Denali National Park

Michelle and I spent most of our time 4 hours north of Anchorage (on the same highway we took south to Whittier – I wasn’t kidding, there is only one highway in Alaska) in Denali National Park.  There are seven national parks in Alaska and Denali is not the biggest one, but this park boasts the mighty Alaska Range and Mt. McKinley, the highest peak in North America.

There are a couple of  places tourists can stay when visiting Denali, but most stay either one mile north of the park entrance (Canyon area) or10 miles north of the entrance (Healy area).  We decided to stay at a lodge-type place in the Canyon area; staying close to the entrance of the park turned out to be a great decision.  There is also a cluster of restaurants in that area, which we took advantage of after our long days of hiking.

Denali is setup in such a way that one road goes from the park entrance for about 100 miles into the park.  Visitors can drive or take a free shuttle up to mile 15, Savage River; after that, only park buses can drive on the road and visitors must pay a fee (the amount depends on the distance you want to go).  We ended up staying within the first 15 miles because this area contained most of the trailheads.

We got up every morning, ate a hearty breakfast at the hotel (breakfast buffet!), and went to the park to hike.  We explored the area and went on many hikes during our time in Denali!  Our two biggest ones were:

1. Savage River Alpine Trail (elevation: 1500 ft, very steep!)

2. Mount Healy (elevation: 1700 ft, we ended up going further than the set trail, so we probably went higher than that)

Don’t forget the animals!  We saw caribou, moose, birds, Dall sheep, and even two grizzly bears!

After our long days of hiking, we tried out some of the local restaurants.  Our favorite was Prospector’s, a pizza place (with gluten-free crust!!).  We even got adventurous with our food in addition to our reindeer and tried elk, yak, and Alaskan halibut.  Yum!

One more interesting note about Denali – we were one of the few younger people in the area.  Most of the activities cater to an older clientele, many on land/cruise tours.  Most people our age were seasonal workers at the restaurants and hotels from all over the world.  Michelle and I ended up making friends with a bunch of these younger people and they gave us good suggestions on hikes, where to eat, etc.  Get this: the server we met at breakfast in our hotel was from Ann Arbor – what a small world!

We also got a lot of attention from the older crowd, many of whom said that was “so cute” to see two young girls traveling all the way up here to hike and see the wildlife.  We even met a group of three fun couples from North Caroline at dinner one night and started chatting with them.  They called us “darling” and ended up giving us half of the ribs they ordered!  Score!

What an amazing experience! After a fun week, Michelle and I headed back to Seattle and then Boston and East Lansing, respectively.  I would love to learn how to backpack and go back up to Alaska someday.  Fun times!

Dog sled demo!

We saw many caribou

So happy to finish!

Me too!

Look at that food! Salmon halibut in the back and yak in the quesadilla in front. Yummy!