Tender Mercies

For the average American, a backpacking trip to Denali National Park is a once-in-a-lifetime experience that is planned for many weeks ahead.  Lucky for me, we live only two hours from the park and can do a trip in a weekend.  And even more lucky, I have a husband who loves to do trips like this AND is encouraging to me when the hike gets to be tougher than expected! I will share pictures and tid-bits first, and then more details about where we hiked below, for those of you who live in Alaska and are actually interested :). Denali and Wonder Lake in the foreground. We were so lucky that Denali (Mt. McKinley) decided to come out on Saturday, our second day in the park. Because she is 20,322 feet in elevation, she makes her own weather up at top, and many days are too cloudy to see the peaks (see picture below). Eielson Visitor Center, mile 66 Parks Road. Friday afternoon: Denali is in the center of the photo above the clouds. We couldn't see her all day, ...

 Don't mind the crooked picture. The rock obviously needs to practice his photography skills! The weekend forecasted temperatures in the mid to high-70s.  Yes, summer decided to stay for at least one more weekend, so we had to take advantage of it.  Only in Alaska do you take advantage of every summery moment, and dread winter when it is only August 10th, while those in the lower 48 are suffering the worst drought the United States has seen in years. So after work on Friday afternoon, we drove an hour north of Fairbanks to the Chena Recreation area and began our 15 mile hike of Granite Tors.  We made it an overnight backpacking trip so that we would be able to enjoy ourselves a little more.  This was my first backpacking trip in about 5 years, so I was pretty excited.  Lucky for me, my husband is a stud when it comes to camping/hiking stuff, and he packed my pack for me, so I didn't have to worry about it. 15 miles ma...