A rainbow shines bright over the golden forest of the Interior. Excuse the rain drop.

The rain had just stopped. The colors were popping, like bubbles at a kid’s birthday party. The road stretched out before us invitingly, beckoning us down the path to see what was around the next curve.

Our travel day north along the Parks Highway was a beautiful one, with loads of fall colors contrasting with the gray and wispy clouds that looped over and around the snowy mountain peaks.

Broad Pass, one of the lowest summits on the highway but spectacular nonetheless.

At the end of the day, we arrived in Denali National Park. We would be staying at Riley Creek Campground, set in the spruce forest with the namesake creek bubbling nearby.

The next day, we jumped on our bikes to make the 1-mile ride up the hill to the visitors center. There were many interesting exhibits, including a giant round wood-cut topographical map that showed the entire park (it’s way bigger than you would think).

Later that day, after my dad got off work, we took a walk along Riley Creek.

Riley Creek splashes and winds its way through Denali NP.

At the end of the trail, we took a right onto the Triple Lakes Trail and followed it for a little bit until we came upon this: A suspension bridge!

We later found out that the materials for this bridge were hauled from the road by sled dog teams and assembled at the site. So cool!

The very next day, everyone packed up their Osprey packs and we drove deeper into the park. The goal was to hike the 4-mile Savage Alpine Trail.

On our way there, however, we stopped to see Denali off in the distance. We also got to see a Northern Hawk Owl hunting in broad daylight! Apparently they are diurnal for part of the year? I really didn’t know that. Anyways, it was wild to see.

A blurry photo of a Northern Hawk Owl ripping apart a vole. Sorry for the bad quality, this is shot on my phone.

We got to the trail and while everyone was still getting ready, I immediately started hiking. The trail rose steeply up to a small rock sticking out of the tundra, and then switchbacked up the side of the ridge.

At the top of the ridge, it was very windy. There were many knife-edged rocks along the ridge, which made for some interesting hiking.

The rocks provided a bit of shelter from the relentless wind.

From the ridge, I had a view of the park road snaking up the opposite side of the valley, the wide-open spaces of the park itself and Denali towering over everything in the distance. I later found out the mountain was actually over 80 miles away!

After that it steadily wound its way up the mountainside. My fam was way far back on trail by the time I reached the top of the trail, which pretty much just looped up the side of the mountain. So I was all alone.

I looked up and saw a figure on the ridge above me. After grabbing the binoculars, I was able to confirm what it was: A Dall Sheep! They basically look like bighorn sheep, but bigger and with an all white coat. This one was a large ram, and he was walking toward me! I stayed back and kept quiet, and he eventually crossed the ridge and dropped out of sight.

I walked up toward where he had been, and eventually walking off-trail.

Fun fact: in Denali NP you are allowed to walk off-trail and in the backcountry without a permit. Most of the park is open tundra, so as long as you follow the basic “Leave No Trace” hiking principles, you’re all good.

Most of Denali National Park is tundra, which is mostly small grasses and lichens. An ideal habitat for caribou, brown bears and other animals.

After a bit of scrambling over loose rock and gravel, I made it to the top of the ridge, which overlooked the entire trail and gave me a view on the other side, down along the sharp arms and mini valleys of Primrose Ridge. I also spotted a pika, which is smaller than a ground squirrel and has a bunny-like stub of a tail. Utterly adorable!

The view from the top of the high ridge.

Do a 180 and this is what you see. The slopes of Primrose Ridge are home to many Dall Sheep.

After looking around for a bit, I rejoined my family and we hiked down the other side together. Leo saw some more Dall sheep off in the distance, but they ran away pretty quickly. As we looped down toward the park road, the terrain changed from dry tundra and bush to a more wet and sparsely forested landscape.

On the way down, we still got great views.

A couple days later, we drove our van into the park to visit the famed Sled Dog Kennels. Everyone was super pumped to meet the sled dogs and see them in action.

The dogs were either in pens or out on a leash of sorts that allowed you to interact with them. Some dogs were unfriendly, but the majority of them would at least acknowledge you. Izzy found a very loud friend in one dog, who would bark and howl every time he got close.

After petting the dogs for a couple minutes, we filtered into the nearby stand with everybody else to watch the demonstration.

The dogs got hitched up to a wheeled sled, got ready, and took off around the stands before stopping right out front and getting their treats.

Then the main ranger launched into a talk about the sled dogs’ roles in Denali, past and present. She also touched on topics such as poaching, climate change, the need to vote, and the meaning of wilderness in Denali. All in all it was a very intriguing talk.

The weekend that we were there was the annual road lottery in Denali: where a few lucky people get to take their vehicles on the 92-mile-long park road over the weekend. The road is usually closed to all vehicles past Savage River, with the exception of the park buses. With that happening, the campground was booked out, forcing us to move out of the park to a campground by the Denali Boardwalk: a sorta strip mall of gift shops, tour groups, and The Black Bear, a lovely coffee house with delicious yummy treats such as apple crumble and pumpkin gingerbread.

With one last day in Denali, we decided to go on one last hike, to Horseshoe Lake near the park entrance.

The day was beautiful, if a bit windy, and I enjoyed the hike very much. We headed down a hill before circling the lake looking for beavers.

Just off the trail was the Nenana River, which flowed north from here through a canyon before connecting with the Tenana, which flowed into the Yukon, and all the way to the Bering Sea.

There were some interesting objects in the lake. They looked like old train parts, and we even saw the remains of a mine cart, with the wheels still attached.

The next day we packed up and headed for Fairbanks, the last stop before heading south and the furthest north we would travel on our Alaskan Tour.

In Fairbanks we parked at Pioneer Park, partially an amusement park of sorts, partially a museum of sorts. There actually was a museum there, about the railroads in and around Fairbanks. And my favorite, there were 2 kashim houses, made out of earth and fashioned in the style of the native peoples of this area. They were super cool, with a roof covered in grass and a door tucked away in the bushes.

At first I thought this was an outhouse, turns out it’s just a house house haha.

The Fairbanks visitors center was just a 2-mile bike ride away, so we went to check it out. It was surprisingly extensive, with lots of exhibits on Native Alaskan life and culture as well as a “Four Seasons” display that was very well done.

And to top it off, one night the skies cleared up just enough to see the northern lights! The aurora borealis, as it is known, wasn’t as vibrant as you see in pictures, but it was still extremely noticeable, glowing green across the northern horizon.

The northern lights, captured by Jack on a late-night photography trip in Fairbanks.

The days were getting colder and the nights longer. With fall in Alaska nearly over, it was time for us to say goodbye to the 49th state and head back to the Alaska Highway and Canada before the seasons turned.

I will tell of our travels through Canada in the next blog. Stay Tuned!

Connor

Denali National Park & Fairbanks: Autumn In Alaska

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