Denali National Park - "Close to Nature's Heart"

Denali National Park (42 degrees, rain, sunshine, snow)

"Keep close to nature's heart

and break clear away,

once in awhile,

and climb a mountain

or spend a week in the woods.

Wash your spirit clean."

John Muir

Denali National Park and Preserve is a special place and one where we did spend almost a week in the wilderness. The vastness really struck me. It looked very different from other places we have visited in Alaska and western Canada. It's an arctic desert and it's glorious. Although a lot of snow falls here in the winter it mostly evaporates. It's not as lush as most of Alaska but has a striking beauty all its own. 

The past two post have focused on the animals and seeing the mountain top of Denali. This post is just about its beauty. Words cannot describe it so I'm going to let some of our pictures do the talking. 

Two moose locked in fight to their death

Bear proof door (note the nails)

We hope you enjoyed your visit too!

Campground review:  Teklanika River Campground, also known as TEK, 5 star, well spaced primitive campground 20 miles into Denali National Park, no hook ups, come with empty tanks and water, or fill up at Riley Campground at entrance, definitely has the "it" factor, large, level sites, we were able to use our solar panels, reservations a must, sites are selected first come, first served. We made reservation in January to stay here. No phone signal

It's a gem and another plus is you can avoid two hours on the bus by staying here. (one hour in and one hour out). The bus makes frequent stops and you can reserve a seat on one bus during your stay. Otherwise it's due to availability when it arrives. We did not have a problem getting a seat each day. 

TIP:  I'd recommend the bus which goes to the end of the road for your reservation. This one is less frequent. 

You check in on arrival at Riley Mercantile and get a special pass which allows you to drive out to the campground. If you have a tow vehicle you have to leave it at Riley. Once you are in the campground you cannot drive your motorhome or truck except to leave on your last day. We stayed four nights. 

TIP:  There is a lot to do at the entrance of Denali Park. However, because we were at TEK we could not go back and take advantage of any ranger led walks or go to the sled dog demonstration. If I had to do it all over again, I'd stay two nights at Riley Campground at entrance and at least four nights at TEK.  

We ended up leaving early on our departure morning and attended the excellent sled dog demonstration. These amazing working dogs provide many services to the park. They haul supplies into wilderness areas and patrol the park on extended stays during the winter. Here is a video of the demonstration. It's the only working dog sled team in the NPS and has been operating for 91 years. 

Rangers go out on patrols for 1-3 weeks with their team

Names of all the retired dogs are all over the ceiling of the visitor center

We also stayed near Talkeetna for two nights prior to arriving at TEK.. It's a cute,friendly town with a fun vibe about 120 miles from Denali entrance. This is where the hikers gather to get ready to ascend Denali. Supposedly there is a great view of Denali and the range during a clear day. 

Tip: We sure to stop at the Aurora Dora gallery. Dora sells stunning metal photographs aurora borealis. Even if you don't buy one her stories about them are very interesting. 

Campground review: Trapper Creek RV Park, 2 stars, tight, 30 amp full hook up sites, no WiFi, limited Verizon signal, 35 minute drive to Talkeetna. expensive for what you get.

TIP: Stay closer to town

This is our last post about Denali National Park, but hopefully not our last visit. The big city of Fairbanks is our next stop. 

McCarthy Road Adventure to Kennecott Mine

Copper Center, Alaska (52 degrees, grey skies)

Kennecott Mill

Cooper River

Visiting the Kennecott Mines National Historical Landmark had been recommend to us by many people who had traveled to Alaska. It's accessed by traveling a rugged 59 mile road from  Chitna to McCarthy. 

Fish Wheel

The road had recently been graded and wasn't as rough as we had imagined. It's important  to take your time and hope you don't pick up a rail spike. This road at one time was the rail line  which led to the mine. It was very scenic and located within the largest but least visited National Park (Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve).

Walking bridge to shuttle

The road ends at a parking lot and from there you walk across a bridge and catch a shuttle van to McCarthy. It's a small, dirt road town with just a few full time residents who want to keep it that way. There is a bridge you can drive over to the town but it requires a key to open the gate and costs about $1200 annually for access. The van was free. Works for us.

"Bergie Bits" flowing down river broken off from glacier

Downtown McCarthy

Kennecott in the distance

Tip: After walking around the small town we had a delicious and surprising reasonable lunch at Roadside Potatohead.

From here we took another van  for $5 each to the Kennecott Mines National Historic Landmark.  The mine is not located here nor can it be accessed. However, you can tour the restored buildings and visitor center. The park also offers a guided tour of the mill for $28/person. We did not take this tour due to there being 14 flights of uneven stairs in a dark building. Some of our friends did and enjoyed it. 

We strolled around the many buildings and restored area. The construction of this mine was a massive undertaking. A railroad had to be built spanning rivers, mountains, and even a glacier from the coast to this remote area. It was completed in only four years. Everything had to be transported including miners, food  and equipment. The railroad was used to bring all supplies in and take the copper ore out. Families were not allowed to live here. At the height of the operation over 800 people lived here.  This was a an extremely profitable mine and over the 27 years of operation $200 million was extracted. It closed in 1938.

We did have a brief encounter with a black bear as we were hiking around the mill. Due to so many people being around we did not have our bear spray. Suddenly around the corner of the trail John spotted the bear not very far away from us. We immediately backed up and I reminded John not to turn his back on him. He started to follow us.  Gulp!  We both yelled out "Hey Bear" and clapped our hands and stomped our feet. Luckily for us he shot up and over the hill out of site.  Took me a little while to regroup but all was well. Note to self...always bring your bear spray.

We enjoyed the day very much and were glad we made the trip out here to see it. Saw a female moose on the way back. Life is good!

There is a glacier field you can hike out to (2 miles each direction) and take guided tours or go on your own across the glacier. We did not have enough time but it sure sounded interesting. 

Root Glacier

Campground Review:  Kenny Lake RV Park and Mercantile, 2 stars, gravel, pull through sites, electric only, dump on site, WiFi did not work, difficult entrance to access sites, primitive sites looked much better, $45/night, too over priced for what you received. Good sandwich and coffee shop on premises. We would stay in Chitna next time