Purkey Pile to Wonder Lake

I was able to return to Denali to do a patrol with a couple of rangers that I worked with for many years. I joined them for a patrol from Purkey Pile (on Boulder Creek at the far western edge of Denali Park) all the way back to Wonder Lake. We drove out to Kantishna and then flew out to Purkey Pile. We started hiking almost immediately and continued hiking for eight days. We crossed big rivers, hiked across broad tundra plateaus and suffered through dense brush. One night the bugs were so bad we used headnets and then a few days later we got snowed on. We got a little bit of everything on this trip. The weather wasn't great but it always seemed to be just good enough. We did get incredible views of the mountains on a couple of days but it was usually only for a few minutes and then the clouds would move back in. The trip took us eight days and I think it was about eighty miles long. I was really lucky to be able to go back to Denali to do one of the trips I've always wanted to do.

Mt Foraker from the west.

Alonzo packrafting across the Swift Fork of the Kuskokwim River.

A brief break from the brush.

Hiking along through the brush and rain.

Mt Foraker with our tent.

Alonzo with Denali in the background.

The weather did not always cooperate. I used a compass on this trip more than I ever have before.

Alonzo, Jess and myself above Iron Creek with fresh snow behind us.

Denali from the McKinley River Bar, near the end of the trip.

Another great trip!

Summer is starting to wind down up here in Alaska. Fall has officially arrived with the start of hunting season and the colors are changing. I really wish that I was getting ready to jet out of here to some exotic locale with cheap food and incredible climbing, but its not to be this year. I'm staying put for a few months and trying to save money for our trip to Egypt in January. I'm not a very big fan of fall in Alaska, its cold and rainy but not usually cold enough to build a good snowpack in the mountains. Even worse I'm actually looking for a job this fall to help fund our Egyptian adventure. It'll be worth it though to sit on the beach in January.

I've done two more trips since my last post. The first one was a week long trip in Wrangell St Elias from Chisana to Solo Creek. This was a great trip that I did with Mike and Matt. Matt is a ranger in Kennecott. We took our time and even spent a day climbing one of the peaks along the way. We had pretty good weather but it was smoky at times.

Beaver Pk is the one on the left.

Heading up the glacier on Beaver Pk.

Matt high on the summit ridge of Beaver Pk.

Cruising along the trail on high alpine tundra.

The airstrip at Solo Creek where we were picked up.

On my last post I wrote about a river that Nate and I were unable to cross. This is an aerial photo of that river. We flew over it on our way to Chisana. Its about two miles wide and we made it MAYBE a 1/4 of the way across. We'll get it next time!