We made our first trip up to Denali National Park and Preserve for the year, and it was absolutely wonderful. Life is slowly getting back towards a bit closer to normal post-pandemic. Last year the park didn’t open until July 1st. The shuttle buses were still running at very reduced capacity this trip, but they have brought back almost double the drivers that were there last year, and they will increase the number of drivers and buses that are running starting June 1st.

It was a wonderful feeling, and a huge relief, to have a bunch of our favorite drivers that we’ve gotten to know over the years back this year. Survivors of the pandemic.

Denali is still our favorite place on earth, and this first trip gave us incredibly gorgeous weather—almost 70º in the Teklanika campground one afternoon. The Mountain was out 4 of the 5 days were were biking in the park. We used the shuttle buses to get out to Toklat and then biked our way up Highway Pass and back to the Teklanika campground a couple of times. We ended up pedaling well over 100 miles in the time we were in the park. Biking with bears definitely lived up to its name this trip!

What a great way to start the year.

Come along for the ride. Click on the images to see them full-screen with captions.