Savage River in the Park

Ride to Savage River:

Jenna and I have been almost 2 weeks now and we still hadn't gotten into the park to hike; so we decided to give the Savage River trail another try. Last time we didn't quite make it because we missed our bus. So this time we made sure pack up everything and be early. So we had our water, cameras, and extra layers all packed up and ready to go on our adventure, hopefully.

I love riding the bus to our different destinations because it is always so scenic. No matter what window you look out you are sure to see beautiful landscape all around. This picture is just a little taste of what you gaze at on the way. Oh, and look.....I spy a moose!! It was my very first moose sighting!!

We were just riding along and the driver stops and says...."Look to your right, there's a moose!". She seemed to be just excited as all of us. Almost like this was her first time too. And at that moment everyone (including me) rushed to the right side of the bus, camera in hand, to get a picture.

The moose was busy having a snack minding her own business while we were oohing and aaahing the whole time. She then decided to walk right towards us and right behind the bus. I ran to the back to get some pictures close up.

I thought it was so funny that she stopped and looked at us like that.....almost like she wanted to say...."whatchu lookin' at?" It was a perfect photo opp.....as if she wanted us to take her picture. After her pose she continued to snack on her tree and then move on. As she walked into the distance, I almost envied the fact that she had such a beautiful home to live and explore in. What a cool life that would be.

After we finished gazing we continued on our journey to Savage River Canyon. Now that we had had our first bit of excitement Jenna and I were ready to see more.

When we finally made it I just knew that this hike was going to be wonderful. We started out and I at an instant I couldn't believe the landscape around us. I did a 360 turn around to capture my surroundings and I was already in awe. I loved how the river, that looked like creek, was running off into the distance into the mountains ahead. It is even more beautiful than I imagined it would be. It never ceases to amaze me how miraculous Alaska really is.

I do have to say, there is one downfall to being in Alaska…..the weather! It is so crazy and unpredictable! You just never know what it might throw at you; and we got our first taste of it on this trip. When we got there the sky was clear blue with just a few cumulous clouds but nothing serious...and then a little later we looked up and there was a big dark cloud above us. Aaarg! Are you kidding! We both knew what was about to happen, but of course we kept hiking…..We really didn't have a choice….our bus wasn't coming back for another hour and a half.

So, it wasn't but 10 or 15 minutes into our trip that we felt the first drop of rain. I was hoping it would just be a light rain, but judging by the darkness of the clouds and the crash of thunder we were in for a real treat. It's okay though, I was going to embrace this. I had mentally prepared myself and was ready to experience my first thunderstorm out on the Alaskan trail.

As it started to rain harder and harder there was a mix of hail to follow…..Just to add some more fun to the mix. I swear, Jenna and I just are not having any luck with this trail. First, we miss our bus out there and then we get hailed on! What is up?!

We toughed it out for a little while but it was starting to get really windy and cold; so Jenna and I decided that we needed to find shelter. First, we thought that maybe we could hide under the bridge we just passed, but nope there was no room. So we continued to walk and then look…there's that big huge rock we passed earlier. That would be perfect!! So we squished ourselves under there and waited it out. We pretty much laughed it off but we were secretly bummed. I think we both wanted to hike the whole thing. Oh well, we have the rest of the summer.

When the rain started to clear up we decided to come out from underneath our cave and head back. Our bus wasn't scheduled to come back for another 40 minutes by that time so we had some time to kill. We just walked really slow and searched for wildlife. We saw a few Alaskan hare and a couple of Ptarmigan, which is the state bird.

Then we looked up to the road and saw a bus was stopped on the bridge. So, we thought…oooo, I bet they're stopping to see an animal of some sort. So we hurried up there to see. And of course when we got up there it was nothing. We then asked the park ranger what the big deal was, and he said it was for the Ptarmigans. HaHa!! We were all excited over nothing. Oh well…it gave a good reason to keep talking to the ranger until our bus came.

When our bus got here I think we were both pretty relieved because we were still wet and cold; so a warm bus was sounding pretty good. It had been quite a day and it was only going to take us a few minutes to get back so that was nice. We were looking out for wild life on the way back and soon enough we saw another female moose that was much farther away than the first one. Then not too much farther up we saw a car that was stopped and something was in the road. The driver said, "I think its a wolf" and I said no, that's a Lynx!! Wow! That was too cool! I was really hoping to see one of those. Too bad it was from so far away.

What a nice ending to a such a great trip.

Thanks for stopping in :)

I miss you all!!

Paige