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Stones at the Stars: A Season in Denali on Anderson Pass

Every hiker dreams of walking in Alaska.

I’d visited all 49 states before I finally made it up here, in the summer of 2014. I’d taken a summer job working for Princess Cruises, where they have an inland lodge at Denali National Park.

The season ran from early May through early September. Granted I worked 5 days a week, but weekends were free to explore the great wild National Park in my backyard.

After a couple of stunning day hikes, things got off to an exciting start on the backpacking front, with a trek to the infamous Christopher McCandless Bus.

After that, the trips just kept unfolding, one after another.

Go here to see the full list of these.

They all lead up to the best hike of the season – the hike that made it all worth it. It’s one of my favorite trips of all time – 4 days of perfection in the Alaskan wilderness.

We backpacked deep into Denali, to a place called Anderson Pass. The pass leads through the crest of the impressive Alaska Range – the range that claims Denali as its highest peak… the tallest mountain in North America.

The hike encapsulated everything you could ask for in the National Park – tundra, glacial terrain, caribou, a wolverine, and yes… grizzly bears.

Lots of them.

Anderson Pass Journal

Day 1: Eielson Visitor Center to Eielson Pass

Day 2: Eielson Pass to the Headwaters of Glacier Creek

Day 3: Anderson Pass

Day 4: Glacier Creek to Grassy Pass

My season in Denali was yet another pinnacle of my time in the outdoors.

The Alaskan wilderness is nothing less than a dream for those that are called to the enchantments of no-man’s land…

There’s a race of men that don’t fit in,
    A race that can’t stay still;
So they break the hearts of kith and kin,
    And they roam the world at will.
They range the field and they rove the flood,
    And they climb the mountain’s crest;
Theirs is the curse of the gypsy blood,
    And they don’t know how to rest.
 
If they just went straight they might go far;
    They are strong and brave and true;
But they’re always tired of the things that are,
    And they want the strange and new.
They say: “Could I find my proper groove,
    What a deep mark I would make!”
So they chop and change, and each fresh move
    Is only a fresh mistake.
 
And each forgets, as he strips and runs
    With a brilliant, fitful pace,
It’s the steady, quiet, plodding ones
    Who win in the lifelong race.
And each forgets that his youth has fled,
    Forgets that his prime is past,
Till he stands one day, with a hope that’s dead,
    In the glare of the truth at last.
 
He has failed, he has failed; he has missed his chance;
    He has just done things by half.
Life’s been a jolly good joke on him,
    And now is the time to laugh.
Ha, ha! He is one of the Legion Lost;
    He was never meant to win;
He’s a rolling stone, and it’s bred in the bone;
    He’s a man who won’t fit in.
 
~ Robert Service ~
 
 
the Northern Lights, as seen over employee housing

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Backpack

Day Pack

1-Person Tent

2-Person Tent

Sleeping Bag
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Sleeping Bag
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Sleeping Pad
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Sleeping Pad
(foam)

Camp Pillow

Thru-Hiking Shoes

Sturdy Shoes
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Trail Running
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Road Running
(minimalist shoes)

Socks

Water Filter

Water Treatment

Backpacking Stove

Headlamp

Power Bank

911 calls via GPS

Thru-Hiking App

Packraft

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(my ultimate gear list)

 

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