Day 25: Denali National Park - Donelly Creek Recreation Site Campground

Last night was pretty cold. Warm underwear, clothes, sleeping bag. I suspect a single-digit range ... But the day starts friendly, I have breakfast and pack up the tent without hurry. It was nice and quiet here.

Refuel, get supplies and off I ride on the Denali Highway. It's quite busy there, a lot of pickps with trailers or loaded with ATVs (quads). The highway is beautiful, with great views of - as I think - just snowed mountain peaks. A great ride, I take a lot of pictures. There are a lot of beautiful free campsites, but they are already well visited.

Crossing a river (Sustina) on a wooden bridge, I get into contact with locals (or an elderly local and his son-in-law from Montana) and get told that this weekend the caribou hunting will start. This explains the large number of visitors and the many vehicles. I do not know if there are enough caribou for so many hunters at all? Even if the people are rather modest - without an ATV / quad per person it does not work! I have also seen trailer with 4 ATVs. And at the ATV you can see the mounts for the weapons, which are at least not carried around open, at least not yet. So, dear Caribou, be careful, for now the hunting starts.

It's quite chilly, an icy wind blows. Too cold to stay here in the tent. I meet a green sprinter and it's drivers, whom I saw for the first time in Tuktoyaktuk and several times later on. The paths are very similar if you are on tour up here in the North. I make a small detour towards a glacier, but there is no wind-sheltered option for camping. That's why I ride on to a campground, which is located in a valley, without the icy wind much more acceptable. Nevertheless, I use both sleeping bags tonight again - a wise decision!