Denali NP - Last Hiking Day

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Geo: 63.2237, -151.002



Wednesday, 8/4/10 – Up a bit later than usual and drove to the park to hike one of the entrance trails. There are a good many officially maintained trails around the entrance area, and one is a pretty strenuous one up to the Mt. Healy overlook. It is 2.25 miles to the overlook with a 1,700 foot elevation gain, so pretty steep most of the way. It is possible to continue on past the overlook along a ridge line, and we did so for another couple of miles and another 700 feet in elevation gain. Stopped there around noon and ate lunch. Elevation at our lunch spot was about 4,100 feet. A young man joined us at our lunch spot, and we had a nice conversation with him. He was a graduate student from Michigan and was working at one of the establishments in the ‘canyon' for the summer. After lunch, he continued on along the ridge with the goal of going to the summit of Mt. Healy and then down through Bison gulch to the park highway. Long hike but expect he made it. After lunch, we went back the way we had come. Views from this trail are pretty spectacular as are most of the hikes in Denali that have much elevation gain. From this trail you see most of the entrance area, the train station, airport, and the ‘canyon' complex to the south and east, with views down the park road and the near mountains to the north and west. Views of distant mountains are all around. Beleive we could see the site of a cargo plane crash that had occured the day before we arrived at the park. All in all a nice hike for our last day but no wildlife to speak of other than a few ground squirrels.

After completing the hike we drove back to the motel and looked for a place to eat dinner (supper for us southerners). Found some info on a place called Henry's Coffee House at Earthsong Lodge located just north of Healy on Stampede Road. This is the same road where, at the road's end, the bus from "Into The Wild" is located. The owner of Henry's said the bus is still there but in pretty bad shape. This was a pretty neat place though a bit far from the park to use as a lodging alternative if the park is your main interest in the area. The coffee house had a limited menu, but Anne had spaghetti and I got a Thai chicken dish that was very good. Reasonable prices for Alaska too – at least for the food. Cabins there started at $155.00 per night. Henry was the name of one of the owner's dogs. The owner also offered dog sled tours in the winter. Anyway – a neat place for our last night in Alaska.

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Photos

Mt. Healy summit ?
We were told that this peak was the actual summit of Mt. Healy. We did not make it to that summit since it required sort of a dog leg around an adjoining ridge. Taken from our lunch spot.

Mt. Healy Trail
This is acturally the first part of the trail beyond the Mt. Healy Overlook and is not an officially maintained trail, though it seemed to be very well-traveled.

Us at our lunch spot
We hiked about another 1.5 miles beyond the Mt. Healy overlook along a ridge to a high point where we ate lunch. Weather was a little overcast but no rain - nice not to have the heat of the sun.

The Canyon
Taken from the Mt. Healy trail, the Canyon is the commercial district along the Parks Highway, just north of the entrance to Denali.

Down the trail
Looking down the Mt. Healy trail from our turn-around point.

Heading Back
Descending is almost as hard as ascending - almost.

From the Trail
Just a nice shot from about half way up the Mt. Healy trail.

Probable Crash Site
A cargo plane crashed in the park the day before we arrived at Denali and I think the two brown areas in the middle of this picture were caused by the fire that resulted from the crash. Taken about half way down the Mt. Healy trail.