Denali National Park, Alaska

My father-in-law works up on the North Slope in Alaska, and he has lots of relatives in the Palmer, AK area, which is only an hour from Denali National Park. My wife and I have an opportunity to go up that way soon for several days, and I would like to know if anyone here knows about hiking in Denali? Has anyone been? Know anyone who has? Have you seen an excellent book or two on the area that you would recommned?

I would like to take a three-day backcountry hike while I am up there but obviously need to get a good game plan going before I attempt to tackle such a wilderness area. From my understanding, there are several day hiking trails in the area, but no trails for multiple days, so I will have to plan out my trip very carefully using Topo and GPS.

Thanks for the help!

Colt,

That would be the trip of a life time! I haven't been that far north, just as far as WY. If you don't get a response I would say this would be a topic to post on BP.com. I feel like you would get plenty of advice.

Good luck!

OH

There are a few trip reports on thebackpacker.com for Denali. http://www.thebackpacker.com/trailtalk/thread/42007,-1,0.php#1330033 Search Alaska at the bottom and there are some other Denali trips posted.

I did a quick scan of a couple of the trip reports. Here are a few of the concerns that were posted.
Bear Supplies...are boxes required (what brands are allowed) pepper spray ect.
are backcountry permits required.
Mosquitoes and flys


Good Luck
HBH

I do know that bear cans and permits (free but limited) are required for sure.