Meanwhile, back at the motel ... The
rest of the us went on a 4-mile hike in the falling snow, quite a new experience
for a Texan. We hiked along the Triple Lakes Trail, one of the few trails
that exist in Denali NP (most of the trails are located along the park boundary near the
highway.)
That afternoon, we drove up to the village of Denali Park and took a rafting tour of the Nenana
River, a glacially-fed river that runs north along the boundary of Denali NP
before confluencing with the Tanana, which flows into the Yukon. The
Nenana, like the Matanuska that we had seen earlier in the week, has a milky
grey color to it, and it never gets warmer than 40 degrees Fahrenheit. Although
the rapids were only Class II at this time of the year, the
coldness of the water tended to crank things up a notch. We were each outfitted
with a full drysuit, which, in combination with the three layers I had on
underneath it, kept me mostly warm. However, every wave gave us what our guide Al referred to as a "glacial facial."
The snow had slacked off somewhat as we returned to the cabins for dinner.
About halfway through dinner, Jen returned from her Denali adventure and shared
stories and photos with the rest of the group, as we stayed up later than normal
to savor our last night in the wilderness.
IMG 0858 [1874 kB]
9/3/04 10:49 AM
Triple Lakes Trail in the snow
IMG 0863 [1365 kB]
9/3/04 11:00 AM
First of the Triple Lakes
IMG 0868 [1467 kB]
9/3/04 11:13 AM
IMG 0870 [1636 kB]
9/3/04 11:14 AM
IMG 0872 [914 kB]
9/3/04 11:16 AM
Autumn leaves
IMG 0873 [1620 kB]
9/3/04 11:39 AM
Valley near the second of the Triple Lakes
IMG 0877 [1731 kB]
9/3/04 11:42 AM
Second of the Triple Lakes
IMG 0879 [1661 kB]
9/3/04 12:01 PM
Hiking in the snow
IMG 0880 [1702 kB]
9/3/04 12:37 PM
Third of the Triple Lakes