Blogs from Denali National Park, Alaska, United States, North America - page 7

2nd July ’12 Anchorage to Denali After flying over ridge upon ridge of snow covered mountain peaks we landed at Ted Stevens Airport at 5am Alaskan time (3am Hawaii time!). We had an hour’s wait until the car hire place opened and desperately tried to keep ourselves awake, having once again only managed the odd 10 minutes here and there of head nodding then jolting sleep. Anyway we finally got our car for the next two weeks and headed off into Anchorage for supplies. The first thing that struck up about Anchorage was the semi-circle of rugged mountains dominating the town and straight away Howard’s eyes lit up. Being Howard he had decided we were just going to drive the 300 miles up to Denali straight away rather than stay in Anchorage for a night to ... read more

For this update, Kenz has tagged out and it's Adam's turn.... Tuesday 12/06/12 – Today was a day of idleness and preparation. It started out raining in the morning, and coupled with the intense attention of the hordes of insects we beat a hasty retreat back into the tent. After the rain stopped at midday, we decided to spoil ourselves by going to the local cinema. The Tim Burton and Johnny Depp movie called ‘Dark Shadows’ was entertaining enough to make us forget tent life, insects and 22 hour sunlight days for a few hours. We purchased some M&Ms and a small popcorn at the movies and Kenz even managed to score a free popcorn refill! We spent the late afternoon purchasing food and setting up the bikes in preparation for the long haul up to ... read more

Some photos from Denali National Park. Sorry it takes so long to get these to you. I have to find a computer to download from my camera to a flash drive and then from the flash drive to this blog. I'm sure there must be an easier way, but for now this is it. Enjoy!!!... read more

LYN CHRYSTAL: Denali the “High One” is the name Athabascan native people gave to the massive peak of Mount McKinley. McKinley National Park was established as a game refuge in 1917 and was named for former senator – later President – William McKinley. The name of Denali National Park and Preserve came into being in 1980 when the boundary enlarged by 4 million acres, bringing the total area covered by the park to 6 million acres. Larger than Massachusetts. North America’s highest mountain, Mount McKinley, (20,320’,) is part of Denali National Park and is just one peak in the spectacular Alaska Range. Denali sprawling 6 million acres and is home to grizzly bears, wolves, Dall sheep, and moose. We were very lucky and saw all four, although I didn't manage to get a shot of the ... read more

So, immediately I need to preface the next two blogs with the fact that the photos don’t do the scenery justice. The Alaskan landscape is simply too mammoth, too epic, too grandiose to capture. Normally I say let the photos speak for themselves, as I’m not a talented writer and my limited vocabulary isn’t enough to describe the views; this time around you’ll simply have to go to Alaska. It is incredible, beyond what I thought it would be, and I’ve decided these two blogs don’t do it justice (and I’m starting med school so I’m short on time). That said… My brother Darren and I jumped a flight to Anchorage, then a 5 hour bus to Denali National Park, and finally a 5 hour bus into Wonder Lake campground at the heart of the park. ... read more