June 17, 2010 Denali to Mt. McKinley

We packed our bags so the ever efficient Princess staff could pick them up at 8A and ferry them on to the Mt. McKinley Lodge in Trappers Creek. Doug and I are really enjoying traveling by bus, something that surprises us both. With our bags off to their next destination we took the shuttle back to the National Park Visitors Center.

There we picked up the Horseshoe Lake Trail, a 1.5 mile easy/moderate hike. The trail head was at the train tracks. We descended down a fairly steep trail to the lake. The beavers had constructed two intricate, very effective, dams at one end of the lake. Because it was windy there were not any mosquitoes…yeah! We were told that there was a mother moose and her baby sited. We found fresh tracks but learned that a group of hikers had accidentally spooked them so alas no sighting at this time. I am happy to report that my knee held up well on both the descent and ascent.

It was time for us to board the M2 bus for the two hour ride to the Mt. McKinley Lodge. We headed west on Highway 8 following the Nenana River to Cantwell where we picked up Highway 3/George Parks Highway heading southwest. In Cantwell we officially left the power grid. We learned that the lodge has five electrical generators and its own water filtration and sewage systems. Out here you must be entirely self sufficient.

We wound down the glacier valley observing kettle lakes that were formed by the glaciers. None of them have any fish because they freeze solid each winter. We crossed Hurricane Gulch via a large trestle bridge. The gulch got its name because of the high winds that the workers experienced during its construction. Two workers were blown to their deaths necessitating the other workers to tether themselves to the structure for their safety.

We were now following the Chulitna River with the Alaska Mountains on our right and the Talkeetna Mountains on our left. The Mt. McKinely Lodge is located within Denali State Park. Exactly two hours after leaving Denali we pulled in to the lodge. What a difference from the touristy Denali area. This complex is remote with the nearest town, Talkeetna and hour away. The facility is fairly rustic in appearance but provides for every need graciously. We like this much better than the Wilderness Lodge in Denali. The lodge was built with the view in mind. Every seat in the lounge, restaurant and the great rooms face the mountain.

We met up with Betty and Patty, new friends from Boston, and had a drink in The View Lounge. The upper part of the south peak (the tallest at 20,320’) emerged from the clouds. The southeastern face is rugged and etched with many glaciers and ice falls. This is what most of you have seen in photos and on postcards. Low level clouds obscured us from viewing the entire structure but it was breath taking none the less.

Believe it or not we do not have any scheduled events on Friday. We finally have excellent internet access so Doug may do some work and I’ll throw in a couple of loads of laundry. And I will finally be able to update the blog and share some photos with you. I can only include 5 photos with each post. I will try to select those that best reflect our excellent adventure.

Saturday we take the train to Whittier and board the Coral Princess that afternoon. Internet access is expensive so I may not be able to post anything until we reach Victoria British Columbia on June 26th but will try and keep up the daily diary and will post as often as I can.