Ptarmigan Tracks

After the long journey to Camp Denali, the first thing seen upon entering your cabin is the quilted bed. Its colors grab your eye and establish a unique luxury in the wilderness.

The quilts of Camp Denali have evolved over the years.

In the 70s Camp Denali’s beds provided very basic coverings. Working with what they could afford at the time, Wally and Jerri backed wool Army blankets with fabric. Next came wintertime quilting bees as neighbor women assembled quilts from foot-square blocks of fabric.

Gradually, all the sewing became a staff function. The sewing crew made what was needed for the coming season: aprons and pot holders for the kitchen, pillow shams or curtains for the guest cabins and rooms, but mostly quilts. 

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5/20: Six wolves trotting along Grant Creek.

6/6: Eighty-six snowshoe hares on the road between Toklat River and Camp Denali.

6/7: Many caribou calves in nursery herds.

6/10: Horned Lark nest on Camp Ridge lined with willow catkin seed fluff, holding four eggs.

6/11: Ten Mallard ducklings newly hatched at Mile 74 pond.

6/13: Moose and calf feeding in Nugget Pond at Camp Denali.  Bull moose in pond the next day.

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The 2017 season began on May 6th when a small crew drove out to Kantishna.  Hope as we might that projects would finish themselves over the winter, everything was as we had left it. After routine shutter removal, generator start-up, and water turn-up, we dove into unfinished projects from the fall.  The Warehouse got its new floor, finishing touches were put on our newly built greenhouse beds, and the new lawn started to grow.

The main focus of work this summer was catching up on routine maintenance. Working around rainy afternoons we painted several cabins and the porches of many more. Outhouses that have been slowly ejected from the ground by the constant pressure of permafrost were lowered from their high-rise locations down to more reasonable heights. 

We also dug— by hand and by backhoe— holes for two new guest cabin outhouse sites, answering the call for closer facilities!

Throughout the summer, we invite specialists to share their expertise in the field and through evening presentations.

Bird Migration and Conservation  

Scott Weidensaul, Author, Field Researcher and Bird Enthusiast; June 4-7 at Camp Denali; June 8-10 at Camp Denali

A native of the Pennsylvania Appalachians, Scott Weidensaul’s passion is birds, especially bird migration. He is a frequent visitor to Alaska, where his work has taken him into almost every corner of the state. Field trips will focus on Denali’s remarkable breeding birds and evening programs will explore the wonders and dynamics of bird migration.

See the full schedule here.

With the past year's change in political winds, the tide has turned on many long-standing conservation challenges in Alaska. From Izembek National Wildlife Refuge in southwest Alaska to the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in the far north, movement is afoot to reverse fundamental protections to Alaska lands, wildlife and waters.

Two particular concerns with this sea-change are the lack of transparent, public process and disregard for the sound science and legal decisions that grounded prior management. For example:

• The first-ever 2013 comprehensive plan for the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska may soon be supplanted by a new round of planning that would seek to open up globally-significant wetlands previously withdrawn from oil and gas leasing for their ecological importance.

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The following excerpts from the 1957 Tundra Telegram depict an eventful summer at Camp Denali. Our founders dispensed with all but “do-it-yourself” accommodations in order to prepare for the August 3rd opening of the Denali Highway. From then on we were full every night. Our old Ford truck gasped its last trying to haul in enough gas in drums to meet the demand of the new-type motor tourist. Newly road-connected, the Park’s visitation doubled from 5200 to 10,700. Changes at Camp included new “American Plan” frame cabins on the bluff; the old “housekeeping” wall tents were drug down to Lower Camp. A 3000-ft run of pipe from No Name Creek replaced yoke-hauled water from Nugget Pond.

True to Camp’s five-summer tradition, the summer staff serendipitously took shape: We completed all the projects we had planned plus a few others. But not with only three pairs of hands! All summer long we accumulated volunteer workers who arrived unrecruited. Some stayed a few weeks, others all summer.

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...there are always cookies.

...community comes first.

...coffee and tea are available 'round the clock.

...Denali’s wilderness is at your doorstep.

...you don’t have to cook or wash dishes, unless you’re being paid to do it that day.

Interested? Apply Now!

We are currently seeking qualified applicants for the 2018 summer season. If you know someone who would be a good fit in our community, encourage him or her to view the employment pages of our website.

Read more about working for Camp Denali and North Face Lodge and check out our employment video.