The Flight Arlene and I had mostly packed on Friday night and on Saturday morning we finished that process and left the dry cabin near Denali at about 6:40am. The first 90 minutes of the drive were the same route that we had taken the previous Saturday to see spectacular views of moutains all the…
All posts in Things To Look At
Our Last Full Day at Denali
Healy Overlook Trail After breakfast and erging we took on the Healy Overlook Trail again. (See https://traveljournal.cakewood.org/2025/06/19/little-dudes/) The first time we were still breaking in our hiking legs and the descent was a little difficult so today was a fun little experiment. We climbed up a bit farther on the un-maintained trail than last time…
Last Day at Savage River
First Things First I was looking at some pictures that I took yesterday on the Canon SLR. I found this and was very excited. I believe that it is a Hermit Thrush and this is the first time I’ve ever captured a photo. The app on my phone, Merlin, gave me other possible options such…
Lakes and Clouds and Bears, Oh My
Last night as we were settling down the evening, a large plume of smoke from a fire north of Healy engulfed our little home away from home. Fortunately, we woke up this morning to clear air. The sky was overcast and we were a little tired from our off trail excursion so we spent a…
Hiking to Primrose Ridge
Preparation We started the day with a bowls of cereal. I had drip coffee and Arlene had espresso made with her Nespresso machine. Then we followed the end of stage 8 of the Tour de Suisse which was an individual time trial. (There is a website, https://www.procyclingstats.com/, which has pretty good webby-coverage of all of…
Driving down an Alaskan highway listening to ABBA
Taking An Easy Day Saturday after multiple days of hiking on tired and sore legs, Arlene and I decided to take an easy day. Arlene had found what was supposed to be a good place to see Denali. So in the morning we set off on a drive to the South Viewpoint of Denali State…
Sled Dog Afternoon
Today we visited Denali National Park Kennels to take a look at the sled dogs used to patrol the park in the winter months. It was a warm afternoon and preferring cooler conditions many of the dogs were having a siesta. Like Rudolf, when the dogs are old enough, they try out for the sled team.…
We Have Seen the Mountain
Buses In Denali National Park and Preserve there is a single main road that is roughly 92 miles long going from the entrance of the park on Highway 3 to Kantishna. The first 15 miles is paved and goes out to Savage River which is as far into the park as private vehicles are allowed…
Little Dudes
Mount Healy Yesterday we hiked partway up Mount Healy. We gained about 1000 feet in the 2 miles then another 1200 in next 1.4 miles. Honestly, we’re pretty fit and the hardest part on the way up was the heat. Electrolytes are cool. The descent was brutal. Not quite used to all that eccentric motion.…
Geology and Anthology
Rocks and Flowers on the Trip to Denali We stopped in Chilliwack to look at the herons and found this Pacific Ninebark on the path to the heron rookery. At Smithers, we took a walk by the Bulkley River. Here is Red Columbine. Here is Meadow-rue. And what would a river walk be without a…