Long before we started our drive up to Alaska, Andrew and our friends Gene + Andi Gentsy planned a camping trip over the 4th of July up to Denali National Park. After only being in Anchorage for less then two weeks we were both excited to explore more of Alaska.
We decided to camp at Teklanika River Campground, which is the farthest you are allowed to drive into Denali National Park. Normally visitors can only drive 15 miles into the park but we were able to break this rule by driving our vehicle 29 miles into Denali to stay at Teklanika River. Gene, Andi and Keira (their 1 year old baby girl) rented an R-Pod for the weekend. Andrew and I bought an 8-person tent to stay for the weekend thinking that it would be plenty of room for an air mattress and our dogs.
We left for Denali early on Friday morning (it’s was about a 4 hour drive to Denali and then another 1 hour drive to our campsite) and it was POURING rain. We made it to Denali in time to have lunch at Prospectors Pizza and Ale House and then we were off to the campsite. Luckily the rain let up a little once we got to our campsite. The guys and Andi set up our tent while I stayed dry with Keira in the R-Pod. I’ve never set up a tent so I didn’t want to get in the way 😉 As mother nature would have it as soon as we set up the tent – the rain stopped. We went on a quick hike to explore the river – which resulted in fun little game to see who could keep their feet the driest. I was the first one to submerge my foot trying to cross the river. In the end, Andrew won (with his mad athletic ability of jumping) and Gene lost (see picture below).
During our camping trip we ate so good! Andrew really wanted to try and make steak over an open fire – and man were they delicious! During this trip also ate omelets in a bag, walking tacos, pasta salad with grilled chicken, and s’mores. There are some awesome ideas of how to cook while camping – thank you Pinterest. The rest of the time we spent either exploring different parts of the river, chatting around the fire or walking the dogs around the camp site or down the road (the only places dogs are allowed to be because of the wildlife).
rain and more rain
We had bought a tent over Memorial Day and got it 50% off. After this weekend I would advise you to buy a tent based on quality not the sales price. During the second day, our tent leaked – EVERYWHERE! It was a terrible mess. The only good news was our clothes were in the only area of the tent that was not wet! Another blessing was Andrew bought his little 3-person tent, that was set up earlier in the day as a play pen for Kiera and it was dry! Andrew, myself, and the dogs cramped into the small tent for the night and stayed dry!
After a wet tent and 14+ hours of rain and small chances of it clearing up we decided to leave one day early. It was not worth it.
We tried to make the most of the rain, I was able to start my book, Me Before You by JoJo Moyes (a book to make you laugh and cry). Andrew was able to master his campfire skills – he was able to keep in fire going in the midst of the rain. Even though we did not have the best weather, we still had a great time and cannot wait to return (this time with a camper).
xx Katie
The Fox Adventure 
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