Here's a map, with our route in red. We started in Cantwell, in the lower right, and headed northwest up and over Windy Pass to the Sanctuary River, which we floated out to the Denali Park Road. As we were packing up for the trip at Riley Creek Campgroun

After skirting around some private property in Cantwell, we accessed this 4-wheeler trail, which we followed for the first three miles or so.

The fall colors were in full bloom near Cantwell.

The scenery was amazing right from the start of the trip and it never let up.

Crossing into Denali National Park

Me,next to Windy Creek. The 4-wheeler trail ended just before we reached Windy Creek and from there it was a mixture of a narrow footpaths, game trails and a little bushwhacking as we made our way up the creek.

This was one particularly nasty section where we had to climb up from the creek, then descend back down around a small cliff area.

Our campsite for the first night. We had originally planned this as a one night trip, but we got a late start (1:30 pm) on Saturday. The weather was so good, we decided that instead of rushing to make up time, we would enjoy two nights out instead of jus

Looking down the Windy Creek valley we had just hiked up.

Lacing up the boots on the second day.

Here's a view of Windy Pass. Both sides of the hill in the middle decend into the Sanctuary River valley. We decided to go up and over the right side, the left side looked like it had a lot of loose scree.

Just before reaching the top of the pass, we stopped for lunch and admired where we had just come from.

At the top of Windy Pass we saw a small herd of sheep.

Linda standing on the pass. I thought the distinct line created by the difference between rock from the north mountain and rock from the south mountain was pretty cool.

Once over the pass, we were treated to this view of the upper Sanctuary River valley. See that sliver of a gray gravel bar at the farthest visible spot in the valley? (click for larger picture) Thats where the river becomes floatable. So we had to hike do

Linda descends from Windy Pass.

In a lot of places on this trip, it was easier to walk through the streams than to bushwhack around them. The gravel bars made for easy walking.

Where the Sanctuary River meets Refuge Valley. This is where the hiking ended and the packrafting began. Our total hiking time was 13 hours over two days. We rafted for about an hour the first evening before setting up camp. The first mile or so of ra

It was pretty chilly on our second night. We woke up the next morning to frost on the tent...

...and frozen boots. Those were a lot of fun to put on!

Linda shows off her frozen boot laces.

As we packed up, this caribou trotted right through our camp site. That was our coolest wildlife sighting. We did also see a grizzly with two cubs, but they were about a mile away, up on a hillside as we were rafting.

Getting ready to put in the water for the final leg of the trip.

After laboring with a heavy pack for two days, it is a pretty amazing feeling to inflate the boat and just start floating. The Alpacka Raft might be the coolest thing ever.

Double packrafts, with Double Mountain in the background.

The Sanctuary River is like this most of the way. It is shallow, with lots of riffles and small waves. Hardly any sweepers, strainers, or other obstacles.

The rafting took us a total of just under four hours with a number of stops along the way. When we reached the park road, we flagged down a bus and rode it back to our car at the park entrance. What a great trip! Thanks to Sheri Tingey for answering my