The drive out of Denali National Park

July 29, 2018

Another day with amazing weather, so we were very excited about the 5 hour bus ride out of the park, as we would get to see the park from the ground.

There are around 2,100 moose living in the park, and we got to see a few of them. A moose eating in the lake with Denali in the background.

Reflection Lake - a very appropriate name.

The view of Denali from the Eilson Visitor's Center.

While we were looking at 4 falcons fledgling (learning to fly), a caribou/raindeer came trotting up the road towards the bus, but it saw us and went into the bushes. We saw quite a lot of them from a distance, and there are around 2,600 of them in the park.

Photo from brochure

As there are only around 350 grizzly bears living in the park, we weren’t really expecting to see any, but hopeful. And there she was with her cub hiding in the bushes. Grizzly weighs up to 600 pounds, and can be very dangerous when they have cubs, so we felt safe on the bus. They go up and walked away and more busses stopped to look at them. We felt very privileged.

We also saw Dall Sheep - white dots far away.

Photo from brochure 

We were hoping to see wolves as well, but there are only 72 of them in the park, so the chances were slim, and we didn’t see any. But we did see another moose eating in the lake, and the people with binoculars said there was a owl sitting in the dead tree above the moose.

In awe from the amazing bus ride, we drove 15 miles north of the park to Healey, where we stayed in a RV park room, did laundry and had dinner at the 49th State Brewery.

Kantishna, Denali National Park, Alaska

July 27, 2018

After a great breakfast, we packed lunches and set out to hike the Quigley Ridge and the Wicketsham Dome starting by the lodge. The hike was 12 km long, and had nice views along the way.

We saw marmots and ground squirrels but no moose, bears or caribou - apart from this one:

Well back at the lodge, Andy spent time in the wood fired sauna, and then we relaxed until it was time for dinner. What a wonderful day.

July 28, 2018

We woke up to beautiful weather, and walked down to Fanny Quiqley’s home. Fannie Quigley is one of the mining pioneers who came to the land to find their fortunes. Fannie was a veteran of the Klondike and other stampedes. She had made her way to the remote Kantishna Hills among the hundreds of hopeful prospectors in 1905, and she was known for her sharp tounge.

For the sake of it we walked to the end of the road.

We then did a small hike along the river, and checked out some of the old mining houses from the early 1900s.

Wonder Lake

As Andy wasn’t feeling well he went to the sauna and then took a nap, while Dorte took the bus to Wonder Lake. According to the bus driver, the lake got it’s name when 2 explorers were checking out a map of the area made previously, and came across the lake. One of them said ‘I wonder why this lake isn’t on the map?’ Maybe not a true story, but a good story!

There was an amazing view of the Alaska Range, and the Crown Jewel of North America, Denali.

When I came around a corner, I met this guy. At first I didn’t know which animal it was, as I could only see it from behind, and I had never seen one in the wild before.

I then hiked the 2.3 mile MaKinley Bar Trail. As there was not other people around, and it is grizzly bear country, I was a bit hesitant doing the hike, but I decided to do it as one of the vans from one of the lodges in the area was parked at the trail head. I couldn’t hear the people, but knew they were on the trail.

There were a lot of blueberries on the trail, so I ate a lot of them, and picked some for Andy too.

When I came back to the bus stop, and went in to rest in the shade, guess who was also waiting for the bus: Mr. Porcupine! You can see that he has been eating away at the wood. So I went outside, and left him to his sleep.

Sunset at 1:00am

Denali National Park, Alaska

July 26, 2018

Anchorage to Denali National Park

It took 5 hours to drive the 237 miles/380 km to the Denali National Park entrance from Anchorage. Once out of Anchorage most of the road went through forrest, and there wasn’t much to see. There wasn’t much traffic, and the road was great, so it was an easy drive.

Around half way we finally left the trees behind and drove along the mountains.

While waiting for our flight to Kantishna, we spent time at the visitor's center to learn more about the park.

Denali National Park

Denali National Park is located in the Interior Alaska, and this might have been the corridor though which the rest of the continent was peopled, as waves of hunter-gatherers migrated across the Bering land bridge to points south. Ancestors of the region’s present Native group, the Athabascans, are thought to have been here at least 6000 years. In the 1800s the Russians and the Britons began to trickle in to trade. The park spans over 6 million acres, and there is only one road through the party, After mile 15 the park is closed to private vehicles, and the only way into the park is by bicycle, bus or plane.

Flightseeing

The weather was fairly good, and we were excited about possibly seeing Denali (formerly Mt. McKinley), the highest mountain in North America.

Andy was the co-pilot, and he did a great job!

It was an amazing flight; we saw rivers, mountains and many glaciers. The glaciers are so much more than the icey part clearly visible to the eye. Over time the glacier pushes dust and dirt up from the ground, which makes it very difficult to actually see the whole glacier.

This photo shows 2 glaciers pushing up the dirt between them.

We even came very close to this glacier.

Mt. Denali

The Athabascans call Denali the Great One due to it’s 20,320 ft / 6,190m bulk of ice and granite, and we were lucky enough to get a peak at the summit just above the clouds. The 2018 climbing season is over, and of the 1114 people climbing the mountain only 496 (45%) summitted.

These kettle lakes were formed by pieces of glacier that made indentations in the earth enter separating from the glacier. Over time, the water filled the indentations creating all the lakes.

Kantishna

Kantishna is located at the end of road 92 miles into the park, and this is where we landed on the gravel run way in the valley. Kantishna is an old gold-mining enclave, and there are still a few buildings left from those days.

Skyline Lodge

The lodge is pierced on the side of the mountain above the river, has 6 rooms, is solar powered, and off the grid.

Dinner was great, and we spent the evening chatting with the other guests and enjoying the views, and the long days. This picture was taken at 11:00pm, and the sun hasn’t set yet.