I applied for the Denali road lottery on May 21st by way of the same simple online process I used last year. Each vehicle can only submit one application. I was notified just after 9:00 a.m. last July 15th that I did not win, and so I was expecting the same kind of prompt feedback this year. Hour after hour went by this morning, and no e-mail came in reporting the good news that I won (unlikely) or the bad news (more likely) that I lost. I then checked online at the lottery's web site and it indicated that the winners and losers had already been notified. Since I did not get either email, I dug further. Well, as it turns out, my entry online never went through even though I know I completed it. My mistake was in not checking for a receipt in my email (I did just now, and found none) because I was not about to sit there and wait for one to come in, especially since none was promised. Once again, our government fails the test of competence.
I am not disappointed because it was my own mistake for not following up on this or for not applying through multiple people. I just assumed that these online programs work as they are supposed to. As it turns out, 11,000 people applied this year, 10 percent more than last year, so my odds of winning were 1 out of 7, not very good. Having traveled that road once before in 1992 by camper bus, I am not too sure it would have been a pleasant experience traveling that road after all with 399 other vehicles out for their annual stroll in the park. I'll enjoy my time more sitting back at the Teklanika campground those five days resting for my long trip home. I will, however, put up an ad an Craig list in Anchorage and Fairbanks to see what kind of luck I have. I have only a window of about 24 hours to bring closure to this. If I cannot find someone willing to sell their permit, this will force me to pull back and reevaluate my plans, but I was already expecting to have to do that anyway.
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