 4) a nice, bushy tail to keep them warm in Alaskan winters. In addition to the physical traits, they also need to have certain mental and personality traits that make a great sled dog including: 1) the love of running and pulling; 2) a strong connection to people; and 3) the independent confidence to make decisions while leading a team on the trail. 

After the sled dog demonstration, we walked over to the building that had the fish cache with the cook room and sled room. It had some interesting things inside.

Shown below is one of the original park patrol dog sleds.

Shown above is the order of how the sled dog packs are lined up. The lead dog goes first and is considered the most important member of the pack. Next are the two swing dogs, which are used to help turn the pack. Then comes the four team dogs, which provide the momentum and speed. And finally are the two wheel dogs bringing up the rear. The wheel dogs are usually larger dogs and provide the power.

And then we walked over to see the kennel area with the dogs. As you can see below, most of the dogs were resting after the demonstration.

The GPS map below shows our bike ride back from the Dog Sled Kennels to Riley Creek Campground. We got back around 3:00 p.m. (Our ride back was 2.88 miles.)

Tonight we left our campsite at around 6:30 p.m. to go to Panorama Pizza Pub in the Healy area (located north of Cantwell and about 10 minutes south of Denali at Mile 224 on the Parks Highway). 

The band, "Diggin' Dirt" was playing there. The band Diggin' Dirt hailed from Humboldt County, deep in the redwoods of California. They are an undeniable force in the West Coast funk scene. "Funk" refers to a style of aggressive urban dance music driven by hard syncopated bass lines and drumbeats and accented by any number of instruments involved in rhythmic counterplay, all working toward a "groove." Their deeply original sound and reputation for a high energy performance -- did not disappoint. 

Mel and I shared an appetizer -- a pound of southern smoked wings smothered in Alaska BBQ sauce. Yummy!

While the band warmed up, we then ordered pizza.

Mel had the "Smoked & Baked" pizza with Kenai Premier Alaska BBQ, house smoked chicken and pork belly, pineapple, caramelized onions, pepper blend, black olives and a garlic cream drizzle (see above).

And I had the "Pollo Hermano" pizza with southwest queso, cheese blend, southern-smoked chicken, tri-color bell pepper blend, fresh-sliced jalapeno, topped with garlic cream and chopped cilantro.

Both of us thought the brick-oven pizza was really good. We had leftovers to take home with us too.

Diggin' Dirt's tight stage presence and irresistible groove had the audience dancing all night.  

An eerie-looking pizza chef statue resides on the roof of the Panorama Pizza Pub.

We stayed to watch the band until around 11:00 p.m. and then headed back to our campsite.

The skyline on the way home was beautiful!

We got back home around 11:30 p.m. and then went to bed.

Saturday, July 8, 2023 

We woke up this morning to a chilly, windy 42 degrees. Later on it was sunny but only got up to 61 degrees. 

Because the weather was chilly, we decided to go back over to the visitor center again. We again watched the two films, "Heartbeats of Denali" and "The True Heart of Winter."

In the theatre at the visitor center was a statue of a Toklat Wolf created by Gina Hollomon, an artist-in-residence in 2011 (see below). 

The story behind her creation is below.

Today, I booked a reservation for the "Music of Denali" dinner theatre for Mel and I and our friends, Brian and Karen Burk who would be arriving at Riley Creek Campground in a couple of days. We will be going to the dinner theatre on Thursday, July 13th at 7:45 p.m. Should be a lot of fun!

Tonight for dinner we had pork chops, potato foil packets and corn dip & chips. After dinner, we drove out to Savage River along the Parks Highway to see if we could see Denali. No such luck as the clouds were over the peaks tonight.

We went to bed with sweet dreams of Denali on our minds!

Shirley & Mel