August 6: Triple Lakes Trail

Another rainy and chilly day was in store for us, but our intrepid group geared up and prepared for a 9.2 mile hike on the edge of Denali. As one guide has reminded us throughout: “there’s no such thing as bad weather, just bad gear and bad attitudes”.  We were offered options throughout the day — to turn back, or shorten the day, but we all opted to undertake the entire route, so set off just after 10AM on what was to my mind the most beautiful and accessible of the trails.

It did rain. Quite a lot at times, but with rain pants and gaiters and a baseball hat and rain jacket over my warm layers, I had the gear to get me through. And it was a really lovely trail. The elevation gain took us up to a ridge, after we had passed by 3 lakes (hence the name of the trail). There were low bush blueberries (which have just come into season, and why we have been taught so much about bear safety), and the alpine tundra that was a gorgeous shade of gold. Some leaves on the low ground cover near the trail were also turning gold — autumn comes early to Alaska. After a lunch break, we split into two groups — self-selected the pace we wanted to trek. I chose the fast-paced group — just 4 of us walking at a steady and quick clip. The others chose a more leisurely pace.

There were a couple of bridges over rivers and creeks — one a suspension bridge that bounced like a trampoline. And the clouds had sunk into the hillsides, creating an ethereal effect, sort of like fog with the spruce hillsides peaking through. While walking for 5 hours in the rain isn’t top of my list for things I enjoy doing, I will say that walking quickly on a forested path on a ridge over a river in Denali National Park was a really wonderful adventure.

Our group arrived at the end of the trail, which was the visitors center, at 3:30, and after peeling off the wet layers we enjoyed some hot tea while waiting for the more leisurely group to join us. They came in about 45 minutes later, pretty wet (the skies had cleared and then opened up again), and we headed for the van. Just as we were approaching a lake on the right hand side of the road the guide Laura told us to watch out for moose, and not 1 minute later we spotted a huge cow on the side of the road eating willow trees.

We drove on, made a u-ey, came back and took pics out the car window. She was way too close to get out of the vehicle. Moose are huge animals and can be pretty mean, so we took some care, and some photos, and then drove on to the lodge.

It’s our last night with the group and the guides, so as is customary we had a little thank-you plan and roast of the guides. It was something 4 of us had organized last night, and it worked out very well — a fun evening was had by all, and the guides felt appreciated and special.

Tomorrow is a long train ride to Anchorage and we are all on board, except for the guides. It’s supposed to be a beautiful trip; I’m hoping for some clearing in the skies so we can really see the beauty of this last frontier.