Ptarmigan Tracks Online, 2009
Current Issues Facing Denali
Mile 73-86 Road Rehabilitation Project
Those who have traveled the length of the Denali Park Road understand its telescopic nature first hand. The road is widest at its origin at the park entrance but narrows as it progresses deeper into the park. The first 15 miles of pavement give way to more than 80 miles of winding gravel road. The National Park Service is challenged with maintaining road safety while obeying the mandates of the road character definition in the Final Entrance Area and Road Corridor Plan EIS of 1997, which gives specific details of road structure and points to the role that the road plays in the visitor experience.
The section between Eielson Visitor Center (mile 66) and Kantishna is the most lightly used portion of the road. Some areas have weak shoulders or are too narrow for the largest of the concessioner’s buses to pass each other. NPS plans to improve safety on a 13-mile portion of this road section through the use of intervisible passing pullouts, which will allow vehicles ample time and space to pull over. The comment period has ended for this project.
In related road news, watch the Denali National Park website for news of the proposed alternatives in the Vehicle Management Plan, which determines the park bus system. The current concession contract for bus transport expires in 2012. Alternative systems will take into account the results of the Road Capacity Study EIS and public comments. Monitor the Park's news site to participate in the next comment opportunity. Because most visitors access the park by bus, any changes will invariably have significant impacts to the visitor experience.
Read more about these and other issues at the website of the Denali Citizen’s Council, or the Denali National Park website.
The Newsletter of
Camp Denali,
North Face Lodge,
& Parkside Guest House
Vol. XXXIV
November 2009
Edited by Ellen Horbett
and Jan Tomsen
Illustrations by William D. Berry and Amanda P. Devine
P.O. Box 67
Denali National Park, AK 99755
(907) 683-2290
info@campdenali.com
www.campdenali.com
Interested in Working in Denali?
The enthusiasm of our staff is often what makes the guest experience at Camp Denali and North Face Lodge so memorable. If you know of someone who would be a good fit for our organization, encourage him or her to view the employment page.
General staff positions are available for the 2010 season, as well as the following professional seasonal positions:
Dinner Chefs, Naturalist Guides
**Registered Nurses are encouraged to apply for any of our seasonal positions.
The Place Where Grayling Are Fished For
Of the thousand ways we know her,
Kantishna assumes the same, safe air of Home.
In the descending night the signs are everywhere.
Things begin, then end, but still are,
as this earth’s latitude retakes its own.
Without suffering or regret
there is no apology here for frailty;
or of fading, or winnowing.
So much about the granting of greatness
is capricious, yet the capacity
for tenderness still exists in Kantishna.
I am aware how good it is to not know;
to care for things I never knew existed;
yes, even to admit matters will continue
without me. Infinite ones, such as
the route of the grizzly lumbering into sunlight.
Infinitesimal too, wreathing Denali
in its own snow mass of wind cloud
while encircling gold bursts the willows.
Creation cannot hide in the bold,
close night of overhead stars.
These hours fall by compass degree,
and days, severe and beautiful,
round to completion, altering all within reach.
Kantishna has assumed the safe, same air of Home.
-Jill Carter, 2009
Not sure which lodge is right for you?
Call or email us to discuss what Camp Denali and North Face Lodge have to offer. We enjoy corresponding with you personally.
