lessons of patience in denali national park & hatcher pass

Dates: September 4 , 2022 September 10, 2022
Distance:   487 mi / 784 km
Route: Paxson Lake > Denali Highway > Denali National Park > Hatcher Pass

The Denali Highway

After sitting in one place for over a week, being back on the road felt like a breath of fresh air–we were moving, going somewhere, doing something. Our restlessness from the past several days faded away as we turned onto the Denali Highway, once again excited for the unknown of what lay ahead.

The Denali Highway is a 135 mile (217 km) stretch of pot-holey dirt and asphalt through the interior of Alaska, running east to west and connecting highways 3 and 4. Supposedly, it’s a lightly traveled route, but we wouldn’t call it that based on our experience. In the midst of hunting season, the highway was, more or less, crowded. Every pull-off served as a home-base camp for the hunters and their vehicles, tents, coolers, and ATV trailers. 

The hordes of people in neon orange vests and camouflage didn’t detract from the beauty of the landscape, though, of which we failed to take a single photo. Rolling hills covered in orange and red shrubs, a splattering of ponds dotting the land, and undoubtedly beautiful mountains, which laid just out of our view, hidden behind thick fog. It was a cold and rainy day and our visibility was limited–we could only imagine how beautiful the drive would be on a clearer day. 

As we neared the end of the Denali Highway, the sky decided it was time to clear up and bring out the sun in a drastic change of weather and mood. Blue sky, sunshine, and groupings of bright yellow aspen trees congregated on the green mountainsides as we drove into the town of Denali.

Denali National Park

We made our way to the entrance of Denali National Park, where we registered for our campsites and bought some firewood. The first two nights would be spent in Savage River Campground, followed by three more nights further into the park in Teklanika River Campground. 

Denali National Park - Savage River Campground

After what felt like a long day of driving, we headed straight for the campground, enjoying the view along the way. Once at camp, I climbed into bed and Mike took Granger for a walk. 

Continuing to take extra precautions, we kept to ourselves and spent most of our time resting. To be honest, apart from the drive to the campground, it felt like we were back at Paxson Lake, hiding out from the world. That is until Mike asked if I wanted to take a walk around the campground... 

Though the worst of the sickness had passed, my body still felt incredibly weak. When chewing my food or jotting down notes in my journal, I would often have to stop to rest. I knew I needed to continue taking it easy, but we also needed a change of scenery.

We slowly ventured to the edge of the campground and came upon a clearing where the beauty of the park sprawled out before us. 

I regretted not bringing our camp chairs to post up for a while, but we made do. Sitting on the ground, we looked out at the unbelievable swathe of colors–deep red, orange, forest green, burgundy, golden yellow–cast against the blue sky and took it all in. Going for a walk was definitely a good decision.

Denali National Park - Teklanika River Campground

On Tuesday morning we returned to the park entrance for much needed showers at Riley Creek Mercantile and readied ourselves and our cameras for the 29 mile drive to Teklanika River Campground. 

Note: The general public is only allowed to drive 15 miles into the park. However, if you book reservations at one of the campgrounds beyond the 15 mile marker, you’re provided with a round-trip permit to and from your campground. 

With our eyes peeled and scanning 180° as if our heads were sitting on swivels, we looked for signs of wildlife. We think we caught a glimpse of a moose in the distance walking through a thicket of trees before reaching the 15 mile point in the park. Here, a ranger checked our reservations and taped a paper permit to our windshield, indicating our authorization to continue driving further. 

Three miles from Teklanika River Campground, our hope for any close wildlife sightings nearly gone, we turned a bend and… “wow–bear!” Standing right in the middle of the road looking straight at us was a grizzly bear. Two buses full of park visitors snapping furiously away on their cameras were following closely behind as the bear continued walking in our direction. With each swift step, their belly swayed from side to side, reminding us of Walker’s own gait and noticeable belly sway. 

Unbothered, the bear veered off into the brush along the side of the road and this incredible encounter was over in a matter of seconds. Realizing our luck to see a grizzly bear up so close and from the safety of our vehicle, we were flying high on cloud nine as we drove the remaining three miles to the campground. “Well, that makes me a little more nervous about walking Granger on the road,” Mike admitted with a laugh.

Since the public isn’t permitted to drive all the way into the park, there’s a shuttle bus system. We purchased our $30 tickets, expecting the bus to take us deep into the park way beyond our campground. But it turns out, we were wrong. 

Dall sheep are only found in Alaska, the Yukon and northern British Columbia. Protecting their population was an important driver for the establishment of Denali National Park in 1917 (then called Mount McKinley National Park).

Starting at the park entrance, the crowded bus travels 43 miles into the park, a mere 14 miles beyond Teklanika River Campground. Had we realized this, we probably wouldn’t have paid for the bus tour. We learned some interesting things about the park (e.g. for every 1° the global temperature rises, the temperature here rises 3°, speeding up effects of climate change) and saw Dahl sheep speckling the mountainsides in the distance, but the overall experience was just… meh. Now if we had a really cool animal sighting or a good viewpoint of Denali’s peak, we would have possibly felt that it was worth it. But also, if we hadn’t done it, we might have worried that we were missing out on something really cool. So in the end, we were glad we did it.

Note: “An ongoing landslide at Pretty Rocks is impacting bus service. In 2022, buses will travel no further than Mile 43 of the 92-mile long Denali Park Road.” –nps.gov

Aside from the bus tours, Denali is really designed for the backcountry backpacker. Trails are just about nonexistent but you can hike wherever you want to, with a few exceptions. Since backpacking is currently out of the cards for us, we spent most of our time hanging out at camp, taking daily walks, bike rides, and exploring the woods around the campground.

The drive to and from Teklanika ended up being the most exciting part of our time in Denali NP. Friday morning, our last day in the park, we were pleased to see some blue sky. We packed up camp and rolled out of the campground, heading east back towards the camp entrance. 

Taking our time and stopping often for photos, morale was exceptionally high. It was a perfect day, the land around us glimmered in the sunshine, and we were on the move once again. 

Climbing up an incline we saw a blinding white mass emerging from the clouds off to the right. “Is that… could that be it… I think it’s Denali!” We weren’t sure at first, but soon realized it most certainly was the tallest peak in North America in all of her glory. 

‘Denali’ means ‘the great one’ in Koyukon Athabaskan language of the Native peoples of Alaska. We also heard it translated as ‘the brave one’ and ‘the tall one.’

We had accepted the fact that we likely wouldn’t see the mountain on this visit, just like we had lost hope of having any exciting wildlife sightings before we saw the grizzly. So I guess the moral of our Denali National Park story is that sometimes the coolest things happen when you least expect them too. 

Denali is the highest peak in North America, standing 20,310 feet tall.

Feeling as though we had accomplished all that we could have hoped for here, we followed the blazing yellow aspens lining the road out of the park. 

Hatcher Pass

Lapping up the beautiful day and electric fall colors, we drove four hours south to the base of Hatcher Pass. Situated between the towns of Willow and Palmer, Hatcher Pass is a 49 mile stretch of road in the Matanuska-Sustina Valley of Alaska and serves as a popular recreation area. 

At some point along our drive we traded the sunshine for our more familiar Alaska companions, the ever-dependable clouds and rain. At the base of the pass, this wasn’t an issue, as the rain had left the fall leaves glistening and somehow even more vibrant than before. However, as we ascended the pass, the rain transformed to slush, and then snow. With the heavy, wet snowflakes falling steadily, our visibility was reduced to the path of gravel that lay directly ahead of our tires.

Witnessing distinct environmental changes as you climb in elevation–whether by hiking, driving or whatever–is fascinating. Climbing above the treeline, noticing the vegetation huddling closer to the ground, and watching the magic of water crystalizing as it falls to the earth and completely altering the landscape around you, is pretty incredible if you stop to think about it.

Excited for a taste of winter and for getting to watch science do its thing, we enjoyed the ride as we crested the pass and slowly and carefully descended on the other side. We couldn’t help but feel a little disappointed, though. We knew that behind the clouds and all the gray, there was an expanse of mountain views that we had hoped to see. A quick check of the weather convinced us to camp close by and try again the next day.

And what a difference twelve hours can make.

In Alaska, you don’t always know what you’re going to get. Wildlife is unpredictable,  and the weather, along with the change of seasons, illuminates the many faces of this nuanced and wondrous land.

You’ll find that you have no choice but to be patient and allow Alaska to show you what she wants, when she wants.