National Park Hiking: Denali

The world of National Park hiking gets a little (okay, a lot!) more difficult when Alaska comes into the equation. Photographs of awe-inspiring parks like Gates of the Arctic, Wrangell-St. Elias, (pictured) and Kenai Fjords make a hiker salivate:

But only a handful of the parks in Alaska are easily accessible to an average Jane, like me.

In my quest to hike all 59 National Parks in the U.S. Denali is the only park in Alaska I’ve conquered. This picture is actually a bit of a cheater, but it’s one of my favorites from my second trip to the 49th state:

I booked a Mt. McKinley fly-over out of Talkeetna, and the pilot landed in a natural amphitheater. Notice the glacier boots! Okay, I didn’t actually summit McKinley (and have no desire to!) but it’s a great memory, and it is part of Denali, which I spent three days hiking at a considerably lower elevation!

Author: barblee

Barb Lee is a native of Western Massachusetts who loves to write, travel and hike the world, and hang out with her beautiful Jersey Wooly bunny Muffin. Her whole life changed when she was diagnosed with Stage IV lung cancer in October of 2019. By January of 2020, she was bouncing back in a major way. Now, in addition to all her favorite activities, she wants to help others make the most of life following a devastating diagnosis, while she continues to beat the odds. View all posts by barblee