Denali National Park Day 1

~ 05/15/2019 ~

Hello,

Today, we headed south from Fairbanks to Denali National Park. This very large national park is home to the highest mountains in North America. The highest mountain, over 6000m high, is called Denali, also known as McKinley, but it is rarely visible as it is often shrouded in clouds.

By noon, we arrived at the national park and first gathered information about possible hiking trails. I decided to hike the Mt. Healy Overlook Trail, which is about 4.2 km long and leads through the forest and then up Mount Healy. From the top, it was said that we would have a particularly beautiful view of Denali National Park. At the beginning, I met another German hiker and we decided to do the hike together. And let me tell you, it was not easy. Especially when we left the forest and started climbing steeply uphill with the sun shining directly on us. The trail zigzagged up in switchbacks, but the effort was definitely worth it. Once we reached the top, we had an amazing view of the park and everywhere we looked, there were tall snow-covered mountains.

The descent was much faster and easier than the challenging ascent, and in no time, we were back at the Visitor Center, the starting point for most hiking trails. On our way, we didn't see any wild animals, even though Denali National Park is known for its many bears and moose.

After a short break, Saskia and I headed to the Rest Area, about an hour away, where we planned to spend the night. On the way, we saw another moose. It suddenly appeared right by the side of the road and walked along leisurely. I had never been so close to a moose before. There were only about 3m between us and it was truly fascinating!
During the rest of our journey, we made a quick stop because the view from the highway was really beautiful. There were tall mountains all around us, so we spontaneously had a little photo shoot :-)
When we arrived at the Rest Area, we found ourselves suddenly surrounded by snow again. There was about 20cm of snow everywhere, but fortunately, the road was clear. Well, it wasn't particularly cold, so it was fine.