Day 42

Well it is back to Anchorage for the third time...got picked up in Denali yesterday afternoon after having a real adventure.  Something I would not have tried alone but as you know I have been traveling with Michael O'Donovan for nearly two weeks.  Michael has a vast amount of experience hiking and climbing mountains all over the world...Himalayas, Andes, Alps, Kilimanjaro in Africa to name a few so having the chance to go on this little "walk about" with him in Denali was quite a treat!  The fourth morning the mountain showed itself to us.  The temp had dropped into the mid-20s by 7:00am when we rose to heavy frost.  The water at the edges of the river where we camped was frozen.  As soon as we saw the frost we knew that the skies had cleared hours ago and we rushed up a ridge to see Denali for the first time.  It is truly a giant mountain.  When you see it you know why the indigenous people call it "The High One."  The mountain is so large that it creates its own weather.  All the surrounding mountains will be clear but Denali will be covered in clouds.  It is truly strange to see.  This season fewer than 30% of the visitors at the park have seen it.  Michael and I were about 10 miles from it and to give some scale of how close we were Denali can be seen from Anchorage on a clear day which is over 200 miles.

 

I also saw my first grizzly bears.  The nearest was about 300 yards.  She was a sow with two small cubs...quite a treat.  In total I saw seven other grizzlies, many caribou, a few moose, several golden eagles and countless small game.

The wilderness trip into Denali is going to be hard to top but after I rest up a few days in Anchorage it will be off to Seward and walk around on some glaciers...at least that is the plan...more will be revealed.