Notes to self (and anyone else planning) on visiting Denali

End of May was a great time of year to come--long days, hardly any of those legendary mosquitos, and lots of baby animals to see.

The two things I had chosen on the internet that I most wanted to do turned out to be impossible because they are each day-long trips--Wonder Lake (to photograph the reflection of the mountain) and the Alpine hike from Eielson Visitor Center. The hike was only 2-21/2 hours, but what the internet neglected to say was that it takes 4 hours to get there and 4 hours back. What I need to do is to go to the Wilderness Access Center near the gate the day before and reserve space on the first bus. This involves buying a ticket. The ranger-guided walk is free, but the bus is not. Small wonder when you consider the distances. Even then, you aren't guaranteed the tour, because only 11 people are allowed. No way to sign up ahead of time. It is the first 11 to show up. The walk is rated difficult. I gather from our own wilderness tour that even if I didn't make the first eleven, there would be fascinating places to walk around the starting point. The park has no "stay on the path" rule. You can wander freely as far as you choose. The advantage of that would be determining my own level of difficulty. The disadvantage is not being pushed and not having the ranger's input. But the day would definitely not be wasted even if all one did was the bus trip.

Important info: The road to Eielson does not open until June 1, so this walk cannot be done in May. The road to Wonder Lake (photo op) does not open until June 8. That too involves a paid bus trip to the farthest end of the road. Therefore the optimum time to come to avoid mosquitoes, rain and crowds might be the first week in June, staying up to June 8 for Wonder Lake.

Any visitor should plan at least one trip beyond where the car can go (Savage River). I'm not sure any free shuttles go beyond that, so even if it is a green shuttle (hop-on-hop-off), it will involve paying, but well worth it. Awesome views of wilderness.

Lots of lodging options in the area. We wouldn't have to stay at an expensive place like Grand Denali, awesome as the views were. There are campgrounds, but we did not see any grills at picnic grounds although we have seen places where people have built camp fires. Bringing microwaveable meals and instant noodles as well as picnic stuff has worked well.

The autumn colors in the Denali park movie were awesome. There would be more mosquitos at the end of summer. And of course there are no Northern Lights in May when the sun barely drops below the horizon.