Alaska Denali Backcountry Lodge

Old Nov 10th, 2009, 11:34 AM
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Alaska Denali Backcountry Lodge

Planning Aug 2010 Alaska visit. I've read posts back thru 2005 and I still need advice. I was in Denali NP 2007 and did not see Mt McKinley. This trip I plan to stay in the park two nights to give me a better chance. I am looking at Denali Backcountry Lodge which I know does not have a view at its location. My question, if anyone has stayed there, can you walk to say, Wonder Lake to get a view if it is out? If anyone has any advice on this, I would really appreciate it. Are there any accommodations outside the park that you would also be able to see it?
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Old Nov 10th, 2009, 03:42 PM
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can you walk to say, Wonder Lake to get a view if it is out?

Pretty far to walk (several miles, as I recall), but during the day they run a van to Wonder Lake and typically do a hike on the McKinley Bar trail, which has great views of McKinley (when it is out). Also, after dinner I've seen their van drive up to the Ansel Adams point area near the Ranger Station on clear evenings, which has a spectacular view of the lake and the mountain. So basically if the mountain is 'out' then they'll get you near Wonder Lake where you can view it.

Also in the evening (or mid-day) you can take a flight-seeing trip around McKinley from the near-by airstrip.

Are there any accommodations outside the park that you would also be able to see it?

There are two pull-outs near Denali State Park, well south of the NP entrance area, which have great views of Denali, when it is out. This is a bit north of the Princess hotel near the Talkeetna turn-off. But of course hit or miss if the mountain is 'out'.

If you can stay three nights then I would heartily recommend either Camp Denali or North Face Lodge, which are about 5 miles closer to Wonder Lake than the Backcountry Lodge. You have a fair view of the upper 1/3 of the mountain from North Face, and a great view of Wonder Lake and most of the mountain from Camp. We've stayed at these places five times over the years and in addition to the better views they also offer much better access back inside the park (grandfathered in when the park was expanded in the 1980's). But the minimum stay at these places is 3 nights, and they are more expensive than Backcountry Lodge.

To see a photo of McKinley taken from the front porch of our Camp Denali cabin in 2008 go to this link and scroll down 18 photos. http://www.hiltonphotography.net/alaska-2008/ Best view possible, I feel North Face is just out of the frame in the lower-right corner, the hill (Cranberry Ridge) blocks the lower part of the mountain from view but they see the upper part.

Also, note the wildlife photos were all taken well inside the park on day trips into areas that Kantishna Lodge and Backcountry Lodge cannot go to except on transfer days. This is the main reason we go to those lodges.

On this trip we were there seven nights and the first four days McKinley was not visible as there was a lot of fog and cloud cover. The last three days the mountain was 'out' totally with nary a single cloud. In our five trips we've always seen it a few days, but sometimes it was not visible for 3-4 days in a row, so you need to be lucky. Late August is better than early August (last week in August is prime for tundra colors).
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Old Nov 12th, 2009, 04:05 PM
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Thank you for your advice. I was contemplating Camp Denali but didn't know if we should spend an extra day since we only have one week. Your pictures are awesome. Have you used the airstrip there? I was thinking of Talkeetna. Any thoughts on this?
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Old Nov 12th, 2009, 05:16 PM
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Have you used the airstrip there? I was thinking of Talkeetna. Any thoughts on this?

My advice on Denali flightseeing trips is "go the first time the mountain is 'out' because it might not be 'out' again during your visit". If you are driving up from Anchorage then Talkeetna would offer your first chance.

Three times we've chartered private flights from Talkeetna and each time the clouds covered the mountain and we had to cancel. My understanding is that the approach from Talkeetna is the most scenic because it follows the path of the glacier and the inner bowl.

We did get to do a flightseeing trip from Camp Denali one year, going after supper and using the Kantishna airstrip. (This is when I saw Backcountry Lodge as the van picked up people from that lodge and Kantishna Roadhouse to take to the airstrip.)

The flight at sunset was wonderful and I highly recommend flightseeing if you can fit it in and catch a clear day. The approach from the Kantishna side isn't all that great, you spiral over muskeg and tundra for about 20 minutes gaining altitude, then fly around the peak.

You can also do flights from the park entrance area, if you hit it on a clear day. First chance you get, grab it ...
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Old Nov 12th, 2009, 07:12 PM
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Dang Bill,

The last pic of the Lynx is my favorite- WOW! I hope to go back to Alaska. Spent just 4 days in Kenai a couple of years ago, haven't seen any of the rest of it. It was great though.

Is Camp Denali your pick over the lodge. I don't think my wife would be crazy about an outhouse? For you day trips with the photos, were those hikes, guided hikes, in vehicle, or what? I'm a little nervous about hiking with bears. Sorry hbo, not trying to steal your post.
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Old Nov 13th, 2009, 05:40 AM
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It is miles to walk to Wonder Lake from Kantishna. If McKinley is your priority, two days is very limited. You may be better off with flightseeing, and you DO NOT need a clear day, and frankly, my clear viewing days are on the ground, enjoying that view. I greatly prefer summit flights, of which you will always see at some point in a flight.

Staying at Kantishna, again, my opinion, needs more than wanting to see McKinley, some have extensive naturalists and excellent programs. None are cheap. Alaska Magazine has some good reviews. The Skylon Lodge is a cheap option for Kantishna.

There is no McKinley viewing from the Parks Highway for many miles of McKinley around Denali National Park. Savage River, does have a very limited partial view. The pull off mentioned above are 100 miles south of the park entrance.
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Old Nov 13th, 2009, 01:58 PM
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Is Camp Denali your pick over the lodge. I don't think my wife would be crazy about an outhouse?

My wife prefers North Face Lodge because of the plumbing too Also the central heating, vs a wood stove. At Camp there are two indoor flush toilets at the dining hall and two more near the showers so you only have to use the outhouses if you need to 'go' in the middle of the night, so it's not all that bad. At North Face there are flush toilets in every room though.

I also like North Face because if we are staying a long time I like to ride out on one of the busses early with a mountain bike strapped on top, then ride the bike back, taking all day. Have done this from Polychrome Pass (45 miles) once and Eielson or Highway Pass (26 or 33 miles) many times. If biking and staying at Camp you have a steep hill at the end, but at NFL you just coast down to the cycle shed and you're home.

So why did we go to Camp instead? Because they generally have a special program for photographers once or twice a year, with a famous pro photographer, and you can only sign up for this activity if staying at Camp. You have a whole seat on the bus to lay out your gear and you get to leave early and stay out late. In the past the pros included David Muench (great landscape photographer), George Lepp (columnist for major photo magazine) and in 2008 Jim Brandenburg, who was a famous National Geographic shooter some time back (he had a poster of a wolf peering around a tree that was the # 1 poster sold worldwide for a couple of years). So getting this special access with these guys was why we stayed at Camp. Otherwise we'd have stayed at NFL.

For you day trips with the photos, were those hikes, guided hikes, in vehicle, or what?

During the special photo session week we'd go out with the big name guy and get off the bus at several places to shoot. You can photograph moose and caribou off the bus but for the most part you stay on the bus for bears and wolves. When the special photo session isn't taking place then they send out 5 or 6 busses or vans each day, people choose between say three levels of hiking or choose a naturalist foray, plus there will be a 'photo bus' but without a big name pro. I would typically go out with one of these busses and then bike back, arriving at the lodge 5-6 hours after the busses returned.

I'm a little nervous about hiking with bears

Most of the people are hiking in small groups and the noise and mass keeps the bears from approaching. I've bumped into four grizzlies at fairly close range while on the bike but was not approached any closer. It's important to make some noise in the blind spots (curves or near brush) so they hear you ahead of time. While these interior bears are definitely NOT as calm around people as the coastal bears, attacks in Denali are very rare and they've never had a fatal attack in the history of the park.

The last pic of the Lynx is my favorite- WOW!

The first 40 days we have been in Denali we only saw two lynxes ... in 2008 there was a snowshoe hare population explosion, with dozens of hares visible in places, and this caused a jump in the lynx population (which will be followed by population crashes). So with so many hares we saw three lynx in 2008, which was wonderful. I should have gotten this one much better but I had left the camera body with the super fast motor drive on the bus and I had the wrong lens ... but it was great watching the stalk.
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