Day 15 -- to Denali

Judy, of the Girdwood Guesthouse, left us a loaf of fresh bread and some homemade strawberry-rhubarb-pineapple jam. So we noshed on that before hitting the road.

Happy day! On our way north from Girdwood, through Anchorage, we could see blue sky for the first time in several days. At 278 miles, our drive today was the longest one of the trip. It took us more than five hours and was made possible by Arcade Fire and three kids who were perfectly happy to chill in the back seat — no hikes through knee-deep snow, no drenching kayak trips, no tummy troubles, no museum tours; just the open road and couple of books. Bliss.

We turned onto George Parks Highway, north of Anchorage, and cut through Wasilla — clearly the armpit of Alaska. We saw lots of traffic, malls and big-box stores, but we could not see Russia — probably just because the clouds were gathering, drizzle had started, and visibility was low.  

As we got farther north, our progress was hindered by a parade of slow-moving motor homes ahead of us as well as miles of road construction that narrowed the highway to a single lane. Keith remarked that this is the Alaska that he remembers from his family road trip when he was a teen: gray, wet, muddy. As we got closer to the park, I kept searching the horizon for the Alaska Mountain Range that I knew must be there, somewhere. I mean, we were approaching Denali, for heaven’s sake. But, thanks to the rain, I could see only trees and clouds.

The Alaska Range should be right over there, but I don't see it.

It was late afternoon by the time we pulled into Denali National Park. We double-checked on our reservations for tomorrow’s bus ride into the interior of the park, picked up our Junior Ranger activity books and roamed the visitors center for a Denali overview before checking in at the Crow’s Nest Cabins, which overlook the clustercuss that is “Glitter Gulch,” a touristy strip of t-shirt stores, fudge shops and fast food outlets. When I made the cabin reservations, I guess I was so focused on being close to the park entrance that I overlooked the fact that we would be caught up in this tawdry circus; it’s as if the Indiana Beach boardwalk threw up all over Denali. 

Natalie's super-excited to be at the Denali National Park Visitors Center.

The cabins, thankfully, are set into the hillside above the strip, so we are removed from it a bit. We had to leave our car in a lower parking lot, and on a nice day we would climb the rest of the way up the hill on foot. But today, the rain and the mud forced us to engage the services of a bellman, Serg, who hauled us and our gear up the hill in a teetering, overloaded golf cart.

Golf cart ride up the hill

The Crow’s Nest Cabins have a lovely farm-to-table restaurant where Keith and I enjoyed cocktails after check-in. But they were booked up for dinner, so we all slid down the steep, muddy driveway to the tacky strip, where we hiked up and down the highway in the rain trying to find a restaurant that A) wasn’t disgusting and B) had an available table. We finally had to drop (A) and settle for (B): a by-the-slice pizzeria that is part of the Denali Princess Lodge sprawl across the street and which was packed with passengers from the flagship Type 2 Diabetes.

Early to bed tonight; tomorrow we’re getting up early for our bus trip into the park.