Our 6S Full Life

Denali Nation Park Day 1

We scheduled two days for Denali as it is a big part with lots to do. This way we did not have to race through and we’re able to see everything we wanted to.

We started with the visitor center which had a very informative and well put together museum. We learned about the animals and plants in the park, permafrost and native Alaskans.

We headed out to Park Road and our to Savage Creek enjoying the views along the way.

We hiked the 2 mile Savage Trail River. It was full of amazing views and a few birds. C got to do his favorite thing, throw rocks into water. A identified sounds for us. And everyone smiled and enjoyed the walk. That is until the last 100 feet when C fell and got a huge gash in his knee. The screaming was loud but everyone rallied together and cleaned and bandaged him up.

Since another hike was not going to happen at this point. We headed back to look through the gift shop. Then to catch the bus to the sled dog presentation. This was a lot of fun! Denali has the only National Park Sled Dogs. Pure Alaskan Huskies bred right at Denali. This is the main transportation of the rangers in the winter and they keep the park going year around. We got to spend some time with the dogs, hear a presentation, and then spend a little more time with the dogs.

We headed home for dinner and rest. Hoping the next day would not include any other injuries.

Drive Day

Alaska has a lot of great places to visit both on the coast and in the interior. Unfortunately to get to those places sometimes you have to drive for a long, long time. Today was one of those days. We left McCarthy in the morning and drove through Fairbanks and around to Healy. Luckily we have found that almost every long drive day includes beautiful scenery, except maybe I-5 in CA.

After our day of 10 hours in the car we arrived in Healy with the sun still high in the sky. It is an odd feeling to be out at 11pm and see the sun lighting up the sky like the middle of the afternoon. We put on our eye masks and were ready to rest up for our next adventure in Denali.

Root Glacier and Kennecott Mines

We headed over to the town of Kennecott on the 9:30 shuttle. We were looking forward to discovering this old mining town history and to hike out to Root Glacier. We lucked out and the weather was perfect. Our first day of clear blue skies and warm sun.

We started with the hike to the glacier. It is two miles out and two miles back. Most of the hike is pretty standard dirt trail until you come to the end. Getting down to the glacier is a bit more of a feat, with loose dirt, steep slopes, and many switchbacks going down.

The glacier is covered in sediment at the tip and looks like just piles of dirt. When you reach the end of the trail though you are greater with crunchy ice and if you continue onto the glacier you can reach much whiter picturesque area. This is where a lot of people set off across the glacier. We easily hiked onto it, luckily the sun was out and the ice solid so crampons were not needed. B was not feeling well and missed out on some of the glacier climbing but the other three had a great time exploring.

The hike back up to the trail was a bit exhausting and we were all running low of water. The walk back had us feeling very tired but happy to have walked on a glacier. Note to others there is no tap water in Kennecott so bring extra. B went back early but the rest of us stayed to explore. We ate at the Meatza Wagon food truck which had delicious sandwiches all of which can be made as salads for a gluten free version.

We explored the Kennecott Mine town and it’s history before boarding a shuttle back to McCarthy.

Our evening was filled with walking the McCarthy Main Street, enjoying a small play of the history of the town, and finishing Jr. Ranger books.

Wrangell- St Elias national Park

We left Seward early in order to drive eight and a half hours to McCarthy in the Wrangell-St Elias National Park. It was a very long but gorgeous drive. The last two hours of the drive was 60 miles of dirt road. Although the day was long getting to McCarthy was well worth the drive time.

The train we will be riding in a weeks time.

This little town is comprised of mostly summer workers, everything is brought in, solar power is the only power, water is filtered right from the river, and everyone there is friendly. Right away we felt at home and ready to move in for the rest of the summer. It reminded us of our favorite camp spot in Rubicam Springs and what a little town would look and feel like there.

The only way I’m for guests is to walk over the footbridge.

We ate at The Potato which lived up to its reviews. The food was delicious and camp atmosphere could not be beat. We went back to our cottage which was just big enough with two bedrooms, a futon, and a bathroom. Outside the world felt like an amazing camp spot but inside we felt like we were in a top of the line guest house.

Kenai Fjords National Park

Today we woke up and headed to Kenai Fjords our First Nation Park of the trip. Since a majority of the park is best seen by backcountry camping or boat we knew we would only get to see Exit Glacier here. We have seen some glacier up in the mountains during our travels but here in Alaska we get to see them much closer.

The drive to Exit Glacier was as beautiful as all the others here. Everywhere is green, lush, and the backdrop of snow covered mountains makes every view amazing. We took our first full family picture at the first sight of the blue glacier.

Not everyone was having a great moment but we still got the picture.

We arrived just in time to grab some Junior Ranger books and head out on a Ranger Lead Hike. Our Ranger was very knowledgeable in the area and the glacier. She led us through some fun challenges and taught us about Glacier flour and the history of Kenai Fjords.

It got very cold as we moved closer to Exit Glacier. The wind picked up and the sun was covered by clouds, causing us to layer up before continuing on. The good news was the mosquitoes went away. Then as we later descended the layers came off and the mosquitoes to come back.

The kids earned their badges and a special art patch before we headed to the second visitor center in Seward.

We walked around the wharf area and ended our evening with a seafood dinner at Ray’s. It was delicious!

We went back home and the rest of the family went back to the park while mom cooked up food for the next couple days as we would be going without a kitchen for the next leg of our trip.