Driving from Anchorage to Denali
To begin our one week in Alaska, we drove from Anchorage to Denali. I met Rick there in June and stayed for only eight days. Rick had completed his adventure ride from Northern California to Deadhorse and even got into the Arctic Ocean. He then came back to Anchorage to meet me. He wrote about that adventure in his Great Northwestern Motorcycle Trek post. With the shortened timeframe, we had to pick and choose our destinations carefully. Our first priority was Denali, but the mountain is both stunning and frustratingly shy. Thankfully, the road from Anchorage to Denali provides some beautiful sights to see along the way to the spectacular mountains.
When I read about seeing Denali, I saw over and over again the same sentence: roughly 30% of the people who try to see Denali, do in fact, get to see her. Denali and her surrounding companions are so immense that they make their own weather. Very often the mountain range is shrouded in clouds. While we were there, Alaska had over 400 fires burning throughout the state. So that made Denali far less visible because the smoke that settled in the valleys around the range obscured the view.
Thunderbird Falls
In preparing for my trip, I read several helpful pages about things to see on the drive to Denali from Anchorage. Since my passion is photographing waterfalls, we made our first stop at Thunderbird Falls. It’s a nice hike in and out, although I will admit to being hyper-sensitive to every sound, thinking that a bear would show up at any moment. Rick did have his bear spray on hand just in case.
The main trail is easily negotiable, but there is a hill at the start of the trail that likely intimidates a few people. The way down to the base of the falls is something else entirely! Here are a few pics of the falls and part of the lower path to the base. That middle pic doesn’t adequately capture the treachery of the way to the base.
Reflections Lake
Next, we went to Reflections Lake, not to be confused with Mirror Lake. This is a very relaxing place to spend some time. I imagine it also provides some spectacular reflections when there’s no smoke. 🙁 Here are some shots I got while we walked around the lake. I had to use Google Lens to find out what that duck-like-looking creature was. Turns out, it’s a Loon.
Denali South rest stop
After Reflections Lake, we motored up the highway and stopped at the South and then the North Denali Viewing areas. These are rest stops with picnic areas and hiking trails that normally include views of the mountain range. The first stop coming from Anchorage is the Denali South rest stop. Here’s an example of what it looks like when it’s clear compared with what it looked like while we were there. You can tell I couldn’t even figure out which way to point the camera.
Denali North rest stop
The next stop was equally obscured by smoke: Denali North rest stop. Apparently, it can look like the image on the left below on a clear day. But when we were there, it looked like the image on the right below.
Thankfully, since I had read ahead that the mountain range is frequently shrouded in clouds, I booked a flyover (that included landing on a glacier) tour out of Talkeetna.
When Rick was riding south from Fairbanks to Anchorage the day before I got there, he got some good shots before the smoke set in. If you haven’t already read about his motorcycle trip from Sacramento to the Arctic Circle, you can read about that in his post called, “Great Northwestern Motorcycle Trek.”
Flying Over the Denali Mountains
The next day was our opportunity to see Denali up close by flying over the mountain range from Talkeetna. If you visit Alaska, I would highly recommend doing this. The tour we did was called Summit Tour with Glacier Landing. This tour takes you all the way around the steepest of the range so you get to see all sides of the mountains.
If you book a tour that lands on the glacier, you will need a National Park ticket. If you’re 62 or older, we also recommend getting a Lifetime Senior National Park pass. There are other types of passes you can get as well; for example, people serving in the military can get a free lifetime pass. If you have an annual pass, you don’t have to pay the entrance fee to land on the glacier.
About the Plane
The plane we boarded sat 10 people, but everyone gets a window seat. The pilot we had was exceptional. He knew instantly when something was awry. Since the plane flies above 20,000 feet and because the plane isn’t pressurized, you have to wear oxygen masks. You also have to wear headphones so you can hear the pilot speaking. Add to this any camera equipment that hangs around your neck, and it’s a bit of a recipe for disaster. I had so many things wrapped around me that I got tangled in them. The pilot waited for me to get untangled before ascending further so that I didn’t have any problems with the oxygen mask.
We landed on the Ruth Glacier. What’s stunning about being on the glacier is the perspective is unreal. Everything looks much, much closer than it is. If you try to throw a snowball at the nearest mountain, which appears to be about 100 feet away, you soon realize that it’s much farther, more like a mile away.
The one thing I would do differently for this trip is to stay nearer Talkeetna on the night before we took the flight. We did the drive from Anchorage to Denali and stayed in Denali. The next day we got up early and drove all the way back to Talkeetna. We left early in case of traffic or accidents on the road back. There’s really only one way between Denali and Talkeetna: AK 3. So if you are on that road and there’s an accident, you could be sitting and waiting for it to clear for hours.
Denali Hiking
For day three of this trip, we chose Denali hiking as our activity. I read about the options for hiking in the National Park ahead of time. While researching, I learned there are limitations due to a landslide that happened in 2021. While we were there, it sounded like there was no plan to move forward. But according to a post on the National Park Service website, they do have a plan to move forward. NPS now has the environmental agreement and funding to build a bridge that bypasses the landslide. The bridge construction will begin Summer of 2023 and will finish sometime in 2025. To check the conditions, go to the NPS conditions page. You can find out more about the construction project and see an amazing photo of the landslide on the NPS Polychrome Area Plan page.
Denali Hiking – Bus Rides
Even though you can only go as far as mile marker 43, it is worth the ride for the views of Denali and wildlife. There are several options for buses that take you into the Park. Narrated tour buses, non-narrated transit buses, and free buses provide service into the Park. We took the transit bus that went to the East Fork. The NPS website describes these buses as non-narrated, but on ours, there was plenty of narration, including lighthearted but serious recommendations about what to do if you encounter a bear. We were able to leave a bus, take a hike and then hop on another bus without a problem.
I would recommend getting your tickets in advance. The NPS has a great page about planning your trip that helps you to decide which hikes to take and which adventures to book based on the time you have.
Getting to the Park
Unless you camp in the Park, getting to the entrance takes a while because you have to stay outside the Park. The closest options for non-camping lodging are either in McKinley Park, which is about 2 miles away, or in Healy, which is 11 miles away. The few options closest to the Park in McKinley Park sell out the quickest. Wherever you stay, plan for a longer-than-usual trip into the Park. Road construction commences during summer because other times of the year are not conducive for working on the roads. You can assume you will wait while crews are working.
We stayed at the Denali Cabins, which was wonderfully rustic. You have probably heard that Alaska is remote and rustic. I had heard that. But it doesn’t really mean anything until you’re there. While we were staying in Denali Cabins, which has a restaurant, they ran out of cream. When I say, “they,” I mean every store (there are like 2) and every cafe had no cream for many miles (like hundreds). The restaurant manager finally resorted to ordering on Amazon, which delivers irregularly to the area. Everyone was pleasantly surprised when the cream arrived in just under 48 hours.
Another interesting thing about the Denali recreation area is that a lot of people don’t live there except for three months out of the year. They go to work in June and leave in August. Our bartender at the Cabins lives nine months out of the year in Northern California, only about ten miles from us.
Our Transit Bus Ride
When you book your tickets for the transit bus, you pick a time to start. Our start time was 10 a.m. Since we knew there would be road construction, we got up extra early and set out for the Park. We got there just in time. We rode the transit bus, stopping for photo ops along the way, and got off at mile 43. From there, we hiked up to the location of the landslide, which is quite an impressive sight. We took the first four photos below when we got to the Park (the moose images). And we took the remaining images while on the bus and hiking past mile 43. We lucked out again with Denali viewing as it was very clear the day we took the bus.
After the hike up we headed back down to the bus turnaround area and waited for another transit bus. There was one that arrived as we got there but it was full. So we waited for the next one. We put our names on the list and this time we made it on the next bus. On the way back, we saw the Dal Sheep on the mountain and the Caribou in the distance. So the driver stopped for photo ops.
Rock Creek Trail
We had told the driver we wanted to hike the Rock Creek Trail. So he let us off nearest the trailhead on the road. He pointed us in the direction of the trailhead and off we went. This was a fairly secluded trail. The unnerving thing about it, however, is the bear paw marks in the bark on the trees. Rick is 6’3″ and his reach is easily a foot beyond that. The bear paw scratches appeared roughly two feet higher than his reach. Every sound as we were walking was cause for concern. Here are a couple of shots I got.
At the end of the trail, we had to find our way to the Visitor Center and back to the parking lot. It’s possible we could have ridden one of the free buses. But we opted to just walk.
Denali Zipping
On our fourth day, we decided to get up really early and head up to a zipline. We got a deal by watching the Travel Alaska website. There was an offer posted by Denali Park Zipline, so we booked it for early in the morning on the day we were heading back to Anchorage.
Normally, the ziplines are the most exhilarating part of going zipping, but not here. Here, the swinging ladders and ladders with missing steps and precariously tacked steps caused us to sweat a bit. But it sure was fun! Here are some shots the photographer at Denali Park Ziplike got of us and a couple we took of the beautiful scenery.
Eklutna Lakeside Trail Hike
After zipping, we headed back down toward Anchorage. We stopped at Eklutna Lake to take a hike on the Eklutna Lakeside Trail. We didn’t go the whole 12.9 miles but turned around after about two and a half. It was a lovely hike, mostly flat, and there were bikes on the trail, non-motorized and motorized. On the way back, we noticed a wedding in process on the banks of the lake toward the beginning of the trail.
After the hike we ran by Mirror Lake but it was so crowded, we didn’t even try to park. Off we went to Anchorage. On the recommendation of a family member who used to live in Juneau, we decided to try the 49th State Brewing Company. We put in our names, but the wait was incredibly long. They seemed to forget about us so we bugged them and amazingly, we were next to get to the rooftop. We went on a Saturday, so that could explain the crowd. I think we got there at 8 pm and were finally seated at 9:30 pm. Possibly there’s not a sense of urgency because the sun is still up. The sun finally set shortly after we left which was after midnight. Here are some shots we took.
I had the Parmesan and Asiago Crusted Halibut (second pic), and Rick had the Meat Lovers Grilled Steak and Crispy Bacon with Mac ‘n’ Cheese (third pic). We stayed the night in Anchorage and planned to travel to Kenai Fjords the next day.
Flattop Mountain Hike
Along the way to Kenai Fjords, we decided to get some exercise. We had not foreseen the amount of exercise we would get! This hike is not far from Anchorage, but when we were there, we had to navigate through some detours due to road construction. (It’s a theme.) The advertised length of this hike is 3.5 miles. It took us about 3.8 miles because we missed a turn and had to backtrack. Our route in AllTrails shows the stats of the hike we took.
Note that most people don’t make it all the way to the top. It’s too intimidating and too intense of a vertical climb. We made it to the top, but for us, the most harrowing part was coming down. It would be very easy to end up sliding down a good portion of the upper elevation. One guy who didn’t look like he’d ever done much hiking asked us to record him using his phone so he could show people he actually made it. I didn’t see whether he made it back down without sliding on his touche. Here are some images from the hike.
Beluga Point
Back on the road to Seward, we stopped at Beluga Point. There are some pretty views here, but sadly, we didn’t see any sea life.
Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center
We decided to stop off at the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center which is on the way to Seward. This is a wonderful place to see wildlife. Here are some of the pictures I took while we were there.
Seward & Kenai Fjords
My main purpose in visiting Kenai Fjords and going on a tour there was the prospect of capturing puffin pictures. I love them. Unfortunately, when we went to Scotland the second time, I changed the time of one of our tours there and forgot to update my plan. So we ended up missing the Puffin tour that leaves out of Anstruther. Another reason to go back.
The tours out of Kenai Fjords promise puffins but even if you don’t see any on a tour, there’s a Sea Life Center in Seward where you can see lots of birds and animals. I can’t imagine not seeing puffins on a tour though.
The problem comes when you try to choose a tour. There are a dizzying number of choices and when people write reviews, they don’t correctly identify the tour they took. You need to be careful in your selection. We saw boats that were crammed with people attempting to get way too close to sea life. The tour we took was the National Park Cruise with Dinner on Fox Island. The boat had enough room for all of its passengers and there was still space to get around if you wanted to whip out your camera because you happen to see something in the water before everyone else or even the captain sees it. Our crew was exceptionally professional and tried to keep the boat safe from sea life.
We saw a lot more sea life than they do on an average day, which was lucky. Also, it didn’t rain. But it was cold. I had read a lot about what to expect, so I came prepared. Whereas a lot of people were very cold.
Packing for a Kenai Fjords Cruise
Here is what I took with me:
- My North Face Tri Climate Jacket, which I got in 2019 but the exact version is no longer sold anywhere
- A warm scarf, hat, and gloves
- Rubber boots
- These wind-resistant, waterproof pants
- This puffy vest
- My warm, long-sleeved shirt
- Two pairs of wool socks
- Dramamine
- My camera bag and its rain cover, and my circular polarizing filter which I ended up ditching because it impeded my lens’s ability to focus
Here are the pictures I took while on the cruise.
In addition to glaciers, we saw fin whales, humpbacks, orcas, rhino auklets (blackbirds in the water), common murres (that look similar to penguins on the rocks), otters, sea lions, and yes, puffins! I got shots of both the tufted puffins (the ones with the hair) and the horned puffins (those without the hair). They are tricky to catch because they’re super fast. You need to set your camera on high-speed continuous mode shooting to ensure you get something while they move.
We ate dinner at Fox Island, which was wonderful. After dinner, we boarded the boat again and headed back to Seward. Since I had to fly back the next day, we drove back to Anchorage and stayed the night. Rick took me to the airport in the morning and then headed to the Harley shop to pick up his bike for the ride back. It was a whirlwind trip for me and a long trip back for Rick.