Denali ("The High One") a.k.a. Mt. McKinley
We spotted this large wolf track during our hike
Day 8: Friday, July 28, 2006
Denali National Park
We set our alarm for 4:45 AM and snoozed until 5:15. We had to be on the shuttle bus into Denali N.P. at 6:15. We ate a quick breakfast of cold cereal and headed out. We caught the shuttle and got paired up with an overly talkative guide named RJ Oliva. We chose the Fish Creek shuttle which goes 63 miles into the park and then turns around. It's customary to ride the shuttle until it turns around, then get off and go hiking any where you choose. There are no trails in Denali N.P. so you have to blaze your own. More on that adventure later.
Less than 7 miles into the trip we were rewarded with a handful of wildlife sightings. First we saw a mother moose and her calf, next we saw two grizzly bears and then a group of caribou (reindeer) with huge antlers. Later on, we saw two wolf puppies crossing a riverbed. At our first rest stop, we saw a group of Dall sheep perched on a rocky ledge high up in the Alaskan Range. We also got to see Denali in all it's brilliance - only 20% of visitors to the park get a chance to see it. Denali is also known as Mt. McKinley, but that name is frowned upon by the locals. The name itself has a comical history. Link to Wikipedia and read the section called "Name Controversy" if you want to learn more about the name.
The bumpy ride to Fish Creek is 4 hours long, so we were ready to get off at the turn-around. Remember that thing I said about blazing your own trails? That's exactly what we did. We took off along a small creek bed. Our leisurely walk quickly turned into a grueling up-hill climb. We hiked for about 2 hours around Stony Dome then needed to navigate our way straight down to a riverbed that would eventually lead us back to the road.
Along our hike we saw an unimaginable amount of plants and flowers and encountered populations of arctic ground squirrels defending their territory with loud shrieks as we walked up. The hike was difficult, but absolutely beautiful. We both felt that this was the moment that we got to experience true Alaska, untouched by human hands.
We caught a shuttle returning to the park entrance and on the way back we saw a blonde grizzly mother with two cubs. This was the most rewarding animal sighting of the day.
We got back to our campsite and rigged a grill for the steaks we planned to eat that night. The steaks ended up being good, except for one charred side. We played six games of Yahtzee! then went to bed very satisfied. In my humble opinion, this was the best day of the trip so far.