Days 7-10

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Days 7-10: July 16-19, 2008

Denali National Park

Everyone who visits Denali National Park hopes to see “the mountain”. Officially named “Mt. McKinley” but generally referred to by it original native name, “Denali”, this highest mountain in North America at 20,320 feet is rarely glimpsed in mid-summer, the wet season. Hoping for good luck, I had reserved Thursday and Friday nights at the Wonder Lake campground deep in the park directly below the mountain. The famous photographs of Denali by Ansel Adams and others were taken at Wonder Lake. But sadly, it was not to be.

Wednesday morning began with leaden skies at our camp at Tangle Lakes. We headed out west on the old Denali Highway, another gravel road that is verboten to most car rentals. We found it was an excellent highway, very smooth and easily traveled at 40 to 45 mph. We quickly came to Maclaren Summit at about 4000 foot elevation and hiked a short distance out along the ridge. But the clouds were closing in and we saw little. I took only a couple of pictures that day. The further west we went, the lower the clouds until the mountains were completely obscured. What is advertised as a beautiful drive along the Alaska Range was for us a long fairly boring slog in the mist and clouds.

Reaching the Parks Highway at Cantwell, we turned north towards Denali National Park. The park was bustling with activity, including the obligatory strip of motels, restaurants, and gift shops just outside the boundary. The main campground near the entrance still had spaces left in the walk-in tent section, so we grabbed one. After setting up camp, we took showers, washed clothes, and “splurged” on burritos at “Bubba’s Baja” for dinner (they were good). We still had time for an evening hike on the Taiga and Rock Lake trails in the park, with a view of foreboding clouds over the Yanert Valley.

Thursday morning, we packed up and organized our gear to fit into two backpacks to take on the camper bus to Wonder Lake. Private vehicles can only access the edge of Denali National Park. A nearly 90 mile gravel road, open only to buses, traverses westward along the foothills of the Alaska Range deep into the park, ending at Wonder Lake (and the old mining town of Kantishna beyond it). I had reserved seats on the bus and two nights stay at the walk-in tent campground at Wonder Lake.

Our bus left at 2 pm and arrived at Wonder Lake about 7:30 pm. Several stops were made at overlooks, rest areas, and the Eielson Visitor Center (at mile 60), where Denali itself reigns in full splendor. Or at least, that’s what the visitor center photo displays show. We saw the bases of low mountains rising up into the clouds. We did see some wildlife on the bus ride and were entertained by commentary from the driver (who sounded like a refugee from the New York subways). And there was always that pervasive sense of vast pristine wilderness. It rained Thursday evening and night. Fortunately, the campground is equipped with substantial pavilions that provide a dry place to sit and cook dinner. It was fun to hear other campers speaking languages from around the world.

Friday was our “layover day” at Wonder Lake. We hiked the McKinley Bar trail in light rain out to the McKinley River across meadows, bogs, and low spruce forest (5 miles round trip). At the river, we met two Alaskan families with kids who were on vacation from Fairbanks. They didn’t seem to mind the cold and rain. Then we caught one of the shuttle buses back to Eielson Visitor Center, figuring we could at least spend the afternoon inside where it was dry and heated. But the clouds lifted a bit, revealing fresh snow from the night before above the 5000 foot elevation, so we took a hike up the alpine ridge behind the center, where a shower dropped snowflakes on us!

Saturday morning we had time to hike a bit at Wonder Lake before taking the bus back to the park entrance. A grizzly bear crossed the road in front of the bus and a fox trotted briefly right alongside us. The clouds broke a bit and there was even some sun. But never a view of Denali.

Our original plan was to make a leisurely return to Anchorage from Denali, stopping for hikes. But the weather was coming from that direction, so we decided on a change of plans: north to Fairbanks!