Denali "The Great One"

The Athabascan people who inhabit the area around the mountain refer to the peak as Dinale or Denali ("the high one" or "the great one").  In the late 1890s, a gold prospector named it "McKinley" as political support for then president William McKinley.  The Alaska Board of Geographic Names changed the name of the mountain to Denali, which is how it is referred to locally.  However, a 1975 request by the Alaska state legislature to the United States Board of Geographic Names to do the same was blocked by Ohio congressman, Ralph Regula, whose district includes McKinley's hometown. Members of the Ohio congressional delegation continue to protect the McKinley name, blocking attempts by the Alaska congressional delegation to get the Board of Geographic Names to change it to Denali. Thus, "Denali" is correct according to the Alaska state Board, while "McKinley" is correct according to the national Board.  (This paragraph was taken from the Internet and tour guide presentations.)

For many visitors to Alaska, seeing Mt. McKinley at Denali National Park and Preserve is a highlight of their travels.  Visitors coming here see the tallest mountain in North America at 20,320 feet, see many different types of animals in the park and preserve, and often experience the McKinley Explorer, a train with rooftop visibility to see the mountains.  Of course, our experience was a little different, but still worthwhile.  What's new!

The three days we spent in and around Denali were cloudy and rainy.  No "Great One" was visible any of the days.  We found out that Mt. McKinley is usually visible about 68 days/year.  We will add that to our list for next time.  We took the Denali National Park's Natural History 4-5 hour bus tour into the park with one of the best guides we have experienced; yet no animals other than birds showed themselves in the 4-5 hour trip.  We had more moose and bear clearly visible in the side ditches of the Alaska Highway from Whitehorse to Tok!  Thank heavens there were lots of wildflowers in bloom!

Although I had already seen Mt. McKinley over 25 years ago, Brad had yet to see it.  Our final day, we stopped at Talkeetna Air Taxi to see if flying was possible and viewing the summit above the clouds was any better.  They weren't flying that day at all because of the poor visibility and weather conditions.  We spent the afternoon in Talkeetna hoping for better weather.  What we got, however, was a feel for Talkeetna the town, which is a base for mountain climbers from around the world to Mt. McKinley.  It has a great national park office where climbers sign in and out, has great pizza at Mountain High Pizza and great chocolate at Talkeetna Chocolate Corner.  You can tell what we spent the day doing!

We did have a nice time at Cantwell RV campground, about 20 miles south of Denali where we stayed.  The campground owners hosted a sled dog presentation by Mike Santos, originally from Massachusetts, who owns Wolf Den's Kennel and races Alaskan sled dogs full time.  He has about 80 dogs, and they aren't Huskies, they are Alaskan sled dogs.  The puppies were adorable, and we enjoyed listening to his hilarious tales of training the dogs and running them daily (can you imagine exercising 80 dogs?)  His real calling should be as a stand-up comic.  

From Denali, we drove the Parks Highway to Palmer, AK, where we camped at Homestead RV Park over the 4th of July weekend.  When we arrived at the campground, they did not have our reservation, but they went ahead and made a space for us near the office where Internet was great.  We were in a handicapped spot and near the laundry, too.  It worked out fine for us.

We spent July 3 taking a six hour Prince William Sound Wilderness Explorer Glacier cruise.  We took lots of pictures of receding glaciers, including Portage Glacier.  The scenery was lovely, and the one-way tunnel at Whittier is an experience.  We loved the drive around Turnagin Arm south of Anchorage and will travel there again July 5 as we move on to the Kenai Peninsula near Cooper's Landing.  We spent July 4 at the Palmer, AK, musk ox farm (started by John Teal), which was really interesting and of all things, got the laundry done!  Ah, life on the road…isn't it great?

Jane and Brad

PS:  In Alaska, everything stays open for the 4th of July typically and fireworks aren't a big deal.  We didn't hear any firecrackers go off ($300 fine in Alaska) nor did we see any city fireworks because it is too light outside.  They do have lots of parades and picnics in the area.  Some towns do fireworks around midnight or later as that is the time it is the darkest.

Also… Notes to our camping friends….

We have tried both telephone and Internet reservations for campgrounds.  On this trip we have found over and over that having a direct telephone conversation with the campground person works the best.  If they don't answer, leave a cell number for return call.  Many have different people working the desk, checking Internet, etc., so there are fewer mistakes and complications if you simply give this information over the phone:

travel trailer, fifth-wheel, tent

pull-through or back-in sites (back-ins are cheaper overall by about $2-3/night)
20 or 30 or 50 amp electrical
full-hookups or W/E only or dry camping
day arriving
# of nights staying
some places have a gate that closes at a certain time--be off the road prior to 7 p.m. if possible
key to RR or key to laundry?  Some require a deposit for the key.
some have pay showers, have lots of U.S. and CAN quarters
credit card information - VISA or M/C - most don't take AmEx or Discovercard, especially CAN
Internet is not dependable most places, especially out of major cities


Pictures for this post