my hiking plans for 2021
This year I will take three hiking trips and based on my new rules, I will start backpacking from now on. Since I lost hiking trips for 2020, that rule will be slightly modified, so here is what I am planning:
July 2021: Denali National Park. This will be my last visit to Denali (unless I decide to backpack there, but I think I will instead decide to backpack in the Gates of the Artic National Park …. google it: it is out of this world). Now, I still wanted to enforce the backpack rule so I decided to be in the area for five days:
Day hike in Denali in the ridgeline that borders the Sable Closure area and eventually gives nice views of both the Toklat and Teklanika rivers (mostly Toklat). This is a scary hike since each time that I have visited Denali I have seen grizzlies in the closure area ……………. each ……. freaking ……. time.
Day hike in the Plains of Muriel. That is the area that you see at the Polychrome bus stop. Yes, you can get down to that valley and explore where the famous Muriel studied the wolves of Denali.
Day hike past the Eielson bus stop. I can walk 2 miles up the road and then turn towards Mount Galen and gains nice views of the Muldrow Glacier and the Moose Creek Valley.
Two days, one night backpacking in Denali State Park, going up Little Coal Creek, find a lake to camp next to and then have clear views of the Alaska Range, including Denali.
August 2021: Wyoming:
Four days, three nights backpacking trip to the Titcomb basin, near Pinedale, Wyoming. This will happen at altitude so I need to carefully plan this and create alternate campsite locations. Ideally I want to reach Island Lake, camp there for 3 nights and do day hikes on two days. Problem is that the distance from the trailhead is 9 miles and that may be too much for me. Anyway, the route is selected, I just need to figure out how many times I want to move camp.
As a bonus, one day hike in the Grand Tetons National Park, most probably the large Paintbrush Divide Cascade Canyon loop.
September 2021: Yellowstone, again. I fell in love with this place this past year and I want to come back and this time do longer day hikes and off trail hikes (those are allowed in Yellowstone).
another visit to Pelican Valley, but with a different route. Need to keep an eye for bears, that place is full of them.
a longer hike on the Mary Mountain trail in Hayden Valley.
Bighorn Trail.
Fawn Pass trail.
visit Cascade and Grebe Lakes and hike up to Observation Peak.
Hellroaring Creek and probably return off trail via Buffalo Plateau. Or Maybe purely off trail in Buffalo Plateau.
an off trail hike into Lamar Valley.
another off trail hike but with a down-looking view of Lamar Valley. Probably up to ridge to Frederick Peak, with the bonus to visit the original kennels where they kept the original wolves introduced to Yellowstone.
Those are pretty long hikes, but there is so much to see and enjoy and my rule in go in 4 hours and then return 4 hours so whatever distance I hike is based on time. Notice that all of them are mostly on the North side of the park.