Denali

"Denali is six million acres of wild land, bisected by one ribbon of road,"  as the National Park Service describes. And they made no mistake in that description of Denali. One of the only places on earth where you can experience REAL untamed, unspoiled, and unaffected nature, scattered in glaciers and rivers. But that's the best part, besides the 20308-foot beast of a mountain. Surrounding this mountain are elk bears, wild lupines, and other wildlife.

 

A common thing found in national parks are trails; everyone likes to go on a hike, but all the magic that happens in Denali is beyond the trails, because there are no trails. At first it sounds like it could be a concern: "No trails, what if I get lost?" Well, one thing is that there is one big landmark to tell you where you are; also technically, there are 2 camping trails, but that's besides the point because they can limit what you see. Which is the case for a lot of trails, sometimes having the freedom to walk, camp, run, and do whatever, makes the experience so much better. You can walk along a dry riverbed, a mossy forest or climb a hill; the possibilities are endless. Because there are no specific trails, you can just enjoy whats around you, you can stop in the middle of nowhere and just sit down because your not going to block anyones path by taking a seat in the grass. For example, I walked just 5 mins away from the campsite and although i didn't go deep in the forest I just found a small river next to the campsite, i sat there for 1 hour just building a small dam. Find the perfect rock and just puting them there like puzzle pieces, not a care in the world about anything else. 

Now about Denali itself. The mountain is so tall that most of the time you can't even see the tip of it. Unsurprisingly, Denali officially holds the record for having the tallest peak in all of North America and, unfortunately, for the wildest one. In fact, according to National Geographic, "Denali is the third-highest of the Seven Summits (the tallest peaks on all seven continents)." Around sixty million years ago, tectonic uplift pushed Earth's crust upwards, forming Denali.

Denali is home to a wide variety of animals that play a crucial role in the park ecosystem. But here are the big 5: Caribue, Dall sheep, wolves, and grizzly bears. There are also foxes, black bears, bald eagles, wolverines, rabbits, beavers, and porcupines. But out of all of these animals, there are ones that aren't very wild, but they sure are cute. Whenever Denali was first established cars weren't powerful enough to survive the Alaskan winter, but sled dogs were. you can visit the park during the summer and the winter to learn, pet, and witness sled dogs in action. You get to learn about their different roles and before the show starts you can go into that big gated area that is full of dog houses and huskies running around.

 Tips: 1. To get around the park there is one single road that buses ride back and forth to take you to your campground. 2. buy all groceries and food before entering the park because the food and items are supper expensive.

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