Continued from the previous page.SAVAGE CANYON
HIKE: THE RETURN
The west side of the river is just as interesting to hike as the east
side. The trails are close together on either side of the water but the
views ahead of you are different because the "loop" is essentially out
and back, not a circle.
The west trail follows the base of the eastern slope of Mt. Margaret, which towers
about 2,000 feet above you.
Here's a virtual tour of the one-plus mile back to the main parking area, starting from the
footbridge where the last page left off:
Looking back to the bridge and
start of the more narrow part of Savage Canyon
Heading south toward the Savage
River rest area and park road
Approaching the gravel bar, where
there is a small loop trail; Savage Rock is in the distance.
View across gravel bar to Savage
Ridge (L) and Savage Rock (jagged rock formation)
Looking back at the colorful
patchwork
along the trail on the west side of the river
Bright colors between Mt.
Margaret and the river (next three photos)
View across river for another
perspective of Savage Ridge
When I reached the parking area on the west side of the
river I walked to the road, turned left (east) at the ranger station
where all vehicles must stop before proceeding farther into the
wilderness, and crossed the vehicle bridge over the river.
These photos were taken CCW from various points as I
walked across the bridge:
View to west
Southwest; on a clear day you can
see Denali from 2+ miles up the hill.
I love this view southeast over the
braided riverbed.
View east to main parking at rest
area, Savage Rock and Ridge, and western end of Healy Ridge (top L)
View northeast to Savage Rock and
western end of Healy Ridge
The next photo looks south and west across the river
from the eastern side of the bridge (outbound if you're riding to the
river from the entrance area):
There are hundreds of acres of low red shrubs on the far
side of the river that look positively spectacular in autumn from the
Primrose Overlook two-and-a half miles up the park road. You can also
see Denali from that overlook on a clear day. I've shown pictures from
there previously.
You can reach Primrose Overlook by bus, a bicycle, on
foot, or in your own vehicle if you have a reservation to camp at Teklanika River.
There's also a trailhead to climb Primrose Ridge and Mt. Margaret near
the overlook on the north side of the park road.
AUTUMN IS AWESOME
AT DENALI!
After I crossed the long bridge on the park road and got all the photos I wanted to take
I walked down to our truck and roused Jim from his nap.
Even though the sky was overcast as we drove the park road out and back
this afternoon the reds, oranges, and yellows of the taiga and tundra just popped with
color – so beautiful!
Here are some photos
I took on the way back to the campground this afternoon:
There are
more trees and fewer low red/orange shrubs at the lower elevations
approaching the park
entrance.
This view overlooks the Alaska RR bridge over Riley Creek (look closely
in center of photo).
Despite the gray clouds
Jim and I both had a good day. We had such fantastic sunny weather most
of the time on our first visit to Denali NP earlier this month that it's
easier for us to cope this week with more cloudy days and rain. There is
beauty all around us regardless of the weather.
I got in a total of about four miles walking today (including the
campground) and Jim did over a mile. He's hoping to get in at least one
more good bike ride before we leave on Labor Day and I want to do more
hiking.
Next entry: a selection of
about 100 photos of Alaska from June to August. That is the only entry
(four pages long) that I posted in a timely manner from Alaska while we
were there. I finally caught up to it! The other Alaska
entries were uploaded in late 2012 and throughout 2013. The entry you
just read dated August 30, 2012, e.g., wasn't uploaded until November 3,
2013.
<sigh> Better late than never, eh?
Even if you saw the
photos in the next entry previously I encourage you to scan through them again. They are
still a nice summary of all but the last week of our time in Alaska.
Happy trails,
Sue
"Runtrails & Company" - Sue Norwood, Jim O'Neil,
and Cody the ultra Lab
Previous
Next
© 2012 Sue Norwood and Jim O'Neil
