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 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…