I'm going for a backcountry trip into Denali National Park (DNP) next week for 3 1/2 days with a group of 4 total. It's been really interesting in my research about how to set this trip up.
If anyone's interested....
The part of DNP for backpacking is broken up into 43 units. Access to the units is by the same tour bus you take in on the main road. Before your trip, you must get a backcountry permit at the DNP Headquarters (or Visitor's Center). This process takes about an hour and it mainly consists of planning your route and watching some safety video on bear safety and backpacking/camping etiquette. To minimize impact, each unit has a quota for campers. Most quotas are 4-6 for a very each area, which are pretty large. Kinda cool knowing you are the only ones in your area. Your tent cannot be visible from the road either. You can only get a permit up to 1 day in advance so the issue there is you never know which unit you're going to be placed in. We made a "Top 10" list.
Now, the unit you get is only where you will be setting up your camp. You can day hike to other units near yours or head back to the main road and catch the bus to travel to other parts of the Park for a day hike and then return to your camping unit to spend the night.
No guns are allowed. No fires are allowed. The weather can get nasty too. It can be very wet (marshy tundra) and it can rain a lot. Right now the mosquitoes are pretty harsh so we'll be looking for a nice ridge line to camp on away from the water and somewhere with a nice breeze. It will be colder at night, but a 15-0 degree bag, maybe with a liner, should keep you toasty.
Anyways, I can't wait. A little nerve racking considering it is all trail-less backpacking and there is wildlife EVERYWHERE. It is way different than camping on a highly trafficked trail. Even then, we see bears a lot. Now we've got caribou and wolves to throw in the mix too.
Wish me luck. I'l post pictures afterwards.
-Hunter
If anyone's interested....
The part of DNP for backpacking is broken up into 43 units. Access to the units is by the same tour bus you take in on the main road. Before your trip, you must get a backcountry permit at the DNP Headquarters (or Visitor's Center). This process takes about an hour and it mainly consists of planning your route and watching some safety video on bear safety and backpacking/camping etiquette. To minimize impact, each unit has a quota for campers. Most quotas are 4-6 for a very each area, which are pretty large. Kinda cool knowing you are the only ones in your area. Your tent cannot be visible from the road either. You can only get a permit up to 1 day in advance so the issue there is you never know which unit you're going to be placed in. We made a "Top 10" list.
Now, the unit you get is only where you will be setting up your camp. You can day hike to other units near yours or head back to the main road and catch the bus to travel to other parts of the Park for a day hike and then return to your camping unit to spend the night.
No guns are allowed. No fires are allowed. The weather can get nasty too. It can be very wet (marshy tundra) and it can rain a lot. Right now the mosquitoes are pretty harsh so we'll be looking for a nice ridge line to camp on away from the water and somewhere with a nice breeze. It will be colder at night, but a 15-0 degree bag, maybe with a liner, should keep you toasty.
Anyways, I can't wait. A little nerve racking considering it is all trail-less backpacking and there is wildlife EVERYWHERE. It is way different than camping on a highly trafficked trail. Even then, we see bears a lot. Now we've got caribou and wolves to throw in the mix too.
Wish me luck. I'l post pictures afterwards.
-Hunter