July 15

Today we drove to Byer's Lake Campground at Denali State Park where we spend just one night. It is very wooded and the lake is beautiful. Gypsy and I hiked up to the Alaska Veteran's Memorial to visit the memorial and view Mt. McKinley. The memorial is very inspirational. The view of McKinley was disappointing. It is a perfect day weather-wise but the haze from the forest fires to the east made viewing difficult. I was able to see it but none of the pics were worth uploading. They say that only 30% of the visitors to Denali get to see the top of the mountain. We cooked a steak dinner at the camp and then MA, Gypsy and I hiked back up...same result...only glimpses of McKinley thru the haze. We will try again tomorrow as we leave.