{"id":25966,"date":"2026-09-04T16:59:49","date_gmt":"2026-09-04T20:59:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/aleta.life\/?p=25966"},"modified":"2026-09-04T23:43:45","modified_gmt":"2026-09-05T03:43:45","slug":"denali-national-park","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/aleta.life\/index.php\/2026\/09\/04\/denali-national-park\/","title":{"rendered":"Denali National Park"},"content":{"rendered":"
Position: 63\u00b040’16.3″N 149\u00b034’45.1″W<\/a><\/h6>\n

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Today William McKinley<\/a> is mostly famous for getting assassinated and having a mountain named (and renamed) after him. He was a noted booster of protective tariffs<\/a> and believed protectionism would bring prosperity. Thus, he was as far from a free trade Republican (like Eisenhower, Reagan, and the Bushes) as the current White House incumbent.<\/p>\n

With some curiosity we made our way from Fairbanks down to Denali National Park, home of the highest mountain in the country. We wanted to know which name the locals used for the mountain after the Cheeto in Chief\u2019s critically important 2025 executive order<\/a> renaming it. Denali was first renamed for McKinley back in 1917. In 1975 Alaska petitioned the U.S. Federal Government to change the mountain\u2019s name back to Denali, the same year the state officially reverted to its original Koyukon name<\/a>. Ohioans blocked the measure and it wasn\u2019t until 2015, under the Obama administration, Denali became the official federal name as well.<\/p>\n

You say potato\u2026<\/h6>\n

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Now knowing this history, we shouldn\u2019t have been surprised that everyone<\/em> in Alaska still calls the mountain Denali. I suspect New Yorkers of all political stripes will refer to Lake Ontario by that name for generations to come. After all, no one likes to be told what to do by the feds.<\/p>\n

A cold rain fell steadily as we entered Denali National Park, turning the road wet and silvery under the grey clouds. On our way through Healy, I pointed out the Stampede Trail to Carol. That was the track Christopher McCandless<\/a> took when he went into the wild<\/a> and starved to death in an abandoned Fairbanks school bus. Having replenished our supply of water and Mountain House freeze dried meals, we had no such ambitions. Our main concern at the time was not being eaten by bears.<\/p>\n

The trip to Brooks Falls<\/a> was still a week away and our fear of bears still based on a nearly complete lack of first-hand experience. I say, \u201cnearly complete\u201d, but Carol and her first husband, Mark, encountered a grizzly in Glacier National Park many years ago. They had hiked up a trail and, unknowingly, inserted themselves between a sow and her cub. All parties were surprised by the encounter, but Carol and Mark escaped intact. Rangers closed the trail as soon as they reported in.<\/p>\n

Grizzlies don\u2019t like surprises. Therefore, one of the best things you can do on trail is make noise. Talking loudly, singing, and carrying warning bells are all effective means of telling a grizz you\u2019re on your way. Having bought a couple of bear bells in Fairbanks, I was determined to use them. Their gentle tinkling seemed too quiet to be of much use, but after three nights in the park, we didn\u2019t see a single bear. Perhaps they worked after all. To boost our confidence, I strapped on a can of bear spray and had it ready at my hip. Just in case waving our arms and jingling our bells didn\u2019t scare the bears.<\/p>\n

Teklanika Camp<\/h6>\n

After some detailed research we opted for Teklanika campground<\/a>, about 28 miles from the park entrance. Tek, as it\u2019s known, requires a three-night minimum stay. Once you\u2019re there, you agree not to drive your car in or out. This helps preserve the illusion of wilderness camping and minimise pollution. The illusion is mitigated by bus services that run up and down the park\u2019s only road ferrying cruise ship passengers and campers in search of wildlife.<\/p>\n

The main thoroughfare to Denali mountain, Park Road, passes along a significant, and slow-moving landslide<\/a> about 15 miles further up the road from Tek. For the past three years, the road has been closed at its midpoint and the National Park Service has been working on a comprehensive fix<\/a> for the problem. In other words, a stop just past East Fork Bridge (crossing the east fork of the Toklat River) was as far as the bus would take us.<\/p>\n

At a park service hut, a long set of steps leads down to the riverbed. There we were free to explore the rocky glacial wash of the river\u2019s many arms. The going was easy as the stones are small and tumbled smooth. We walked as far as we could until we couldn\u2019t cross the fast-flowing river safely.<\/p>\n

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