Stalked by a Grizzly in Denali National Park

Denali is unique among the national parks of America. No park in the lower 48 states offers so complete an ecosystem unaltered by man. Grizzlies, moose, caribou, wolves, dall sheep, and numerous other animals find a home here in a vast parkland, as large as the entire state of Massachusetts. There may be other places in Alaska where the scenery is just as spectacular and where there are as many or more animals, but only in Denali does the average visitor have easy access to true wilderness.

The crowning jewel of Denali National Park and Preserve is Mount McKinley, named for U.S. Senator William McKinley, who later became president of the United States. At 20,320 feet, Mount McKinley is the highest mountain in North America. If measured from it's base, about 2,000 feet at Wonder Lake, McKinley has a vertical relief even greater than that of Mount Everest. At this far northern latitude, it also boasts some of the worst weather in the world. Temperatures at the summit are severe even in July, although the lowlands can be very pleasant during the long daylight hours of mid-summer. Winters are much worse, with lows plummeting to below -95F on the mountain, and during storms the wind can gust to more than 150 mph. But in August at the base of the mountain the weather is (sometimes) absolutely perfect.

Don't rush through Denali. You've traveled far to come here. Take your time to experience this vast land - and you may never be the same.

Quick Tips:

Denali National Park and preserve is open year-round. However, the most popular months for visiting are May-September. June, July, and August are basically the only months which are snow-free, but they are also the wettest. Summer temperatures can be very pleasant, with an average high in July of 66F. Winters bring bitter cold, with an average low of -9F.

Best Way To Get Around:

Denali National Park and Preserve is 237 miles north of Anchorage and 120 miles south of Fairbanks, via Alaska Hwy. 3. There are three transportations options for those wanting to go to Denali: private automobile, tour bus, or the Alaska Railroad. Bus tours and railway passage may both be booked from either Anchorage of Fairbanks. But the most flexible way to enjoy the park would be to rent an automobile in either of those cities and drive yourself.

Best Things Nearby:


Best Things About the Resort:
Location, location, location!

Resort Experience:
There are seven campgrounds in Denali National Park, and reservations are required. Backcountry camping is also available with a permit.

The campgrounds are:
Riley Creek - mile .5 - 146 spaces
Savage River - mile 12 - 34 spaces
Sanctuary River -22 miles - 7 spaces
Teklanika River - 29 miles - 50 spaces
Igloo Creek - mile 34 - 7 spaces
Wonder lake - mile 85 - 28 spaces

All of the campgrounds allow tent-camping. RVs are permitted at Riley Creek, Savage River, and Teklanika River. All have either pit toilets or flush toilets, and all but the two smallest campgrounds have tap water.

• Campground Type: National Park
• Campsite Type: Camper/Trailer
• Price Range: $20 - $30
• Cleanliness: Excellent
• Campground Facilities: Very Good
• Recreational Facilities: Excellent
• Campsite Satisfaction: Very Good
• Family Friendliness: Very Good
• Service: Very Good

The most dramatic feature of the Denali landscape is the snowcapped peak of Mt. McKinley. At 20,320 feet, it is North America's highest mountain. Measured from the 2,000-foot lowlands near Wonder Lake to its glistening summit, the mountain's vertical relief is over 18,000, which is greater than that of Mount Everest. The Athabascan natives called it Denali, "the High One." This massive towering peak is the centerpiece of the Alaska Range. On a clear day, it can be seen from Anchorage, 237 miles to the south. And I have seen the peak from even several miles farther south, along the Seward Highway.

The only problem is that clouds obscure the summit of Mt. McKinley more often than not, an average of 6 or 7 days out of 10. On my first visit to Denali, in 1990, I spent 2 days in the park and didn't see the mountain at all, but that was not a major disappointment, because the wildlife and scenery of the lower slopes was still almost more than I could take in. I went to Alaska a second time in 1997 and still did not see the fabled mountain. But it is said that "the third time’s a charm," and on my 2004 trek to Denali, the mountain was visible in its entire glorious splendor.

When the sky clears, locals say "the mountain is out." If you are fortunate enough to be there on one of those days, it will be a sight you will always remember.

The Savage Patrol Cabin was built in the 1920s as a relay cabin for dogsled patrols into the newly formed park. In fact, it is still used in winter as a dogsled patrol relay cabin. In summer it is open for visitors to view. Near the cabin are dog houses, and about 100 feet away is a pit toilet, which is used by the patrols in winter.

Around the cabin are several interpretative displays, and also a few short hiking trails. The hiker sitting in front of the cabin in this picture had just taken off his shoes to rest his feet after coming in from a trek.

In summer, the Savage Patrol Cabin is outfitted as it would have looked in the 1930s, complete with vintage issues of The Saturday Evening Post and Fish and Game magazines. Park Naturalists sometimes give talks and wildlife tours here.

There is no electricity or running water in the cabin and heating and cooking is by a wood- burning stove. Still, rangers refer to it as the "Hilton" when temperatures drop to -55F, the snow is piled deep and the wind is howling outside. It sounds romantic and cozy, until it's time to go to the pit toilet, 100 feet away through the numbing cold.

Nowhere I have been on the North American continent have I seen more impressive and diverse wildlife in such profusion as at Denali National Park. It is one of the few places anywhere that the average visitor can realistically expect to see Caribou, Moose, Dall Sheep and Grizzly Bear all in the same day. Many also report sighting one of the several packs of Wolves which prowl the vast Denai expanse, although I was not personally so fortunate.

Smaller animals also abound in this harsh sub-arctic environment: fox, weasel, wolverine, lynx, marten, snowshoe hare, hoary marmot, red squirrel, arctic ground squirrel, pika, porcupine, beaver shrew, vole, and lemming. A total of 37 different species have been recorded within the park and preserve.

Birdlife is also varied and interesting. Most of these birds migrate far from their winter feeding grounds in the south to mate and raise their young during the long summer days of Denali. Of the 159 species recorded, a few one may see include: ptarmigan, golden eagle, spruce grouse, raven, magpie, gray jay, varied thrush and many more.

Hiking is very popular in Denali National Park during the summer months, yet there are only a few short marked hiking trails, most of these being near the entrance and the campgrounds. However, since much of the terrain is above tree line, cross-country hiking is easy. Usually hikers follow ridge lines or river beds. It's a good idea to wear a bear bell or at least to make noise as you hike along to alert bears of your presence. If a bear hears you coming, it will often move out of the way. The last thing you want to do is to round a corner or top a rise and startle an unsuspecting grizzly, or even a moose, making them feel threatened.

Several companies offer flightseeing tours of Denali National Park from the small airports in the the towns of Talkeetna and Healy. Although Talkeetna is more than 60 air miles south of the entrance to the park, it is actually closer to Mount McKinley than is the entrance. For this reason, Talkeetna is the starting point for most climbers attempting to Summit Mt. McKinley. This is the airport from which I took my own flight over McKinley. For years I dreamed of climbing McKinley one day, but that would take a minimum of three weeks time, thousands of dollars, months of physical conditioning, and would still be a risk of life. With my advancing age and limited pocketbook, I decided seeing the summit from the air was going to be the best I could do.

A variety of different tour routes and lengths are offered, with the most expensive being the summit flight.

I hesitated at first to take the McKinley Summit Tour because it cost $225, which is serious money to me. However, it was such a beautiful day and the mountain was "out," so I swallowed hard and bought a ticket. It was one of the best travel investments I ever made.

The McKinley Summit Tour departed from the airport in Talkeetna and climbed to over 20,000 feet in a twin engine, oxygen equipped airplane. There were five passengers on board, in addition to the pilot, and since I was the odd man I was asked to take the co-pilot's seat to help balance the load.

"Breathtaking," "Stunning," and "Stupendous" are not strong enough words to describe the flight. We circled the highest mountain in North America, soared close right over the summit, wove in and out between towering peaks, skirted frightenly close Denali's fabled Wickersham Wall, dipped down into shadowed canyons, and flew for miles through the great gorge of the Ruth Glacier, one of the longest rivers of ice in the world. It was definitely an experience I will always remember and treasure.

Mount McKinley is so overpowering that some visitors seem surprised to learn that there is so much more to Denali National Park and Preserve than just the mountain - as impressive as it is. The expansive landscape of Denali encompases three distinct units. They are:

DENALI WILDERNESS, includes most of the former Mount McKinley National Park. This is basically undeveloped wilderness parkland, except for the single road which brings tourists 85 miles through the wilderness to Wonder Lake, with few amenities along the way.

DENALI NATIONAL PARK additions, established in 1980. In this area customary and traditional subsistence uses are allowed by local residents. This recognizes the longstanding dependence on wildlife, fish, and plant materials for subsistence in rural Alaska.

DENALI NATIONAL PRESERVE allows subsistence uses and also allows sport hunting, trapping, and fishing under Alaska Fish and Game regulations. There are two such perserve areas.

Denali National Park and Preserve is a vast and diverse land, rich in wildlife, and offering almost unlimited possibilities to the outdoor and wilderness enthusiast.

Since you can only drive your own vehicle the first 15 miles into the park, the best way to penetrate further into the interior is to take the bus. Shuttle bus service begins Memorial Day weekend and ends after Labor Day. Buses travel regularly from the visitor center to Toklat River (6 hours round-trip), Eielson Visitor Center (8 hours), and Wonder Lake (11 hours).

You can get off the bus to explore on your own anywhere along the way and catch the next bus going in either direction. On my first trip to Denali, several years ago, I disembarked the bus about half way, near the Polychrome Overlook, and took a three hour solo hike, both along the road and cross-country. It was a fantastic experience, rewarded with sightings of a grizzly mother and cubs (on a distant ridge), many dall sheep, other wildlife and scenery that caused both my heart and my imagination to take wings.

Only plants adapted to long, bitterly cold winters and short growing seasons can survive in the subarctic wilderness of Denali. Permafrost underlies much of the park, and only a thin layer of topsoil thaws each summer to support the life. Even so, more than 630 species of flowering plants grow here, as well as many types of mosses, lichens, fungi and others.

There are two major plant associations in the park, taiga and tundra. %iTaiga%i is a Russian word for the northern evergreen forest and describes the scant tree growth here near the Arctic Circle. The limit of tree growth occurs at about 2,700 feet in Denali, so much of the park is above the timber line.

The area above tree line but below the glaciers and permanent ice fields is tundra, a fascinating world of dwarfed shrubs and miniaturized wildflowers adapted to a short growing season. Above 7,200 feet, the only plants are lichens and mosses, on the slopes not permanently covered with ice.

In addition to Mount McKinley, there are several other very impressive peaks in Denali National Park. In this photo, taken from the banks of the Susitna River near Talkeetna, you can see Mount McKinley on the right - 20,320feet; Mount Hunter, 14,573 feet is in the center, and Mount Foraker, 17,400 feet, is on the left. Other notable peaks in the Alaska Ranger include:

Mount Hayes - 13,852 feet
Mount Silverthorne - 13,220 feet
Mount Deborah - 12,339 feet
Mount Huntington - 12,240 feet

The Alaska Range arches about 600 miles altogether, dividing Alaska's coastal regions from the tundra prairies of the interior. This range of icy peaks and extensive glaciers has some of the worst weather in the world, since it forms a barrier between the relatively warm and damp Pacific air and the frozen interior.

The mountains are beautiful to behold from a distance, but only experienced and well-equipped mountaineers, preferably with a local guide, should venture onto these potentially deadly slopes.

Numerous glaciers, rivers of ice, slowly creak down the slopes of Mount McKinley and surrounding peaks. Some seem to be literally frozen in time, while others have been known to flow at a rate of 10 inches per minute. Twenty of the McKinley glaciers are longer than 5 miles, and six of them are 25 miles or longer. These are:

Kahiltna Glacier - 43 miles
Muldrow Glacier - 40 miles
Ruth Glacier - 35 miles
Yuenta-Laeuna Glacier - 32 miles
Eldridge Glacier - 30 miles
Tokositna Glacier - 25 miles

Kahiltna and Muldrow Glaciers are used as pathways by climbers trecking their way up the mountain using sleds and skis. Tourists can hire a private airplane to take them for a glacier landing, using a ski-equipped light plane. I chose rather to view the glaciers from above in a flightseeing trip over and around Mount McKinley.

A very popular way to visit Denali National Park is to take the train. The Alaska Railway has daily summer passenger service to the park from Anchorage, Fairbanks and other cities. Cruise ship passengers often catch the train in Seward, on Alaska's southern coast, and ride it all the way to Denali. Rail service is limited in winter.

I took an amazing four-hour trip on the Alaska Railroad from Talkeetna, along the Susitana River, with views into both Denali State Park and Denali National Park. This is a particularly interesting trip because it is the only "whistle stop" train still operating in America. We traveled through a remote roadless part of Alaska where this railroad is the only connection to the outside world for many homesteaders. Also, many outdoorsmen use the train to access remote areas for fishing, camping, and hiking. To catch the train anywhere along the route, people simply stand alongside the tracks and wave for the train to stop.

I was taking a mid-afternoon hike in early August along the beautiful Savage River Loop Trail in Denali National Park, and was not more than half a mile from returning to the parking lot where I had left my vehicle. Grizzly Bear was on my mind because I had seen one from the highway just an hour earlier, a couple of miles or so before reaching the place where I was now.

As I topped a rise on the trail I saw six people in front of me standing perfectly still, their eyes fixed on something ahead. In a hushed but urgent tone they motioned for me to stop and look. There, perhaps 200 yards ahead and directly on the trail was a large grizzly bear. He was intent on digging a hole into which he sank his entire front limbs and head. I presumed he was digging up an arctic ground squirrel since I had seen a few of them in the area. It was obvious that the bear was hungry to be digging for his dinner so intently.

Tingling with excitement, I pulled the bear in as close as possible with my camera, wishing I had a better telephoto lens. At this point I did not yet know that I would soon be much too close to the grizzly for comfort.

Suddenly the Grizzly backed out of the hole he had been digging, apparently unable to unearth the ground squirrel. He turned, looked toward us, and then began to lumber in our direction. His gait quickly turned to a lope, and he closed the gap between us in a very few seconds.

The six people I was with included one older couple, and a young family of four. The older couple stood their ground, muttering something about being native Alaskans and having seen Grizzlys in the wild before. The family (man, wife, son and daughter) began a very fast walk back down the trail, away from the road and our parked vehicles.

I backed away more slowly, singing loudly and not caring how badly it sounded, just so long as the grizzly heard "I love to go a-wandering along the mountain track ... Valderee, Valderah ... my knapsack on my back." Bears have poor eyesight but very keen senses of smell and hearing. I felt that as soon as the bear recognized we were humans he would turn off the trail and avoid us.

To my horror, the bear continued to advance. At this point the older coulple were about 30 feet closer to the grizzly than I was and the young family was disappearing around the bend in the trail behind me. The older man was trying to take a picture, while his wife waved her arms franically and shouted at the bruin. This is exactly what all the books tell you to do in a such an encounter. The purpose for lifting your hands is to appear as tall as possible to the beast, and since the wild creature is not familiar with the sound of a human voice, the shouting is to frighten it.

The bear approached, now slowly, to within 8 or 10 feet from the couple. The man quit taking pictures and joined his wife in yelling and flailing his arms. Apparently the trick worked. The bruin, looking a bit confused, turned and bounded off the trail and into the river. Although it does not show too well in this photo, the Savage River was swift-flowing and probably four feet deep at this point. However, the grizzly bounced easily through the water, over a gravel bank, and up the hill on the other side.

Up the bank on the other side of the river was the front half of the loop trail, where I had been hiking just 30 minutes earlier. I looked over and saw that there were several other vacationers on this section of trail. Closest to where the bear emerged from the river was a lone male hiker.

The grizzly approached this man even more agressively than he had the couple, appearing to me to be aggitated by this second human encounter. The bear made a bluff charge to within a few feet of the man, then stopped suddenly. Apparently the man had read the same instructions for scaring away a bear that we had because he was clawing at the sky and yelling loudly, "Shoo, bear, shoo; go away, bear!"

While taking advantage of the situation to make tracks back toward the trailhead, I stopped just long enough to take this shot, praying all the while for the man's safety. Although in this photo it appears that I am on the same side of the river as the bear, actually I was shooting across the river, which makes a bend at this point.

After climbing uphill for about 40 feet, the grizzly stopped and paused for a moment. He then turned, and shot back down the mountain even faster than his first charge. My heart lept into my throat. I felt sure I was within a a millisecond of witnessing the poor hiker's demise. But a second time the bruin stopped. He looked to me to have been close enough that the frightened man could smell the stench of the bear's breath. It amazes me that a 600-pound bruin could accelerate and then stop so quickly.

The hiker on the opposite shore was successful in frightening the bear away the second time, and now the grizzly continued downhill, crossing the river again to my side and coming directly toward me. All this while I had been walking slowly back toward the trailhead, and was now within about 200 yards of a small ranger station which sits beside the highway there. I was much closer to the bear than to the safety of the building, which was not much larger than a toll booth. Through the windows I could see that it was already packed with other hikers. A brave park ranger came out to meet me, urging me get back to the safety of the building, which I was only too eager to do. "Hurry, but don't run or walk too fast," the ranger shouted. Doing so might have triggered the beast's instinct to chase.

I walked steadily, but it seemed to take forever. All the while the grizzly was closing the gap between us. At this point I felt like changing my tune to "Nearer My God to Thee," the last song the orchestra was playing as the Titanic went down. Instead I just shouted bear gibberish. Walking backward and waving one hand over my head, while clicking my camera with the other, praying that each photo wouldn't be my last. By the time I reached the safety of the ranger station, the grizzly was about 20 feet behind me.

At last, safely inside the building, the bear lumbered on by, then turned and walked up the road for a short distance before disappearing again into the fastness of the Denali wilderness. I stayed put until the ranger assured me that the grizzly was far out of sight.

Shortly after the bear affair, which I chronicled in my earlier Denali experience, I was driving out of the National Park. My heart was still racing from the encounter with the grizzly and my whole body must have been flushed with adrenalin.

That's when I saw him in the rearview mirror - a park ranger, blue light flashing, motioning for me to pull over. "No, sir," I told him, "I had no idea I was going 15mph over the speed limit." I went on to explain to the officer that I never speed. In fact, I told him, my wife and children all call me "Pokey" because I'm always driving so slowly.

The ranger wasn't impressed, so I continued, "I've just been chased half a mile by a grizzly bear," I told him, "Look here!" I showed the officer the photos on my digital camera. That's when he accused me of stalking the bear and provoking him in order to get a once-in-a-lifetime photo. He told me about another man whose remains had been found elsewhere in Alaska. Beside that man's scattered bones and blood-stained, shredded clothing was his digital camera, containing the last pictures he had ever taken. "They were remarkably like your own photos," the ranger told me. He accused me sternly, "You could have gotten yourself killed."

By this time, I was shaking. How dare the ranger accuse me of stalking the bear, when I was the one who had been stalked. I had just been through one of the most harrowing experiences of my life, and here he was suggesting it was somehow my own fault.

"Okay, okay," the ranger said, "just calm down. I believe you; I'll let you go this time." But first he asked if I would stay there long enough to tell my story to a park biologist. He sent a radio message, and 15 minutes later, we were joined on the side of the road by a studious-looking man who was very interested in hearing a detailed retelling of the bear encounter. He told me this was unusually aggressive behavior for a grizzly in Denali National Park, and he closely examined my photos to see if he could identify the particular bear involved. Then I was released and drove north.

New adventures awaited.