Triple Lakes Hike Denali National Park

Wednesday brought a cool steady rain to Denali so I spent most of the day inside cleaning gear and reading.  By 5 pm, cabin fever had set in and Nancy decided a hike was the only cure.  Leaving Champ in the cabin with a full dinner bowl, we drove south a few miles to the trail head for Triple Lakes.

Most people think of wide open alpine tundra views when they think of hiking Denali National Park.  The Triple Lakes hike, like several other hikes near the park's entrance, gives the visitor a different taste of  the outdoors.  Due to its lower elevation, this area is still forested mainly spruce.  So lots of squirrels and birds abound and there is abundant shade and protection from wind and rain.  The trail is well maintained up to the third lake, although it does climb some 1100 feet in about 3 miles.  We enjoyed stretching our legs and the rain let up to almost nothing.  Nancy found several nice berry patches and I amused myself with a beaver and a busy treetop squirrel. 

We were somewhat surprised to find it was after nine when we returned to the truck.  After a quick trip to Prospector's Pizzeria and Ale House, we made it to the cabin by ten.  No surprise, Champ's bowl was empty.

Definitely want to return to this trail later this fall before we leave the Park to view the changing colors and enjoy the early fall weather that Denali gets.  Also want to maybe snowshoe the trail this winter.  Champ would get to come on that one, rules or no rules.

Denali Cabin Life

Have spent the vast majority of the summer living in a 250 s ft. cabin on the banks of the Nenana River just south of  Denali National Park.  Part of the Aramark employee compensaton package.  Its small but nice with a bathroom/shower and kitchenette arrangement.  We've made it nice and homey with a small couch and lots of hooks to hang things.  When I think of the huge places I've lived in the past, I want to laugh.  As a society we have been indoctinated to believe bigger is always better.  Bigger cars, houses, incomes, etc...Oh well, guess I'm feeling a little like Thoreau this rainy morning.  Hope it clears as we're headed to Byers Lake for a weekend of car camping.

Wrangell St Elias National Park

Just finished an interesting hike in one of our
nations largest national parks. Took a bush plane out of McCarthy and landed about 15 miles away on the Fosse, a small strip located on land just adjacent to Kennicott Glacier. On landing, the ground was so slick that the pilot calmly noted he had a hard time stopping the plane and he would not be returning (with the remaining members of our group) in the same plane. They were instead flown in one at a time in a Supercub.


We endured a rainy Sunday afternoon travelling only about a mile to a scenic campsite with a cool stream flowing through. By late evening the rain had stopped and we fell asleep hoping for good weather. This was probably the chilliest night of the trip for me, but I snuggled deep in my bag and slept fine.

Packsaddle Island

Monday broke clear and sunny with no hint of rain. We were treated to spectacular views of the distant Mount Blackburn as we ate breakfast and broke camp. Our destination today was Packsaddle Island, a nunatak about 5 miles away. Unfortunately, easier said than done. While seven of ten made it off the steep moraine and onto the glacier, we were soon turned aside by the numerous crevasses and towering seracs. Nothing to do but admire the view and turn toward our alternate destination - the land at the confluence of the Kennicott and the Gates Glaciers. No problem.

Actually, there was a problem. After travelling several hard hours crossing the medial moraines of the Kennicott, we met what we thought was our final hurdle before reaching the lakes at which we intended to camp. A steep climb up the side of a scree covered moraine. Slowly but surely we all ascended. While resting we noted that getting off the glacier might be a bit difficult. The lateral moraine was pockmarked with canyons and deep pools of water requiring us to thread our way carefully. Scouting a route with Ted around one of these "lakes" on a steep scree slope, I was really concerned about the less experienced members of our group. Somehow we all made it around and then up another steep climb. Scouting ahead, we finally saw the lakes. They were just remnants of what was shown on the map, the ground was rock strewn, but man did the camp look inviting. Guess the fact that it was midnight helped our outlook.

After the long day Monday, no one seemed to mind the off day Tuesday, especially as it rained constantly.  I slept in and then had oatmeal for lunch.  Wednesday morning the rain finally ended and we headed out.  First thing was a climb up a steep slope and then an equally steep descent onto the glacier.  In this picture. Dr. Uzma carefully scoots down sans pack.

Cool Mr. Fox

Another hard day of hiking, complete with a few tricky river crossings, put us at our last camp, just below Donoho Peaks.  Here we spent Wednesday night and another long rainy Thursday.  Enjoyed watching the bears on slopes and our last day of lazing in the tents before our push out on Friday morning.  This friendly fellow posed for us as we left his home that final day.

Root Glacier

Hiking out of the Donoho Lakes area proved to be a wet affair.  Bushwacking along game trails with lots of moisture in the brush had us soaked pretty good.  We cared not as the anticipation of showers and hot food back in McCarthy spurred us on. Here we are stopped within sight of Kennicott, about to cross the last leg of the Root Glacier.  Our final mistake after climbing on the glacier near Donoho Falls, was angling south toward Kennicott.  We should have cut straight across.  This mistake led us to backtracking about a mile over rough moraine, and then climbing another long steep scree slope to reach the trail into town.  To put a final point on this trip, there was absolutely no place to stay in McCarthy Friday night.  Seems some googly eyed couple decided that it was the place to be married.  Never have I seen the sleepy little town so full of tourists.