We leave Fairbanks and make our way to Denali National Park & Preserve, but first make a pit stop at 49th State Brewing in Healy, AK. Here we met up with Caryn & Beau and Lee & Kelly as well as met John, Kaitie, and Lucy (the Golden Retriever). The next day, Caryn, Beau, Lee, Kelly and we headed into the park for four nights at Teklanika Campground, which is the last campground along the road that can accommodate RVs.
Stormy was not a big fan since the trails, what few there are, are not dog friendly, so he was relegated to walking the campground loops during our stay. The first day there, I stayed with Storm while the rest of the crew headed one the park shuttle to the end of the road, or at least to mile 43, which is the current end of the road thanks to a landslide in 2021. They saw a brown (grizzly) bear and caribou and did some exploring along the braided river near mile 43.
The next day, Lee, Kelly and I (Jason) headed to a social trail up Mt Margaret. We were exceedingly lucky as we were able to see Denali's peak during our entire hike. Apparently, only around 30% of visitors get to see this and we had an extended viewing. The other half of our group were not as lucky. Mt Margaret was a great hike, despite the high winds and being on the lookout for bears before leaving the tree-line.
The following day, Kelly and Caryn took a hike along Savage River Loop, one of the few established trails in the park. The weather and scenery were beautiful, but the mountain didn't show herself.
On day four, we said our goodbyes (really, "until we meet agains") and headed down the road to the Denali Highway - a 135 mile road between Cantwell and Paxson that affords some of the most incredible views of the Alaska Range. Only 24 miles of the road are paved, and almost all is pretty rough, so we took our time spending two nights and two workdays along the road.
On day three, we arrived in Paxson, turned south, and headed toward our next adventure...hiking on a glacier! We hope to see you there!