Alaska - Denali

June 13, 2019

Denali National Park is six million acres of wilderness, anchored by Mount Denali (formerly Mt. McKinley), the highest peak in North America at an elevation of 20,310’. The mountain is so massive that it makes its own weather and is frequently obscured by clouds. It is said that only 30% of visitors to Denali National Park ever actually see the mountain. We got lucky on the day we drove up from Anchorage: The weather was fine and so were the views. You are pretty much surrounded by mountains the whole four hour drive (which actually takes twice as long because you can’t help stopping every five miles to admire and photograph the amazing scenery).

Our Airbnb was a rustic cabin near the small town of Healy about 20 minutes from the park entrance. And I do mean rustic. As in outhouse rustic. Well, we wanted a more authentic Alaskan experience than just a motel. We actually had a choice between what I guess you would call a classic wooden outhouse (complete with heat and electricity!) and a more conventional construction-site-type porta potty. We weren’t quite convinced of the sanitary condition of the classic model so elected to use the porta potty. We did have water in the kitchen – it was pumped from a large barrel. But showering required filling up a five gallon bucket with hot water from the kitchen sink and taking it outside to a shower tent with a little pump and handheld shower head. It actually worked surprisingly well, although I can’t imagine attempting it in winter. We did have electricity and even wifi so it was a step up from some of the “dry cabins” on offer to visitors to the park. This was a new Airbnb listing for our host John, who appreciated all of Deborah’s suggestions for needed kitchen items, furniture arrangement, and décor. She even found time to resew some of the cabin window shades, which at this time of year are a must.

Technically you still get 4 or 5 hours between sunset and sunrise, but with twilight figured in it doesn’t really get very dark at this latitude (63 degrees north) near the spring solstice. Sleeping is a challenge. But if you have to get up early to catch your shuttle bus into the park, as we did, then an early, early dawn makes it easier.

Denali has only one road that extends 92 miles into the park. It is mostly gravel and, except for a small portion near the entrance that is accessible to private vehicles, most of the road is open only to bus traffic, and only in summer. We took one of the green shuttle buses, which aren’t obligated to offer the same service as the tan tour buses, but our driver was great and provided lots of interesting narration and of course stopped at all wildlife sightings. We saw lots of grizzly bears, moose, Dall’s sheep, arctic ground squirrels and caribou.

The day after our bus trip the weather turned stormy with snow falling in the higher parts of the park so we just enjoyed our cozy cabin in the woods. The following day we drove back to Anchorage, but not before stopping to see the park’s sled dogs. Denali has the only active working sled dog kennel in the National Park Service, and they are used especially in the part of the park that is designated wilderness where no roads or mechanized vehicles are allowed. I’m usually not a fan of enslaving animals to do work for us humans, but these dogs are very well cared for and they seem to genuinely LOVE to run and pull. If only the rest of us could approach our jobs with such enthusiasm.

The road to Denali

Mt. Foraker (17,400'), Mt. Hunter (14,573'), and Mt. Denali (20,310'), left to right, the 6th, 22nd, and 1st tallest peaks in North America

This moose was right by the road side on the way to Denali

Deborah's video of the road to Denali through our bug-splattered windscreen with Cinematic Orchestra on the radio

Grizzly Bear, as seen from the safety of our shuttle bus

Somewhat less ferocious arctic ground squirrel

Our green shuttle bus

Dall's sheep on a distant hillside

Caribou

View from the Polychrome Pass overlook

Our cozy cabin in Healy

The "classic" outhouse that we didn't use.

Our luxury spa bath

The park sled dogs give a short snow-less demonstration pulling a wheeled cart around a track.

Deborah's video of the sled dog demonstration. The funniest bit is at the beginning when all of the dogs, including those in the kennel who aren't running, are barking their heads off with excitement.