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Denali Ntl Pk Hiking Trip - May & June 2003

Three weeks of hiking in Denali National Park, divided into a twelve-and-a-half-day trek and two shorter excursions.
(See Overview map or detailed topo map (3.5 MB))

A slight change of format: photos (linked to from the thumbnails) are provided at full resolution but presented within < IMG height=100% > tags so they should scale automatically to fit your browser window (while preserving aspect ratio).

Photos are organized by date, with a bit of narrative for each day.

If you're in a hurry, see my short list of thirteen of my favorite photos from this trip.

See also Michal's photos of this trip.

Click a thumbnail to see a full-size photo.
Or, View as Slide Show.

May 23

Flew in to Anchorage; spent the night at Spenard Hostel.

you should see an image here Downtown Anchorage, with view of the Chugach Mountains. These mountains come right down to the coastline (except for the peninsula on which Anchorage sits); the view from the airplane is dramatic.

May 24 - Big Trip Day 1

Rode the morning Alaska Trailways bus up to Denali National Park; got the necessary permits, filled our bearproof cans with food, and hiked out to Triple Lakes to camp. The wolves sang us to sleep that night, but didn't show themselves.

you should see an image here First view of Mt Denali. Taken from Mary's Restaurant along the highway.

May 25 - Big Trip Day 2

Hiked along Riley Creek.

you should see an image here This is as close as I was willing to get to a wild porcupine's rear. As you can see, wildlife photography without a zoom lens is somewhat difficult. If my fairy godmother is reading this, I'd like a new digital camera (at least 4 megapixels, of course) with a full-size zoom. (Also, call me for details about my new laptop computer.) Anyway, despite having sighted just about every type of mammal and bird in the park, [eg, six porcupines in the first five days] there won't be a lot of photos of them here.

May 26 - Big Trip Day 3

Hiked farther up Riley Creek, to Windy Pass (well-named).

you should see an image here This was the major obstacle to hiking alongside Riley Creek: beaver ponds.
you should see an image here As we emerge onto higher ground and the landscape begins shifting to tundra, we discover proof of the existence of Dall's Sheep.
you should see an image here They say this year saw a near-record low amount of snow. This photo taken below three thousand feet of elevation.
you should see an image here It's late May, and there's no sign of leaves on the willows, and the ptarmigans still have their winter plumage.
you should see an image here Not surprisingly, given the amount of snow on the ground and the fact that we're camped by the very aptly named Windy Pass, it's cold out here. We huddle in the bigger tent while we wait for water to boil for dinner.

May 27 - Big Trip Day 4

Followed Windy Creek (north fork) down from Windy Pass.

you should see an image here Proof of the existence of moose. [Mooses? Meese?]

May 28 - Big Trip Day 5

Walked up the west fork of Windy Creek; camped just below Foggy Pass (not so well-named).

you should see an image here Morning at our campsite. Note that "morning" is used in a purely chronological sense; the sun technically sets around 11:30 PM and rises around 4AM, but it never really gets dark. This shot was taken a bit before 10 AM.
you should see an image here Same time & place, view in opposite direction.
you should see an image here The very elusive Cariboumera (half caribou, half hiker).
you should see an image here Again, once I've got my camera out, I'll take a shot of the scenery in each direction.
you should see an image here And sometimes I'll get bored waiting for certain persons to finish taking ten different exposures on their old-fashioned film camera.
you should see an image here Just fifteen minutes later, the scenery got slightly more photogenic.

May 29 - Big Trip Day 6

Crossed Foggy Pass, the Cantwell River, and an unnamed pass.

you should see an image here Crossing the Cantwell River didn't involve a whole lot of wading.
you should see an image here View northward along the Cantwell River; the Cantwell Glacier is visible in the distance flowing down a narrow valley on the left.
you should see an image here View from a point halfway between the Cantwell River and the pass (call it Noname Pass 1) we'd be climbing later that day.
you should see an image here Same spot, view in different direction.
you should see an image here This is the pass we're aiming for.
you should see an image here Cresting the pass.
you should see an image here View from the pass.
you should see an image here Another view from the pass.

May 30 - Big Trip Day 7

Crossed another unnamed pass, and camped by the Bull River.

you should see an image here View eastward from Noname Pass 2. Noname Pass 1 is in the center.
you should see an image here View westward from Noname Pass 2, showing the Bull River.
you should see an image here Cresting a pass requires a celebratory rest break, and of course a snapshot.
you should see an image here Descending from the pass into the Bull River valley. Not shown: crossing the main branch of the river, which involved stepping through countless puddles of deep slush while the thin surface ice sliced our shins.

May 31 - Big Trip Day 8

Followed Bull River upstream, then crossed Easy Pass (obviously named by somebody who had good snowshoes).

you should see an image here Morning in the Bull River valley: fog on the mountains.
you should see an image here a bit before noon: view eastward, down the Bull River valley toward the previous night's campsite. Noname Pass 2 is visible on the left.
you should see an image here 3 PM, a bit higher up Bull River. Michael checks our progress using his GPS receiver.
you should see an image here 5 PM: What would they have called this if the snow had been more than waist-deep? Moderately Challenging Pass?

June 1 - Big Trip Day 9

Descended from Easy Pass, and followed the Chulitna River to its West Fork.

you should see an image here An unnamed glacier.
you should see an image here Descending into the Chulitna River valley - view east toward Easy Pass.
you should see an image here A few minutes later, the river cuts its way through some packed snow.
you should see an image here OK, a lot of packed snow.
you should see an image here We will return to hiking after this commercial interruption.
you should see an image here View southward from our campsite. We're back below 3000 feet, surrounded by wimpy tropical trees like fir and spruce. There's even some birch.

June 2 - Big Trip Day 10

walked up the West Fork of the Chulitna River, onto the moraine of the West Fork Glacier.

you should see an image here The willows are budding as we take a break on the moraine. There are just piles of boulders everywhere - very slow going.
you should see an image here More of the sort of terrain I was talking about.
you should see an image here At 3:45 we are within sight of the glacier itself. (Trust me, that's ice underneath the rocks and snow.) View westward toward Anderson Pass.
you should see an image here Same time and place, view of north wall of valley - some of the bleakest terrain we'd yet seen.
you should see an image here Another shot of the glacier's edge.
you should see an image here Same spot, view back eastward. We'd camped at the foot of that saddle-shaped mountain the night before.
you should see an image here Forty-five minutes later, we're actually at the glacier's edge.
you should see an image here An hour's travel brings significant uphill progress...
you should see an image here ...which we figure should be rewarded with a nice picnic.
you should see an image here Amazingly, the north side of the valley got even more desolate-looking than before. Several spots (none close enough for my puny lens) reminded us of those Mars Orbiter photos - dust-covered snow, gullies, then dust-covered ice. Here, a series of more Terran-looking gullies. You can't tell from the photo, but this face is nearly vertical.

June 3 - Big Trip Day 11

We complete our ascent of the West Fork Glacier, cross Anderson Pass, and descend to the edge of the Muldrow Glacier.

you should see an image here Midmorning as we approach Anderson Pass (out of sight to the right). We'd camped on the glacier itself the night before -- actually on a six-inch-deep bed of loose shale on top of the glacier. We basically pitched our tents on a bunch of stone knives. Somehow I didn't think to take a picture - but Michael did: the photo is here .
you should see an image here Same time & place, view east by southeast.
you should see an image here We continue to hike up the glacier as the clouds lift.
you should see an image here A bit later, a pause to see how much glacier we've climbed already...
you should see an image here ...and how far we'd gotten from the river valley below. The campsite from two nights before is still visible.
you should see an image here Ten minutes later, Anderson Pass is visible (on the right), though first we have to pass the junctions with two small glaciers (valleys on the left).
you should see an image here See, I wasn't lying when I said there was ice under there!
you should see an image here Around 2 PM, we're up in the middle of a bunch of glaciers.
you should see an image here Glaciers are photogenic...
you should see an image here Especially when light clouds make for slight changes in illumination...
you should see an image here And walking a little while gives you slightly better angles.
you should see an image here That saddle-shaped mountain is finally starting to look distant as we near the crest of the pass.
you should see an image here But we still have to pass two more glaciers: one on the left...
you should see an image here ... and one on the right.
you should see an image here Almost there...
you should see an image here This is the top!
you should see an image here It's windy up here, but sometimes you just feel entitled to take a break...
you should see an image here ...and enjoy the view of the Muldrow Glacier. Mt Denali is behind those clouds somewhere.
you should see an image here Coming down from Anderson pass. There are three sets of footprints in this photo. My prints are in the foreground, of course, and it's my trail that has all the snowslides in the middle distance. Justyna & Michal took the detour on your left. To the right of my trail is a fresh set of grizzly bear tracks.
you should see an image here Judging by my map, those clouds are about 8700 feet above sea level.

June 4 - Big Trip Day 12

We descend along the edge of the Muldrow Glacier, following Glacier Creek northward, and have a couple worried hours when we realize the creek has run dry. We hike back for a kilometer to where there were large enough puddles to provide water for cooking dinner. The stream starts flowing again about five minutes after we finish eating.

you should see an image here Around noon, the ground squirrels are chirping, the marmots are eyeing us warily, and Glacier Creek is flowing. Muldrow Glacier is buried several feet under that tundra.
you should see an image here By 3:00, Glacier Creek starts looking awfully dry.
you should see an image here But at least the mountains are photogenic.

June 5 - Big Trip Day 13, plus Bus back to park entrance

We complete our descent of Glacier Creek, cross the Thorofare River, and proudly march into the Eielson Visitors Center.

you should see an image here Glacier Creek, with water flowing again.
you should see an image here There's one road in Denali National Park, that's travelled by tour buses. We hitch a ride back to the park entrance for food, fuel, and a bit of rest. This is what the inside of the bus looks like when someone spots a bear out the window (too far away for my feeble camera lens, alas).
you should see an image here The bus turns out to be a good means of getting close to caribou- they're accustomed to the buses going by all the time.
you should see an image here Ditto for the Dall's Sheep.

[June 6 -rest and resupply]

Plus a bus ride out to the East Fork of the Toklat.

[June 7 -Wyoming Hills Trip Day 1 ]

Too rainy & cloudy for photo-taking. Mostly uneventful riverbed trekking anyway.

June 8 - Wyoming Hills Trip Day 2

you should see an image here Morning view from our campsite on the east slope of the Wyoming Hills.
you should see an image here View southward along the Toklat River East Fork, taken not far from that campsite.
you should see an image here As you can see, what was rain down in the river valley fell as snow up here.
you should see an image here The higher you go, the better the view. We were headed up to about 5500 feet.
you should see an image here Actually, here we were at about 5800 - we had to climb the ridge a bit to get around the fresh, deep snow.
you should see an image here View east-northeast from the top of the Wyoming Hills.
you should see an image here Starting to descend - view to northwest. That's the Toklat River (main branch) in the distance.
you should see an image here Same spot up on the ridge, view back South (Toklat River East Fork).
you should see an image here Two hours later, we were in the tundra of a north-facing valley.

June 9 - Wyoming Hills Trip Day 3

This was D-Day for mosquitoes. They were thick as thieves for the next three days. We crossed into an adjacent valley and headed back up into the Hills.

you should see an image here The terrain wasn't easy: there were loose boulders...
you should see an image here Fields of snow...
you should see an image here In the distance, mostly-hidden by clouds, is Mt Denali.
you should see an image here Tried the Denali shot again ten minutes later, when the sun was brighter.
you should see an image here Then dangerous loose scree...
you should see an image here And this would have been the only way around the scree.
you should see an image here Then there was the waterfall we weren't warned about. We were walking on the ice above the stream, following it through a narrow canyon, when we found ourselves about to do a Wiley Coyote. We had to climb out of the canyon...
you should see an image here And onto the broad slopes of the mountain.

June 10 - Wyoming Hills Trip Day 4 / Short Trip Day 1

It was so hot in the morning I took my shirt off.
We walked along the Toklat back to the road, then grabbed a bus for a few miles and started the last hike of the vacation.

you should see an image here Morning view from our campsite on the Toklat. Around midnight a moose had passed within a couple of yards of our tents. I didn't have time to grab my camera, though - it took off when it saw my head poke out of my tent.
you should see an image here For once, I'm packed and ready to go before Justyna is ready. Michael can't seem to believe it.
you should see an image here This river was actually pretty tough to cross - thigh-deep and swift-moving. That cloudy grey color comes from sediment, much of which is volcanic ash (but mixed with sand, mud, and other yummy stuff). Gives the water a lovely fireplace taste, clogs water filters, and makes soup a bit crunchy.

June 11 - Short Trip Day 2

Hiked about four miles to a valley near the Toklat East Fork (but south of the road this time), and spent the day hanging out with a bunch of Dall's Sheep.

you should see an image here Evening view from our campsite, looking northeast. This valley turned out to be a favorite for Dall's sheep.
you should see an image here Campsite view looking southwest.

June 12 - Short Trip Day 3

A slow and reluctant stroll to the road and civilization.

you should see an image here View back south toward the campsite.
you should see an image here View just east of previous shot.
you should see an image here View of the road. Also showing southwest corner of Cathedral Mountain (on right) , the eastern part of Sable Mountain (back row left), and most of the summit of Igloo Mountain (far back, right).
you should see an image here This was the second pair of caribou we got close to that day. The others were young and jumpy, moving too much to get a photo of.
you should see an image here Cathedral Mountain, from closer. You'll have trouble distinguishing them from burnt-out pixels, but technically severall Dall's sheep are visible in this photo.

June 13 - Exit

Two last shots from the bus to Anchorage.

you should see an image here Denali in the haze, from the Parks Highway.
you should see an image here Back at Mary's Viewpoint Restaurant - Denali one last time.