Denali?

[LMBSGV]

Has anyone had experience camping at Denali and have any sage advice?

My wife and I are in the planning stages for a trip to Denali in late July/early August 2015 or 2016. (Yes, I know that’s when the park is most crowded, but September is out of the question due to family commitments; we don’t want to go in June when the mosquitoes are at their worst.)

Right now we’re planning on staying at the campgrounds along the park road: Riley Creek for one night, Savage River for two nights, Teklanika for one night, Wonder Lake for at least two nights, then one night back at Teklanika. The other campgrounds (Sanctuary River and Igloo Creek) sound great since they are tent-only and small, but they don’t allow advance reservations. My wife doesn’t want to backpack in grizzly territory.

I phoned the park earlier this week with questions and had a very informative conversation with one of those park rangers one wishes for: friendly, knowledgable, and sharing everything she knew.

We’re still debating between taking the train from Fairbanks and using the shuttle bus in the park or renting a car and driving to Riley, Savage Creek, and Teklanika, and then taking the shuttle to Wonder Lake (it’s the only way to get there). The advantage of renting a car is we won’t be only eating home-dried or packaged food. We can buy fresh food in Fairbanks and can bring anything we want to drink except to Wonder Lake, which seems like backpacking with a picnic table in the campsite at one of the most spectacular locations on the planet.

Thanks in advance for any ideas and/or suggestions.

[oldranger]

Anybody have any experience visiting Denali? I have same questions as LMBSVG!

Mike