Alaska is home to 24 sites associated with the National Parks Service and 8 National Parks. It is also home to the largest, Wrangell St. Elias at over 8 million acres! That's larger than each of the 9 smallest states in the nation. Alaska is also home to Denali National Park and the tallest peak in North America. Denali is wild, even by Alaskan standards. It has seen snow in July and conditions can change in the course of a few hours. Denali, the largest peak, creates it's own weather system. It's only visible a third of the year due to clouds and unfortunately we weren't able to see it on this trip. A group of us drove four hours from Anchorage up to the park for the day.
"Spring" in the park means an abundance of snow contrasted by the vibrant green color coming through in the plants. At this point in the year, the sun shines for 19 hours and will soon rise to a staggering 20 hours in mid summer. Further north the sun will not set few a few weeks. During "shoulder season" the park road is open to mile 30 of 89. In the summer you can only drive a personal vehicle to mile 15 and after that you must take a bus or bike. Increases in daylight mean a massive increase in animal activity. On the trip we saw caribou, moose, and Ptarmigan. The state bird of Alaska, the Ptarmigan is more like a short, fat, slow, arctic chicken. A far cry from the majestic eagles that soar overhead ;) It's almost unbelievable the effect the sun can have on a place. With the long days, the plants grow constantly, allowing for a rapid change in seasons. You could visit a dead landscape one day and then the next it could be covered in lush green. We'll be back in June to camp a few nights in the back country. On our drive home we spotted a perfect reflection about an hour from the park. A perfect end to an already incredible day.
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Thank you for reading and supporting my blog! There are now only EIGHT days until the trip to Prudhoe Bay. The sun is already up for good and will not set until July 29th! Yes you read that right, it is so far north the sun has risen and will not drop below the horizon for over 2 months!
Chase