A visit from the Fam.

The day my Mom and Uncle David were scheduled come visit Denali had finally come. I was so excited for them to be here and to see their familiar faces. They had traveled over 4,000 miles to get here, spent their first day in Fairbanks and then rode the bus to Denali. So, needless to say, when they got here they were exhausted. I was working in the gift shop when they got here, so when they came to see me it was a quick "Hello" and off to dinner they went.

They were on one of those organized tours so they pretty much have their trip all scheduled out. So the following day they went on the Tundra Wilderness Tour, which was the same 8 hour bus ride into the park that I went on. I had to sit that one out because frankly I've had enough of the bus rides with the tourists. They said they had a good time though. They saw all kinds of wildlife…..bears, moose, dall sheep, golden eagle, fox, ground squirrel. They even saw a wolf stalking a caribou. How lucky they were to see nature in action. I bet that was so cool. I was so happy for them because you don't always have that much luck seeing so many animals and it kind of made up for the cloudy day they had.

After their adventure we all went out to eat and had a nice hearty meal at the restaurant in the hotel and I have to say it was De-li-cious! It was definitely a much needed meal after all the cafeteria food I'd been eating. And even better, I got to stay in their hotel afterwards! It was so nice! I got to take a bath and sleep in a queen sized bed that didn't have springs poking through my back. They also had a really nice balcony right next to the river with a beautiful view of the mountains. Ooohhh, the simple pleasures in life!

The next day they had all to themselves without the tour group so we decided to go into the park. It was a cold and cloudy day again, with just a bit of sun poking through so I was a little bummed. But they weren't complaining because 50 degree weather to them was a complete delight since they had just come from hot Georgia and even hotter Florida. They said it was over 100 degrees when they left! Oh, I'm so glad I'm not down there right now.

The first thing we did on our outing was the Sled Dog Demonstration. This is where they take you out to the dog kennels in the park and let you play with the Huskys for a little bit and just demonstrate how they strap them on to the sled before they go mushing. It was really quite cute when they were gathering up the dogs to strap them in because they all got so revved up, started barking and jumping all around. And right after the selected few had been picked they calmed down. They just all wanted to be the one to put on a show.

Then, after we left there we went on to the visitors center to walk around and check out the museum and read up on all the Denali History, Geography, and Wildlife. I felt like such a tourist.

For our next destination, I desperately wanted to get them into the park and get on a decent hike. At first they wanted to go on the trails around the visitors center but I really wanted to take them to Savage river because those are nice but they look so much like all the trails back home and I wanted to wow them with the scenery.

We took the 10 minute ride to the trail, hiked around in the fast blowing wind, and enjoyed the beautiful canyon view. We saw ptarmigan, Alaska's state bird, right when we got there and they were all walking around in a group of 4 right on the trail. They were so cute. They looked like little miniature chickens scurrying around.

We were all taking a leisurely hike down this incredibly unique V-shaped canyon. We scoped out all the wild flowers and walked the line of the river the whole way just taking it in. I watched as Mom and Uncle David took pictures and admired everything around them and it reminded me of how I was when I first took this trail.

We were so caught up at that point that we forgot to look at the time. It was 2:15, and our bus was scheduled to leave at 2:30. Crap! So, I started booking it on down the trail to try and catch the bus before it left and the whole way I was thinking….I'm never going to make it, I'm never going to make it. But, luckily I did, right at 2:30 but they weren't with me. So, I begged the driver to wait and her response was, "I can wait 5 minutes and then I have to leave. Dang, I thought, if we miss this bus we have to wait another hour and we'll be late for our scheduled events that night. But then, to my surprise, there they were huffin and a puffin down the trail, and they were going to make it! I was so proud of them.

We had such a good time. We saw a couple of moose on the way back and continued on our way back to the next scheduled event. I really wish we could have more time hiking in the park, but it is just impossible to see everything I wanted them to see. It makes me really glad that I am spending this amount of time here because there are just way no way you can really see Densli in 3 days.

It was their last day here and it was on to the next adventure for them. They headed out on the train to Talkeetna, then to Anchorage and on to a glacier tour that would eventually land them in Juneau. Oh, how I wish I could have gone with them. I know they are going to have an unforgettable trip.

It was so nice to see and spend time with family here. Alaska is just a place that I've truly fallen in love with and I'm so glad they got to see first hand how I did. I think we may have found paradise here.

Up Stream

Dragonfly Creek:


Hello all you followers….sorry I've been so behind on the blog. I've been super busy with work and hiking through beautiful DNP. I've finally figured out this shuttle bus system and how to get my way around, so I've been taking full advantage and getting myself deep into the park. And let me tell you….the further you go, the prettier it gets.

I'm going to start from the beginning of last week when Jenna and I went down to Dragon Fly Creek. This wasn't exactly in Denali Park but we still had the best time. The walk there was kind of rough because we had to go down park highway about 2 miles towards Healy. But by the time we got there it was all worth it.

We walked off the road and down beneath the bridge where there was a beautiful rock creek. It reminded me so much of the creeks back home. I felt like I was down at the creek near our cabin in North Carolina. Surprisingly, it was much longer and more shallow than ours, but had them most beautiful rocks of red, white, brown, and jade green.

We walked about a mile or so up the creek and finally ended up at a small waterfall coming down through the massive rocks above. It was pretty stinkin' cool. You could tell that to water, that was probably formed my glacier melt, had carved the rock to make this shape. I wish you could see more detail so you would know what I'm talking about.

It was much prettier in person.

I have gotten to the point where I don't even like taking pictures any more because of the fact that every time I look at them later they don't look anything like what I shot.

Anyway, after we finished our gazing we walked back down the creek and it only took about 30 minutes to get back to the bridge to meet up with some of Jenna's friends.

They were rock climbing by the river, so went to go say "hello". We walked a little ways to find a wide open area that dropped down to the Nenana River. It was beautiful, as always and we then looked down to find their climbing ropes attached to the rock. So Jenna boldly hung over the side to see if she could spot them. She obviously was not scared of hights. We then went down the trail that led to where they were, and to my surprise there was another waterfall. Well, it was more like a flowing stream.

They all tried to get us to climb the rock, but I had to wuss out and refuse; because by that time I was tired with wet, slippery shoes. Maybe next time.

After that we were able to hitch a ride back in an actual car (thank goodness) and change into some dry shoes. Oh, that was so nice to not have to walk the 2 miles down the road again because I definitely would of had some blister. It's kind of weird having to rely on others to get you around this place, but I have to say I don't mind. It only makes things more interesting and believe it or not, I don't even miss not having a car. Yes, it would have been nice to have on this trip but I have kind of gotten used to walking every where I go. It's kind of refreshing.

Anyway, I hope you have enjoyed my stories so far and aren't too bored with my rambling.

So, until next time, happy blogging and have a lovely day.

Keep enjoying the Summer!

Riding the Road

Last week my friends Jenna, Travis, and I were trying to decide how we wanted to spend our day off so decided to take a bike ride into the park. They allow us to rent a bike from work for free so I thought…why not? I'm not much of a bike rider myself but my boss, Eric Van den Hoogan, suggested that we put the bike on the bus, ride down to Savage River, then bike back into town. He said it would be about a 14 mile ride and that it was pretty much all down hill. So I was all for it. Mountainous scenery plus a down hill ride…sign me up.

We had planned to catch the bus at 2:30. We went down to the store, rented our bikes, and we were on our way. We left a little early and rode down the bike path until we made it up to the Wilderness Access Center (WAC) where the shuttle buses come to pick you up.

When we got there Jenna and Travis went one way and I went the other to put my bike up . Then when I came inside they were no where to be found. What?! They had ditched me!! Those punks! I thought that, and then I thought that maybe they went venturing around to kill time for an hour. So, I wondered around the WAC a little bit, got some info. about how to camp back country from the front desk, chatted a little while with a cute guy, drank some coffee. All was good.

Then, before I knew it was 2:30, I ran to the bus and they still weren't there. Oh no! They were going to miss the bus! So, I got the driver to wait and I ran around desperately trying to find them, and still no luck. I guess I would just go solo. That's cool, I almost wanted to do it alone anyway so I could take my time and really enjoy it.

On the bus ride over, I was anticipating this bike ride and getting more and more excited by the minute. I had two tourists riding behind me asking me all kinds of questions about my time here and the ride I was about to take. Some people around here call it "the interrogation". Haha! Then all of a sudden the bus driver started slowing down and said…."Look, there's Mt. McKinley!" So we stopped, got out, and took a picture. It was so magnificent! That was definitely as clear as I've seen it so far….just glowing behind the mountains in the foreground.

It was then that I knew this was going to be an unforgettable ride. The mountain was out, the weather was perfect, and best of all, I was going to be able to take my time and enjoy it.

When we arrived, I got my bike off the bus, walked around the Savage River trail a bit then took off down the road. We could not have picked a better day to take this ride. It was absolutely gorgeous; a little cloudy, but you could still see almost all the mountains as clear as day. What was even cooler was…..the longer I rode the clearer the sky became. So, as you can see, the mountain was out loud and proud. I stopped so many times just so I could sit and stare at it.

It was so nice to be out in this instead of just being on a bus, where your sight is limited. Here, I can have a extended open view of everything. I was just riding looking left to right trying to take it all in and not miss a thing.

Once I got to this point in my trip, you could no longer see McKinley. But, in my opinion, I thought the scenery was even greater than the view of the Mountain. The pictures do not give it justice. It was quite a sight. And, even better, from this point on you can fly down the mountain. It was SO much fun!!

By the time I got back it was about 7:00 and I was starving. So I returned the bike to the store, went to a local restaurant, Prospectors, and had a much needed dinner. While I was there, I got a text from Jenna apologizing and saying that the bus wouldn't wait. I was so confused, so I went over to her room to see what she was talking about and it turned out that she and Travis had caught the 1:30 bus, an hour before me. She said that they both were calling for me and couldn't find me anywhere…..too funny. She was so worried that I was going to be mad about it, but I wasn't at all. I'm actually really glad it did happen because I know I wouldn't have had the same experience that I did had we been together. We both agreed that we should do it again and maybe next time together.