Kesugi Ridge

For the 4th a bunch of us went down Denali way to take advantage of the 4-day weekend. We started with some whitewater rafting, then went on to the Main Event - hiking Kesugi Ridge. The ridge is in Denali State Park, south of Denali National Park, and it affords some amazing views of the Alaska Range.


Here's the group at the start of the trip, minus Matt and Jeff.


Here's the Alaska Range late on the first day.


On the ridge the first day.

Another awesome view of the Alaskas. You can kind of make out Denali in the background.


The perspective on this photo is kind of cool.

Mt. Kesugi, namesake of the ridge.


The Palace went on its first (and perhaps last) backpacking trip ever. We were kind of worried about the wind - I'm using the fly here as a kite.

Here's the group with these awesome dogs we passed. I think we passed about 20 different groups, and I'm fairly confident they all had between 1 and 25 dogs.

Is Jeff constipated here, or what?

There were some awesome rock formations up near some of the "divides" on the ridge. None of this was any good to climb, but it looks sweet.

Sweet view.

Danielle and Abby hanging out.

Up on the ridge.


The dip in the glacial tarn was awesome. Super invigorating.

The water was cold.

Jeff went swimming with his shorts, so he had to construct a kilt from his jacket. The mosquito net is a nice touch.

Wide open ridge.

Checking out the map. For the most part we simply followed this nice trail along the ridge, but there was some debate about where we should head down off the ridge - the trail can be anywhere from 17 to 34 miles long, depending on where you head down. We ended up walking about 27 miles.


The bridge had fallen down in winter, and the repair crew was only about halfway through their repairs, but they let us walk across it anyway.

The hike overall was pretty awesome. Amazing views, some nice up and down, and the chance to take a swim. Pretty sweet.