Denali

Our experiences in Denali State and National Parks have been a microcosm of our overall experience of Alaska - a study in contrasts.

In order to more intimately experience this vast, beautiful landscape and its wildlife, we chose to hike and tent camp. The weather was not cooperative, however, and we were usually wet, cold and windblown - sometimes exhilarated, sometimes miserable and most often just tolerant. We savored 12 hours of sunshine during the eight days out. Those hours were incredibly rich in views of the elusive Denali peak (only 20-30% of those traveling here to witness this mountain, the highest in North America, are actually able to see it through the turbulent weather systems its great heights generate even when it is sunny and clear below).
We savored it’s perspective from high overlooks and also as we hiked around a lovely lake where the eerie, wild call of the loon enhanced the experience of both lake and mountain.

In Denali National Park we also rode buses (designed to protect the 65 miles of park roadway from the impact of hundreds of individual cars) from which we saw a variety of wildlife; remarkable in that this roadway represents a tiny inroad into an area larger than the state of Massachusetts. During our three days we saw small groups of magnificently racked caribou, two grizzly sows with cubs, several moose (including cow with yearling offspring, one a bull in velvet rack), Red fox, ground squirrel, Snowshoe hare, Dall sheep high on mountain slopes, Grey wolf pups - our favorite, Golden Eagles, Ptarmigan (Alaska’s State bird) and many raven, magpie, Grey Jays and a few songbirds. We just missed a lynx glimpsed by others. Most of these were distant views; we had close encounters only with the wolf pups and the smaller mammals upon whom the entire carnivore food chain depends. Although sometimes frustrated by having to ride busses and be part of the tourist mass, we support the intent of providing “wilderness” access while minimizing human impact. We learned that we could leave the bus for hiking intervals and especially enjoyed several hours hiking ridges in the tundra above Polycrome Pass.

As has been the norm for us in Alaska, we were humbled and awed by the vastness and rugged beauty of the country which is difficult to depict in words and photos. Part of the yin and yang of Alaska is its vast, wild beauty which is often difficult and costly to access and frequently requires the sacrifice of personal comforts. My greatest personal discomfort has been the dearth of sunshine. Even though this summer will likely go on record as the wettest, and one of the coolest - we’ve been above 60 twice, the amount of sunshine in a more typical year would likely not be able to meet my needs. A second yin-yang relates to the kinds of people Alaska attracts - and that’s a topic for another blog.