Denali National Park is different than most national parks in that there are no developed trails beyond the 20 or so miles right around the visitor centers. It has one main road that is, for the most part, closed to private vehicles. A fleet of shuttle buses carry visitors as far as Kantishna at the end of the 92 mile long gravel road. This round trip bus ride takes 12 hours. Shuttle buses make stops for any wildlife sighting which can range anywhere from a large animal on the road to a LBD (little brown dot) seen in the distance.
One can get off the bus nearly anywhere to hike returning to the road later to catch a returning bus when done. But knowing where to get off is the challenge and Park Service folks are almost passive-aggressive when giving visitors information about hiking and backpacking in Denali. When asked for suggestions their enthusiastic reply is “You can go anywhere. Just decide where you want to go and tell your bus driver where you want to get off”. This advice apparently intimidates most visitors as over 80% never get off the bus beyond the rest stops.
John’s retort to the NPS mantra is “Sure you can go anywhere but can you get anywhere” because it just isn’t as easy as NP Rangers would have you believe. The terrain includes deep sub arctic tundra, tussocks and marshes, brushy meadows and knolls, thick spruce forests, wide gravel creek beds, steep rocky slopes and creek/river crossings. Not to mention the possibility that one may have to make wide detours around grizzly bears. However for those determined to get off the bus and out of sight of the road there is an excellent book on the subject, Denali National Park Alaska Guide to Hiking, Photography and Camping by Ike Waits. His mantra is “Get off the bus”. Interestingly enough, this invaluable resource is not available in the National Park Gift Shop.
Mt McKinley in the early morning
Mt McKinley in the early morning
Where we have been - Denali National Park in Alaska
7/22-8/4 2010
Once we entered Alaska we drove directly to Denali National Park (at least as directly as one can drive in the far north). Armed with Ike Waits book we chose the 8 hour round trip to Mt Eielson Visitor Center. A variety of wildlife can usually been seen from the bus. On that day we saw caribou, Dall sheep, moose, Arctic fox, Grey wolves and grizzly bears. Unfortunately McKinley was obscured by clouds. All of our Denali photos are on Flicker.
On the return trip we got off the bus at Polychrome Basin and headed toward Geode Mt. The basin is so broad and the terrain so slow that, despite hiking for a couple of hours, we never got out of sight of the road and Geode seemed no closer before we had to head back to catch a bus. It’s a humbling experience to feel so small and have one’s actions be so inconsequential. At least we did achieve our goal to get off the bus.
Polychrome Basin
Our best Denali experience was a 3 day/2 night backpack around Mt Eielson, one of the most popular backcountry destinations in Denali. The Mt Eielson loop was featured in Backpacker Magazine so we had great route finding info on our GPS. The 14.5 mile loop sounds short for 3 days but the terrain is rough and slow, and safely crossing the Thorofare River is time consuming.
After getting off the bus at Grassy Pass we dropped down to cross the Thorofare River (wet boots) and had our first bear sighting. We continued up Glacier Creek until a closer bear sighting encouraged us to a detour over the Muldrow Glacier (which is covered by rocks, soil and brushy vegetation). We eventually got back to the creek, crossed it (wet boots again) and camped that night in a wide gravel creek bed.
Hiking up Glacier Creek
The next day we hiked up Wolverine Creek toward the Mt Eielson Pass. We actually had sunshine for much of the day! We camped in the pass allowing us great views of the Alaska Range; Mt McKinley, Mt Brooks, Mt Mather to name a few.
The Alaska Range
The next morning, after photo ops and an even closer bear sighting (details below), we hiked out, down a steep gully to the wide Thorofare River bed. There we encountered the most challenging part of the entire trip, crossing back over the Thorofare (and just when our boots were nearly dry). The river is well “braided”; broken into many mostly shallow channels, and stretched over a wide gravel bed. However, after another bear related detour, the safest place to cross contained one channel that was deeper and with a much stronger current than any we had crossed thus far. The water level was mid-thigh and at one point our feet were being pushed downstream rolling on the loose gravel, as if on ball bearings. It was disconcerting but we both managed to get across safely and not too wet (except for our boots). In hindsight water shoes would have been adequate foot protection and the added weight would have been worth it to have dry boots the entire trip.
Crystal Creek, our easiest crossing, not as deep or as strong as the Thorofare River
We had hoped to do a second backpack trip in the Wonder Lake area, for different views of Mt McKinley and more moose, but poor weather prevented it. However we have thoroughly enjoyed the views of Mt McKinley we were treated to as some visitors have to leave without ever seeing it. We are also grateful that we weren’t rained on while backpacking so we really can’t complain. All of our Denali photos are on Flicker.
Our next destination is the Kenai Peninsula.
This next bit is just something I’ve been thinking about.
Northern Canada and Alaska is “Bear Country” and safely day hiking and backpacking require some additional precautions. I recently realized I have a bear phobia. Intellectually, I know that I’m more likely to be killed on a highway than by a bear but I was still very apprehensive.
At the visitor center in Whitehorse, Yukon we viewed an extensive video, “Staying Safe in Bear Country”, which went into great detail about bear psychology and how to “read” bear body language in order to react appropriately. In a nutshell, if the bear appears agitated then it is feeling defensive and needs reassurance that you aren’t a threat. You are supposed to slowly back away speaking calmly and “respectfully” to the bear. If the bear approaches and makes contact then the old advice to “play dead” applies. However a bear that appears calm and is intently approaching you may just mean you harm. In that case you are to stand your ground, make yourself look big, yell at it and stamp your feet. In the unfortunate event it tries to eat you then you are to fight like hell aiming for its sensitive nose.
Jean watching "Staying safe in bear country" video
Denali has a lot of grizzlies and before being issued a backcountry permit we were required to watch a video which included a segment on bear safety. It provided more practical and less psychoanalytical information focusing on how to avoid grizzly encounters (it also exhibited a distinct lack of respect for black bears which said should be treated like “bad dogs”). The gist of it was that bears in the wild that have not learned to associate humans with food are shy and will avoid them whenever possible. Problems occur only when hikers startle a bear, especially sows with cubs and bears in possession of a food source (be it carcass or berry patch). Hikers are instructed to be aware of situations that could increase the likelihood of a close encounter; brushy trails, berry patches, noisy streams and rivers, being downwind etc, and are encouraged to call out loudly at intervals.
Grizzly Bear gorging on Soapberries seen from the bus
Hikers are also instructed to avoid attracting bears with odors; food and anything with a strong scent such as fuel, toothpaste, sunscreen and bug repellent (hmmm…does smearing our bodies with sunscreen and bug repellent make us more attractive to bears?). Backpackers are required to store food etc in bear proof food canisters that bears are unable to bite or claw their way into. Cooking, eating and storing food should all be done at least 100 yards away from your tent.
For protection hikers can carry bear deterrents. The most common is bear sized pepper spray which can be effective at close range in low wind conditions. Also available, at least in Canada, are “Bear Bangers”, (small shells discharged from a pen size launcher emitting a loud bang) that may be successful at chasing off bears seen in the distance. We didn’t ask if these were legal in Denali. They probably are considered firearms, legal to carry, illegal to fire.
Armed with this knowledge, bear canister, pepper spray and Bear Bangers we headed out for our 3 day/2 night backpack around Mt Eielson. I was already uneasy as we had seen 9 bears from the shuttle bus on the way to our starting point. Shortly after we started out we saw 3 more, a sow and 2 cubs, across a wide gravel river bed but they were moving away from where we were headed so we maintained our current route.
We had been hiking awhile when we saw 3 more bears, again a sow with 2 cubs, but less than a ¼ mile away and near where we were headed. So we altered our course to give them a wide berth. The problem was our new course required us to repeatedly cross numerous shrubby knolls with poor visibility. We were uneasy about the presence of plentiful Soapberry shrubs, the grizzly’s favorite food at the moment, and fresh bear scat. Needless to say we were both very nervous and frequently shouted out “HEY BEAR” and tapped our trekking poles together, anything to avoid startling a berry gorging bear.
The second day was uneventful and we camped that night in the pass between Mt Eielson and Castle Rock. John got up early the next morning and was getting his camera ready to photograph Mt McKinley. I was working on waking up when I heard him say (with admirable calm) “Hey bear…there’s a bear out here…there’re 2 bears”. I looked outside, saw the sow and cub just as the second cub came into view, and replied (not so calmly and far less “respectfully”) “There’re 3 bears…Hey Bear!?!” We both had our bear spray ready but it never became a truly dangerous situation. The sow simply glanced at John before lumbering past, less than 40 ft away, over to the other side of the pass. While the cubs seemed curious much to our relief neither of them approached us and they simply followed their mother down the other side, exactly where we had come up the day before.
2 of our early morning visitors
Contrary to what we had been told these bears were not “shy” and they didn’t try to avoid us. They were indifferent. They knew we were there but didn’t let that stop them from going about their business, getting to the adjacent valley most likely in search of berries. A young couple we had passed the day before recounted a similar experience where a lone bear simply went around their camp passing them by with little notice.
It got me thinking a lot about bear encounters so I read with interest that last May a backpacker shot and killed a bear in Denali. A man and a woman were hiking along Tattler Creek and he drew his pistol (legal to carry, illegal to fire) after hearing a noise in the brush. He later told Rangers that a bear ran out of the brush toward the woman so he shot it. I was especially interested in this encounter as we recently hiked up Tattler Creek and it left me with a few questions. Did either of them shout “Hey Bear!” frequently (or at all)? Did either carry bear spray? Or were they relying entirely on that gun to protect them? I wonder if the bear was actually running toward the woman or it just seemed that way, they do walk pretty fast. I wonder if it was just trying to get from point A to point B and was taking the path of least resistance through the brush just as they were. I wonder if they could have stepped off to the side into the thicker brush allowing the bear to just pass them by. If it was in fact running towards them was it because they had startled it and it reacted with a “bluff charge”, a situation where hikers are instructed to stand their ground. And a situation that Park Rangers don’t even want to hear about. We were instructed to report an encounter only if a bear makes physical contact with you or your gear. Lastly I wonder how I would react in the same situation (at least I do know I won’t shoot it). I think I’ll just keep up my “Hey Bears” in hopes to avoid the confrontation in the first place and keep my bear spray handy. And if it attacks I’ll just punch it in the nose.
A few weeks after this John got to experience an even closer, but far different encounter, with bears when he and his camera took a Grizzly Bear viewing flight to the Katmai Peninsula. This is a popular tourist attraction where one can be flown to a beach where bears are actively fishing for salmon. Tourists may be allowed to be as close as 20-30 feet to a bear before their guide will have them back away. What makes this reasonably safe is that the bears have become accustomed to tourists and ignore them, the groups are large enough that a bear is disinclined to mess with them and there is plenty for them to eat so no need for them to feel territorial and defensive. They were also instructed to not pack any fish products in their lunches.
There's safety in numbers (and not having fish products in your lunch)
However John can attest that it is a far different visceral experience to be part of a group of 10 people within 30 feet of several bears who have eaten their fill of salmon than being only 2 individuals within 40 feet of 3 hungry bears in the process of traveling miles in order to reach a berry patch. Which brings up another question…why didn’t the bears in our camp want to eat us? Don’t they realize how many calories are stored in a human body? I hate to think we both looked so old and stringy that they’d rather walk miles for some berries without even trying just one little bite. Hey Bear! Check out these thighs!
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