July 25: Denali: Ranger Walk and McKinley Bar Hike
Bob: We had seen a notice for a nature hike starting from the campground in the morning and decided to do that. We met a very nice and informative ranger/naturalist by the name of Andy Keller, who led us around the campground and explained about all the plants we were seeing. He had reference materials with him, some which he used in his talk, but he really seemed to have an encyclopedic knowledge of every plant in the area and was enthusiastic about sharing his knowledge. We followed him first around the campground and then up the hillside into the tundra. Even the tundra, which looks just like a kind of carpet of low, bushy grasses, actually had far more diversity of mosses, lichens, blueberry and cranberry bushes, and so forth than I had ever expected. Toward the end of his 2-hour nature walk he had us lay down on the tundra, which I was initially reluctant to do. But when I did finally get myself horizontal, I found the tundra to be a very soft and very deep cushion of vegetation that would easily support my weight, almost like a feather mattress! That was surprising and reminded me of the extraordinarily thick carpets of grass maybe 8 inches high that are found in certain areas of Ireland--also very soft and very hard to walk on due to the thick, springy nature of the surface. Ranger Keller left us up on the hillside as he had to get back to other aspects of his job, and as long as we were up on the hill we decided to explore around and see if we could get a picturesque view of Wonder Lake. We circled around the hill and did get a nice picture of Wonder Lake but there were no trails so we were bushwhacking. That was OK as long as the terrain was fairly open tundra, but when we headed back to camp we got tangled up in an alder and willow thicket. I was astonished at how suddenly and easily I lost my sense of direction, and ultimately had to use my compass to keep myself on course! Taking the most direct route back to camp got us right into a bog and I ended up stepping in puddles hidden under the low, shrubby tundra vegetation and getting my boots soaked. Now THAT reminded me of Qaqartoq, Greenland, where exactly the same thing happened as we roamed the tundra above the village and adjacent fjord. When will I learn? |
Monika: Another rainy night, but it stopped in the morning and started to clear. We started of by taking a nice nature hike with the ranger, who showed us the different willows, spruce, and also told us a lot about lichens and mosses. He left us on top of a knoll where we could look down onto our campground. We started to explore it further until we got to a nice overlook over Wonder Lake. But getting back we bushwhacked over tundra and through bogs. Bob even had to use his compass to keep us on the right course. This meant, of course, that our shoes and socks were soaked when we got back to our tent. |
Bob: The highest mountain in North America is Mount McKinley, which is the huge white mass at the bottom of the map below. We were camped at Wonder Lake, the pin next to the small dark blue patch at the top of the map. After lunch, we shifted to dry tennis shoes for a hike on the McKinley Bar Trail. That trail was supposed to lead us to the McKinley River, which is the broad, braided river in light blue that you see just below the end of the red line. That tiny red line represents the distance we actually walked, so you can see that we actually had quite a distance to go to cross the river and reach the mountain! The skies suddenly (and briefly) cleared, and The High One kind of popped out at us, covered in that beautiful but severe-looking mantle of ice and snow. If you ever see it, you will really understand the name Denali because the mountain massif is just HUGE compared to all the mountains around it, maybe twice as high (23,000 feet) and much longer and wider. |
Monika: Luckily we both had a pair of dry socks and our tennis shoes. So after lunch we decided to hike the McKinley bar trail, a 2.5 mile trail, that was supposed to be easy and nice. We were waiting for the bus to take us to the trail head, when I looked around, and there was The High One looking out over the clouds. A definite WOW moment. |
Bob: Although we had been told that the McKinley Bar Trail was easy, we ended up hiking across an ankle-twisting field of rocks and through toe-stubbing tangles of tree roots, only to find after more than an hour of hard work that our way was blocked by a foot-soaking maze of flooded trails and bridges partly under water! We persevered for a while, but finally after two hours, we gave up and returned to camp to try to dry out our soaked shoes and socks. That process was actually quite difficult because we are not allowed any campfires in the campground due to the grizzly bear danger. We tried to prop our shoes and socks up on the picnic table, hoping the sunlight would dry them out, but were only partially successful at best. That evening we attended a really good lecture on history of park, which really is one of the wildest and most pristine, undisturbed parks in the National Park system. Although the High One was named for President McKinley, he really has no connection to it, so the Alaskans are trying to have the official name changed to Denali but have been so far prevented in doing so by the senators from McKinley's home state! The decision to use the campground bus system rather than punch through a normal highway was, to my surprise, a pro-conservation decision by the government to essentially limit access to the more remote parts of the park. The enterprises at Kantishna are exempted from the driving ban as they pre-date the establishment of that part of the park, as I understand it, and they are thus grandfathered in. I also learned that the climbing season for Denali was just ending, which I found curious as we were in the middle of the summer season,which I would have thought to be the best time for it. Apparently as summer progresses the snow and ice actually get too soft up on the summit for safe climbing, and thus ascents of the mountain are halted in July. |
Monika: The trail went down to the McKinley river bar. At first it went through tundra on a good trail. But since we had so much rain, there were puddles all along, but usually a way around. After a while we got to an old riverbed that had stones of every size. This we had to take very slowly, since we did not want to twist an ankle. After that we came to a couple of creeks, where the park service had put wooden bridges across. But finally we came to a creek that only had stepping stones and these were underwater. Crossing a little upstream gave both of us a bit of wet feet. We were now in the last wooded section of the trail, but it had started to rain and the puddles were getting deeper, and our feet wetter. So about a third of the mile from the river we decided enough, and turned around again with soaked feet. Luckily we each had another pair of dry socks and our sandals. We put the wet shoes and socks outside and hoped that by the next day something would be dry since the rain seemed to be over and we were rewarded with a nice rainbow. The evening was a rather good ranger program about the history of the park and the conservation movement in Alaska. |
July 25: Denali: Walk to Reflection Pool
Bob: Hoping the weather would clear but unfortunately still cloudy. Took a shuttle bus up to the Y intersection to walk North to the reflecting pond, a glacial kettle pool next to the road to Kantishna that reflects Denali perfectly on a clear day--we got moody "cloud" pictures and some lower mountains but no High One. Ate the last of our gorp and cereal bars waiting for clouds to clear but no luck. |
Monika: No rain during the night, so I was hoping for a nice, clear day. But it was still overcast and although we could see more of the mountain than before, The High One showed only part of himself. We were walking around in sandals since both pairs of our shoes were still drying. But things were getting better. Bob's tennis shoes and the insoles from the boots were almost dry. For me it was the boots and the insoles from the tennis shoes that were almost dry. Since the sun was peeking out every now and then, I had great hope for the rest of our footwear. Since we both had something to wear, we decided to walk up to reflection pool for pictures. But as we wanted to avoid the 1.5 mile hike up to the road, we decided to wait for the next shuttle bus. That took us up to the park road and we walked a little over a mile to the reflection pool. Denali was still not cooperating but we got some interesting reflections of the part of the mountains that were visible and the clouds above. We sat down on a convenient rock to eat the last of our breakfast bars and the last of our gorp. We do have to return tomorrow, we are simply running out of food. |
Bob: So we walked back to camp, getting a nice "bumblebee in flower" shot on the way. The bees and other pollinators work hard this far North as the season for blooming flowers is so short. Flowers are blooming here as if it is the end of Spring, but we were also seeing the first signs of the Fall foliage changing colors!! Using her camera's telephoto capability, Monika shot a couple glaciers peeking out from underneath the clouds. The scenery really is fantastic anywhere we look, almost like walking in a picture postcard. Back at camp we had lunch of the last of our chili and the last of our chicken. Our food is running out and we just have enough for breakfast before we leave tomorrow. However, our shoes and some socks have finally dried out, which is much better for packing up in the morning. |
Monika: Since even after this interlude the mountain had not shown itself, we decided to return for lunch. The walk back was fun, because the mountains were always there and gave us different looks. Lunch was the last of the chili and the last chicken. Now we only have dried eggs and two fajitas for tonight and cereal for tomorrow left. In the afternoon, after a nap, we went out to pick blueberries to supplement tomorrow's breakfast. |
