When our earlier reservation at the Riley Creek Campground in Denali National Park was canceled due to the wildfire near the Park’s entrance, I was devastated. I had really, really, really been looking forward to visiting the Sled Dog Kennels in the Park; the kennels had been a bucket list item for a long time. When we secured our second reservation for Riley Creek, I was thrilled.
Alan and I had booked just two nights at the National Park campground since our “To Do” list was short: 1) Visit the kennels; 2) drive the Park Road to see what kind of wildlife we could find; and 3) get a good look at Denali (North America’s highest mountain at 20,310 feet) - if the mountain decided to show itself. We figured that, if the weather was cooperative and the wildlife was abundant, we’d book extra days at a local, private RV park if we couldn’t extend our stay at Riley Creek. With fingers crossed, we set up camp.