Driving into Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve on Nabesna Road on June 15, we experienced significant smoky haze.   We settled into peaceful Kendesnii Campground on Twin Lakes, 28 miles down Nabesna Road. 

We ate supper then launched the canoe,  surprising some ducks.  While the mountains were hiding thanks to Canadian wildfires, the fishing and birding looked promising.

As I go through my photos, I see that I wasn’t taking many until the skies cleared, thus you see what the scenery looked like later into our 3-night stay.

On day two, the mountains in the above photo were visible but hazy. On June 17, the weather cleared, and we thought we could see everything,  even driving around a bit to take in the spectacular sights.

This morning, we were shocked to see entire mountains and icefields had appeared overnight!  We could suddenly see the top  of Mount Sanford from our campsite.

In the photo below, notice the white icefields behind the nearly snow free mountains.  We could see the closer mountains yesterday and had no idea what was hiding beyond.  The photos only hint at the actual grandeur.

The 10 sites at the campground always had empty spaces, and the mosquitoes were never terrible.  Between us, we caught and released 110 Arctic  Grayling during our stay at Kendesnii.  We saw far more birds than people.  The campground doesn’t have any water (besides the lakes), but the vault toilets were clean and well-stocked.

The Pacific Loon couple, swan, and even mother ducks learned we weren’t a threat and let us get our canoe closer every day.

We stayed one day longer than our tentative plan, with excellent views on the drive out.   C caught a 16″ jack (immature) king salmon on the Gulkana River while taking a break.  We ate it for supper while trying to decide if we head for Tangle Lakes yet tonight, or find a campsite nearby.