Alaska adventure, Late July, 2019, Denali National Park

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Leaving smoke scented Fairbanks we are hoping for better air conditions but are expecting more of the same.  The haze thickens as we ascend each ridge dropping into the next valley.  Lots of new birch and aspen growth appears from long ago wildfires. 

Haze filled air

Approaching Denali, winds pick up, miraculously blowing all the smoke away. We also notice about 10 miles outside of the park tourist shops, restaurants and RV parks make appearances.

Arriving, we register for our campsites, 4 days in Riley Creek Camp Ground and 2 Savage River CG about 13 miles further down the main road in Denali.  The sites are graded as A or B based on size.  From there choose an open site.

Riley Creek is close enough for us to walk to the bus terminal and the visitor center then connecting with a series of trails back to the CG.   We purchase the official sticker for our Passport book, stamp the date then off to the movies about Denali.


  
Trains still make stops at Denali for visitors, we hear train horns calling out several times daily.































We hop on a shuttle bus to see the presentation on sled dogs and sledding in the park.  The dogs get excited seeing us arrive; they know they will have the opportunity to pull a sled even for a short distance.  Sled dog pulled sleds are the only means of transportation during the winter in Denali.   Returning the the CG we have dinner then move the aromatic items to the truck so we don’t have any unwanted visitors this evening.

Our alarm wakes us at 6 to be ready for our 11 - 12 hour bus ride to Kantishna, the end of the Denali road.  We are in an old green school bus with slightly upgraded seats.  Shaundra our driver has been driving these tours for 16 years.  She announces to yell STOP! if we see any animals. She stops the bus so we can all search for wildlife.  

Where's Grizzly?

Within 45 minutes we see a grizzly bear wandering through the brush.  An hour goes by before we see caribou a long distance off.  Each time someone calls out stop all our heads swivel around looking for the critter.  Once located, the people on the wrong side of the bus run over to the animal side eager for a view.  We are constantly changing out our lenses; short for landscape photos, long for the wildlife.

It is in the 50’s and cloudy for most of the ride.  Small areas of fall color appear.  Rangers tell us fall color arrives in Denali sometime in August lasting about a week before the leaves fall or are blown off the trees.  Lots of brown leaves are present from the hot, dry summer Alaska has been experiencing.  Clouds disperse as we arrive at Kantishna with the temperatures rising to the 70’s.  This is about as close as we get to Denali, still over 30 miles distant as the crow flies.

Dall sheep

Moose

Ptarmigan

Caribou

Grizzly bear

During the return trip clouds and drizzle return.  Wildlife starts showing up regularly, a cow and bull moose, caribou; so many that we start ignoring them.  We end the day seeing a family of ptarmigan walking along the road and 5 grizzlies, one being quite close, posing for us between mouthfuls of grass.  Our day ends with a small catastrophe; our refrigerator somehow went to DC instead of propane, draining the camper’s batteries.  Fortunately the long sunlit days should help the solar panels getting the batteries recharged.

We read about Discovery hikes during one of our trips to the visitor center.  It is an off trail hike led by one of the rangers.  They are classified as moderate or strenuous.  Registration has to be done in person and at most, only two days in advance.  The hike is limited to 10 people.  The first ranger we ask paints a picture of a hard hike leaving us with the feeling that we would be better off not going.  A different picture is painted by a different ranger; 2 – 3.5 miles, probable bushwhacking, possible river crossings and elevation changes; not an easy hike but certainly doable.  We are encouraged to come back to register at the appropriate time.

Savage River CG, 13 miles inside the park, has a more remote feeling and is definitely quieter.  After setting up and having some lunch we hit the Savage River Alpine hike, 4.2 miles ascending through an alpine meadow up to an overlook, following a ridge then back down the mountain through several rock outcropping overlooks.  It is convenient, the shuttle bus picks us up right there taking us back to our CG.  Later that evening we attend a ranger led talk about mosquitoes.  Not our favorite insect by any means.  Fortunately there was more learning and not much swatting.  After the ranger talk we start a short hike to a Denali viewing spot.  Our hike is cut short by a ranger suggesting we turn around; bears have been seen in the area earlier in the week; since we forgot our bear repellent we heed the advice.

The next day we sign up for the Discovery hike, not the one we planned on; the spots are already taken by a large family.  Instead we get the last two spots on tomorrow’s strenuous hike; 3+ miles of bushwhacking, an elevation climb of about 1,000’ and a beautiful overlook of the valley.  On and off rain is forecast for tomorrow.  The hike itself is free; we have to pay for the bus ride to the location.  Successful in getting on the Discovery hike we hike the 2 mile Savage River trail.  It take us over two hours of hiking, shooting landscapes and flora before we are back on the bus to our campsite.  We build up our strength for tomorrow’s hike by having a few S’mores in front of the campfire.

Discovery hike

Discovery hike

It’s cloudy, rainy and 41° getting up at 600.  Watching the road where we are going while waiting for the bus we notice the cloud deck lower to cover part of the road.  The bus arrives the same time as the drizzle.  On the way to our stop;  a planned point along the road where we are able to climb up and away from the road, we put on all our rain gear.  At the last minute I remember we have rain covers for our back packs – we need them.  “Okay, strenuous hikers get out here”.  This is what we want to do, we will see how well our rain gear holds up.  After a brief introduction and explanation of what we are doing we all beat our way through 10’ tall trees to an opening away from the road.

The area is already wet from the light rain.  The mosses are soaked.  The rain drips from the ankle high grasses, knee and waist high shrubs, the overhead trees and the clouds, not necessarily that high above us.

Discovery hike

Once past the trees we are instantly introduced to bushwhacking.  We work our way through knee high blueberry and cranberry bushes and other unidentified shrubs.  As we progress we come across broad clumps of waist high shrubs.  Either go a long way around or go through -  we go through.  The ground is very soft…  Softer than any plush carpet/pad one can buy for their house.  We sink to our ankles, repeating with each step.  After some time of bushwhacking I discover the white patches, lichens, perched on rocks, are very firm.  Every time I see lichens I hike towards them.  

Cloudberries

On the way we are introduced to cloudberries, yellow blackberry sized fruits.  They are quite tasty, but we are warned that the seeds are barbed so we shouldn’t swallow them, the air is instantly filled with the sound of people spitting out seeds. Mushrooms occasionally appear but nobody is willing to guess which are good.

Blueberries

Our ranger reminds us to call out, alerting bears in particular that we are in the area.  ‘Hey bear’ calls go out from all making sure they hear us.  We did not see any bears for our hike today so it works.  We are also told to be ‘nature ninjas’ each of us to take a separate path to our destination so we do not make a single well-worn trail.

As we hike I notice my waterproof boots are not doing their job.  The rain has stopped and the path is moist but not soaking wet.  After a while I determine my shoes are doing their job, I just need hip boots to keep the rain from sloshing in from the plants.  The shoes are definitely doing their job… they hold the water in just fine.

Stopping for our first break we are able to see the road we came in on.  It has gotten smaller but never disappears.  We wonder if riders are yelling out ‘Stop’ to inspect the 12 different colored lumps sitting on the side of the mountain.  Nicida finds out that her ‘waterproof’ jacket is not so waterproof.  (Getting back to the our truck after the hike she shows me her soaked hiking shirt).  For me, the extra dry socks in my pack would do no good except give me dry feet until I take my first step.  I trek on - squish, squish… squish, squish.  The plant life all but disappears continuing up the mountainside.  This hike would be easy if all the shrubs were this height and density.

The view from our overlook is magnificent.  We see for miles along the valley where the single road tracks through Denali.  Being this high gives us views into other valleys.  Buses look like little matchsticks traveling down the road.   The wind is incessant.  We only stay a few moments; large dark clouds with trailing long gray streaks reaching down to the ground are rolling in.  I add my winter hat to the growing collection of clothes I am wearing.

Starting back down we use a different set of muscles.  We have to keep putting on the brakes descending the top steep section of the overlook.  As we get lower the knee, waist and chest high shrub bushwhacking restarts.  One good thing about being back in the shrubs is the never ending supply of wild blueberries we can relish.

Arriving at the road we look up to the rock outcropping where we had been taking in the amazing sight only 90 minutes earlier.  Looking at our hike we averaged about a mile an hour.  In part because the wet conditions and unfamiliarity with bushwhacking.  Both of us looked at each other realizing we had not shot any images during our Discovery hike other than at our stops.  Both of us concentrated on getting to the destination rather than photographing the experience of getting there.  We will do the hike again given the opportunity.

I will forever remember driving along lush green hillsides thinking this type of hiking this is not nearly as easy as it looks from the car window.

To end the day we get to do laundry.  The laundromat at the campground is always full so I Googled to find one of the local hotels has a laundromat open to the public.  It was quite nice.  We sat in the large reception area enjoying treats and hot chocolate while our laundry was spinning away.

When we wake the next day, we are slightly sore.  We are both pleasantly surprised, we expected to be hurting more.  To celebrate we head off on another hike.  This time to Horseshoe Lake which exists only because of the work of families of beavers building a series of dams.  We spot a number of beavers pulling pieces of wood through the lake diving into their den; preparing for winter.

That evening we attend a ranger led talk about what goes on during the off season in Denali.  After her talk we ask about the best times for winter and the fall season.  Planning for future trips.

Our best view of Denali, so far

Even at six days here we part of the 70% to have not seen Denali.

Stay tuned for more Alaska adventures.

Thank you for stopping by,

Mark