Alaska Day 4: On to McKinley Wilderness Lodge

Alaska Day 4 began with an early breakfast and a morning of hiking. We walked from our lodge, across the Nenana River to the Horseshoe Lake trail. We'd seen the lake when we first arrived, since the railroad passes just above it. As we passed it on Tuesday we saw a cow moose wading in the waters. The hike took us to an overlook and then down to the lake itself. From the overlook we could see our lodge across the river. A family of beavers had dammed up the far end of the lake.

Retracing our steps, we came to the trailhead for the Taiga Trail that would take us back to the DNP Visitor's Center. We arrived just in time to catch a film about Alaska through the four seasons, drink a cup of excellent coffee (plenty of coffee shops here with good coffee. Starbuck's is absent), and then catch the McKinley Station Trail back to our lodge where we ate lunch and waited for the coach that would take us to our next lodge.

The drive from the Denali Wilderness Lodge to the McKinley Wilderness Lodge took about two hours. We were once more blessed with perfect weather and indescribable scenery. As we approached our lodge we could once more see Denali clearly above the clouds. We checked into our rooms and gathered with dozens of others on the deck of the main lodge to gaze at this giant mountain, towering 18,000 feet above the smaller ones in the foreground. We were only 40 miles away this time, about as close as you can get without hiking in. Denali currently has 238 climbers on the slopes attempting to attain the summit. The success rate this year is just under 50%. The photos cannot do the scene justice. The white mass in the middle of the background IS the mountain, with clouds on either side and at its feet. (You might find some better photos by visiting the blog of one of our traveling companions who has a much more powerful camera.)

In an hour or so, the clouds once more cloaked the mountain and we retired to the Mountain View Restaurant for another delicious meal.

Tomorrow many in our group are heading out for one excursion or another. We plan to stay here, do some hiking, reading, and writing. We have so much to take in.