Today was our first day exploring Denali National Park and Preserve. It felt good to check off another national park from our list!
We were trying to take a nice family picture at the Denali sign but certain members of our family kept getting distracted by helicopters. 🚁Apparently Denali has two super cool signs?!Once we were in the park we headed straight for the most important thing at Denali – the sled dogs. 🐾These “Canine Rangers” are a team of sled dogs that live and work at Denali National Park.During the summer the dogs work as ambassadors to teach visitors about mushing in the wilderness.Once the snow falls, the dogs are used for travel through the designated wilderness areas of Denali where motorized vehicles are not allowed. They are well adapted to hauling heavy loads of equipment and supplies across the frozen land.Alaskan Huskies are selectively bred for performance, instead of a standardized appearance, which is why all of the dogs look different. We thought that every last one was adorable!This dog, who pressed himself against his kennel to get petted, reminded us a lot of Riggs. 🥺 We were able to listen to a short presentation and then watch a demonstration of a sled dog team in action.Training for life as a Denali sled dog begins a few weeks after birth. During the summer they are held and socialized to visitors and are going on long forest walks by the fall. Their first winter they learn to pull a ranger on skis which is known as skijoring. By the last few runs in the spring they become full team members and learn how to pull the sled with the older dogs. Harry Karstens, the park’s first superintendent, was a veteran dog musher. He established kennels in the park because he knew that mushing was the best way to travel during the long winter months. The original use for the dog sled teams was for rangers to take on patrol and look for poachers. Is it too late for me to become a Sled Dog Ranger? Asking for a friend. 😉Dogs don’t break down in cold weather and they don’t run out of gas!Riggs had to wait in the car during our kennel visit so there was lots of sniffing once we were done.Denali park headquarters was constructed from local spruce logs in 1924.Today, the Denali park headquarters looks a bit more modern!Their visitor center is one of the coolest we have ever seen in the national park system.The kids were so intrigued by all of the exhibits that they didn’t even notice that they were learning. 🤫Denali National Park is surrounded by Denali Wilderness, Denali National Preserve and Denali State Park for a total area of 9,492 square miles. That’s bigger than the state of New Hampshire! 😲
Leave a Reply