The Changing Seasons

It's starting to get cold and dark here in Alaska and the colors are beginning to change. I feel as though Autumn is here and that it came over night. The seasons change so rapidly in Denali. When I first got here in June it was Spring and the weather was great. The temperature ranged from 50 to 70 degrees throughout the day. It was so nice, cool, and crisp and never got dark. It took a little while to get used to the constant sunlight around here but I grew to love it. At first it was so bizarre that I felt like I was on another planet. I would never know what time it was in the evening because the sun never went down. It was crazy.

After the first two weeks of being here the wild flowers started to bloom. The first ones to come out were the pink wild roses, then came the yellow tundra rose and then the blue bells, which were edible and tasted a little like cucumber. Next, were the infamous fire weed that wound up popping up everywhere! Along the highway, amongst all the buildings, and even through the rocks on the side of the mountain. It is the most hearty plant/ weed I've ever seen and it is beautiful!

Alaskan wildflowers are spectacular. And what I love the most is that no one planted them, they just grow anywhere and survive in their extreme habitat. Their roots survive the freezing sun-less winter and seem to thrive because of it. One day I just went walking through the trails taking pictures of all the different kinds that grow all around and I just couldn't believe it. They were everywhere.

The fire weed is almost like a season predictor. It blooms in the summer and has multiple pink flowers up top with long slender leaves below. Then when it starts to get cold the petals will start to drop and be left with only a dark pink stem on top. Then at the beginning of fall the leaves turn into a vibrant red. It's really quite fascinating to watch. And I just learned a fun fact that when the fire weed starts turning white it means there's only 3 weeks left until winter.

I saw my first hints of fall when Liza and I went into the park Wednesday. The colors of some of the low growing plants were just starting to change and we came across a really vibrant red plant and I didn't know what it was until I looked closely. It was fireweed!

This hike we went on yesterday was one of the best ones yet. It wasn't really even like a hike. It was more like a frolic through a natural playground. It wasn't strenuous at all. It was just a nice little exploration through a section of the park.

Our plan was just to ride the bus through the park and have the driver drop us off at a destination we felt would be cool to hike through. It turned out to be around mile 30 of the park, just passed Igloo Creek. The mountains were just surrounding both sides of the road and it just felt right so we told the driver to stop and let us off.

After he dropped us off we started walking up a creek bed through a valley not really having any destination in mind. We just headed straight. The scenery was breath taking all around, as always. And as we walked around we kept running into these narrow trails. At first I thought it was made by humans but then all of a sudden we crossed over some bear scat…..so, maybe not. Normally, I would have been afraid, but by now I'm pretty much over being scared of them and I think Liza was too. We've had so many people tell us what to do if we encountered one, so I felt like I was prepared.

As we walked on through, stepping over the big pile of fresh scat, we

started to look around…Wow….it was spectacular! Every which way you looked was something different. The color and definition of the mountains above and valleys below would take your breath away. We were completely surrounded with beauty. I felt so alive.

I have fallen in love with this place so much that I have decided to stay a little longer than I originally had expected. I was supposed to leave September 2nd but they have let me extend my contract to the 19th. I'm hoping this way I will see some northern lights and catch the Alaskan snow. I'm probably going to freeze my little southern butt off, but oh well, I think it'll be worth it.

So, until next time, I hope everyone is well and enjoying their summer as much as I am mine.

I miss you all so much!!!