RV2AK Rally and Denali National Park

7,257 miles and 64 days into our adventure and we are now admiring Mount McKinley and Denali National Park. Leading up to our five nights of camping in Denali, we participated in the RV2AK Rally in the adjacent Denali State Park.

The RV2AK Rally is the largest RV rally in Alaska. We parked for five nights along with about 75 other RVs at the Historic Chulitna River Lodge in Denali State Park. We had amazing mountain views that included Mount McKinley periodically peeking out above the surrounding peaks.

Experiences are enhanced by all the people we meet. Through some chance meetings, it was discovered that Gurkan Genc would be riding his bicycle right past the Rally. The event organizers, RVing to Alaska, made arrangement for him to stop, speak to us and spend a day. Gurkan left Turkey some fifteen years ago on a bicycle and has been cycling around the world ever since. He holds two World Records, and has bicycled 92,000 miles through 71 countries.

Gurkan shared amazing stories about his experiences, some very inspirational and some a little scary. If you are ever sleeping in a tent in Africa and a lion approaches, know that the lion will only lick moisture off the tent and not disturb you as long as you stay inside. Also, bicycling during the heat of the day has advantages, namely the leopards will be resting to avoid the heat and not as likely to jump and attack as you ride by.

You can follow Gurkan’s amazing journey through his website, or on Instagram.

Then Josh Robbins shared his story and adventures as a veteran who settled in Alaska and started Outreach 22. Through is homestead, dog sled team and reindeer, he aims to provide emotional support and hope to other veterans with mental health struggles. There are up to 22 suicides every day in the United States attributed to military service.

Check out Josh’s story and Outreach 22 at his website and Facebook page. Another amazing part of his story is that he is not only a musher, but an Iditarod finisher! He will be doing a couple thousand miles in training runs with his dogs this winter to prepare for the March race.

Fun experiences and new friends came to a close and we left the RV2AK Rally ready to camp in Denali National Park and immerse ourselves in the beauty of the wilderness.

Rising to a height of 20,310 feet, Mount McKinley is not only the highest peak in North America, but also the tallest mountain in the world measured from base to peak with a prominence of 18,000 feet. Of course Mount Everest is taller at 29,031 feet, but it only rises 12,000 feet from its base.

Mount McKinley is frequently concealed by clouds and fog, being so large it essentially creates its own weather at the highest elevations. Being in the area for nearly two weeks, we have the privilege of seeing the peak multiple times from various perspectives.

Denali National Park is a massive wilderness area. Covering six million acres, the park is roughly the size of the entire state of New Hampshire, and there is only one road entering a very small part of park. Even with its size, there are two other national parks in Alaska that are larger – Wrangell-St. Elias National Park (13.2 million acres) and Gates of the Arctic National Park (8.47 million acres).

We jumped on the opportunity to do a Discovery Hike, an all-day off-trail hike led by a park ranger. There were only five of us in our group and two were new friends we met at the RV2AK Rally. We were bused in about 30 miles to start the hike. It was a great day out on the Tundra and we hikes up two hills for some incredible views of the surrounding undisturbed landscape.

Denali National Park is the only national park with a dog sled team. We walked the kennels, petted the puppies and attended a dog sled demonstration. Not for racing, but the dog teams are used for winter patrols, moving materials, search and rescue and other park management activities. They have some puppies – and there’s a web cam where you can watch them: Denali Puppy Cam.

Every day during the last couple months has been action packed and tomorrow morning we leave Denali National Park for the Kenai Peninsula, and several once in a lifetime adventures. Could turn out to be an epic week if everything stays aligned.

Unfortunately, the summers are short in Alaska and we have already had to start thinking about our trip back to the lower 48. The shortest route is about 4,000 miles back to our starting point is Kentucky. However, we acquired this camper van just for this trip and have started entertaining the possibility of selling here in Alaska when out journey wraps up.

Selling the van is probably a long shot, but if that happens we would then fly back to the lower 48. If not, we will have the van listed for sale as we return to the lower 48. Either flying or driving will be an adventure. But, that’s still a few weeks away and meanwhile we have some awesome adventures on the horizon here in Alaska.