Denali in July

I'm still looking into alternatives for this July, and was looking for
opinions on Denali (Alaska) during the last week of July. Good time to go?
Best place to stay? Advice on hiking? OK to hike alone? Weather?

From: "Bowzah"

I'm still looking into alternatives for this July, and was looking for
opinions on Denali (Alaska) during the last week of July. Good time to go?

No, not in my book. You were asking about Yellowstone earlier, it's better
than Denali in mid-summer, I feel, but I'd personally go to SW Colorado
(Telluride, Crested Butte, Ouray, Silverton, etc) and stay up high since it has
better weather, nice photo ops with the 14,000 ft mountains and high basins
full of wildflowers the middle of July.

I've been to Denali three times in late August and early September and am going
back again this year for 12 more days. That's the peak for photography, I
feel, with tundra colors and better action on caribou and moose, plus the grizz
are feeding on blueberries and visible in the open more often. And as the air
turns cooler there's less clouds on Mt. McKinley so you have a better chance of
photographing when the mountain is 'out'.

I've been to Denali once in late June, first week of July and it was much
warmer, which meant the animals were not very active, and you got none of the
fall reds and oranges in the tundra, just shades of green. And the mosquitos
were incredibly thick in mid-summer (and mostly gone by late August). Plus the
mountain range is usually cloud-covered in June and July due to the warmer air
hitting 16,000 ft of ice so it's much less likely you'll get good views of
McKinley.

Best place to stay?

Camping is the cheapest way. For hotels, best "wilderness" experience is to
stay near Kantishna about 90 miles inside the park, ideally at Camp Denali or
North Face Lodge, but these are expensive. Or you can stay at the park
boundary on the highway, where perhaps a dozen hotels are located, and ride the
shuttle busses in each day.

I think five of the hotels (McKinley Chalets, Denali Princess, Denali Grande,
couple of others) are affiliated with the bigger cruise ship lines like Holland
America or Princess so when they have busloads of cruisers doing the 'day in
Denali' tour they charge about $200 per night 'rack rate' for rooms, but if
there are no tours those days they are relatively empty and you can often score
rooms for under $100, so ask around. I've stayed at the Princess and the
Denali Grande several times and never paid more than $99. There are a couple
of smaller, less desirable hotels in this $99 range but there are no bargains
in Denali unless you have a tent.

Advice on hiking?

If you are beating thru the brush you'll kick up massive swarms of mosquitos so
take bug spray, a headnet and gloves ... and even then it's not very
comfortable. I'd advise staying on the ridges to try to get some wind (get off
at Polychrome and hike from there, or Eielson Visitor Center and hike up, or
maybe Sable Pass if you want to photograph but you can't go off-road at Sable),
or if you have hip boots I'd try wading up the river channels, which are
braided with shallow gravel threads but have few bugs, plus more visibility in
case you run into a bear. Try Savage River or Teklenika or the two main
channels of the Toklat for this. Lot of moose on the Tek, good chance of
wolves on the East Fork of the Toklat.

OK to hike alone?

Make noise to alert the grizzly bears to your presence and you'll be fine. You
really don't want to startle a grizz at close range but if they hear you coming
they'll move off. Though I must admit when I have to swim thru a head high
patch of alders or willows I still get nervous

I'd go to Colorado or some other high mountainous area that time of year and
hit Denali later on when it's prime though.

Bill

Sigh...

Onward and upward. Next stop, Crater Lake. Ever been there?

I've been to the Rockies a few times and am looking for new vistas.

"Bill Hilton" wrote in message
...
From: "Bowzah"

I'm still looking into alternatives for this July, and was looking for
opinions on Denali (Alaska) during the last week of July. Good time to
go?

No, not in my book. You were asking about Yellowstone earlier, it's
better
than Denali in mid-summer, I feel, but I'd personally go to SW Colorado
(Telluride, Crested Butte, Ouray, Silverton, etc) and stay up high since
it has
better weather, nice photo ops with the 14,000 ft mountains and high
basins
full of wildflowers the middle of July.

I've been to Denali three times in late August and early September and am
going
back again this year for 12 more days. That's the peak for photography, I
feel, with tundra colors and better action on caribou and moose, plus the
grizz
are feeding on blueberries and visible in the open more often. And as the
air
turns cooler there's less clouds on Mt. McKinley so you have a better
chance of
photographing when the mountain is 'out'.

I've been to Denali once in late June, first week of July and it was much
warmer, which meant the animals were not very active, and you got none of
the
fall reds and oranges in the tundra, just shades of green. And the
mosquitos
were incredibly thick in mid-summer (and mostly gone by late August).
Plus the
mountain range is usually cloud-covered in June and July due to the warmer
air
hitting 16,000 ft of ice so it's much less likely you'll get good views of
McKinley.

Best place to stay?

Camping is the cheapest way. For hotels, best "wilderness" experience is
to
stay near Kantishna about 90 miles inside the park, ideally at Camp Denali
or
North Face Lodge, but these are expensive. Or you can stay at the park
boundary on the highway, where perhaps a dozen hotels are located, and
ride the
shuttle busses in each day.

I think five of the hotels (McKinley Chalets, Denali Princess, Denali
Grande,
couple of others) are affiliated with the bigger cruise ship lines like
Holland
America or Princess so when they have busloads of cruisers doing the 'day
in
Denali' tour they charge about $200 per night 'rack rate' for rooms, but
if
there are no tours those days they are relatively empty and you can often
score
rooms for under $100, so ask around. I've stayed at the Princess and the
Denali Grande several times and never paid more than $99. There are a
couple
of smaller, less desirable hotels in this $99 range but there are no
bargains
in Denali unless you have a tent.

Advice on hiking?

If you are beating thru the brush you'll kick up massive swarms of
mosquitos so
take bug spray, a headnet and gloves ... and even then it's not very
comfortable. I'd advise staying on the ridges to try to get some wind
(get off
at Polychrome and hike from there, or Eielson Visitor Center and hike up,
or
maybe Sable Pass if you want to photograph but you can't go off-road at
Sable),
or if you have hip boots I'd try wading up the river channels, which are
braided with shallow gravel threads but have few bugs, plus more
visibility in
case you run into a bear. Try Savage River or Teklenika or the two main
channels of the Toklat for this. Lot of moose on the Tek, good chance of
wolves on the East Fork of the Toklat.

OK to hike alone?

Make noise to alert the grizzly bears to your presence and you'll be fine.
You
really don't want to startle a grizz at close range but if they hear you
coming
they'll move off. Though I must admit when I have to swim thru a head
high
patch of alders or willows I still get nervous

I'd go to Colorado or some other high mountainous area that time of year
and
hit Denali later on when it's prime though.

Bill

Bill's right, if you can wait until late August you'd probably enjoy
it more. HOWEVER, July is a perfectly fine time to go, and you'll have
the longer days, too. I've had good weather in Denali in all summer
months, and have seen the mountain all those times, too. The bugs can
be bad all summer, especially in July. Be prepared if you go with bug
dope and headnet (or even a bug suit if they really bother you).

If July was the only time I could travel to Alaska, I'd certainly
still do it. It's amazing country, and you will have different vistas
than your typical Rockies view. The days are long and the weather is
nice.

Also consider Wrangell-St. Elias NP, which is 250 miles east of
Anchorage (via the Glenn highway). It's the largest NP in the USA, and
MUCH less touristy than Denali. However, Denali is much more
accessible.

Brian W.

From: (Brian Wasson)

Bill's right, if you can wait until late August you'd probably enjoy
it more. HOWEVER, July is a perfectly fine time to go, and you'll have
the longer days, too.

If July was the only time I could travel to Alaska, I'd certainly
still do it.

Since "Bowsah" also posts on the photo newsgroups I'd suggest a couple of other
places in Alaska that are prime time in July for photography and can be added
on with a Denali (or wherever) trip. One is Katmai National Park to phograph
the brown bears jammed up at the falls catching spawning salmon at Brooks Camp.
You'll have to pay about $500 to fly in from Anchorage but you can camp
cheaply and eat at the Lodge mess hall. I've done this a couple times
recently, though I went in Sept instead of July. There's a narrow window when
the bears are at the falls, maybe 10-14 days, so you need to time it right.
Here's the kind of photo op you can get there if you are dumb enough to wade
out on your own in the river with the bears ...
http://members.aol.com/bhilton665/yogi.jpg ... or a more typical shot from the
viewing platforms ... http://members.aol.com/bhilton665/im...b_fireweed.jpg

The other prime photo op in July is to the Pribilof Islands for bird and marine
wildlife photography. Haven't done this trip myself yet but it's on the to-do
list for next year. This is more expensive since you have to stay at the
hotel.

Bill

Bill,

Thanks for the info. I'm still "auditioning" locations, not specifically for
photos, but for hiking, biking, etc. Another possibility is Olympic National
Park. It looks pretty nice, is easily accessible, and fairly cheap to get
to.

"Bill Hilton" wrote in message
...
From: (Brian Wasson)

Bill's right, if you can wait until late August you'd probably enjoy
it more. HOWEVER, July is a perfectly fine time to go, and you'll have
the longer days, too.

If July was the only time I could travel to Alaska, I'd certainly
still do it.

Since "Bowsah" also posts on the photo newsgroups I'd suggest a couple of
other
places in Alaska that are prime time in July for photography and can be
added
on with a Denali (or wherever) trip. One is Katmai National Park to
phograph
the brown bears jammed up at the falls catching spawning salmon at Brooks
Camp.
You'll have to pay about $500 to fly in from Anchorage but you can camp
cheaply and eat at the Lodge mess hall. I've done this a couple times
recently, though I went in Sept instead of July. There's a narrow window
when
the bears are at the falls, maybe 10-14 days, so you need to time it
right.
Here's the kind of photo op you can get there if you are dumb enough to
wade
out on your own in the river with the bears ...
http://members.aol.com/bhilton665/yogi.jpg ... or a more typical shot from
the
viewing platforms ...
http://members.aol.com/bhilton665/im...b_fireweed.jpg

The other prime photo op in July is to the Pribilof Islands for bird and
marine
wildlife photography. Haven't done this trip myself yet but it's on the
to-do
list for next year. This is more expensive since you have to stay at the
hotel.

Bill

"Bowzah" wrote in message
news:OKL7c.60465$1p.979603@attbi_s54...

Thanks for the info. I'm still "auditioning" locations, not specifically
for
photos, but for hiking, biking, etc. Another possibility is Olympic
National
Park. It looks pretty nice, is easily accessible, and fairly cheap to get
to.


But, Olympic National Park isn't nearly as spectacular as Denali. If you can
afford Denali go now and leave Olympic for later when perhaps the exchequer
is more limited. KM
--
(-:alohacyberian:-) At my website there are 3000 live cameras or
visit NASA, play games, read jokes, send greeting cards & connect
to CNN news, NBA, the White House, Academy Awards or learn all
about Hawaii, Israel and mo http://keith.martin.home.att.net/

"alohacyberian" wrote in message
...
"Bowzah" wrote in message
news:OKL7c.60465$1p.979603@attbi_s54...

Thanks for the info. I'm still "auditioning" locations, not specifically
for
photos, but for hiking, biking, etc. Another possibility is Olympic
National
Park. It looks pretty nice, is easily accessible, and fairly cheap to
get
to.


But, Olympic National Park isn't nearly as spectacular as Denali. If you
can
afford Denali go now and leave Olympic for later when perhaps the
exchequer
is more limited. KM

Money is part of the concern, but I could afford Denali next year, as well.
I don't want to go to Denali and never see McKinley. It sounds like Denali
is good in July, but much better in late August, which is a possibility next
year. There's lots of options, so I think I'll pass on Denali this year, and
keep looking.

--
(-:alohacyberian:-) At my website there are 3000 live cameras or
visit NASA, play games, read jokes, send greeting cards & connect
to CNN news, NBA, the White House, Academy Awards or learn all
about Hawaii, Israel and mo http://keith.martin.home.att.net/

I agree! If you've never been to Alaska/Denali, by all means, GO! It's
a much different environment that you will find anywhere in the Lower
48. And, it can be done fairly cheaply if you are willing to camp,
rent a small car, and don't go nuts at restaurants. Anchorage abounds
with supermarkets (even Wal-Marts), and you can provision reasonably
there.

A small photo gallery and some thoughts on things to see and do in
Alaska, including driving suggestions, can be found on my Web site at
http://members.aol.com/briwasson/alaskalinks.html.

"alohacyberian" wrote in message ...
But, Olympic National Park isn't nearly as spectacular as Denali. If you can
afford Denali go now and leave Olympic for later when perhaps the exchequer
is more limited. KM

I've decided not to go, but not due to the weather. It appears that in order
to really see the park, you've got to backpack and camp. I'm not equipped
for that type of trip right now. I could go out and get the stuff I need,
but it's more than I'm willing to do right now.

Next year...

"Brian Wasson" wrote in message
om...
I agree! If you've never been to Alaska/Denali, by all means, GO! It's
a much different environment that you will find anywhere in the Lower
48. And, it can be done fairly cheaply if you are willing to camp,
rent a small car, and don't go nuts at restaurants. Anchorage abounds
with supermarkets (even Wal-Marts), and you can provision reasonably
there.

A small photo gallery and some thoughts on things to see and do in
Alaska, including driving suggestions, can be found on my Web site at
http://members.aol.com/briwasson/alaskalinks.html.

"alohacyberian" wrote in message
...
But, Olympic National Park isn't nearly as spectacular as Denali. If you
can
afford Denali go now and leave Olympic for later when perhaps the
exchequer
is more limited. KM