Here There and Everywhere

Expat wanderer

Alaska 2026: Gorgeous Day to Explore Denali Area

A whole new day! It’s still only 41 F. but the sun is out, and the sun is shining on the snow on the mountains and it is another great day to be alive in Denali!

We had packed our own breakfast cereal with us, and the tiny store at our hotel has small bottles of milk so we get to have our own breakfast in our own cabin, with wonderful Alaskan roasted coffee for me, and tea for AdventureMan. Mine is an oatmeal mix, so I heated it in the microwave because it is still cold.

We are going to take it easy today, head back into the Park, and visit the Visitor’s Center, watch a couple of their movies and then head up the road to Healy, where there is a restaurant I want to try, 49th State Brewery. It looks like a lot of fun, and it gets great reviews.

Sometimes I drive AdventureMan a little crazy. We were about 15 seconds on the road, not even out of our hotel grounds when I gasped and said  “I don’t have my camera!” and AdventureMan concealed his disgust but couldn’t restrain a small choking sound. Gentleman that he is, he turned around and we went back, I ran in and got my camera and we got started again.

As we headed north to the Park entrance, we looked in the rear view mirrors and the sun was shining on the mountains, and we could see the mountain peaks! The peaks had been hidden by clouds the last two days, but today, we have blue skies and dramatic high clouds and you can see the mountains! They are glistening in the sun!

There is a turn off, shortly after we get on highway 3, and we take it, hoping to find a viewpoint, and discover a sweet small park with the beginning of several hiking trails, one of which, the Oxbow Trail, we had wanted to hike. 

View across Nenana River of Denali Park Village, which handles tour groups.

It was a beautiful hike, with several outlooks, different views, glorious in today’s sunlight. And ground squirrels, unafraid of us. And rabbits – one of which just froze and allowed me to take photos. AdventureMan said “he thinks if he is so still he is invisible to you.” So after I had taken the photos, I looked away, and when I looked back, he was gone.

The drive to Denali Park entrance was filled with one beautiful vista after another. We were there by 9 and had no trouble finding a parking place, but already people were arriving and the tour buses were streaming in. You have to admire the guides and bus drivers who have to keep it fresh every single day.

We watched an inspiring movie about the sled dogs, and their relationships with their rangers, and how the dogs are a part of the team trying to keep to traditional ways in the park to avoid over modernization and damage to the eco system. Winter, for them, is one of the best times of the year, as they take the dog teams deep into the park to set up remote locations. It’s a good time to be working with the senior dogs, and at the same time to be initiating the younger dogs into the commands, the customs, and the routes they follow. Some of the conditions, especially ice, are very difficult. Life is simple, and hard. Work, food, care, shelter, and time for making the dogs feel appreciated. It was very moving to see how loved these dogs are, and how much they like to pull the sleds.

In another area, we could see and even touch the most basic tools by which early people survived. I’ve had a question about how early people were able to make needles; today I saw how bone was used, and some may have already had holes, but that bone can also be used to pierce bone. I saw how sinew is used as a twine, twisted into rope, and thin sinew can be used as a kind of thread. Moose shins were valuable for weaving, moose skins for clothing and bags. Small rabbit skins for lining wraps for babies. 

To me, this is fascinating, how early people survived by inventing solutions to problems with their existing resources. Drying, filleting and smoking salmon to make it last, harvesting and drying berries to get them through the long winters – we take so much for granted, we live among such luxuries. I look at safety pins and think of all the processes that had to be invented before a safety pin could exist. But before safety pins would be buttons, made from bone, with two little holes to allow them to be sewn on with that little sharp bone with the hole in it. 

We took a short drive up Denali highway; traffic is controlled, only authorized buses are allowed inside the park past the ranger station, unless you have a camping permit, then you can drive but you are encourage to use the shuttle buses, not drive. They are very serious about preserving the pristine nature of the park. 

Yesterday, it was the thrill of the game viewing. Today, it is the wonder of the sun on snowy mountains, a spectacular display.

We need to find gas, and we want to have lunch, so we continue north up Alaska 3 to Healy, where we pass all the way through without seeing the restaurant we are looking for, which is right on Highway 3. We turn around at the end of town, and head back. While AdventureMan fills the tank, Google and I work out where the restaurant is and how to get there. 

Even with the directions, we might have missed it. We had to make a left across traffic, and then another left into an area with a hardware store and other businesses, very rural, but then, suddenly, there it was. Their sign shows beer, but the name of the restaurant is very small, small enough to miss even if you are looking for it.

It is a really FUN place, the 49th State Brewery. You enter through a tall log arch into a big outdoor courtyard, with seating in groups around fire pits, or wood fires, and it smells wonderful. Once inside, the decor is a mix of modern and rustic, very hip and current. The menu has so many temptations, but we want halibut and chips, one of the restaurants most famous dishes. They also have Alaskan Red King Crab legs, l 1/4 lbs for $184. Yikes. I have always loved King Crab. $184/lb is a little rich for my blood. 

We love talking with all the young people we meet who have come up to Denali to work, some recruited from foreign countries by agencies. We’ve met people from Jamaica, Uzbekistan, Macedonia, Thailand, Bulgaria, and young people recruited by friends in the USA.

Mary, our server today, was told about this opportunity down in Tampa, FL. She called, was interviewed by phone, and told to report for duty in three days! We laughed! I asked her if she had packed the right clothes, and she said no, that she had to order a jacket from Amazon because she had left her own puffy jacket at home, thinking she wouldn’t need it. We love hearing their stories. We love that young people are still up for adventure.

Back in our cabin, we are packing up for the long drive tomorrow from Denali to Seward. We have two campers in the spots next to our cabin, and we understand our privacy has been a great luxury. We are at the very start of the season, and the crowds of people eager to experience Alaska are growing daily.

If we had known how much we would love Denali, we would have given ourselves another couple of days to explore more here, and maybe to make the drive to Fairbanks and North Pole, Alaska (not really the North Pole, but a Christmas driven town.)

June 26, 2026 Posted by | Adventure, Alaska, Beauty, Food, Living Conditions, Restaurant, Road Trips, Travel, Wildlife, Work Related Issues | , , , , , , | Leave a comment