Wonder Lake - Denali National Park

One of our bus rides took us all the way to the end of the Denali National Park Road.
Wonder Lake - at mile 85. When planning our trip, we contemplated staying at the Wonder Lake Campground. This is a tent only campground and can be reached
only by riding a camper bus.
The appeal of this campground is that it is right at the base of Mount McKinley.
If we stayed there - we might have a chance of seeing the elusive mountain.
(Above) Along the road to Wonder Lake - this is further down the McKinley River from the Eielson Visitor Center.

(Above) A view of Wonder Lake.
(Below) A view of the Wonder Lake campground. Mount McKinley would be right there if it was not hidden in the clouds. This is where people planning a climb might begin their ascent.

One reason we decided against this campground was the threat of mosquitoes - this place has a reputation for being super buggy.
The other reason was the intense planning and time pressure we would be under to be fully organized and on time for the camper bus ride into the depth of the park - just a day after I had flown in (arriving at 2 am!)

I think we made the right decision. It was nice having the luxury of arriving at our campsite on our own schedule. It allowed us to enjoy our drive from Anchorage and do a few side trips without worrying that we might miss the camper bus.