The day started out at warp speed! Becky, our excellent mountain bike lady at the Outdoor Center, orchestrated a monumental whirlwind mountain bike rental and reservation on the next bus into to Denali National Park.Once on the bus, we could finally sit and catch our breath! We rode the bus 45 mi into the park, listening to some entertaining commentary from the driver on the history of the park and looking for wildlife.
Aside from a few dall sheep, we didn't see anything, but we'd already seen a moose and a mama bear w/2 cubs crossing the highway on the drive to the park.
Much to the shock of the cruise passengers on the bus, we got off the bus and after a few quick photos, started biking back toward the park entrance.
The bike ride started off great, though a bit chilly. After a few miles, however, it began to rain, and the mud began to fly! Laughing as we pedaled, we tried to take in the scenery between the mud polka dots on our glasses. We rolled into the rest stop, and gave the bus passengers their laugh for the day.
Some nice bus drivers were all too happy to take some pictures of us so that we can document the filth (which was even on the inside of our clothes) in our photo albums. They also offered us paper towels, which was more thoughtful than effective (not much short of a hose would have helped us)! After brief rest, we continued on. The mud feast let up, but the cold, wet, filthy damage had already been done. We cycled most of the way back, before reboarding the bus for the last few miles. It was quite entertaining to hear the gasps and watch the passengers on the aisle lean as far into the bench as possible to avoid any inadvertent contact with the filth. The comical bus driver said, over the microphone as I boarded the bus, "No folks, that's not a moose, just a dirty mountain biker."
We did the best to clean ourselves up in the wilderness center bathroom and headed to dinner. Thank goodness for spare clothes and shoes in the car. After dinner at the Salmon Bake, and a near run in with a moose that was out sightseeing on the highway, we made it back to the hotel for showers and an effort to wash our jackets in the bathtub. They were so covered in mud there was no way they were getting packed! The effort was rather futile, however, so it is probably good that we are almost done with the trip. All of our clothes have now been classified as semi-dirty, dirty, or absolutely filthy.
The day started out at warp speed! Becky, our excellent mountain bike lady at the Outdoor Center, orchestrated a monumental whirlwind mountain bike rental and reservation on the next bus into to Denali National Park.Once on the bus, we could finally sit and catch our breath! We rode the bus 45 mi into the park, listening to some entertaining commentary from the driver on the history of the park and looking for wildlife.
Aside from a few dall sheep, we didn't see anything, but we'd already seen a moose and a mama bear w/2 cubs crossing the highway on the drive to the park.
Much to the shock of the cruise passengers on the bus, we got off the bus and after a few quick photos, started biking back toward the park entrance.
The bike ride started off great, though a bit chilly. After a few miles, however, it began to rain, and the mud began to fly! Laughing as we pedaled, we tried to take in the scenery between the mud polka dots on our glasses. We rolled into the rest stop, and gave the bus passengers their laugh for the day.
Some nice bus drivers were all too happy to take some pictures of us so that we can document the filth (which was even on the inside of our clothes) in our photo albums. They also offered us paper towels, which was more thoughtful than effective (not much short of a hose would have helped us)! After brief rest, we continued on. The mud feast let up, but the cold, wet, filthy damage had already been done. We cycled most of the way back, before reboarding the bus for the last few miles. It was quite entertaining to hear the gasps and watch the passengers on the aisle lean as far into the bench as possible to avoid any inadvertent contact with the filth. The comical bus driver said, over the microphone as I boarded the bus, "No folks, that's not a moose, just a dirty mountain biker."
We did the best to clean ourselves up in the wilderness center bathroom and headed to dinner. Thank goodness for spare clothes and shoes in the car. After dinner at the Salmon Bake, and a near run in with a moose that was out sightseeing on the highway, we made it back to the hotel for showers and an effort to wash our jackets in the bathtub. They were so covered in mud there was no way they were getting packed! The effort was rather futile, however, so it is probably good that we are almost done with the trip. All of our clothes have now been classified as semi-dirty, dirty, or absolutely filthy.
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