9 days, Alaska, and May; where would you go?

[Venchka]

I have never been, but this place has been on my radar for quite some time.
Denali State Park.
http://dnr.alaska.gov/parks/units/denali1.htm
Have fun.
Wayne


Old. Slow. "Smarter than the average bear."

[Brewerbob]

"No Denali? Seems a shame to travel 4,000 miles and not see Mt. McKinley."

If flying in during daylight Denali is visible while on the approach to the airport. Also if the atmosphere conditions are good, Denali is visible from Anchorage. Seeing Denali during the commute between Anchorage and Eagle River really made my day.

Lol, I guess I should have defined "see" better. A drive by doesn't really count in my book. I did that at Yellowstone; drove thru the park, did the 1/4 mile tourist trail, saw Old Faithful, then jumped back in the car. I don't want any more visits like that. Mt. Rushmore was literally a Griswold stop.

My wife's step-father had a two sitter Cessna and for the price of fuel, $45 a full tank, would fly me up around there. I sure do miss living in Alaska.

Now that is a good deal, especially if he was allowed to land. Hey I found this case of beer laying around and it's not going to drink itself.

I dunno how I would do with living in AK. The winters; so dark. The cold I could deal with but 4 hrs of daylight would be weird as hell then get old quickly.

[Brewerbob]

I have never been, but this place has been on my radar for quite some time.
Denali State Park.
http://dnr.alaska.gov/parks/units/denali1.htm
Have fun.
Wayne

Denali STATE Park, ... interesting. Didn't know there was one. Not terribly surprised but they really need to work on naming if for no other reason than the search and rescue guys.

Looking at the link now.

[Brewerbob]

Old Toad,
I need to do some more digging on your suggestions. But I'm thinking of sticking with just Denali at this point. If I find a 6 day loop trail, it will be clinched.

All,
Anyone know of a forum that is more focused on AK and/or Denali?

[Venchka]

Not really a forum, but a compilation of things to know about Denali.
http://www.downthetrail.com/hiking-b...national-park/

Wayne

[Brewerbob]

Not really a forum, but a compilation of things to know about Denali.
http://www.downthetrail.com/hiking-b...national-park/

Wayne

Thx. I will go thru the list of hikes there.

[Venchka]

The state park has a trail network. The national park does not.
Wayne


Old. Slow. "Smarter than the average bear."

[nsherry61]

. . . I'm thinking of sticking with just Denali at this point. If I find a 6 day loop trail, it will be clinched. . .

Denali is great! Pun intended.

Spent two summers working up there in the late 80's.

There is (or at least was) very little in the way of trails except right near the road, park headquarters, Kantishna, etc. Most back-country travel is just cross country since it is mostly open tundra. With the shuttle buses going into the park, I wouldn't recommend trying to find a loop, so much as a good hike with a shuttle bus taking you to one end or picking you up from the other, or both.

Just north of the park is Stampede Road (which would add a bit of complexity to shuttling) which might be fun to build into part of an itinerary, given its proximity and history . . . you could stop and see the bus from "Into The Wild".

It might be fun to catch a bus out to Kantishna, (spend the night at the Roadhouse there if you want), and pick a hiking route that leads you back to the road six days later. Of course, you could also hike in from the park entrance if you wanted to start a few days before the shuttles were running, then hike out to the road to catch a shuttle back. If you haven't hiked up there before, you could plan a pretty loose itinerary that allowed you to hike as far as you wanted each day with the expectation that when you got toward the end of your six days, wherever you were you'd head back toward the road and catch the next bus out.

If you are planning on backpacking in Denali, I would recommend getting on the phone and talking to a ranger about great places to hike, there is (or at least was) a pretty active back-country ranger contingent in the park the know a lot and can share some great insight into great places to go and potential problems to avoid.

Have a ball!

[Toolshed]

If yu are near Alaska or the Kenai Peninsula, It is definitely worth a day trip to Girdwood and drive up to the Crow Creek Pass TH. http://www.alaska.org/detail/crow-pass
From here you will hike up an old miner's trail through tons of salmonberry groves until out of nowhere a U shaped massive glacially carved valley opens up, leading you up an incredibly impressive hike past old mining equipment to an NPS Cabin at the to of the summit, a beautiful lake and Raven Glacier.
I have been plenty of places, plenty of countries, but never saw anything as breathtaking as this. It is part of the Chugach National forest and IIRC, part of the old Iditarod trail system YOu will never regret taking a day to hike to the top of this pass.

[Brewerbob]

The state park has a trail network. The national park does not.
Wayne

Not entirely true. The National has a few near the entrance and at least one (???) at the end. But yeah, it's almost entirely trail-less. I'm ok with that. Reading a map and using a compass is easy enough.

Denali is great! Pun intended.

Lol.

Spent two summers working up there in the late 80's.

Now I gotta add you to the hate list too. Why the hell didn't I do the A.T., AK, etc then? Oh that's right, something about joining the damn Navy. Should have saved my money from the HS job and traveled on my own.

There is (or at least was) very little in the way of trails except right near the road, park headquarters, Kantishna, etc. Most back-country travel is just cross country since it is mostly open tundra. With the shuttle buses going into the park, I wouldn't recommend trying to find a loop, so much as a good hike with a shuttle bus taking you to one end or picking you up from the other, or both.

So, I've read up on the park a lot more since posting this. No trails, ... check. Loop, ... I still want one.

Definition of loop = leaving the park road at Mile xx, return to road at Mile yy.

Just north of the park is Stampede Road (which would add a bit of complexity to shuttling) which might be fun to build into part of an itinerary, given its proximity and history . . . you could stop and see the bus from "Into The Wild".

I saw a writeup on that. Road was flooded with beaver ponds and it was a 3 day hike. I think I'll skip it. Maybe the next time. I'm fairly sure if I avoid the proverbial buses there will be a next time.

It might be fun to catch a bus out to Kantishna, (spend the night at the Roadhouse there if you want),

I don't know what this is; I'll check it out.

and pick a hiking route that leads you back to the road six days later. Of course, you could also hike in from the park entrance if you wanted to start a few days before the shuttles were running, then hike out to the road to catch a shuttle back. If you haven't hiked up there before, you could plan a pretty loose itinerary that allowed you to hike as far as you wanted each day with the expectation that when you got toward the end of your six days, wherever you were you'd head back toward the road and catch the next bus out.

This is the new plan and new "loop".

If you are planning on backpacking in Denali, I would recommend getting on the phone and talking to a ranger about great places to hike, there is (or at least was) a pretty active back-country ranger contingent in the park the know a lot and can share some great insight into great places to go and potential problems to avoid.

The one site recommended earlier (a blog) said NOT to rely on the rangers being very helpful. I am giving the benefit of the doubt in that there is too much to recommend vice being unfriendly/standoffish. I sent an email and got a little bit of info. Need to follow up more with that.

Have a ball!

Short of being eaten by a bear or moose, I don't see how I won't. No, Mr. Murphy that is NOT a challenge.

If yu are near Alaska or the Kenai Peninsula, It is definitely worth a day trip to Girdwood and drive up to the Crow Creek Pass TH. http://www.alaska.org/detail/crow-pass
From here you will hike up an old miner's trail through tons of salmonberry groves until out of nowhere a U shaped massive glacially carved valley opens up, leading you up an incredibly impressive hike past old mining equipment to an NPS Cabin at the to of the summit, a beautiful lake and Raven Glacier.
I have been plenty of places, plenty of countries, but never saw anything as breathtaking as this. It is part of the Chugach National forest and IIRC, part of the old Iditarod trail system YOu will never regret taking a day to hike to the top of this pass.

I'll definitely look it up. The tricky part is I hope to do this trip car-less. Hop on the train in Fairbanks and ride down. Didn't realize the train was so expensive. $800 from Fairbanks to Anchorage.

[Venchka]

Why are you flying to Fairbanks? How much is a round trip ticket on the train from Anchorage to Denali?
In another forum, people talk about hiking up one drainage, crossing a pass and hiking down the next drainage. In Denali. Road to road.
Wayne


Old. Slow. "Smarter than the average bear."

[Brewerbob]

Why are you flying to Fairbanks? How much is a round trip ticket on the train from Anchorage to Denali?
In another forum, people talk about hiking up one drainage, crossing a pass and hiking down the next drainage. In Denali. Road to road.
Wayne

Fairbanks is 119 miles from Denali, $618 in airfare, and $275 in bus tix.
Anchorage is 249 miles from Denali, $613 in airfare (it came down since looking last), and $650 for the bus tix.

Less time on the bus, airfare was cheaper but that seems to have changed and considerably less for the bus tickets.



The train from Fairbanks to Denali then from Denali to Anchorage was quoted as $836. I don't know what the train would be from Anchorage to Denali round trip.

[Venchka]

Sorry. For some bizarre reason I thought that Anchorage was closer. That's what happens when I don't consult a map.
Wayne


Old. Slow. "Smarter than the average bear."