I spotted a moose! Also - check out that rack!

We had a two night stay at the Backcountry Lodge.  I think it was a great choice, but I didn't know how good of a choice until we had left.  This lodge is in the middle of nowhere.  Every day when a bus of guests arrives, it brings food and supplies.  They can't just run to the store - it's either a 6 hour trip to the entrance of the park or an expensive charter flight.  We are talking remote.

There was the main lodge where we ate and could relax.  The upstairs was a couple of large living room areas with couches, chairs, books, games, etc.  There is no TV out there.  There is no cell phone service out there.  We were off the grid.

Why was this great?  Because we weren't surrounded by people.  We weren't surrounded by souvenir stores.  We were surrounded by nature.  Now, I am by no means an outside girl.  Sure, I was raised by farmers, but it doesn't mean that I liked it.  Jeff & I don't go hiking.  I don't hunt/fish/camp.  But at the Backcountry Lodge, that's okay.  If you want to go off and hike all day - great!  They'll pack you a lunch.  If you want to get a ride to Wonder Lake - hop in!  And that's what we did.

And on the way to Wonder Lake I *finally* spotted some wildlife!

We were up on the road, which is basically a ridge, and there he was, down in the little crik that is a natural mineral lick for the moose.  The driver was great.  They're not supposed to stop just anywhere on the road, and definitely not supposed to let people out, but he did both.  I could not have gotten this shot from a moving vehicle!

Wonder Lake was so pretty.  Jeff used to camp there as a kid, before they put restrictions on driving into the park.  He took a fishing pole, just to see if he could be any luckier than when he was a kid.  Nope.  Still the most you can catch at Wonder Lake is mosquitoes.  And some pretty great pictures...

Wonder Lake - Mt. McKinley is hiding in the clouds.

across the park road from Wonder Lake

the river running through the lodge grounds, where we panned for gold

In fact, here's how our full day at the Backcountry Lodge went:

• Notice we could see our breath while walking to breakfast on June 18th
• Breakfast
• Nap
• Wonder Lake
• Lunch
• Nap
• Pan for gold
• Checkers
• Happy Hour
• Dinner
• Wander around
• Bedtime

So relaxing!  Being out in all that fresh air was exhausting though.  But it was really nice to know that we could do what we wanted...  so we did!

Next up - the drive out of the park, and more wildlife photos!  Stay tuned...

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We've since moved to Alaska!  Read about Our Alaska Life here...

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