Teklanika River Campground, Alaska, United StatesDenali NP
Alaska’s famous NP: What is Denali to
you??
- “People go to the wilderness for the good of their soul”
- 1898: US Surveyors and this area went on the map with “unexplored”
- In 1905 in nearby Kantishna was gold discovered, with the gold seekers also came the big game hutners. When Charles Sheldon came to town he was stunned by the destruction and started a campaign to protect the region: this was the start of MtKinley NP: he was here in 1906 and came back in 1908
- Did you know that the overhunting of the Dalli Sheep inspired Charles Sheldon to get a NP? So Thanks Sheep
- 1923 the railroad is completed and visitors can arrive and the 1st visitor facility opens at the Savage River – it could host 34 people: the plan was for a wildlife preserve but they wanted favor for the park and that tourists would benefit the park. The first tourists came before the Park road was even open. In 1922 the park had 7 visitors. By 1929 they had daily 150-200 visitors and the it was the golden age of the park.
- 1957 Parks Hwy opens and you can drive by car to the Denali NP
- 1972 the Park starts a shuttle bus system and limits the vehicle access
- In 1980 they enlarged the park to now 6 Mill acres and it got renamed Denali NP (by the way Jimmy Carter signed a legislation and established over 100 Mill acres of new national parks in Alaska)
- 1985 the park buys up all mining claims inside the park
- Every year 400.000 people come and visit the wilderness
- Harry Karstens was the 1st superintendent of the park from 1921-28: he got it up and running – he started the dog kennel and the park road. He had high standards for his rangers he hired, in an interview he said “I’ll send you on a patrol trip alone, you will be gone for a week. If you don’t get back by then, I’ll come looking for you, and you better have plans for a new job”
- Only animals that can adapt to the subarctic condition can live around the Denali
- We learned that we are not the only one who want to avoid insects: Caribou also get attacked by the warble fly who lies eggs in their belly and then the maggots tunnel into their hide – how itchy
- Mosquitos are the food of a lot of birds – sadly we are not birds – and if you like berries: than be happy the mosquitos pollinated them by the way the bears love to eat the berries
- Some alpine plants have thick leaves or fuzzy stems as an insulation to the intense cold and wind, or they are close to the ground
- In the subarctic environment vegetation grows slow – that means you need a lot of land to provide enough food for a few animals: so only 89 wolves live in the 6 Mill acres of Denali NP
- We learn that Moose tough it out through the winter – let’s become a Moose!!!
- And wild places don’t stay wild by accident: the bus system reduces traffic and roadside disturbances, they use dog sleds, there is only one road – no hiking trails outside the entrance area
Getting our Camping Pass
Gine booked Denali online in January –
this is way we were on a timeline on when to arrive. When we came into the Park
there was a big sign: Campground registration and when you go in you can read
the sign “All Campgrounds are full” – wow, can you believe it, it is cold and
it was also rainy the last days including today and the campgrounds are full!!!
As we are here, we drove down to the
Riley Creek Day use – which was not that special.
At the Visitor Info
The next stop is this super cool
Visitor info: I mean they really built a huge Visitor info with display of the
animals, we strolled around and also looked at all the animals they had there,
even watched the movie about the Denali (I mean it is not that we are wasting
our time, as it is still cool and rainy.
The Sled Dogs
Next stop was at the Dog Kennel: it
was cool to walk around and meet the different dogs, they are actually smaller
than I thought, very playful and friendly. We came at the right time as at 2 pm
was a demonstration. Ok, they talked a bit too much – but then we still could
here the dogs when they got totally excited and put in the harness and they
were excited to run with the “summer-sled” around, jumping around.
- Denali is the only NP who has a Dog kennel and brings up and trains their own dog
- Dog sleds was the most important thing on how to go around in Alaska and they best way to go around here
- The dogs “work” until they are around 8 years old and then get adopted out
- Sled dogs are trained that if they are on a “leash” they have to pull – if you put them on a leash, they want to pull
The Mountain Vista Walk
It is not raining – yeah!!! And the
sun comes out a bit, perfect, we stop near the Savage River Campground and walk
the Mountain vista walk – which is a short little loop with some nice views on
the mountains. And sometimes we have to lift up our heads towards the sun and
soak it up – the sun is so wonderful!!!
- Here were at one time a lot of little cabins the Savage camp
Along the real Park Highway
So this is also the Park Highway – the
Highway going into the Denali. At the Savage River bridge is a stop and you
need a permit to continue on. As we were there a bus was stopping on a bridge
and we thought it is one of those – lookout points for the bus, boy did we got
told that the yellow lines means we have to stop. Then our ticket was taken, we
got put into the tablet, how many people, then we got asked: you have food for
3 days??? And we got told all the rules, one Rule Gine thought is kind of
stupid, to give the sheep a break, there is 8 Miles from here a sheep stop and
if you arrive there to the full hour you have to stop until 10 after so the
sheep have a break – really!!! I mean only the bus and the vehicles who camp
can drive back, and if you camp you have to book 3 days where you are not
allowed to drive your car, with 50 camping spots, that would make less than 20
cars a day in and out…. Whoever came up with that stupid idea!!!. (Let’s not
forget the bus only goes every half hour).
We had some great views up towards the
mountains as well as the endlessness of the Valley towards the other mountain
range – this is truly a spectacular area.
By the way the road after the Savage
River is “gravel” I mean it is super muddy and a bit wet, so we could drive
only very slow like around 25 km/h or the truck was slipping… guess that is why
it takes that long to come to the campground
Teklanika River Campground
We arrive at the campground and drive
through both loops until we found a spot we liked – nice in the open so in case
the sun comes out we have lots of sunshine and also not that far away from the
river. Another coffee and a bit sitting in the sunshine and then we walk over
to the river. From here we have a spectacular view on the mountains – this is
one of the superwide stony glacier river beds – it would be perfect with nice
warm weather. Heading back – time for supper and to get warm (we bring out
again our thermal underwear – are we glad we brought it!!!)
With the Ranger
We decided to go over to the evening
program where we learned on how to behave safely:
- Moose can get irritated and aggressive so be aware – so stay away from them
- Wolves: there are not that many in the park in the 6 Mill acres of Parkland are less than 90 wolves, so if you tell them to go away they will (if you even lucky enough to see one)
- Grizzlies: they can be fast and if they don’t realize you are there, then back off, so they never know. If they are around and watch you but are quiet than you should be loud and noisy, and if the bear is aggressive then you need to be calm and quiet – always the opposite (and use the bearspray if they are withing 30 ft of you)
We learned that the Antlers of the
Moose drop off each fall, that we are in the country of the Midnight sun – it
was kind of cute to listen and also we had some sunshine in our faces which was
even better!!!
Now it is time to head inside and get
warm!!! Did I mention it is actually super cold here.
After a cold night
Ok it is really not the hottest here –
for last night we put on our thermal undershirts to keep warm, therefore we
decided to sleep in – as there is no reason to be up in the cold. Getting up to
a nice hot coffee and then we are ready to go for some Denali exploring.
On the bus to east fork
We went to the bus stop and must have
missed one bus, after waiting a bit the next one had enough space to take us
along. Soon after we were on, there was a 10 min stop at the Teklinka
Viewpoint: our first views on the mountains and the valley – on we went through
the Igloo forest – and then it slowly went up the hill towards Sable mountains
at the top of the Sable Pass was the sign which at one time was a 4x4 now it is
round and it has a lot of nails in it, so the bears don’t eat it. At one time
we stopped to check out 3 Dalli Sheep (those are the 3 white little dots in the
green) – another time we stopped to see the Caribou (those are the little
moving things on the snow). And we already got some more glimpses on the
mountains – but no view on the Denali from here. End stop for the moment at the
East Fork river bridge.
Walking to the Landslide
We decided to go for a walk here, and
were happy that there were some blue sky glimpses and a nice view and so we
started to continue on the Park Drive – it was a super easy walk as we walked
on the main street – lots of views, at one time we saw a park ranger who showed
us a Grizzly bear. It went uphill and against the wind with some super
wonderful sunny breaks – we do love the sunshine!!! And then we came to the
roadblock saying “Road closed” as we walked further we could see where
literally the street was sliding away – it was super impressive to see –
wow!!!! Here is also a perfect spot for a quick snack and then we headed back.
As we walked back the rain clouds came and at some points we could see the rain
over the mountains and nearing the bridge it started to rain – we were so
lucky.
Heading back
On the way back we saw a Ranger and
she pointed out a grizzly who found a cariboo carcass – Paul did see it through
the binoculars – I’m not so sure I saw it??? Once back at the bridge, we got
our names on the waitlist and couldn’t make the next bus, but then we had a
great seat on the way back with nice views on the mountains – a quick stop at
the rest stop and we are back at our campground.
Meeting fellow Campers in the sunshine
Coming back we had coffee and then it
was a in and out: out when the sun was here and we were soaking it up – in when
the sun went away and the wind came and it got cool – and then back out again.
After supper same thing: it’s sunny so we go out – the clouds come and we go in
for doing dishes. Back out again and then tonight we talked with some fellow
travellers – we met a nice couple from the Netherlands – then the big overland
truck owner who we saw previous in Seward… it is funny on how we meet the same
fellow travellers again. After the sun is gone – we go inside to keep us much
of the warm inside as possible.
2025-05-22