Celebrating Wilderness in the Midnight Sun

Is it really already my fifth week of work?

A few weekends ago I completed my first official hike up the Mt. Healy Overlook Trail. Most of the park is trail-less, backcountry hiking, but in the frontcountry (near the Denali Visitor Center and park headquarters) there are around 25 miles of maintained trails. This particular trail led to the top of Mt. Healy, a rocky, forested mountain that I can see from my bedroom window. About 3 miles round trip from the trailhead, this dirt path climbs over 1700 feet to the overlook, with an opportunity to continue climbing along the mountain’s ridge even higher (and on 10 miles to the town of Healy if you're ambitious). After eating lunch and climbing awhile up the ridge, we decided to turn around—my legs were beginning to shake with the strain of a continuous uphill climb.

Two weekends ago was the Solstice Festival, a celebration of the midnight sun. Though the solstice was actually June 21st, it was celebrated with a long weekend previous to the real date. Even now, it's still light here throughout the night. The 49^th State Brewery (which also showcases the abandoned bus prop featured in Into the Wild) put on a festival of live music, drinks, and dancing. It was definitely by far the longest I have stayed up in years. 

Last week I tagged along with students attending Discovery Camp, which is put on every year by the Murie Science and Learning Center and the Denali Education Center. My main responsibility was to photograph the students, rangers, and instructors on the hike for an end-of-camp slideshow (as much as possible when it wasn't raining, at least). On Monday I was fortunate enough to go on a 4 mile hike with an extremely intelligent group of seventh and eighth graders, my supervisor Ellen, and National Geographic freelance writer and photographer, Kim Heacox, and his wife. He recently finished writing a book titled The National Parks: An Illustrated History. I also attended his presentation this past Sunday, which was beyond inspiring! He autographed another book of his that I'd bought a few days before.

On one of the hikes we were lucky enough to see a moose in nearby Horseshoe Lake! Kim gave me photography advice while we watched it from barely 50 feet away. Here are just a few of the shots I was able to get.

Erin, Sarah, me, and John

This past weekend, my biology partner-in-crime Sarah Swanson came to visit me from Fairbanks along with her fellow intern, Erin, and we went on a 9 mile hike here known as Triple Lakes Trail. The path started out along the rushing Riley Creek, crossing a suspension bridge built of materials hauled in by sled dog teams. It then took us farther up until we were climbing along the mountain ridge by three lakes settled in the valley. What an amazing day!

It's been a crazy couple of weeks but I hope to have another post about what I'm up to at work soon, so stay tuned!

 “Our vision of a wild America has become rooted in a vision of ourselves. Our National Parks, preserves,
monuments, forests, and wildlife refuges speak of
gratitude and hope, renewal and redemption.”

—Kim Heacox,

Visions of a Wild America:

Pioneers of Preservation, 1996

I also volunteered at the Moose Scat Scoot, a half marathon/
5K/fun run that took place in the park.
Photo credit to John Gibbons