Denali National Park, Alaska (Miles to Date: 28800)
Our stay in Anchorage is short – mercifully as I think on our first pass through we did as much as we had wanted to, bar one or two attraction. We are now heading north into the Alaskan interior, through the mighty Alaskan range. It is this range that separates the wet but relatively mild south from the drier but colder north. This range is home to the mighty Mount McKinley, which is known to native Athabaskan’s as Denali meaning the "The Great One" and is the highest mountain peak in North America, at a height of approximately 20,320 feet (6,194 m). Mount McKinley has a larger bulk and rise than Mount Everest. Even though the summit of Everest is about 9,000 feet (2,700 m) higher as measured from sea level, its base sits on the Tibetan Plateau at about 17,000 feet (5,200 m), giving it a real vertical rise of a little more than 12,000 feet (3,700 m). The base of Mount McKinley is roughly a 2,000-foot plateau, giving it an actual rise of 18,000 feet (5,500 m).
The vagaries of the Alaskan weather means that Mount McKinley is often not visible due to cloud cover and as we left Anchorage the rain and low clouds look set in for the day. Perhaps we were not destined to see this icon of Alaska. Fortunately the drive up to Denali National Park
(where Mount McKinley is the centre piece) is quite long so we pray for a break in the weather. As we pass closer to the park we see a whole load of car pulled in on the side of the road so being curious folks we pulled over too. Much to our delight on the side of the road was a black bear quite happily munching on some plants – we tentatively got out to take some photos. These animals can be aggressive but there were a large number of us and they are not known to attack groups and would be more likely to run off. So we snapped a few shots and moved on. As luck would have it almost at this point in time the cloud cover started to break-up and 20 minutes later the skies were relatively clear and we came across an ideal vantage point to see Mount McKinley, 
and we were so pleased that in the distance but prominent amongst all its neighbours stood the snow capped peaks of McKinley. We were so lucky – so much so that we stood for quite some time soaking it all in. Yet as always we still had a distance to go.
For two nights we are based in the Denali Lodge cabins. Although one might expect these to be quaint log cabins we would describe them more a the potting shed gentlemen of a certain age back home might have use to escape the prying eyes and sharp tongues of their spouses. Anyway we don’t plan to spend much time in them. The day is still warm and sunny – and these long days give you plenty of time to pack stuff in – so we headed off into the National Park to check out what programmes we being run the next day. Once this was completed we decided to drive 11 miles into the park – essentially as far as private vehicles are allowed to go. You can venture much deeper into the park but you have to take a tour bus – we decided to settle for a hike.
Mum and dad wanted a gentle saunter down along the river – but Jack and Emil wanted to scale the hill so on this occasion the children had their choice. As we climbed higher we soon realised that it was much steeper than we had anticipated and very rugged terrain. Karen decided that she wanted to stop so Mark, Jack and Emily continued on alone. Not much further on Mark’s lack of fitness gave out so he stopped and let Emily and Jack press on thinking it was not much further to the top. When he lost sight of them and they didn’t return 10 minutes later he got worried and continued to the top and then could find them. Unbeknownst to him they had come down a different route and so he set off down yet another route. It was about 45 minutes later when we all managed to hook up again – with everyone angry with each other (this is how the concern was expressed). Mark had been worried about Jack and Emily, Karen about Mark etc etc. Having said all that it was a wonderful walk and the views across the tundra to the distant mountains was spectacular. We all slept well that night.
Today we were delighted with our choice to do the walk the previous day as it turned out to be a grotty day – wet and cold. So we decided to head for the Murie Science and Learning Center, named after Adolph Murie naturalist, author, and wildlife biologist who pioneered field research on wolves, bears, and other mammals and birds in Artic and sub-Arctic Alaska. This Centre is a collaboration between the National Park Service and other institutions, carrying on many areas of research into the geography, wildlife biology and the ecology of Denali and the wider reaches of the Alaskan wilderness. We spend a half an hour studying the wonderful exhibits on show before heading off to hear what turns out to be a fantastic talk by one of the researchers from the Centre on the glaciers in Denali National Park.
After this illuminating presentation we head back to the Park’s main Visitor Centre so Jack and Emily can extend their collection of Junior Ranger badges. This also gave us an opportunity to explore the exhibits. The weather was if anything getting worst outside, but being hardy souls we braved the conditions outside to join one of the Park Rangers on a short trail around the Visitor Centre. We simply love these Ranger programmes, and best of all today we were the only four people on the walk – our own personal Ranger. As always it was great to learn about the history and ecology of the area. We also discovered our Ranger was only here for the summer months in winter he led dog mushing tours into Denali park – often camping out there in temperatures around minus 30 or 40 degrees Fahrenheit.
One last planned activity for the day was to visit the sled dog kennels in the Park. Denali is the only National to have its own dog teams, which are used in the winter months to manage the park. The Park is open all year round and even in the frigid winters people want to enter the park to explore the wilderness. The kennels provide much better conditions for the dogs than we saw at the Seavey kennels in Seward. The dogs were extremely sociable and loved the attention and to be petted. Of course we were only too happy to do this. As well as the chance to walk around the kennels one of the Rangers gave a presentation on the history of the Denali dog sled teams and the roles they continue to play in managing the park to this date. As no motorised vehicles are allowed into the wilderness areas this is the only means of transport through the long winter months.
Our stay in Anchorage is short – mercifully as I think on our first pass through we did as much as we had wanted to, bar one or two attraction. We are now heading north into the Alaskan interior, through the mighty Alaskan range. It is this range that separates the wet but relatively mild south from the drier but colder north. This range is home to the mighty Mount McKinley, which is known to native Athabaskan’s as Denali meaning the "The Great One" and is the highest mountain peak in North America, at a height of approximately 20,320 feet (6,194 m). Mount McKinley has a larger bulk and rise than Mount Everest. Even though the summit of Everest is about 9,000 feet (2,700 m) higher as measured from sea level, its base sits on the Tibetan Plateau at about 17,000 feet (5,200 m), giving it a real vertical rise of a little more than 12,000 feet (3,700 m). The base of Mount McKinley is roughly a 2,000-foot plateau, giving it an actual rise of 18,000 feet (5,500 m).
The vagaries of the Alaskan weather means that Mount McKinley is often not visible due to cloud cover and as we left Anchorage the rain and low clouds look set in for the day. Perhaps we were not destined to see this icon of Alaska. Fortunately the drive up to Denali National Park
(where Mount McKinley is the centre piece) is quite long so we pray for a break in the weather. As we pass closer to the park we see a whole load of car pulled in on the side of the road so being curious folks we pulled over too. Much to our delight on the side of the road was a black bear quite happily munching on some plants – we tentatively got out to take some photos. These animals can be aggressive but there were a large number of us and they are not known to attack groups and would be more likely to run off. So we snapped a few shots and moved on. As luck would have it almost at this point in time the cloud cover started to break-up and 20 minutes later the skies were relatively clear and we came across an ideal vantage point to see Mount McKinley, 
and we were so pleased that in the distance but prominent amongst all its neighbours stood the snow capped peaks of McKinley. We were so lucky – so much so that we stood for quite some time soaking it all in. Yet as always we still had a distance to go.For two nights we are based in the Denali Lodge cabins. Although one might expect these to be quaint log cabins we would describe them more a the potting shed gentlemen of a certain age back home might have use to escape the prying eyes and sharp tongues of their spouses. Anyway we don’t plan to spend much time in them. The day is still warm and sunny – and these long days give you plenty of time to pack stuff in – so we headed off into the National Park to check out what programmes we being run the next day. Once this was completed we decided to drive 11 miles into the park – essentially as far as private vehicles are allowed to go. You can venture much deeper into the park but you have to take a tour bus – we decided to settle for a hike.
Mum and dad wanted a gentle saunter down along the river – but Jack and Emil wanted to scale the hill so on this occasion the children had their choice. As we climbed higher we soon realised that it was much steeper than we had anticipated and very rugged terrain. Karen decided that she wanted to stop so Mark, Jack and Emily continued on alone. Not much further on Mark’s lack of fitness gave out so he stopped and let Emily and Jack press on thinking it was not much further to the top. When he lost sight of them and they didn’t return 10 minutes later he got worried and continued to the top and then could find them. Unbeknownst to him they had come down a different route and so he set off down yet another route. It was about 45 minutes later when we all managed to hook up again – with everyone angry with each other (this is how the concern was expressed). Mark had been worried about Jack and Emily, Karen about Mark etc etc. Having said all that it was a wonderful walk and the views across the tundra to the distant mountains was spectacular. We all slept well that night.Today we were delighted with our choice to do the walk the previous day as it turned out to be a grotty day – wet and cold. So we decided to head for the Murie Science and Learning Center, named after Adolph Murie naturalist, author, and wildlife biologist who pioneered field research on wolves, bears, and other mammals and birds in Artic and sub-Arctic Alaska. This Centre is a collaboration between the National Park Service and other institutions, carrying on many areas of research into the geography, wildlife biology and the ecology of Denali and the wider reaches of the Alaskan wilderness. We spend a half an hour studying the wonderful exhibits on show before heading off to hear what turns out to be a fantastic talk by one of the researchers from the Centre on the glaciers in Denali National Park.
After this illuminating presentation we head back to the Park’s main Visitor Centre so Jack and Emily can extend their collection of Junior Ranger badges. This also gave us an opportunity to explore the exhibits. The weather was if anything getting worst outside, but being hardy souls we braved the conditions outside to join one of the Park Rangers on a short trail around the Visitor Centre. We simply love these Ranger programmes, and best of all today we were the only four people on the walk – our own personal Ranger. As always it was great to learn about the history and ecology of the area. We also discovered our Ranger was only here for the summer months in winter he led dog mushing tours into Denali park – often camping out there in temperatures around minus 30 or 40 degrees Fahrenheit.
One last planned activity for the day was to visit the sled dog kennels in the Park. Denali is the only National to have its own dog teams, which are used in the winter months to manage the park. The Park is open all year round and even in the frigid winters people want to enter the park to explore the wilderness. The kennels provide much better conditions for the dogs than we saw at the Seavey kennels in Seward. The dogs were extremely sociable and loved the attention and to be petted. Of course we were only too happy to do this. As well as the chance to walk around the kennels one of the Rangers gave a presentation on the history of the Denali dog sled teams and the roles they continue to play in managing the park to this date. As no motorised vehicles are allowed into the wilderness areas this is the only means of transport through the long winter months. 
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