Fun in Denali

Although not a typical Alaskan pastime, there are a few opportunities for rafting in the Denali area. Although the river isn't particularly challenging – with only grade 2-3 rapids this time of year – the water is glacial run-off and as such is a point or two above freezing. It's so cold that you have to wear a dry suit to keep you from getting hypothermia! Sounds like my idea of fun! It was quite a good trip with a good bunch of people along for the ride (including the Australians from the previous post) and although no one fell in, we were invited to dive in for a swim – an offer which only I took up. After a minute or so in the water I could see why as I couldn't feel my unprotected hands any more...


Having made it back to our hotel in one piece I had to take a minute or two in a nice warm shower to defrost, but then we were back out on the tourist trail to check out Denali National Park's sled dogs. During the winter months, when snow blankets the entire area, the Park's road becomes impassable. Therefore the rangers patrol the park using dog teams and sleds to make sure that no one's hunting, camping or messing about in the park who shouldn't be. During the summer months the dogs are housed in kennels and visitors get to play with them and watch a quick demo of how a dog team works. Trace was in heaven because she got to make over loads of gorgeous huskies and of course the huskies don't mind a bit of attention either. After a quick once around a gravel track pulled by a carefully selected 5-dog team, the ranger explained what each of the positions in a team did and what dogs are suitable for each. One of the dogs decided to embarrass himself and started digging around in the gravel and showering his handler with stone chips, got himself tangled up in the harness and generally made a nuisance of himself.

We'd been unsuccessful in our Northern Lights viewing, so instead of heading off to Fairbanks like originally planned we arrived at a slightly harebrained scheme to camp in the park and try to see them in the middle of pristine wilderness instead. We made a quick mental checklist – rent camping equipment, buy food, get permit to camp in park, buy bus ticket for park, etc. Our spur-of-the-moment decision struck a chord with a few people and they really pulled through for us. The camping rental place let us keep our tent and gear for two days for the price of only one and the folks in the park's wilderness access center (or WAC for short) were incredibly helpful. We managed to get ourselves to the WAC the next morning fully equipped, provisioned and ready for wilderness exploration!


We missed out on a night at the highly coveted Wonder Lake campground by a matter of minutes but we did manage to grab the consolation prize of a spot at Igloo Creek – which is a good way inside the park and right next to an area closed to hikers due to wolf activity. We were also told by various park people that a few lynx had been spotted in the vicinity of the campground too so we may get to see one of the elusive felines. Our trip out to Igloo Creek was fairly uneventful – although we did get to see a couple of bull moose(s?) on the way. As our bus trundled off down the dusty gravel track, leaving us by the side of the road near our campground we were suddenly on our own and no longer top of the food chain!

We set up camp and decided to go off for a little exploration. We took a little look up nearby Igloo Mountain where we got some lovely views and a close look at some snowshoe hare and a stroll through nearby woods (Igloo Woods perhaps?) where we got to see evidence of recent human habitation (loads of scattered detritus left to rust) and even more recent lynx habitation (disembodied hare's feet). As we settled into our tent, the rain started and we realised that the Northern Lights viewing would be off again tonight... Apart from the constant drumming of the rain and the bitter cold, the night was thankfully uneventful.

The next day we caught our final bus around the park. The clouds had all lifted and we were left with a stunning view of Denali's peaks – even better that two days previously. We also managed to spot much of the same wildlife including foxes, wolves and bears (oh my!) as well as a group of 8 ptarmigans gathered by the roadside! As we left the park for the final time we realised that we'd not managed to spotted a lynx or the Northern Lights but we weren't in any way disappointed. Denali had been very generous in what it had offered us and we very grateful for that.

The next morning (after another failed NL attempt – it was getting beyond a joke at this point...) we headed down to Horseshoe Lake where we heard there were beavers. Horseshoe Lake is a quick 20 minute hike down from the Visitor Center (and right next to the train station) so we could have a quick look for the little aquatic rodents before we caught our train to Fairbanks. Unfortunately it wasn't to be for us and the beavers stayed well and truly at home – although we did see a few trees that they'd been munching on. So we trudge back up the hill, ate a quick lunch and jumped on board the train, headed for the end of the rails in Fairbanks.