The glamorous world of travel. Laundry day. Twenty dollars in quarters. A toothache. One cup of coffee.
That’s the honest opening of the day that ended with me photographing in Denali National Park at 11:30 at night because the sun still hadn’t set.
The Airbnb, Final Review
I want to give this place its proper sendoff before I leave. The note in the listing said the house has been here since before Alaska became a state. That’s 1959. This building predates Alaska’s statehood, and the owners are renovating it from the inside out — don’t judge it from the outside, the listing said, and they were right. Inside it’s clean and modern and clever, a Murphy bed that folds into the wall, a fold-out table and benches, a shower head that was calibrated for someone considerably shorter than me. Not bitching. Just observing.
The pan I cooked soup in last night was larger than the sink. This is van life training, essentially. I’m filing everything under preparation for future travels.
The host was fantastic. The neighborhood was safe and quiet. Five stars. Link below.
The Drive North
The road from Anchorage toward Denali goes through terrain that escalates steadily until, somewhere around the two-hour mark, you come around a bend and the entire Denali mountain range appears at once.
I was brought to tears. Genuinely, actually, not-performing-for-the-camera brought to tears. I had no warning. One moment trees on both sides of the road, the next moment the whole range laid out in front of me, more mountains than you can take in at once, Denali itself somewhere in there above it all. I gave the road an FM for accessibility because there were almost no pulloffs and I desperately wanted to stop and stand in front of it. I drove it mostly with the GoPro out the window and my mouth open.
Three moose on the approach to the park. One was a big one that came close enough to the car that I noted he’d have some explaining to do if he ran into it. Denali moose count: three. Season is just starting.
The Park
Visitor center closed, off-season quiet, a few buses and a handful of cars. The light was going sideways by the time I was driving through, which is the right kind of light for the Fuji XT4 in Velvia mode — that film simulation that saturates colors past where your eye reads them and produces images that look slightly more vivid than reality. I shot something that looked average through the lens and pulled the image up on the back of the camera and my reaction was oh my God look at that color. Sometimes the camera sees things you don’t. That’s worth knowing and always slightly humbling.
I rushed out of the park at some point because the restaurant at the cabins closed at nine. Halibut Caesar and a bowl of soup. Then I looked at the time and realized it was nearly eleven and still light outside, and went back out.
That’s what the Land of the Midnight Sun actually means in practice. It means that your internal sense of when the day is over is wrong. You eat dinner and think you’re done and then you step outside and there’s still light doing something on the mountains and you get back in the car.
I photographed until 11:30. Then I called it a day, which was technically still the day.
More Denali tomorrow.
In Episode #16 of my 50 at 60 journey, I embark on an unfiltered travel adventure from Anchorage to Denali, capturing the essence of travel with my iPhone. The day starts humorously with laundry chores and a chat at my Airbnb in Anchorage. I then hit the road, enjoying a scenic drive to Denali with breathtaking 360-degree mountain views along the way. A roadside sighting of three moose welcomes me to the area, setting the tone for an exciting day. Upon arrival, I share a montage of my charming cabin and its surroundings before heading into Denali National Park to explore. The day concludes with stunning light and a collection of my favorite images captured throughout the journey. Join me for a day that showcases my love of travel, filled with spontaneous moments and natural beauty.
