Teklanika Campground – Checkin for the campground(s) are at the bus terminal at the entrance to the park. You also will get your bus passes at the bus terminal and you need a bus pass.The campground has two loops and is nice and small on the Teklanika River. Using the word river is a strong word right now as there is not much water flowing down the river. The bathrooms are vault toilets and they are nice but more important abundant throughout the campground. Each loop has a bear vault for storage of food if you don’t have a vehicle or you just want your food stored outside of your campsite. In addition to the food vault there is a storage place for flammable material. You can have fires at the campsite but to purchase wood it has to be done before you come into the campground. Fires must be in the fire ring that is provided by the campground, and you can’t make up your own fire ring. Rules say once you come up here you stay until you want to leave, not a bad idea. Why you ask I say it is not a bad idea, the road to the campground is the park road and after Savage River you will be on a dirt and gravel road for 15 or so miles. The speed limit is 35 and at times 20 so be prepared for a long journey, it took me over 1.5 hours to get here. Traveling at a high rate of speed on these washboard dirt roads is not the most ideal for your vehicles suspension. The campground host is from Tyler, TX and he has been working in Denali for over 10 years. He gave me the directions to the bluff valley trail head and I was able to go up, see below. I was bummed as the Ranger Talk for the last night was not actually at “Teklanika” but another park, the host gave me bad information on the Ranger Talk. Guess I will not get any ranger talks in Denali.
Eielson Visitor Center – The bus pickup today was at 0710 so the “wake up call” was at 0615 today. We made the bus stop and it was about 10 minutes late but you had to be at the stop 15 minutes before the scheduled arrival. Note: If you don’t have a ticket for a particular bus the bus is on a space available basis, and today 5 people got on the bus who were not scheduled. On the way to the the visitor center there are two bathroom break areas one just 1 mile from the campground and the second is about 15 miles past the first break stop. The driver today was Darlene and she had a pleasant voice but was a stickler for making sure your mask was above your nose. At one point she let the passengers know that if they did not comply with the rule that she would call the rangers and leave the person at the next stopping point to deal with the rangers. One of the things about the bus is your driver is also your tour guide. Spotting of animals is something the driver does but also they ask the passengers who spot an animal to give a shoutout and then tell the spot based on the clock. That second part was a challenge for our bus at 0710 who started out at the bus depot at 0600! On the way to the visitor center we saw some caribou, sheep, and a bear running down the road, and we had to stop for him. The squirrel population was out this AM and we slowed down for each and every one of this little guys. We had a 10 minute stop at Polychrome to stretch your legs and take a few photos. Factoid: Denali has footprints from dinosaurs and the area is called “dinosaur dance floor.” The footprints are hard to see and a most people don’t see them even when they are in the dance floor area. Today, was a great day as we got to stop on the way and get off the bus for a photo shoot with Denali mountain! We finally made the visitor center at 1000. The experience at the visitor center is 30 minutes if you want the same driver and a guaranteed seat back to your starting point. While at the visitor center you have a great view of Denali if you are lucky with the weather. Some stats which were collected by the NPS from 1993 – 2010 say that in July you have total visibility of Denali only 2 days, partial view 11 days and no view 18 days! Today we had one of the two days! It was beautiful to see the mountain, more under Denali the mountain. The choice today was to go hike and explore so we said goodbye to Darlene. When it was time to come home, since we did not get on the bus with Darlene we had to let the dispatcher know that we were ready and he would call our names when there was a bus with a seat for us to ride home. As luck would have it, we had a short wait for the next bus. The bus did to leave on time but late as there was too many people who stayed at the visitor center and not enough buses to take them home so Cindy’s bus had to take Justin’s passengers who were going home. The ride back also stopped at the two rest stops but only for 5 minutes not the 10 on the way out to the visitor center. The return trip we say a bear, and caribou but nothing else. I was happy has I wanted to get back to camp to rest and relax after the day of the bus.
Eielson Visitor Center Round 2 – The trip started with getting a space available seat on the 1040 bus from the campground. Dale was the bus driver and he has been driving in Denali for 26 years and is number 25 on the seniority list of drivers for Denali buses. He even got married in Denali and had a bus take his crew of 44 people to the wedding spot with his friend being the driver who turned a bus around on the park road. For those of you who have not been on the park road it is just wide enough for 2 buses to pass without much room and to do a “K” turn it was more than a 3 point turn for sure. The bus drivers are all very professional and Dale had a wealth of knowledge of the park. The bus saw many caribou when driving to Eielson but we did not get to see all of the Denali mountain today as it was partially obstructed so we did not stop on the road for photos of the mountain. Dale did spot a bear today while driving and he let the 41 of us on the bus know that he was better than us in spotting wildlife. A caribou was on the road and we had to wait for it to go off the road in order to continue but it was funny seeing the animal run down the road then stop and walk then stop and stare at us. All things considered the trip to Eielson was good today. The trip home was with Jeff and Jeff was the “extra” section of the bus in order to take people down the mountain. Jeff was not like Dale at all but we did see 6 Dall sheep, a herd of caribou in the creek bed, a bear and a golden eagle. If you plan on coming to Denali don’t come in 2023 due to a bridge being built. The bridge is needed as the road is sinking 2 inches a month and it is a bit scary to ride over but the professional drivers handle it without issues, thanks to their professionalism.
Thorafare Ridge Trail – The trail head is at the Eielson Visitor Center just above the parking lot and is only 2 miles round trip. The kicker with this hike is it is 1 mile to the top but it is 1,000 feet of elevation gain in this 1 mile. The trail is dirt and rock with many switchbacks. The width of the trail is hard for 2 hikers to pass but you need to find a way to make it happen since you need to stay on the path and not walk on the tundra. The hike is not for the faint of heart but it can be done. The view of Denali is nice during the hike and is something that you should try, just go slow and steady.
Tundra Loop Trail – The trail head is on the lower side of the Elieson Visitor Center and it is shared with the Gorge Creek Trail. The trail is only 0.8 miles and has 200 feet of elevation gain. This trail is easy and should take no more than 30 minutes to complete. The path is gravel and be sure to stay on the path as the tundra does not go very fast and if you walk over it you kill it so STAY ON THE PATH.
Denali the mountain – Some of you may remember Denali was once called McKinley. The reason for the name for the Western people was an article was published in a New York paper and the author of the article named the mountain after a presidential candidate. The native people had always called the mountain Denali (for big one) and the name was changed by Presidential degree back to Denali by the National Geological Society. They also remeasured the mountain to get a more accurate height. Denali has two peaks the South and the North with the South standing at 20,310 feet. The north peak is shorter at 19,470 feet. The mountain also supports other peaks like Browne Tower at 14,600, East Buttress at 14,630. In the distance you also have Peters Done at 10,600. The last two are Mount Silverthrone at 13,200 and Mount Brooks at 11940. Being as large as it is Denali supports two glaciers. The first of the two glaciers is Harper Glacier and it ends at a cliff where we then get Muldrow Glacier. Muldrow ends at the start of the McKinley river, so Muldrow feeds the river. The year 2021 is special for Muldrow glacier as it was surging 40 – 60 feet a day! It has slowed to 10 – 20 feet a day. To put this into perspective most glaciers move inches a year. The last time the glacier was moving at this rate was in 1954. The surge is caused by water being underneath the glacier and pushing the ice down the mountain and into McKinley river. The river is over 6 feet high right now due to the surge of the glacier. Denali is not always visible and here are some stats from the NPS collected from 1993 – 2010 related to the visibility of the mountain. Total visible days in June 4, July 2, August 4 and September 5. Partially visible days in June 10, July 11, August 11 and September 4. You can see then that the not visible days outnumber the visible days with June being 13, July 18, August 16, and September 7. The park closed in September. Today was a total visible day and the mountain is spectacular. The weather for July 11, 2021 at Denali was predicted to be 56 degrees Fahrenheit and a low of 41 degrees with it being sunny. Sunlight at Denali today was a total length of 19 hours and 43 minutes due to the sunrise at 0415 and sunset at 2358. It sure seems longer than this when you are here in Denali.
Teklanika Campground Bluff Trail – I will start off by saying the trail up was much different than the way down from the bluff. The reason for the difference is that the trail head was not well known and one person said it was on the road out of the campground the other said it was on the park road about 1/4 mile down. We tried the first trail head and after about 100 yards turned back around and went to the main road. The main road we tried the trail and we made it to the top of the bluff but it required some heavy bushwhacking. The trail was not really a trail but saying a game trail is a strong statement as the trail was being blazed. Walking on the tundra was like walking on a memory foam bed that had logs. Sometimes you sunk down when walking other times you were on top of the log and did not sink, it was hit or miss when hiking. I was smart and took the plastic tips off of the trekking poles so I did not have to purchase a 4th pair on this trip! The bushwhacking that the people who mentioned the trail was real on the way up and I was thinking, “I hope I can find my way back down this hill.” while walking up. As luck would have it, I noticed a rise in the terrain and at the top of the terrain was a trail! Yep it was the trail at the top of the bluff and the one that I was looking for to hike. After a few steps there was a lookout and this lookout was looking down on the Teklanika River so I was not lost after all. The trail at the top was not far and it started down so off I went. The trail ended at the river and I have to say that it was not something that I was going to cross due to the speed and depth of the flowing water. After looking for a place to cross and not finding one back up I went. Once I got to the overlook spot I stopped to enjoy the fruits of my labor and had a rest in some shade. The way back down the bluff was much easier and direct, who knew finding the trail and using it was the way to go. The trail required a stream crossing that had a row of rocks that were above the water after a steep downhill trek that was only about 5 yards log. The trail lead along the stream and the across a little island which then required an additional stream crossing. Once again there were some rocks that allowed feet not to get wet during the crossing and successful crossing was completed. The second crossing then turned into a road, and as it turns out leads right into the campground! The road when coming into the campground has a sign that says no vehicles and this is the road that the trail head is when getting to the bluff. I am sure if there was All Trails (joke for my friend Dave) the bushwhacking on the way up would not have happened or maybe not. No cellular service here in Denali and no Wi-FI to download the trail. Guess someone needs to get me a GPS and GPS service plan for my birthday/Christmas so I don’t get lost when hiking.
Gorge Creek Trail – The trail head for this is right at the Eielson Visitor Center and is the same as the Tundra Loop Trail. The trail is a go down then back up with 600 feet of elevation gain and it 2 miles roundtrip. The trail is small but easy to see and hike. It is dirt and some rocks but easy on the feet and body. Once down at the creek you then walk on a creek bed as long or short as you want. There are spots to cross the creek bed if you are so adventuresome but today that was not in the cards for yours truly. I enjoyed a nice little walk maybe 100 yards down the creek bed and found some rocks to sit and enjoy Denali and the surrounding area while having a snack. The hike up was not too bad since it was 600 feet in 1 mile. I have to say that doing this hike up was good and there is a “Y” towards the visitor center and we selected the one we did not go down.
Teklanika Bluff Valley Trail – Well today, I found the way to the top of the bluff that I wanted to go up the other day but did not know the way. The campground host told me to go to the park road and turn left and head down the road. The trail is on the right and if I saw the kettle pond I went to far and to go back around. As luck would have it I found a trail on the right about 1/4 mile down the road. The trail was a bit better than a game trail and was dirt and brush. Many places the brush was over the trail making going a bit harsh but the hike was not bad up this way. In one spot it was steep when you neared the top of the trail. When you got to the top of the trail you had a nice view of the valley beyond the bluff. I started to walk along the ridge for a bit and when down into the valley. The bushwhacking started then as there was not really a trail just the memory foam ground with some soft spots, holes and trees. I decided to go to a tree off in the distance and off I headed. I did look back a few times to make sure I could return to the trail, thinking ahead. The tree which did not look that far away was about 1 mile and with the bushwhacking it took almost an hour to reach the spot. I was going to go further but decided the I should turn around since I did not have all trails app for this little hike, NOT. I did turn around as it was hard going to get to this point. The walk back I did not go the same way as the path was not warn and just bushwhacking my way back to the trail. Along the way I found 2 more kettle ponds. Factoid: Kettle ponds are formed when the glacier is receding and it leaves a big block of ice that melts into the pond. The kettle ponds which I saw you could not see all the time but when you could see them they were nice little ponds. Once back to the trail I went the other direction and was able to see the campground and even Dundee! I know he wants a photo for his instagram account so I took a photo of him in the campground. The trail down was a bit steeper as I went a second way down. After the initial steep downhill the trail was very easy down. When I got back to the road, I went to the kettle pond by the road and enjoyed two ducks swimming on the pond. The trek back to the campground was easy on the park road.
Roadside hiking trail – The trailhead is at the Denali Visitor Center just outside the parking lot. The trail is gravel and dirt and is very wide, 2 people can cross without issues. The best part of this trail for me was it allowed me to walk from the visitor center to the sled dog kennels. Roadside with its name does go along the road for a bit but you are in the trees during this walk. The trails are well marked with signposts and they were very easy to follow. The walk to the kennels is mainly uphill which I did not notice on the way to the kennels but on the way back I noticed the downhill walk was most of the way. The hike to the kennels from the visitor center is 2 miles and I would say that anyone can make this hike as the uphill is most of the way to the kennels but the elevation gain is about 200 feet. During the hike, I saw only 4 other people so it is quiet.
Sled Dog Kennels – The sled dogs are a must see at Denali! The park has a herd of freight sled dogs for 100 years as of this year. The current group mostly came from a dog named Susie who was a great sled dog/lead dog. The park service as two types of kennels for the dogs. One is a dog house, with the dogs name on the house, and the other is a fenced kennel with a house. The dogs are rotated in various positions in the kennel between the two types of houses. The dog house outside the fenced kennel the dog is on a chain and the chain is in the ground pretty well to prevent the dogs from pulling the post out of the ground. The dogs can run around the pole or go inside or go above their house. The kennel dogs are in the kennels due to things like a female in heat, or the dog is eating rocks, the kennel has no rocks to eat. Additionally, the dogs are kept male next to a female and visa versa to prevent dog fights in the kennel. This is also true when the dogs are hooked to a dog sled. The sleds are made by the park service and consist of plastic runners that are screwed into a laminated wood runner with multiple layers of wood. On top of the wood runner is another layer of plastic. The plastic is similar to that you would see on a countertop in a public restroom that is about 1/2 inch thick. The runners are attached with a curved piece of plastic at the front and at the back is the handle for the musher. The handle is also wood and plastic like the runners but they are held together with twine, as they have to be flexible. Between the two runners on the bottom is a sheet of plastic and this plastic will be the bottom of what is being carried on the sled. The sled will have a big giant pocket that has velco to close/open and is also waterproof to hold all of the various things needed when on the trail. The dogs are currently walked each day by volunteers of the park service, no you can’t volunteer and walk one when you come see the dogs. In past years there was a demonstration of the dog sled team three times a day but they are not doing it this year so the dogs have to be walked. The dogs which the national park service has are freight dogs, mentioned above, and then there is also a speed dog for racing. The freight dogs are larger and can pull more weight per dog. The sled and musher can only weight 500 pounds with a team of 8 dogs! The dogs can pull this sled for 20 miles a day but they do require breaks. The temperature impacts the dogs as they love the weather colder than warmer with above 30 being warm and -40 is the coldest they will run. A Park Ranger Musher told me that the dogs when the stop to rest will eat snow to cool down, and even make “snow angels” in the snow. I don’t think they look like the ones we make but I get the picture of what is happening with the dog on his back and squirming around in the snow. The sleds for the NPS go out in a minimum of a pair but sometimes there are 4 sleds heading out at once. The musher has to do a few things on the trail. One is to give commands like “ready” to get the dogs attention and ready to leave. Then the go signal varies from musher but “straight ahead” is a simple one. Go to the right is “Gee” and left is “Haw” since they are simple one syllable words that can’t be confused. The stop command is “stop.” The musher also has to do a few things on the trail other than directions. The first is to ride on the sled with a foot on each runner. The second is the put one foot on the opposite running and then pretend they are on a skateboard and use their off leg to push the sled along. The third thing is to run along the side of the sled. The fourth and last thing is to help push the sled! One reason for the running and pushing it to take weight off of the dogs load they are pulling and the other is the incline maybe the dogs need help. The sleds have 3 different method of stopping the sled. The first is a foot peddle that has two spikes on and this is the primary stopping method in snow. The second is a “mat” with screws for spikes (the NPS uses part of a snowmobile track cut down to about 12 inches long with some screws in it and this is attached to the bottom of the sled. The last is the emergency break that is a big giant hook that was welded and it attached to the front of the sled with ropes. There are two of these and the musher will stomp them into the ground to make sure they stay but will also lay the sled down on the spike to prevent the spike from coming up. Note: The musher said never walk behind the sled as if they dogs go they will not come back for you and you are walking! I observed a few dogs going for walks or coming back from walks. It was funny to see the other dogs reaction to their friend being walked. They would bark, jump (they can jump high) and just be upset that they are not going for a walk, even if they just got back from a walk. These dogs were gentle and you can pet them if they come to you but you can’t call them to you to pet. I have to say that a musher is a hard job in the cold. The sign below is on the “Trail” around the kennel and it is funny related to what a musher must do, carry and know. Note: The lead dog can smell the trail when running and also knows the difference between fresh snow on the trail and blazing a new trail, choose your lead dog well. Factoid: Each dog produces 0.75 pounds of waste a day and the park service uses this waste to create compost. Another factoid is that the dog sleds go to Wonder Lake n the winter. During the summer on the bus it takes 6 hours to get there but a sled team it takes 2-3 weeks. The park service has some cabins that the mushers use to sleep and also keep stock of food etc. for the dogs since the 500 pound limit comes quickly with all the food for the dogs.
Savage River Loop Trail – To start with this trail it is kinda a loop trail. You can pick up one of the trailheads just past the pit toilets on the bus stop side of the river or the other trail head is in the parking lot side just past the pit toilets. The trail is 2 miles and is rated at moderate with negligible elevation gain/loss. I have to say that I did not think moderate was the correct rating as it was very easy trail to walk. The trail is crushed gravel for the most part and then there is a bridge that allows you to cross the river and go to the other side of the trail to complete the loop. Along the way there were plenty of ptarmigan with their chicks near the river. When the route was finished today a few volunteers were at the trailhead. If in Denali, take this little trail and see some wonderful sites of the park. Today, we had a few people playing music with the flag from Tibet up on the side of the hill/mountain that was nice to hear.
Savage Alpine Trail – The name of this trail should have told me that it was going to be hard but then the strenuous label from the park system was another indicator. The hike is 4 miles one way, and I only took the trail one way and it has 1,500 feet of elevation gain/loss. One side of the trailhead is by the bus stop at Savage River Campground or you could do what I did and take the Savage River bus to the Savage River trail, do that trail then hit the Savage Alpine Trail. The trailhead for the river side is the same place as the river loop behind the pit toilets on the parking lot side. The Trail goes up hard and fast from this side and you get about 800 – 900 feet in less than 1 mile from the river side. I have to say that I kept looking up to see when the climb was going to stop but it seemed to never come or at least not quickly. The trail was crushed rock and dirt but many switchbacks and stairs were in this first part of the trail. When at the bottom you can look up at this boulder and think that is high but you blow right past this spot on the trail. Towards the top of the climb you get to walk through some boulders and the good today was it broke the wind to warm you up. After, this boulder area you then begin a gradual climb up the remainder of the mountain along a dirt/crushed stone trail. You can see the trail that goes up and to your right over to a point on the other mountain. The trail is much easier after the climbing part was over and was more enjoyable for me to complete. It was windy today so it was a bit chilly when hiking in the open on the mountain but a bit chilly is better than really cold when hiking, keeps the sweat down. When the “alpine” part is done you get to the high point of the hike. I was thankful for the downward part of the hike to begin. The little downward part of the hike at the top provided some good views of the trail you went on to get here if you came from the river or if you started at the bus stop the way you have to go to complete the “alpine” portion. After a snack and a few photos (being cold helped get the hiking started more quickly than I normally would have started back down. The hike down was easy compared to the hike up. The switchbacks were not steep nor did it have many steps for you to up/down while on the backside of the hike, when starting from the river. The downward portion’s trail was dirt and rock until you come to the a creek when the trail is all dirt. At one portion of the trail before the dirt area you walk across a boardwalk where I encountered two trail runners going up the trail. To be young again and trail run. Near the end of the trail for me today was a little sitting area near the creek which I bypassed and continued onward to the campsite. Seeing the Park Road was a great thing as it meant the trail was coming to an end but only to have a head fake. You had about 0.4 miles to go to the bus stop to cross the street. Well you can tell I made it with me writing this portion of the blog. I also want to say that after today’s hike I went and sat in Savage River for 15 minutes to provide some ice to my old bones. The water is in the low 40’s and it felt wonderful to refresh my body after today’s hike.
Horseshoe Lake Loop Trail – The trail head is at the visitor center across the street, same place as the trail to the dog kennel. The trail is rated at 250 feet of elevation gain/loss and 2 miles. Starting on the dirt and rock trail is a bit upwards then you get to cross a bridge and then go to the right. The path then has some boardwalk elements to it and starts down until you get to the rail road tracks. Note: You could park at the rail road tracks and cut the distance in 1/2 but not the elevation change. After the RR tracks you go up for a short bit then the steady downhill begins. The trail has a nice view of the lake from an elevated area which is worth a stop and look to see the lake from above. It is definitely a stop on the way back up. From the stop with a bench you then begin the downhill hike that is on stairs that are not hard but just steady down on steps. Once at the bottom of the stairs you will come to a “Y” in the trail. To the right is the way the NPS wants you to travel so off I went. There is another lookout onto Horseshoe lake just a few yards past the “Y.” This lookout has 2 benches and you access another “Y” in the trail. One heads to a Beaver Dam, and it is about 0.1 mile and worth the distance to see this great big beaver dam. The other way continues the trail towards the Nenana River. You walk along the river for a little bit then head back into the beaver area. You see the trees gate by beaver on the way down the hill but at the lake they are everywhere. The trail allows you to see many beaver dams and also at one point you are on the waters edge. The water is crystal clear allowing you to see the bottom of the lake at 10-15 feet deep from the waters edge. When the loop of the lake is done the uphill stairs begin. These stairs again are not like those of the Savage Alpine Trail but used to provide you with a bit steeper incline than the regular trail and prevent the trail from being washed out. All in all this is a cool hike that you should go on when in Denali.
Savage River Campground – The campground has two loops and has one is for tents and the other for everyone else. There are 2 group sites at the campground as well. The draw is the it has running water with flush toilets, but that is only on one end of the campground. The other ends bathrooms are pad locked so you can use one of many pit toilets within the campground. The spots are nice and you have privacy for the most part within the campground at your spot. The hosts make the campground so special to me. These particular hosts have been in Denali for 18 years and even have business cards with their email and phone number on them. The host today wanted to make sure everyone knew that Denali was in view from the campground, the photos did not turnout well but there are below. The hosts are from Huntsville, TX and I found out yesterday that these hosts are the parents of the host at Teklinika Campground where we spent the first 5 nights. This campground is good but “Tek” was better in my opinion due to once you are there you stay and at Savage River Dundee has done a bunch of driving each day.
