Denali National Park

today on rock the park that is so cool we're exploring the wilds of alaska oh watch out watch out where massive wildlife from the wilderness these sheep are big oh my god and the smaller animals do all the heavy lifting oh here they go here they go here they go wow there they go when they're not being cute and cuddly that is oh yeah yeah oh yeah and it all starts right now i'm jack stewart and i'm colton smith we've been buddies for years and we love exploring the national it's all about packing up a car and just doing it just hitting the road our goal is to visit every national park in this country and when you go off the beaten path like we do there's no telling what will happen next get set to rock the park [Applause] [Music] we're in denali national park and preserve in alaska one of our all-time bucket list destinations all right we made it to denali yeah it's about time denali is a rugged sub-arctic wilderness where everything is super-sized from the glaciers that cover the mountainsides to the peaks themselves denali is massive over 6 million acres which is slightly larger than the state of massachusetts the park sprawls across alaska's range about 240 miles north of anchorage and this is denali itself north america's highest mountain peak at more than 20 thousand feet above sea level that's what i'm hoping we ultimately get while we're here is just a great view of denali yourself for more than 100 years the mountain was named after president william mckinley to the native athabascan indians it has always been known as denali meaning the great one so in 2015 the name was officially changed many climbers including ourselves test their mountaineering and wilderness skills here on a previous visit we learned how to rescue ourselves should we fall into one of the hundreds of deep crevasses hidden beneath the snow oh man and we got a taste of the unpredictable weather and terrain whoa and while having our heads in the clouds is awesome now we're pumped to explore other parts of denali like the remarkable sled dogs and their pups in training this is amazing and going off the beaten path to spot the park's famous big five we're talking wildlife sheep moose caribou bears and wolves we're not in the park more than 30 minutes when we score our first sighting oh we've got some on the left here pull over wow sweet okay look at the size of those antlers oh man caribou often roam in large herds in the summer both males and females sport antlers it's easy enough to tell them apart by their size males are generally always big there's three of them these guys are built for harsh weather their noses are specifically designed to warm the air before it gets to their lungs and they can move too running at speeds of up to 48 miles per hour one of the big five that's getting harder to spot is the wolf denali used to be one of the best places in the world to see wolves especially along the park road since hunting is allowed outside the park their numbers have declined drastically park managers are looking for ways to better protect them many visitors toured denali by bus but we prefer to hoof it so we're off on our first hike in denali we're checking out a great introductory hike that starts near the visitor center where we might just spot some wildlife and catch a glimpse of the famous mountain if the weather cooperates this is a good starter trail but at the same time it gains 1700 feet of elevation definitely getting a nice morning burn in the old legs it's quite the wake up you really don't need a cup of coffee here you just get up and hit the trail we'll be on the lookout for critters like the hoary marmot they can weigh up to 30 pounds and live in dens along the rocky hillsides they're known as the whistlers because of the long shrill sound they make when they detect danger [Music] there are a few different routes leading up to the ridge where we're hoping to catch our view of denali most people would opt to stay on the maintain trail us we like a different challenge this is definitely a little slick yeah let's be real careful we've chosen a steep rock scramble that climbs the last hundred feet to the overlook one of the great things about denali is they let you go off trail but you got to make sure you do it safe and that you leave no trace so that's why we're trying to take a route that allows us to get up this slippery rock without causing tons of them to fall down or for us to fall down all right we're almost there once we hit the ridge it's just a short walk to the peak nice yeah not a bad way to kick off our denali expert no that was a great trail and that scramble was way more intense than i thought it was going to be even though the clouds are obstructing our view of [Music] miles and available and in alaska you just never know we make our way down from the ridge and sure enough driving the park road the weather clears that right there is the tallest peak in north america that is so cool we finally get that view of denali that's incredible oh man it's nuts you look at it it just looks like one big chunk of ice because it's just covered in glaciers and snow it just towers over everything around it getting a glimpse of denali is awesome but we're setting our sights on another park favorite the hardest working crew in the park and their young trainees i want one [Music] we're in denali national park in alaska making our way down the park road where we spot another of the denali big five oh moose check this out jack moose so we have a moose up here on the side of the road that is such a big animal oh my god wow oh that's awesome there are about 1800 moose in denali the males with their massive antlers are often easier to spot they mostly live in forested areas close to the lake's marshes where they can graze on vegetation they tend to hide but here in denali you get to see them a lot more often because there's so many of them females like this one can weigh between 700 and 1100 pounds and when they are disturbed or with their young they can be fast and aggressive look at how big she is too wow there's another animal here in denali where getting up close and personal is not only allowed but encouraged and it's something that's totally unique to this park we're on our way to meet the denali sled dogs and you can hear them just barking and howling right now they're going nuts these alaskan huskies are crazy dogs they do stuff that we can't like trek across the two million acres of alaskan wilderness in the dead of winter sled dogs are a big part of the history and tradition of denali the first pack was created in 1922 just five years after the park was established their role then and now is the same go across the harsh harsh wilderness and snow and be able to bring goods and people out to these back country areas in the middle of winter rangers scientists and even park visitors use the sled dogs to get around in winter [Music] [Applause] [Music] yeah you're so cute jen raphaeli is the manager of these special kennels she and her team take care of the dogs who live here these are all alaskan husky sled dogs and this is the only sled dog kennel in the entire national park service so wow you're in a pretty special place why huskies like how come i can't just strap my little jack russell or an airedale onto a and people have done that just to make a point so alaskan huskies have been bred and trained to pull sleds and to want to run more than anything else for thousands of years so it's in their blood that's what these guys do and i think the big difference is not only that they want to run in pelisa but they also have the physical traits to be perfectly happy in those brutal winter conditions that means tough feet and thick fur with the downy undercoat to protect against the cold they also have an overcoat of long hair that prevents snow and ice from building up wow you can feel it look at that oh yeah all that fur right there keeps this guy warm these huskies also have a quick efficient gate and they're able to pull hundreds of pounds in the summer months they still want to work so they do strength training learn tricks and get to show off their skills for the park visitors during daily demonstrations now these dogs run because they love to but they run where we ask them to because they love us it's a crazy scene i mean these dogs are getting strapped to this sled and they get pumped i mean they're howling they're barking they're pulling at the reins already and then jessica says let's go and just like that oh here they go here they go here they go wow oh my gosh the dogs can run up to 18 miles per hour but they prefer to cruise at about eight miles an hour in the winter they travel up to 30 miles a day holy oh my gosh and then they just stop each spring or summer a new litter of puppies is born at the kennels and their training begins almost immediately we start putting them through what we call puppy stress testing we hold them on their back we hold them upside down we tickle their toes and all of that is helping to stimulate the neurological development and help them respond to minor stresses and get over it the puppies become full team members in the second winter of their lives until that time they're learning to socialize and then become part of that pack which is just integral to making that sled run it's also important for the dogs to socialize with people lucky for us visitors get to help out with that oh here they come oh look at them look at them we sit in a nice little circle and they put the puppies in the middle and we just get to play with them come here come here oh yeah yeah oh yeah yeah give me some scratches yeah so while this snuggle is extremely fun for us it's important for these dogs they need to learn how to socialize with people as well as each other you kind of throw them all in the mix together and they learn how to work together hi yes yeah you're so nice this is amazing i want one as it turns out these dogs are available for adoption after they retire at about the age of nine you have to live in a cold climate and have a very active lifestyle spending time with the denali dogs has been awesome and like them we're itching to get out and hit the trail travel is restricted on most of the 92 mile road in order to protect the park we're camping out tonight so we have a special permit that allows us to drive beyond the 15 mile point today this privilege gives us a chance to spot one of our favorite animals and another one of the big five you see it way out there oh yeah there are both black bears and grizzlies living in the park and it looks like we've got ourselves a grizzly too you see the home pod as well definitely grizzly bears have a distinctive hump on their shoulders and aside from mamas with their cubs grizzlies usually live alone he's digging up roots or something in denali the grizzlies eat a ton of vegetation later in the summer they'll eat almost non-stop storing up for winter oh look at him stand up oh yeah that's so awesome all right the mighty grizzly we got a bear time to set up camp and rest up for tomorrow's adventure wanna grab the stuff i'll finish this sure thing we're on a quest to see the last of the big five this time on an off-trail mountain hike where things can get rocky this might not have been the best idea trying to think what we want to do here [Music] we're in alaska at denali national park heading out for a pretty wicked hike up to primrose ridge where we hope to spot the animal this park was formed to protect the doll sheep we decided for our last day in denali we wanted to go out with a bang now starting off we're taking a nice trail that goes right next to the savage river but soon we jet upwards where everything gets rocky and there are no trails for a park this big there are only a handful of actual maintained trails in denali visitors are encouraged to get off the beaten path as long as everyone spreads out so as not to create new trails primrose ridge rises 1500 feet above the park road and there are a lot of ways to get up there we're going straight up all right we're making our way up the first part of this mountain and holy cows steve we're climbing an alpine tundra which means trees don't grow here because of the extreme cold and high elevation even so summer brings a burst of grasses mosses and wildflowers these little guys right here are sometimes called arctic roses they're incredibly beautiful and pretty easy to pick out up here these are one of the few plants that has this bright colored yellow flower on the end of it basically the further you go up into the mountains the more gnarly it gets after about an hour we reach a rocky incline it's still steep but now we need to scramble which where are you taking i'm going straight up the rocks all right anything that's got a little obstacle in it is perfect for us because that's how we get our kicks out here it's looking at something and knowing it's going to be a little difficult and then getting through it and standing on the top of that mountain oh we got her well let's see how firm these rocks are yeah you're right the one great thing about climbing on rocks though is you're not leaving any footprints that is true unless you send some tumbling down the mountainside that's what we're gonna avoid yeah all right keep pushing this is what you dream of as a kid being able to look at a mountain and say i'm going up that thing and i'm picking my own way incredible absolutely incredible even though we're creating our own route we still aren't stepping on top of some of these plants because a window for some of these plants to actually grow is very limited this is formidable terrain and hard to believe that anything could actually live up here but there's one animal that thrives oh that's so cool okay so we've spotted some doll sheep down there doll sheep are famous in denali it was for their protection that the park was established back in 1917. today there are over two thousand doll sheep living on the north side of the alaska mountain range their massive horns take seven to eight years to grow males can get up to 250 pounds that's a pretty big sheep these guys can survive some insanely harsh climates they've got these thick white coats which makes them easy to spot and it also helps them brave the alaskan winters they're tough animals i hate to say but they're probably tougher than we are oh they're absolutely navigating rocky cliffs is no problem for these sheep they have cloven hooves which means their feet are split into two halves making traveling on this terrain easy we're not as well equipped and it looks pretty rocky yeah trying to think what we want to do here oh i know what i want to do what do you want to do i want to try to climb it i guess we're taking the hard way this is gnarly dude we're in the alaska range hiking up to primrose ridge and things are getting dicey yeah this is gnarly dude this is scree it's a bunch of rocks that have broken off the mountain and they just fall down the hillside here and it makes hiking pretty tough careful now yep when rainwater freezes in the cracks of the rocks it expands and eventually the rock breaks off so as we're going up the scree it starts to sprinkle a little bit and it makes these rocks extremely slippery we started in shrubs with a beautiful sunny day now we're way up on the mountain slopes and i gotta say i'm getting quite chilly yeah we're not moving fast enough to stay warm no after climbing this mountain for more than four hours our goal is in sight and better yet the skies are cleary oh man look at the rainbow oh wow that's awesome we're getting close that's a sign oh man check that out we did it here at the top it's a mind-blowing view of mountains and valleys stretching out as far as our eyes can see turning around and seeing the view basically on every side of you that's a spectacular moment and you can see the snow-capped mountains off here too that's insane wow an amazing way to cap off this denali adventure wow what a fun trip i mean getting to pick your route up the side of this gigantic rocky mountain going off the beaten path it's kind of what this place is all about i gotta say i love the dogs i mean how could you not just fall in love with all those little guys oh yeah that was awesome denali was one of those places that i've wanted to visit forever and we saw a fraction of it there's still so much more for us to see and so we're definitely coming back to this wild alaskan wonderland and remember hey if we can do it so can you so the next chance you get go out and rock the park [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] hey everybody thanks for watching make sure to leave any questions or comments that you have and please subscribe to the channel there's a lot more to come

Channel: Rock the Park

Views: 28,655

Rating: 4.8853869 out of 5

Keywords: denali national park, nps, travel vlog, travel vlogger, alaska travel, sled dogs, tundra, alaska road trip, adventure travel, denali, alaska, national parks, Denali National Park, Denali, McKinley, McKinley Park, Tundra Wilderness Tour, Grizzley Bear, Caribou, Alaska, National Park, denali highway, denali road, denali national park alaska, visiting denali, alaska wildlife, denali wildlife, dall sheep, denali camping, mount mckinley, visit denali, denali grizzly bear

Id: jFBot9rkCZs

Length: 20min 31sec (1231 seconds)

Published: Tue Jan 19 2021