How do you put the wilderness of Denali into words? We have just returned to civilisation after nearly a week in Denali National Park, Alaska and I am struggling to verbalise our experience there.
Denali National Park and Preserve is located in Interior Alaska and contains Denali (aka Mt McKinley), the tallest mountain in North America. The park and preserve together cover 9,492 mi² (24,585 km²). We stayed in Camp Denali - with our gracious hosts Simon and Jenna – almost 90miles beyond the point of a permissible public road system into the park.
The area is one of unimaginable beauty. The barren, yet radiant, tundra was in full autumnal spirit with a deep red coated fern complemented by glowing yellow aspens and crisp blue skies. Many locals told us of the atrocious weather through August and noted how we were now experiencing the days of the season, if not year.
Denali has a rich and varied history which intertwines land, wildlife and man into one compelling narrative. For example, whilst the humble ground squirrel hardly occupies any sort of apex in the overall chain, it does regulate the land, provide a food source for other wildlife and acts a source of materials for man. A small imbalance in one part of the bio-spherical chain in Denali affects the whole and it is this symbiotic relationship which I wanted to explore.
And explore, I did. Whether by foot, bike, bus, 4x4, boat, helicopter or aeroplane, I was like a man possessed.
During one of the morning sunrises, I decided to go to Wonder Lake to attempt to photograph the majesty of Denali reflected in its waters (shown above). The thermometer was touching -5c and I was frantically trying to remember the ‘BMW’ training from the rangers (B – Bear [stay calm, make yourself bigger and talk firmly], M – Moose [stay calm but if run if attacked], W – Wolf [yell, throw rocks]). I normally shoot for an hour or so for sunrise but the light was so good (and diffuse) that I ended up pausing for breath at midday. Incredible.
This small experience was easily the most rewarding moment of my photographic life – a moment of total release and total focus.
Towards the end of our stay we managed to befriend a number of fellow travellers at Camp Denali and it was wonderful to witness our collective awe of the landscape bringing us all together. We all marvelled at a land running in a parallel time from humanity - a time which began long before we got there and will continue long after we leave.
I have purposely kept the photographic element of this blog entry to a minimum for it was the experience that was first and foremost. However, I will say that I knew fairly quickly upon arrival that this was a landscape fit to occupy a creative lifetime in the visual arts. One could literally paint, photograph or film Denali for eternity. On at least two of the days of our stay I was photographing continuously for over 20 hours in the day.
As we return to our travels, I am sure I will further resolve my thoughts on Denali (including environmental concerns). I aim to share those views in the coming months. In the meantime, I rely on the power of my vision and the photographic medium to tell the intervening story. I hope you can manage a trip to this unique wilderness in your future sometime…
Warm regards
Jaspal