We decided to spend 3 nights at the end of the road at Wonder Lake campground, then 2 nights in the backcountry in unit 29 north of igloo creek campground, and 2 nights in unit 8 in polychrome glacier. Since we were spending 4 nights in the backcountry we had to register our trip and use bear resistant food canisters to store our food and toiletries.
The park is broken down into 87 units and almost half of them have a limit on the number of overnight backpackers that can be in them. We asked the rangers their suggestions and they told us that unit 29 and 8 were two of the most popular.
You are only allowed to drive 15 miles into the park, otherwise you have to take one of the park buses. They make it really easy, since the buses will drop you off where ever you want on the road and you can flag them down anywhere on the road to get a lift.
We took the bus into Wonder Lake at 11am and it was about a 6 hour drive including many stops.
The next day we went for a hike to the McKinley Bar, a river about 2.5 miles from the road. It was actually pretty hot.
The water was ice cold.
I took the opportunity to rinse my hair.
Matt set up a great shady area with our emergency blanket and we read and took naps along the river bed.
The next day we caught our bus to Igloo Campground to begin our backpacking experience. We had stashed some food there for our trip so it was easy to pick up. That way we didn't have to lug around food for 8 days. Our packs were heavy enough.
We stopped at Polychrome Overlook to take some photos.
The rivers here have lots of braiding to hold all the water that flows when the snow melts.
At Eielson Visitors Center they have a set of moose antlers from two bulls who died while fighting. As they clashed antlers, one antler impaled the eye of the other. They got stuck as that moose died and they both died together, antlers entangled.
It was very stormy as we got to Wonder Lake. We set up our tent and stored our food in the bear lockers. The mosquitos were pretty bad. I think we both got 20 or more bites. They told us it actually was a good year for mosquitos- not too many...
The next day we set off for Kantishna where all the resorts are for a day of hiking. On the way we picked a bag full of wild blueberries, tart but fun!
Our hike led us all the way up a steep ridge.
The views were great!
The top was a really interesting flat tundra. We felt very small on the top.
Some of the area was covered in moss that went down a foot when you stepped into it.
On the summit was a set of caribou antlers and some weather tracking material. We had a great view of Wonder Lake from the top that made it look tiny and the clouds were beginning to clear.
On the way back from Kantishna our bus driver stopped to let us take a picture from the north end of Wonder Lake where Mt. McKinley would have been had it not been cloudy.
About an hour after we got back to camp the clouds cleared completely and we got our first view of the mountain. It was enormous!!!
We went for a hike with some friends we met, Quentin and Ally, to see the reflection of the mountain on reflection pond. It was after 11pm, and we didn't make it for the sunset, but we did get some nice views. Matt had run ahead to get the pictures in time and gave us all a great scare as we arrived. Thanks Matt...
The rivers here have lots of braiding to hold all the water that flows when the snow melts.At Eielson Visitors Center they have a set of moose antlers from two bulls who died while fighting. As they clashed antlers, one antler impaled the eye of the other. They got stuck as that moose died and they both died together, antlers entangled.It was very stormy as we got to Wonder Lake. We set up our tent and stored our food in the bear lockers. The mosquitos were pretty bad. I think we both got 20 or more bites. They told us it actually was a good year for mosquitos- not too many...The next day we set off for Kantishna where all the resorts are for a day of hiking. On the way we picked a bag full of wild blueberries, tart but fun!Our hike led us all the way up a steep ridge.The views were great!The top was a really interesting flat tundra. We felt very small on the top.Some of the area was covered in moss that went down a foot when you stepped into it.On the summit was a set of caribou antlers and some weather tracking material. We had a great view of Wonder Lake from the top that made it look tiny and the clouds were beginning to clear.On the way back from Kantishna our bus driver stopped to let us take a picture from the north end of Wonder Lake where Mt. McKinley would have been had it not been cloudy.About an hour after we got back to camp the clouds cleared completely and we got our first view of the mountain. It was enormous!!!We went for a hike with some friends we met, Quentin and Ally, to see the reflection of the mountain on reflection pond. It was after 11pm, and we didn't make it for the sunset, but we did get some nice views. Matt had run ahead to get the pictures in time and gave us all a great scare as we arrived. Thanks Matt...The next day we went for a hike to the McKinley Bar, a river about 2.5 miles from the road. It was actually pretty hot.The water was ice cold.I took the opportunity to rinse my hair.Matt set up a great shady area with our emergency blanket and we read and took naps along the river bed.The next day we caught our bus to Igloo Campground to begin our backpacking experience. We had stashed some food there for our trip so it was easy to pick up. That way we didn't have to lug around food for 8 days. Our packs were heavy enough.Here are some pictures from our bus ride. We also saw lots of wildlife, but the next blog entry is entirely devoted to that.
We had a pretty strenuous hike to where we wanted to camp. We had to go through a forest, large blueberries patches, many piles of bear scat, over a small stream, and up a mountain.
We found a great flat place to sleep. The requirements are that the tent cannot be visible to the road and we had to be at least 1/2 mile from the road. I think we were about 1.5 miles from the road and we could still see it from some places around where we slept.
It rained every night we were there. It was little eerie on the mountain with all the bear scat around and we had seen 4 bears on the bus to Igloo, so I was pretty freaked out while we were here.
Bear scat with berry seeds in it. Our bus driver told us that in berry season the bears can eat up to 20,000 berries in one day.
It was very comfy in our tent, though our sleeping pads were not quite thick enough.
The next day we went for a hike to find water. We had to find a moving creek to filter our water. Matt was excited to use our water filter. I guess giardia is prevalent in the area.
We had spotted a little pond on the other side of the mountain, so we headed down there. Unfortunately it was pretty stagnant and smelled bad, so we headed back up the mountain and walked along the ridge and back down to Big Creek- a nice big, fast moving creek. So, we ended up hiking down the mountain, back up, down and then back up. It was a five hour excursion.
Us filtering the water. It was very easy and really fun to try. And the water tasted delicious!
The next day we packed up camp and headed back to the road to catch a bus to Polychrome- our next destination. On the way we saw several areas that looked like large animals had laid there. Maybe a moose, or caribou... maybe a bear...
This is a view of where we camped near igloo from the bottom. We were in the little crest between the left two peaks.
This is a view of the ridges we had to go over to find water.
We had many more beautiful sights on the way to polychrome.
Some places on the road are really steep.
This is a view of Polychrome Glaciers, the second unit we stayed in.
This place was really pretty because it was flat and had great views. But this also made it really hard to find a place to set up our tent. We spent two hours trying to find places where our tent would not be visible to the road. Matt found us the perfect spot though.
We stored our food 100 yards from our tent and cooked our food 100 yards from that.
You can see Matt's bathroom bush and him behind it in this picture.
We found lots of signs of animals in this area. Here is a moose antler.
There was wolf scat everywhere. It was a strange white color and when we took a closer look we realized it was white from the bones and fur in it.
At night we could hear a pack of wolves howling. They sounded super close, but we figured the sound probably carried pretty far in the wind. We heard them about 4 times and one time we hear strange whimpering and groaning noises with some barking. Maybe after a kill...
It was really cold at this place. At night we woke up cold and ended up in a lot of our clothes, fleece pants, hiking pants, two pairs of socks, a couple shirts, 3 jackets and a down vest, beanie... it was cold!
We filtered water again at this unit, this time it only took an hour though- after a nice stroll down the creek.
We loved this unit and were sad to leave!
We had a pretty strenuous hike to where we wanted to camp. We had to go through a forest, large blueberries patches, many piles of bear scat, over a small stream, and up a mountain.We found a great flat place to sleep. The requirements are that the tent cannot be visible to the road and we had to be at least 1/2 mile from the road. I think we were about 1.5 miles from the road and we could still see it from some places around where we slept.It rained every night we were there. It was little eerie on the mountain with all the bear scat around and we had seen 4 bears on the bus to Igloo, so I was pretty freaked out while we were here.Bear scat with berry seeds in it. Our bus driver told us that in berry season the bears can eat up to 20,000 berries in one day.It was very comfy in our tent, though our sleeping pads were not quite thick enough.The next day we went for a hike to find water. We had to find a moving creek to filter our water. Matt was excited to use our water filter. I guess giardia is prevalent in the area.We had spotted a little pond on the other side of the mountain, so we headed down there. Unfortunately it was pretty stagnant and smelled bad, so we headed back up the mountain and walked along the ridge and back down to Big Creek- a nice big, fast moving creek. So, we ended up hiking down the mountain, back up, down and then back up. It was a five hour excursion.Us filtering the water. It was very easy and really fun to try. And the water tasted delicious!The next day we packed up camp and headed back to the road to catch a bus to Polychrome- our next destination. On the way we saw several areas that looked like large animals had laid there. Maybe a moose, or caribou... maybe a bear...This is a view of where we camped near igloo from the bottom. We were in the little crest between the left two peaks.This is a view of the ridges we had to go over to find water.We had many more beautiful sights on the way to polychrome.Some places on the road are really steep.This is a view of Polychrome Glaciers, the second unit we stayed in.This place was really pretty because it was flat and had great views. But this also made it really hard to find a place to set up our tent. We spent two hours trying to find places where our tent would not be visible to the road. Matt found us the perfect spot though.We stored our food 100 yards from our tent and cooked our food 100 yards from that.You can see Matt's bathroom bush and him behind it in this picture.We found lots of signs of animals in this area. Here is a moose antler.There was wolf scat everywhere. It was a strange white color and when we took a closer look we realized it was white from the bones and fur in it.At night we could hear a pack of wolves howling. They sounded super close, but we figured the sound probably carried pretty far in the wind. We heard them about 4 times and one time we hear strange whimpering and groaning noises with some barking. Maybe after a kill...It was really cold at this place. At night we woke up cold and ended up in a lot of our clothes, fleece pants, hiking pants, two pairs of socks, a couple shirts, 3 jackets and a down vest, beanie... it was cold!We filtered water again at this unit, this time it only took an hour though- after a nice stroll down the creek.We loved this unit and were sad to leave!
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