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Old 09-18-2011, 08:31 PM
 
Location: Interior alaska
6,381 posts, read 14,567,607 times
Reputation: 3520

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Every year the National Park has a road Lottery to go back into Denali National Park where the winners can drive all the way back to the end of the road system at Wonder Lake and out the Northern side of the Park in the Kantishna Mining District area.

Anyway, they only give out 1600 permits to be divided into 400 cars per day for four days. About 12,000 people entered the lottery, but it is getting harder and harder to win because more people are entering each year. They charge ten dollar non refundible entry fee and only one per person, so they make a good chunk of change off 12,000 enteries. Once you win, they soak you another Forty dollars for the Permit to get into the Park!

Here are some of the photos I took Saturday, hope other post theirs here as well!

The first one was earlier in the day, you can see a snow capped Mt. McKinley off in the distance with a clear blue sky... by the time I got there the clouds had moved in and it was obstructed.

The building you see on the side of the Mountain is called the Eielson Center, named after an early famous Aviator in Alaska's History, Ben Eielson who died in a crash in 1929 . The flag shots are from the viewing area in front of the center looking down into the valley, the first flag shot is just about where Mt. McKinley would be at if the sky was clear (at the tip of the flag pole for the peak), the second one is looking to the Southeast.

The rest are pretty self expanitory. Saw dozens of bears, sheep, moose and a host of other critters! Was a good trip (my third one back there)!

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Old 09-18-2011, 08:33 PM
 
Location: Interior alaska
6,381 posts, read 14,567,607 times
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Inside of the Eielson Center, they have marks on the floor where you can stand depending on your height, and when you look out the window, there is an etching on the glass (I traced it in red to be seen easier) so you can see where the peaks of Mt. McKinley are at on the cloudy days...

The second photo was taken a few years earlier when I went back on a clear day about twenty miles closer to the Mountain on a clear day for a comparison... The date is wrong on the bottom photo, it was in 2007, but my VCR isn't right either... The days of the month were the same though, just one trip was snow and the other wasn't, both Taken on about the 17 of September!



Last edited by starlite9; 09-18-2011 at 08:42 PM..
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Old 09-18-2011, 08:36 PM
 
Location: Interior alaska
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These photos are in the Toklat river headwaters area, this is of special interest to me because my cabin is down river about thirty miles (North of here) on a lake a few miles from the river.

The one shot of the buildings is a rest stop on the Toklat River bank where the summer tour buses stop for breaks, the smaller buildings are a row of double outhouses in each building.


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Old 09-18-2011, 11:34 PM
 
Location: Interior alaska
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Toklat river rest stop in Denali National Park


Toklat River - YouTube
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Old 09-19-2011, 08:27 AM
 
Location: South Dakota
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Beautiful! I had hoped to win that lottery when I resided there, but alas...
Congrats!
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Old 09-19-2011, 09:10 AM
 
Location: Interior alaska
6,381 posts, read 14,567,607 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by HighlandLady View Post
Beautiful! I had hoped to win that lottery when I resided there, but alas...
Congrats!
Sorry you missed winning it. It is well worth the effort to go back there, even if you half to ride the tour buses back there!
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Old 09-19-2011, 10:02 AM
 
4,989 posts, read 10,021,418 times
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Great photos Mark! Thanks for posting.

Quote:
Originally Posted by starlite9 View Post
They charge ten dollar non refundible entry fee and only one per person, so they make a good chunk of change off 12,000 enteries. Once you win, they soak you another Forty dollars for the Permit to get into the Park!
This is probably the reason I don't bother. I keep meaning to enter every year, but I usually only remember last minute. Then I go online and find I have to create some account on some other site, enter a CC number, write down my password, etc... By then I get disgusted and just give up!

At least this year I can live vicariously through your pictures!
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Old 09-19-2011, 04:47 PM
 
455 posts, read 743,673 times
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Thanks man, you did a great job explaining the pictures and the trip. I have yet to win the lottery myself -- although I did make it to Tek this year which was fun. I'll keep trying. Didn't know you had a cabin on the Toklat... you're livin' the life.
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Old 09-19-2011, 05:03 PM
 
Location: Interior alaska
6,381 posts, read 14,567,607 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ArcticState View Post
Thanks man, you did a great job explaining the pictures and the trip. I have yet to win the lottery myself -- although I did make it to Tek this year which was fun. I'll keep trying. Didn't know you had a cabin on the Toklat... you're livin' the life.
Well the cabin is on a lake a few miles from the river.

The Toklat has some of the biggest grizzlies around it's area in the interior, it draws them away from the cabin area in the fall when the bears head there to eat salmon. Although when I'm there they stay away so they aren't much of an issue, but like kids when I'm gone they poke around and get into stuff.
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Old 09-19-2011, 09:05 PM
 
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Default My Personal Road Lottery

Each year about 3 days before the road lottery I get to drive through the park and into Kantishna to shut down the telecommunications equipment for 3 of the lodges. We provide phone service and internet. Some of the equipment gets packed into my Excursion and brought back to Fairbanks for the winter. It goes back in mid May, and gets re-installed.

The road is uncrowded, and the key is to get the work done before Friday when the hordes of lucky lottery winners enter the park. Kind of a private lottery!
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