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North America- Camp Denali Matriarch
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North America- Camp Denali Matriarch
Ginny Hill Wood, Camp Denali Matriarch
by Susan Grace Stoltz
Susan is an Alaskan singer-songwriter whose music celebrates hope.
In 1952 Virginia “Ginny” Hill, her husband ‘Woody’ Morton Wood, and Celia Hunter founded Camp Denali, one of Alaska’s first eco-tourism lodges, located 90 miles out the Denali Park Road, near Wonder Lake in then Mt. McKinley National Park.
Ginny spent every summer at Denali National Park, building camp where they hauled in everything, led back country hiking trips, and developed a deep connection to the place.
Susan Stoltz and Ginny Wood, second and third from left Conservationist and Outdoorswoman
Ginny, a legendary conservationist and pioneering outdoors woman in addition to being co-founder of Camp Denali, died in March 2013, peacefully in her home in Fairbanks, Alaska. I was honored to be present and by her side humming and singing songs to my dear friend until the end. At the age of 95 she had lived an incredible life and was able to stay in her own home, surrounded by love.
Ginny was a decorated member of the WWII Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP), she flew fighter planes and bombers across the country, delivering them to bases and to be shipped overseas for the war effort. She arrived in Alaska Jan. 1 of 1947, after a month long odyssey of flying a surplus military plane from Seattle.
Her close friend Celia Hunter flew a second plane alongside her. When the temps dropped to -60 degrees below 0 F and there were no return flights to Seattle, Ginny and Celia stayed in Alaska.
Ginny and her husband ‘Woody’ Morton Wood were lucky to be able to work in the back country of Denali Park, as Woody was a back Country Ranger. Ginny would often accompany him on some trips. In the summer of 1951 Woody’s job took him to Katmai National Monument where according to Ginny’s stories “…our job was to explore the country there for recreational opportunities.” The next year, Ginny, Woody, and Celia Hunter founded Camp Denali.
View of Denali from Wonder Lake
Ginny was one of the matriarchs of Alaskan conservation, along with her long time friend Celia Hunter. Ginny dedicated her life to preserve Alaska’s environment and wild lands. Ginny’s voice was heard from Washington D.C to Juneau Alaska with her eloquent writing and testimony for many Alaskan issues.
Voice for Alaskan Wilderness
She was a strong voice heard in speaking out on the major environmental issues. Some of those included Project Chariot, (a plan to use nuclear bombs to create a harbor in Alaska’s North Slope), the proposed Rampart Dam on the Yukon River, the trans-Alaska oil pipeline, Alaska National Interest lands Conservation Act (ANILCA), and protecting from oil development the Arctic National Wildlife Range which she was involved with creating this area to be set aside as a great example of intact Arctic Alaskan Habitat (now known as The Arctic national Wildlife Refuge).
Ginny was also one of the state’s first female wilderness guides, leading backpacking and rafting trips in the Brooks Range until she was in her 70’s. She was a strong advocate for trail construction and preservation, maintaining ski trails and cross country skiing into her mid 80’s.
Walkin’ Jim and [ guide] Leslie Stoltz had the great honor of meeting Ginny when they came up to Alaska in 2003 to float the Sheenjek River in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. They needed a foldable canoe and I mentioned it to Ginny, she was delighted her boat took a trip down the river with these wonderful people.
Leslie Stoltz, Ginny Wood, and Susan Stoltz
Ginny received many awards for her work over the years, which she received with great humbleness, and with comments like “…what’s the big deal, I was just doing what needed to be done along with lot’s of other people.” Awards included the Alaska Conservation Foundation Award, Lifetime Achievement Award, the Sierra Clubs John Muir Award, and the U.S Fish and Wildlife Service’s Citizen Award.
In 2010, Ginny received the Congressional Gold Medal for honorable service to this country as a WASP pilot. Senator Lisa Murkowski personally delivered the award to Ginny at her home in Fairbanks. She was inducted into Alaska Woman’s hall of Fame that same year.
Ginny in her later years had a deep love for gardening, and spent hours every summer working the soil turning her large sunny garden with a hand trowel. I will always remember walking down the path to her house, looking first in the garden where in the summer she was always there. With her duct-tape-patched rain pants and sunhat, she would look over to me, with a smudge of dirt on her face, and throw me a smile as wide as the Tanana Valley. She was an amazing friend to many who worked on environmental issues with her, did backpacking or river trips with her, and many who were inspired by her philosophy, tenacity, and sense of humor.
As Ginny always said “I was the right age, at the right time, in the right place.”
Ginny Wood, 1917-2013
WALK IN GINNY’S FOOTSTEPS AT CAMP DENALI, WITH Las Almas
travelers often stay at Camp Denali during their stays in Denali National Park. The staff naturalists are always ready with answers to your questions, the cabins are cozy, the view is extraordinary, and the stay is a quintessential Alaskan travel experience. Contact a Travel Advisor for more information on seeing the Great Land, Las Almas.
