ALASKA’S DENALI NATIONAL PARK

ALASKA’S DENALI NATIONAL PARKALASKA’S DENALI NATIONAL PARK

Source: www.speakup.com.br

Language level: Pre-intermediate

Speaker: Chuck Rolando

Standard accent: American

Would you like to escape the modern world? Alaska’s Denali National Park offers visitors a rare opportunity to experience nature in true solitude. They can see the spectacular mountains of the Alaska Range, dramatic glaciers and wildlife. The park is 240 miles (390 kilometres) north of Anchorage and 140 miles (230 kilometres) south of Fairbanks: the two nearest international airports.

SPRING IS HERE

In April the park is waking up from its long winter Grizzly bears emerge after months of hibernation. Wolves hunt in packs across the snow. Dall sheep eat grass on the mountain side. Migratory birds, including eagles and swans, are returning. Snow ploughs clear the park’s only road, the Denali Park Road. This runs 90 miles (148 kms) into the park. Private vehicles can, however, only reach Savage River, 15 miles (24 kilometres) from the entrance. After this point, the road becomes a dirt track and visitors must travel in the park’s special buses.

IN THE AIR

The buses take visitors deep into the park. Day excursions visit Polychrome Pass with is multi-colored cliffs. Wonder Lake at the foot of Mount McKinley. America’s highest mountain, and the old mining town Kantishna. Mount McKinley is often impossible to see because of clouds.

Perhaps the best way to see the Denali Park is from the air. Flight companies like K2 Aviation, take visitors above the clouds to see stunning views across the glaciers and mountain tops. It is also possible to land on the glaciers with ski planes.

DANGER!

The park offers cycling, hiking, camping, mountaineering and white-water rafting. Visitors are also free to explore the park alone. But Denali National Park is vast and the dangers are real. There are hungry bears, moose and wolves. The streams and lakes are freezing, and the temperature can change suddenly. Snow is common throughout the year. Finally, are you afraid of heights? The Denali Park Road goes high into the mountains, where the track becomes very narrow. Passengers suddenly see down into valleys over a thousand metros bellow!

A SHORT HISTORY OF THE PARK no audio

The region was the home of Native Americans called the Athpaskan (or Athabaskan) for about 12.000 years. Denall means “the high one” in the native Athapaskan language, and it was their name for Mount McKinley. Modern settlers first came to the region at beginning of the 20^th century. Gold was discovered raced to claim the land. It is still possible to panhandle for gold in the park’s streams and lakes. Naturalist Charles Alexander Sheldon studied Denali’s Dall sheep. The existence of these sheep became difficult as more and more people come to the region. So Sheldon petitioned government to create a preserve for the sheep. The Mount McKinley National Park was formed on February 25, 1917. This park was extended and renamed the Denali National Park and Preserve in 1980.