After my trip up to Prudhoe Bay and back I needed some rest and so I settled in for a few days in Billie’s Hostel. We had wonderful weather and there was also the “Golden Day’s” of Fairbanks – I think it was the 100-year anniversary of the founding of Fairbanks – and there was also a wedding / hostel party at the hostel. It was a really relaxing and enjoyable time.

Then I was ready to go on and weather got bad – it rained almost every day, all day long. Also the weather forecast was not very promising. They even talked about the wettest July since recording and there were some major flooding. See the article in the e articels in the local ‘News-Miner’. ‘Fairbanks a shower away from wettest July on record’ and ‘Denali Park residents fight flood together’

Because I really liked to have good weather in the Denali National Park and I was not in real in a hurry, I decided to stay till the weather would get better. Finally we had an unexpected sunny day and the forecast for the next few days was not that bad either – time to move on. After the morning visit of a museum I called the Denali NP to make a reservation for the Wonderlake campground. The campground was full for the day I intended but for the following day was a space available. Because it was anyway already late, I did somehow not feel like leaving that day and the campground was reserved for a day later then intended, I decided to stay for that day.

Well, even I once said that I would not cycle in the rain anymore, the next day I had to. Because the campground was now reserved I had to go. It rained all day long from Fairbanks to Nenana and I got pretty soaked. The Japanese guy who also stayed at Billie’s was already there and I pitched my tent next to his in the back of the, the visitor center surrounding park. The rain let a bit go and after a walk around town we could even see some holes in the clouds where the sun was shining trough – could it be that it would be even a nice day tomorrow? I did not dear to hope.

Nenana is pleasant little town with not that much to do or to see. The biggest thing is for sure the “Nenana Ice Classic” where the date and time has to be guessed when the ice of Tanana River will break. To determine this, a tripod is placed on to ice and a rope connects the tripod with a watch in the Watch tower. When the ice breaks the tripod starts to move and eventually floats down the river, doing so the rope is pulled and the watch stops to run – that is the time when the ice brakes. The persons who guessed the right time sheer the money in the jackpot – last year 301’000 $US. I also placed my guesses, one for the 30th April 2004, 3:03 PM and one for the 4th May 2004, 2:18 PM – if there are right I get rich. The breaking time is published on the website www.nenanaakiceclassic.com.

The thing I did not dear to hope for happened – it was sunny the next morning!! It makes such a difference when the weather is nice. We had breakfast at the picnic table and I let dry all my stuff. After packing I started cycling and had a pleasant day – though sometime heavy headwind but now rain. What I could notice is that the temperature dropped some degrees. In the end it might be true that the winter is already coming. Apparently stopped the fireweed to grow and that is supposedly a sign for soon coming winter – I hope it’s gone be at least an other month.

I reached the Denali NP the same day and made some enquiries about the Backcountry Permits. It seemed that there are not that many tourists this year and all the backcountry zones had open space. During the night I thought about trekking in the backcountry again and decided to get the permits the next day. Since they don’t cost anything I can’t lose anything and if I really wouldn’t feel like doing it, I just could come back. After I got the permits I had a stroll around the entrance area and made a hike up Mt. Healy what turned out to be a rather nice hike. From the top of the rime I had a good view down the valley and at the surrounding peaks.

The next morning I had to be at the bus stop at 6:30 AM. I took this early bus for having a better chance to se wildlife. We saw some Caribous and Moose and one grizzly. Even the grizzly was far away it was really nice to observe him through the binoculars – it was the first time I saw a grizzly in the wild. During the 5 hours drive to Wonderlake the weather changed from sun to rain and back and so did my feeling for Backcountry Trekking. One moment I thought it is gone be great trekking here and then I could not be bothered anymore. Well we would see in two days how I feel.

Arriving at Wonderlake I pitched my tent and had a nap – I was tired from getting up early and the bus ride. Refreshed I made a walk down to the lake and then over a hill to the side from where I could see Mt. McKinley but, as usual, he was covered in clouds. The next day I intended to do a longer hike in the area but it rained all day long. I stayed in the tent all day long and read a book – I could not been motivated to hike around in the rain. I think it was also then as I mentally made up my mined not to go Backcountry Trekking. The likelihood to get into heavy rain was too high and I know I would not enjoy it.

The next morning the weather was quite okay – some sun with clouds – and during the breakfast Mt. McKinley started to be visible through the clouds. There was quite a hectic in the campground since everybody tried to get good shot from the mountain. Even we could not see the whole mountain at once – there were always clouds at the bottom – it was quite impressive to see him. Though he is not as high as Mt. Everest, approximately 80 % of the 6193 m elevation of Mt. McKinley rises above the surrounding landscape, making its base-to-summit rise greater than that of Mt. Everest.

I took then the bus back to the park entrance. As we reached Eielson Visitor Center it started to rain again and, was I before maybe not totally sure about my Backcountry Trekking decision, now I was. I was just not willing to set out hiking while it was cold and raining. The Backcountry has to wait till an other time.