Given our 1-week time frame, we didn’t have time to dilly doddle even after our night out in Seward. The drive from Seward to Denali is a good 6 hours, we were hoping to make a couple stops along the way so we got an early start and headed out of town by 9. We were both feeling a little foggy from our night of drinking but thankfully neither one of us was in terrible shape. The first half of the drive was quiet, both us of just taking in the scenery. We were driving the same route back to Anchorage as the one we had taken down but that didn’t mute the beauty for us.
The Drive
The drive north from Anchorage starts in the Matanuska-Susitna Valley, if you spend any time in Alaska you’ll know it’s actually strange not to see huge towering mountains all around you. As we got closer to Denali National Park the Alaskan Range sprung up before us. Gorgeous green mountains were all around us. Every 5 minutes I wanted to stop to soak up the beauty.
Looking up at the impossibly tall peaks of the Alaska Range I was awestruck. The planet is full of sights like this, places that just don’t seem possible. To think that Denali was a good 5 to 10 thousand feet above the mountains we were seeing as we first entered the preserve was incomprehensible. The highest peaks I had seen up until this point were around 5 thousand feet, 5 thousand feet is child’s play in Alaska.
We did pull over a few times to admire the views but we had another tour booked so we had to keep to a schedule. Earlier in the day Anna and I received some very exciting news, we were going on a Denali Summit Flight! The company that I worked for, Northern Alaska Tour Company, had recently started doing summit tours and as it just so happened there were 2 spots open for that night!
Summit Flight
We excitedly arrived at the Healy airport for 6:30 pm for our 7 pm flight. The tour runs 3 times a day, 9 am, 3 pm and 7 pm, it’s about an hour and 15 minutes of stunning views of Denali National Park. As the park unfolded before us I was nearly brought to tears by the sheer beauty of the wilderness below us. It’s not often that you get to see mountains from above, it was almost as if we were looking at ant hills below us.
We were incredibly lucky with the weather, we had a cloudless sky as we approached Denali. The Denali Summit is nearly 21,000 feet, on average about 5,000 feet higher than the rest of the Alaska Range. The mountain actually creates its own weather, it is so massive storms more or less get stuck on Denali. All mountains affect weather, but given how abruptly Denali shoots up from the earth storms are unable to pass over the mountain. Storms coming in from the Gulf of Alaska and the Bearing Sea collide with Denali and creat drastic and abrupt changes in the weather on and around the towering mountain. The unpredictable weather makes Denali incredibly dangerous to climb.
There are actually 2 summits on Denali, the north summit and the south summit. The north summit is about a thousand feet shorter than the south summit, imagine being the first person to make it to the north summit only to realize you had another thousand feet climb in order to summit the highest peak in North America.
We were able to see both summits quite clearly as well as where the base camps are set up for climbers. If you take a Denali Summit Flight between Mid May and Early July there is a chance you will see climbers on the mountain. The weather is always unpredictable but those are the best months to try the daring climb up Denali.
Being eye level with the summit I could not imagine making that climb. Taking a flight up to the top was good enough for me! The views of Denali and the surrounding mountains were absolutely stunning. The flight does run about $450 USD but I would pay the price if I were to go back. It truly was a once in a lifetime experience and I felt incredibly lucky to work for such an amazing company that offered such amazing perks to its employees.
After the flight, Anna and I grabbed some dinner at 49th State Brewery. The food was great, much more upscale than I was expecting for a brewery. As we were driving from the airport to the Brewery we saw a mother moose with 2 claves. They were grazing by the railroad tracks. I had never seen a moose before, they’re huge! Their legs seem way too long and slim to support their massive frame, they remind me of gangly teenagers.
We were once again fortunate enough have housing provided by Northern Alaska Tour Company at Ridge Top Cabins in Healy. Be warned if you do stay at these adorable little cabins the driveway is very steep and rocky. We were a little nervous taking the rental car up there. Ridge Top Cabins is set a good ways back from the road, amongst the trees. There’s a good chance of seeing a moose up there so be on the lookout. Moose have terrible eyesight and can be quite aggressive if you do happen to run into one stay still, more than likely it won’t see you.
Denali National Park
If you only have one day to see Denali I highly recommend booking a bus tour. There are many different options including transit buses and tour buses. The transit buses still stop for wildlife, and at the main attractions throughout the park, they do not, however, offer an in-depth history of the park. They do give you the general facts of the park and answer any questions you may have. Anna and I decided to go with the transit bus as it seemed to still give a lot of information and they do stop for wildlife which was our main interest and it is a bit cheaper than the tours.
There is only 1 road in the park, you are allowed to drive your personal vehicles but only the first 15 miles of the 92-mile long road. It is possible to win the road lottery that takes place every year in mid-September but it is subject to weather.
Transit Buses
You do have the option to get on and off different buses when doing the transit buses so if you wanted to do a little hiking you certainly could. Keep in mind that spots on the buses are first come first serve so be prepared to wait if you do in fact stay behind at one of the stops to do some hiking. The first couple buses in and the last couple of buses out are the most crowded so try to plan accordingly and book in advance if you can. Kids 15 and under to ride for free but you still need to book them a ticket.
Tour Buses
The tours options vary throughout the year as weather does greatly impact what parts of the park are accessible. These tours are much more descriptive and offer a much more detailed look at the park. Tours are great but they can give me information overload after awhile, both Anna and I decided a more casual approach is what we were looking for.
About 10 miles into our drive we got an absolutely stunning view of Denali, the mountain was “booming” as they say. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky you could clearly see both peaks, the best they had seen in weeks. It’s actually pretty rare to see Denali’s summit we just happened to get very lucky. The tour stops about every 90 minutes giving you a quick chance to stretch, use the restroom and take in the nature surrounding you.
One of my favorite views were the Polychromes. With their signature reds and tans, they stand out from the bright greens covering the rest of the park.
Eielson Visitors Center had the best view of Denali, I would highly recommend at least taking the bus out that far. We sat and ate our lunch while staring at one of the most magnificent sights in the world.
Wonder Lake was gorgeous, we had a half hour to wander around if you came prepared you could even hop in for a quick swim. The water was warmer than I was expecting, then again I was used to the temperatures in Deadhorse. It was a perfect sunny and 70 in Denali, to me it actually felt quite warm. While we did have some warm days in Deadhorse, passing 70 the usual was around 50.
We didn’t see much for wildlife just a couple of Caribou crossing the road. There were some doll sheep way up in the mountains but they only looked like white specks from that distance.
It was a long day on a bus but if you only have 1 day to see the park it really is your best option. Denali National Park and Preseve covers 6 million acres of land, it would take years to fully experience the beauty. With more time I would certainly take a couple days to do some hiking and really see the backcountry.
Seeing Denali National Park is a highlight from my whole 6 months in Alaska, even if that’s the only thing you have time to do DO IT!!! You won’t regret it, just looking at these pictures has me looking up flights to Alaska so just imagine how gorgeous it is in real life.
This post is part of a series, my Alaskan Road Trip, if you missed the first part of the journey check it out here! Be sure to check back next week to hear about my experience on the Dalton Highway.
