-----As if 6:00 was bad enough, we got up today at 5:00 and left for the park by 6:15 to be there thirty minutes ahead of our 7:00 shuttle, the first into the park. The buses go as far into the park as they can, and we were somewhat concerned of how far they'd be able to go because when we got up, there were snow flurries in a frigid 37º. It was hardly an inch of buildup, but there was buildup.

-----We got into our bus, which was around half-full when it was all said and done, and learned that the bus driver's name was was the same as that of our Arctic Circle tour guide who ran out of gas. Funny coincidence or twist of fate? You decide.

-----As the bus left and went along the more familiar paved part of the road towards the parking area for our previous day's hike, the snow started really coming down, to the point that, though we saw caribou, it was through the dense and silent blanket of snowfall. The unpaved part of the road was beginning to turn to mud. The scenery around was wonderful, though we could see little and the snow was beginning to get everywhere; a little more wind might have qualified it for blizzard status.

-----Blue skies were ahead as we reached an hour and a half's drive into our journey at the Teklanika River, where the snowfall over the night had built up to a good four inches that crunched away underneath our sore footfalls as we stretched our legs on the short walk to the overlook over the Teklanika. The snow was just abating, and while clear skies were still well into the future, we could see mountains beyond us just about everywhere. The park entrance was still getting doused in snow, but further ahead looked just fine—save for the "road closed beyond this point" sign.

-----Our driver, a veteran of 28 years on the Park Road, was convinced that he'd be able to go on if they'd open the gate, and after consulting and haggling with the rangers over the long-distance walkie-talkie and waiting for an industrial-strength road grater to go over it, we were allowed to proceed. This was where the real magic happened, as the skies got clearer and clearer as we climbed up the steep, winding, 1.5-lane mud road that had been cut into the cliffside. As we were the first in the park, we were able to make some good time; coming back had us slow on many occasions to give incoming traffic the right-of-way.

-----On the way up, we saw—in addition to the aforementioned caribou—a lone black wolf, covered in specks of snow and with determination in his striking amber eyes as he strode along the road back to his den. Though they use the road to get around—as they know where their dens are in relation to it—visitors to the park rarely see them.

-----Though the active snowfall had ceased, it was still cold and windy, and the snow still stuck. Polychrome Pass, the epic expanse well-known for its striking shades of silt, was blanketed in snow. Nearly every body of water was frozen save for streaks of running water along their edges and center. I'm certain that it's beautiful any time of year, but there was something especially peaceful about the wintriness of it all.

-----Clouds had moved along for the most part, but there was still a system hanging over the deeper Alaska Range, hiding Denali from full view save for the darker rock that constitutes its north face. But if one comes to Denali to see Denali, then one is doing it wrong; unlike other parks where there but one thing to see (such as the geysers of Yellowstone), Denali as a park has a great many facets of which the Alaska Range in total is only a part.

-----We continued into about halfway on the park road and arrived at our westernmost destination at the small ranger outpost and gift shop at Toklat River, where the winding and somewhat terrifying road had abated in favor of a much more relaxing journey over the valley. It was there that we talked to a park ranger and found out that we were up to around 5,000 feet above sea level during our accidental trailblazing yesterday. Furthermore, they closed the next trail over—which shares a trailhead with the side of our trail that we couldn't get to over the mountain—because of a "bear incident." After talking to a guy on our bus, we learned that there were simply an exorbitant number of bear sightings on the trail, leading to its temporary shutdown. It makes me glad that we weren't able to go that way.

-----There is something magical about being surrounded by high peaks, but my favorite kind of mountain is that which seemingly rises out of flatness, and in the level river valley, the Toklat area gave that feeling. It was still too cold to do anything but take a few pictures and then head back to an area where visibility could be sacrificed for warmth.

-----Though it was the same scenery on the return trip, there was something different about it as well; the lack of cloud cover made everything brighter and made everything seem warmer, although the rolled-down windows of several folks in the seats ahead of us was a constant reminder that it was still extremely cold. The trip back was only slower due to stopping to give other buses the right-of-way (a treacherous endeavor when there doesn't seem to be enough room on the side of a cliff) as well as a departed couple who left their camera and—on one occasion—stopping because a little light came on our driver's dashboard that said something ominous about the brake system despite the brakes being fine. We thought we were in for another breakdown and were about to take a vow never to use any vehicle but our own for this trip going forward, but soon enough we started rolling ahead again when he figured that it was just a computer problem. (Nonetheless, we're going to be very wary if our plane from Talkeetna tomorrow is flown by a third individual with the same name.)

-----The total wildlife count came in at about a dozen Dall sheep, 6 caribou, 4 moose, 2 willow ptarmigan, a black wolf, a golden eagle, a grizzly bear (waaaaaaay on top of a hill) and more red and Arctic ground squirrels than could be counted. We returned at about 2:00 and thereafter went on an ultimately unsuccessful hunt for an ornament for Mom's collection. We ate a few scones at the small coffee shop adjoining the visitor center and then headed back to our room for some rest before dinner.

-----We had a few coupons for free coffees from the bar and grill adjoining the cabin complex, and we went over there and talked a little to the bartender who was just closing up. She was from New Orleans and had gotten a one-way ticket to Alaska, and this is her first summer here. We asked about the vastly different accents of the Louisiana couple from our Arctic Circle adventure, and we learned that people really from the heart of New Orleans sort of inexplicably sound Bostonian. We thanked her for her time as she closed up shop, but the coffee was weak and had many floating grounds, so we ended up chucking most of it down the sink. ("It was free anyway," my dad said.)

-----(The sink takes over a minute for warm water to get through cold pipes, and so it's hilarious that we have to effectively waste water next to a sign that implores us to "please conserve water." Also, Denali is continuing the trip tradition of hotel phones not working, as my dad had to call the front desk to ask about confirming by phone our flightseeing tour tomorrow. Nothing wants to dial out—only in.)

-----Our respite from the day had to end, and we went back to the Denali Salmon Bake. As an appetizer, we split the Yak-a-dilla, which is a quesadilla with yak meat, locally raised. With all of the exotic meats we've been eating, I don't know how I'll ever go back to a less varied diet, especially because yak was delicious. It was everything I ever wanted bison to be but wasn't. For this time, my dad and I both got the halibut tacos for entrées, but he abandoned the idea of eating his second like a normal taco because each one I've seen over the past two days has come out with twice as much filling as would be reasonable—but they were, of course, still quite good. My mom got the Drnuken Chikcnen—yes, you read that right—which was an equally massive sandwich with a generous amount of flavorful chicken tenders in some kind of bourbon-flavored barbecue sauce. For dessert, we finally got my dad to try a bite of the blueberry pie, and he was glad that he finally acquiesced.

-----On the way out, we stopped by an adjoining gift shop before heading a little further down the road for some gas before our long and early day tomorrow. When my dad got out of the car, our waitress from our first dinner at Big Daddy's in Fairbanks walked out of a nearby shack of a restaurant called Denali Doghouse and asked if we were the crazy North Carolinians that she remembered. As it turns out, she was heading to Palmer with her husband, so we might run into her yet again. Only in Alaska!

-----Tomorrow: a journey to Talkeetna, where the weather will hopefully be good enough for a flight around Denali, before a hike at Hatcher Pass en route to Palmer.