In this article we circle back to Anchorage where we meet up with a friend before heading to Denali National Park. We only stayed in Anchorage for two days at Centennial Park. Victoria knew a fellow travel nurse, Regina, from Savannah and so we planned to meet up after arriving to go hiking. There are hundreds of trails of all types in the Anchorage area. Regina also allowed us to have items shipped to her home before we arrived, which was a huge help to us as it can be very difficult to find a lot of items up in the north.
Unfortunately the breaks on the trailer had decided to stop working, not good when your driving in the mountains. So I tried to make an appointment but most businesses said they were a few days to a week out. Luckily we found Midstate in Anchorage which agreed to at lest take a look. They are electronic brakes and are apparently quite cheap and easy to install so we got all new electrical connectors and brakes for about $700 (seemed reasonable, have no idea) for our dual axle trailer and we got it done that day which was important as we had to keep moving on.
Leaving Anchorage we got a late start so we stayed at the South viewing area along the Parks highway. There are no hookups at the viewpoint and it was $14/night. There was a really nice boardwalk that took you to two different viewing areas. After a couple nights we decided we wanted to get closer to the mountain so we drove to Cantwell and boondocked by a creek, a really nice spot we found on I Overlander. There was a beaver dam and each morning we watched them working. We also had a excellent view of Denali when it decided to show itself the day we left.
We were excited about going to Denali, until we actually got there. I realized that it is my least favorite National Park. Reason being first off the bus and flight system is elitist and completely un-family friendly. You can’t drive any further than 15 miles into the park. If you want to go deeper they make you take a bus. You have a choice of 6,8, or 12 hour bus rides. The cost varies from $60 up to $200 (approximations) per person depending on if you want the bus ride narrated or not. The bus doesn’t take you to what I would even consider the base of the mountain. It needs to be setup up like Zion or the Grand Canyon where you drive IN to the park, and then take buses around. It’s a terrible setup all around. The only way to get a decent view of the mountain is to helicopter in, which is several hundred dollars an hour, then being Denali it’s booked for God knows how many weeks or months in advance, and then it ,may be cloudy anyways… The apparently great view was beaten by nearly every other mountain on the way up or down here because they’re up close and personal.
What we actually did in Denali park was drive the 15 miles in or so that they allow. We couldn’t do the moderate sized hiking trail near the end of the 15 mile turnaround point because the small parking lot was full. We therefore turned around and did a short 1.5 mile trail and then headed back to our awesome campsite. The beavers are cool at least.
Denali maybe an amazing mountain to read about, rising from 300ft to 20,300 ft unlike say Colorado where mountains start at 8,000 feet. Unfortunately it and the and the mountains in the area cause near constant clouds to block the summits as they create their own weather. I was told they only have two clear days in June. We were therefore very lucky when we got a full clear view of the mountain the last day we were there. Even the people who ride the bus in 8,10, 12 hours apparently get less of a view of we did for FREE (na na na na boo boo). It is an impressive mountain, but it is kinda overrated. It is so far away that you don’t get that “WHOA!” feeling like you feel when you can get close to a giant mountain, like Mount Rainer.
Next up we head down the old Denali highway, making the first leg of our long journey back to the U.S. For some reason we thought it would be a good idea to take the old road, its only 130 miles of gravel…
-Written by Tim and Victoria collectively, pictures by Victoria