Wild Places and Open Spaces

July 20th – 24th 2006

Our trip with Erik would be Northward bound to start off with. On the way to Denali State Park we joked with Erik that he had brought horseshoes with him, because the weather had (momentarily) cleared up. This was terrific because as soon as Mount McKinley came in view we were able to see the entire mountain/summit totally unobstructed. We stopped at a pull off at the side of the road and were mesmerized by it’s grandeur. Apparently we were very lucky to be able to view its entirity, because one Alaskan there said he hadn’t seen its peak for 2 years due to cloud cover!

Mount McKinley (aka Denali) is North America’s highest peak at 20,320ft (fyi Mt Logan is Canada’s highest peak at 19,551ft in Kluane NP in the Yukon, but one cannot see it unless one flies in – it is surrounded by ice fields….we didn’t have the cash to fly in…).
By the time we left the mountain view, it had started to cloud over again, so our timing had been perfect. It was raining by the time we found our campsite (so much for Erik’s horseshoes) but we weren’t letting it get us down. We set up, ate, and headed for a 5 mile walk in the rain. Somehow on this journey Kristin lost her favorite hat….she just has not been the same since!

Next AM we packed up our wet tent and drove up the road to a trailhead to hike. A moderate uphill climb for about 6 miles where a ton of ground squirrels posed for Erik to take pics. They were the only animals out in view that day…the rest must have been hiding in shelters/dens to get out of the crummy weather.
After our hike we drove to the famous Denali National Park where we were lucky enough to get one of the last tent sites available. There is one road that goes into Denali NP, and public vehicles are only allowed to drive up to mile marker 15. After this, if one wants to venture into the park to camp, or just to visit for the day, you have to buy a seat on the bus. This really limits the number of people that go into Denali, and has kept the park wild. The road itself in the park is dirt/gravel, and most people probably wouldn’t want to drive it anyways. We had reserved a spot on the camper bus and camping at Wonder Lake – a 5.5hr drive into the park – for the next day. We retired that night to our usual game of Skip Bo that we had got Erik addicted to. Our entertainment was heightened by Erik as he had a little bit to drink and he became a happy/talkative/funny lush.
Our camper bus was to leave at 4pm, so we visited the Denali Visitor Centre, did a short hike, then caught the bus. Our bus was scheduled to have ~20 people on it, but instead we ended up with only 8, so it was a nice small group. The bus driver, who initially appeared very gruff, turned out to be excellent – she stopped anytime anyone asked and for all wildlife viewings.

For about 2 miles shortly after we started, there were signs erected along the road stating, ‘caution area closed’. There had been a fresh caribou kill and grizzlies had been seen feeding on it…needless to say, no one was allowed out at this point. However, 3 guys on the bus were destined to go backcountry in this area (the backcountry is set up as a quadrant system – only so many people can be in a quadrant at a time…again keeping Denali wild). So, they waited a little ways after the signs and we bid them all good luck as they jumped out the back of the bus.

The bus ride was incredible! We saw grizzlies, our first Dall Sheep, Bald Eagles, wolf pups playing at a river, Northern Hawk Owls, Caribou, not to mention beautiful scenery – tundra, mountains and Mt McKinley.
Upon arrival at Wonder Lake around 10pm, we ate dinner and once again sat in awe of McKinley which the sunset had turned a beautiful pink colour.

Next AM, Erik’s horseshoes were back again because we arose to another unobstructed view of the mountain. We hiked a trail that took us closer to McKinley, and it was hard to take our eyes off the Mtn the whole way there. We crossed a few creeks, and much to Jim and Erik’s horror…they saw grayling and didn’t have their fishing rods with them! We sat and had apple slices with peanut butter (a nice snack if you haven’t tried it), then headed back to camp to catch the bus. We ended up having to run about the last km or so back in order to catch our bus in time….we made it, but just. The bus ride out was packed – we crammed ourselves and our backpacks in the back seats hoping our ‘eau de camping’ didn’t offend the day trippers. We were again lucky enough to see caribou, bears, moose, and various birds on the way out.

Denali National Park is an incredible park – if you can get past the ridiculous confusion between ARAMARK who runs the buses, and the National Park itself – we would definetly go back and spend more time in the backcountry…..maybe someday again.

This entry was posted on Monday, July 24th, 2006 at 12:50 am and is filed under Travel. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.