Denali Backpack

On Sunday we got up early (for us, I guess... it was like 9am) and drove 4 hours to Denali. We went to get our backcountry permit and found out that we had to completely change the plan that dad had made because the river we were going to have to cross was too high. It took an hour or so to get the permit and watch a safety video and listen to a safety talk that a ranger told us really really fast like he had told it a million times and didn’t have to think about it anymore. Then we got these black plastic container things that are for protecting food from bears and caught a bus into the park. On the drive over we saw a grizzly bear by the side of the road. There were like 3 buses pulled over next to it and it didn’t even pay any attention to us!  It was really cute J. Then the bus dropped us off about 500 yds after we saw it so it was a bit scary…. So anyway they dumped us at the side of the road with our stuff and we hiked (more like bushwacked but that’s what happens when there isn’t a trail) for about 10 mins around a little hill so we could camp out of sight of the road (that’s the rule). We stuffed all our food in the bear cans and ate dinner then went to bed. (I cut that short  because if it keep writing this detailed this is going to take a million years and Zander is waiting for me to get off the computer).

Ok, day 2 we packed up and walked back to the road so we could cross the river on the bridge but we couldn’t so we crossed the river on foot and got pretty wet. We hiked along the river bed for a while and crossed where we had to. Then we set up camp and ate dinner. It was still pretty early then so dad made us all a deal that if we climbed to the top of a little hill with him he would take a day off the trip. Of course we said yes!! After we climbed the hill we all went to bed.

Day 3 during breakfast daddy told us that if we hiked up a bigger mountain we would go home that day. I have no idea why dad suddenly cut our trip 3 days short for no apparent reason, but it was totally okay by me. So we hiked up the big mountain for an hour and a half and dad dropped his camera off the top but he went down and got it. We got back down and packed up our stuff. Then we hiked back down the river and waited on the side of the road for a bus. Like 2 came and there wasn’t enough room for all of us so we had to wait for another one. We finally got on a bus that conveniently had exactly six empty seats! On the way back we saw a few caribou, a wolf, and Mt. McKinley which only 30% of the visitors actually get to see because of the weather. It was really big!!! But I guess that’s the point. After we returned our bear cans we hopped in the car and started driving home. We stopped at a cool local pizza place and had really yummy pizza and watched some drunk people play beanbags. When we got home it was actually dark!! That was the first time I’ve seen darkness in Alaska… that’s pretty sad!!

The End! By Mia (that’s why its so good… just kidding)