The Newsletter of Camp Denali
Of the many rewards inherent to running Camp Denali and North Face Lodge, one of the uppermost is welcoming the world through our doors. Camp Denali has long celebrated visits of foreign guests by hoisting their colors from our flagpole. We currently have 39 country flags, all of which have flown on the Alaska breeze at one time or another.
Like the migratory birds that visit Denali each summer, every continent is represented in our collection, including a US flag that has flown at South Pole Station, Antarctica, and last summer, a loaned flag of Tibet from His Holiness, the Dalai Lama.
The most flags flown simultaneously have been eight, representing seven foreign countries in-house at one time, plus the United States. On sessions like this, the flagpole risks looking more like a maypole, and so a new tradition has emerged of hanging flags from the timberframe beams inside Potlatch.
Moving country flags inside has left our flagpole underdressed, and so to fill this space we have taken to flying an Earth flag, a gift from Woody and Martha Wood. Atop the flagpole, it complements the country flags as a daily reminder of our global community and the importance of the integrity of earth’s ecosystems. Amid the social and political turmoil of the past year, flying the Earth flag this summer was a small statement about the importance of community and stewardship that are central to our mission.
© Rob Waples
© Sam Wilson
© Tom Dietrich
© Jess Miller
View the full list of the 2017 Camp Denali & North Face Lodge Staff.
