17 Days of So Much Fun- Wrangell St. Elias

Day 7-
Another cook day for group 3.  Since it was an early departure of 7:30 we just did toast and cereal.  I can handle these easy cook days.  We were actually ready mostly on time despite having issues getting bathroom time for all of us.  Natalie ended up knocking on the lodge door with her toothbrush in her mouth.  They let her in.

The drive was mostly bumpy road again today, but great views.  The clouds covered the 16,000 footers but the rest of the mountains were pretty.  We stopped for lunch at a road side stop in Chitina.  Thorsten made a spinach salad with tomato, cucumber and feta cheese.  We also had grilled chicken and leftover pasta.

Earlier we stopped in Glenallen for a post office and grocery stop.  When I saw the IGA sign I had to laugh and said something to David.  He made a comment along the lines of wanting to tell someone every time he sees it.  I haven't seen many IGA signs since the one near our high school closed.  I was going to be doing dinner with out Thorsten but David had offered to help.  I quickly found some meat, corn and potatoes for our meal.  Then I worked on snacks for myself.  With prices so high I ended up with a bulk box of trail mix packs and a case of cherry coke.  Then I ran over to Wells Fargo.  I tried to catch up on texts and calls while we had service.

While David was driving I sat up front and chatted with him for a bit.  Ulli came up and talked to us too.  She works in solar power but used to be a landscape designer.  David had to tell me to slow down when talking.  He said even he can't understand me at times.  I thought I was making an effort to be careful, but guess I have to try harder.

As we got into Wrangell we saw a lake with two beavers, a swan and some ducks.  We also stopped at a roadside ice cream and espresso shop.  It was a cute little place.  We lucked out that it was even open.  Another group had called ahead to let the owner know they would be stopping today if she was there.  We caught the tail end of her being open.  I didn't buy any of the ice cream but the others were enjoying it and I got a bite.  Eventually we reached the "end of the Road" campground near McCarthy.  We picked out tents sites and got those set up so half the group could go flight seeing.  Out tent has a great view of the glacier.  I washed our dishes so we could get ready for dinner.  Since it was an area with a high risk for bears we had to go further from the campsites and dig a hole to ditch the dishwash water.  Ugh.  Renee helped me but I'd prefer to skip doing that again.  Time to learn to scrape dishes before washing so we can avoid that mess.  David and I planned a BBQ of steaks, pork, corn on the cob and potatoes.  Since we had some time before starting, Renee and I were working on our journals.  Suddenly, David starts yelling about a black bear on the ridge across the river bed.  I wasn't fast enough with my camera before the bear dropped down behind the hill.  David, Renee, Mary and I took off past our tents with the other tour group camping near us on our trail.  It was a few moments before he appeared again.  This time I got a couple of photos.  I hope he stays on the other side.  There is only a dry river bed between our tents and where he was walking.

Our first black bear sighting.

Our dinner timing was not perfect but the meal was good.  Our neighbors shared some of their leftover baked potatoes which was good since ours weren't done.  After dinner I scrapped the dishes so we wouldn't have to bury our wash water again.  I don't think David was messing with us about burying the water that had a lot of food scraps in it.  Hard to be sure though.  Clean up was faster after dinner since Evie, Mary and Renee all helped with the dishes.

After dinner I hung out in the truck talking to the girls or working on my journal.  It is always entertaining to listen to Evie and Renee.  They also agree I talk too fast so I'll have to work on that.  I blame my time out East where everyone talks faster.  David and Ulli went bear tracking and found fresh piles of bear poop.  It was on the other side of the empty river bed.  I really hope he stays there.  Natalie figures she would sleep right through it even if he came near our tents.  I told her if he comes near ours we'll scream and wake her up.  Time for bed since we have ice climbing tomorrow.

View from our campsite.

Day 8-
Today was the big ice climbing day.  I never considered this activity until I got to Alaska.  David sold it as such a great challenge.  Natalie, Evie and I signed up for climbing, Ulli did the all day glacier hike and the rest signed up for a half day glacier hike.

Our adventure started with a van ride up to the Kennicott area.  It was so full that some guides were sitting anywhere they could safely fit.  We all made it safely.  At the top there was a mob of people filling out forms and paying.  Our group covered our activities for today and the mill tour for tomorrow.  Then we were sent to meet our guides and get our gear.  For climbing we had to have boots, crampons and a harness.  My backpack didn't seem heavy until you added all of that.  Our guide was Bryan D.  He seemed quite young but very knowledgeable.  Besides the three of us girls, we had Martin in our group from one of the other tour companies we'll keep crossing paths with.  Martin is from England.

Somehow when David sold me on this adventure I missed the part about the 4km/2mi hike to the glacier, plus the hike across the glacier in climbing boots and crampons.  It was hell, both parts.  There might have been some internal cussing at David.  None of it was helped by the fact that I was having a bad day with my sinuses and needed to stop a lot to blow my nose.  Hard to do all that and keep up with the group, especially when you already have the shortest legs.  We also layered since we would be on ice, but it made for a long, sweaty, hot hike.  I kept telling myself it would work out and I could do it.  I pretty much had to at that point.  God love Bryan, but I was also starting to doubt his ability to figure out time and distances.  It always seemed to be further than he led me to believe.  Eventually we reached the edge of the glacier where we switched into the climbing boots.  We left our hiking boots behind, turned upside down in case of rain.  After what seemed like forever, we reached our first climbing location.  Walking on a glacier is not easy.  you have to duck walk up hills, baby step down hills and walk like a cowboy on flats so you don't catch a crampon on anything.  Anyway, Bryan took us out further to avoid the hiking crowds.  It didn't work.  Ulli's group came into the area as we finished our lunch and watched Bryan setting up.  They sat down and prepared to watch us climb.  I said no spectators and their guide said they would cheer and jeer.  We told him spectating required that they pay a fee.  Fortunately, Bryan took awhile with set up so they only saw Evie climb before they continued on their hike.  She volunteered to go first.  So our wall started out gradual and got steeper.  When you started needing them you hammer swung the pick into the wall above your shoulder.  Then you follow that with your feet and have to make sure you get the front and 2 side spikes into the ice.  No big deal right?  Sounds easy?  Evie made it look easy.  Martin also made it look fairly easy.  I joked that I would lower the bar for Natalie.  When it was my turn I explained to Bryan that my boss' daughter had an accident at a climbing wall before my trip.  He was nice enough to take the time to explain the knot he was using and why.  Then he showed me how tight it was and how it tightened if I started to slip.  I was still nervous but it helped.  Bryan was very encouraging as I climbed.  I needed it since a couple times I slipped back down a little or lost a grip with toe or pick.  I now know what it feels like to have a dry mouth from fear.  Finally I made it to the top, or so I thought.  Bryan pushed me to go a smidge higher so I could see the glacier flow off in the distance.  Once I could, I told him I was ready to come down.  The view of the Chugatch mountains on the way down was awesome with the clouds and light.  Natalie went last for her climb.  Very impressive for being afraid of heights.  Then we had a choice to climb this wall again, try another sport or climb a moulin.  We voted to try the moulin after Evie did one more climb where we were.  I considered it but wanted energy for the moulin since that is the last place you want to mess up.  Evie took her last climb while I took photos and Natalie and Martin attempted to get the little stove going for hot drinks.  Ulli's guide had left it behind for us along with tea or hot chocolate.  A hot drink on the glacier really helped.

Lake in the glacier.

Preparing to climb.

That's me climbing!

Still can't believe I did it.

I couldn't decide if I would need to pee or not after the first climb.  Natalie joked we needed to be able to say we peed on a glacier and mark it off our bucket list.  I pointed out that it involved taking off the harness.  When we got to the moulin (which only got my vote because it was on the way back to our boots) I decided to take a bathroom break.  Bryan pointed me in some safe directions, which pretty much meant over the hill by us.  I had to wait for a group to get out of sight and a plane to stop flying over.  I can now say I've peed on a glacier.  Before our departure Evie and I had asked Bryan how you went to the bathroom out there.  We were told #1 was no issue but # 2 you either had to pack out or go on a rock that you could throw into a moulin so it would be washed away by the water below.  I told David before we left that if I fell in a moulin to tell mom that I loved her and to have fun making that phone call.  He was not happy with me.

So a moulin is a scary thing to climb.  They actually drop you down in it and then you climb back up.  Below you is what looks like a bottomless crevass with water rushing through.  You have to be tied in with a chest harness so you can't get flipped upside down, since you might not be able to hear your guide giving directions over the water.  And if you fall in, you are done.  It's been nice knowing you.  No big deal.  Three of us opted to only go as far down as needed to see some of the craziness below.  On the video you can hear Bryan ask about lowering me 2 more feet and a long pause before I respond and tell him "one".  It was scary enough looking down.  I made it back up and called it a day.  I had followed Evie who went lower than the rest of us and kept slipping back down.  We'd see a pick come up and then it would disappear.  The ice was harder the further down you went.  I told Natalie if I didn't go next I wouldn't go.  We felt special afterward when Bryan told us there are groups he wouldn't even mention the word "moulin" to.  He said its about personality and skill.  So yeah for us!

Dropping into the moulin.

Coming out of the moulin.

 After that it was time to hike back to our boots and then back to the town.  Yippee.  I struggled across the ice and up the hills for the start of the hike.  Before we reached our boots I caught up to our group and Natalie told me to stick my tongue out at Evie.  I didn't get it at first but figured out she had been making fun of my age and being slow.  That's how I discovered Bryan is almost my age.  He told Evie that to be careful since he was going to take offense since we were close in age.  We reached out hiking boots which were dry despite the rain.  This time on our hike Bryan was kind enough to hang back and chat with me as we went.  He is a snowboarder who took up skiing in the last winter or two.  I also learned on the way back that he guides don't have electricity or running water where they live up here.  Talk about roughing it.  Not sure I could do that and lead groups everyday.

Our ice climbing group.

 I fully admit that today was tough for me.  It was wet, tiring, painful and sometimes hot and other times cold.  I tried to keep the cussing internalized and smiled on the outside.  The beauty of the glacier helped.  It was amazing to see water running in some areas but it was under the ice so you didn't get wet if you stepped there.  It was an adjustment to understand you weren't getting wet feet.  The other bonus was finding out that I climbed a moulin before David who hasn't climbed one yet.  I expect that could change on their next trip.

We were so cold and wet when we got back that we were begging for hot food and didn't want to leave the truck.  The only dry long sleeve t-shirt I had was the new one I bought from the climbing company.  Evie and I traded when we got back so I ended up with green and she got the black one.  David talked us into a photo in front of the truck with our climbing shirts on since he and Natalie have them too.

I didn't think anything but bed would get me off the truck but I was talked into walking to the bar with everyone.  Renee lent me a dry jacket and we headed up.  We were told there was a bear ahead along the path but we didn't see him.  The bar is a very popular place.  One motivation for going was the promise of indoor bathrooms.  The one latrine at the "End of the Road" campground left a lot to be desired.  Although we were entertained by the string that pulled up a flap on the door.  David later explained that in the past it was situated to have a view of the glacier, so you could pull up that board to enjoy the view.  I guess we can buy that explanation.  Anyway, our group squeezed around the "window" between the bar and restaurant.  I drank water since I was do dehydrated.  Everyone else enjoyed beers or hard cider.  The people watching was fun.  Instead of open mic night, they seemed to be having open art night.  They used darts to pin big pieces of paper to one wall.  Some guys painted a cactus.  Another girl was doing a cowboy on a horse, like the WY license plate.  David said he looked like Freddy from the horror movies.  At a big table was all of our guides.  Turns out they were celebrating two members of their group who were leaving for school the next day.  Bryan came over to chat and we introduced him to David.  We had a fun time celebrating our last night in Wrangell-St. Elias.  Just wish I could remember some of our conversations.  They were hilarious.  I was even sober, but my memory is just not that good.

Day 9-
Not too early of a start this morning.  We had to pack up before our mill tour but didn't need to meet the shuttle until 9am.  Last night when I got back to our tent it was half open and there was a gum wrapper on the floor.  I expected to discover that Mary had been dragged off by the bear.  Fortunately, she was still there.  This morning I found her toothbrush when she dropped it outside our tent.  Thanking my lucky stars that the bear didn't smell our tent.  I've seen what a bear did to a log at camp where the kids were spitting their toothpaste. Scary.  Glad the one we saw didn't visit.  Before we left I managed to get a hold of mom for the first time for a few minutes.  It was nice to chat even briefly.

On the way up on the shuttle we saw a black bear eating some berries.  The mill tour took about 2 hours and covered the history of the Kennicott Mine and all of the buildings connected to it.  Very impressive for the early 1900's.  They wasted very little and by the end had a 96% efficiency for getting all the copper.  Our guide was Jess and she had great knowledge of the area.  I was impressed.  At one point David picked up some green and blue copper stones in the gravel and was showing me and Evie.  I joked that it was too bad we were in a National Park.  Then we had to explain to Evie that it's illegal to remove things from our parks.  Something that Jess pointed out to the group a few minutes later.  The thing that amazed me was how much the glacier had changed in the past century.  There are aerial shots of the town but they were taken from the top of the portion of the glacier that ran by the town.  It used to be 200 feet taller than the town.  Now you can look down on the glacier moraine from the town bridge.  After the tour our super leader allowed us time to shop and then catch the noon shuttle down.  It was plenty of time to get me in trouble.  I raced to the visitors center for my park stamp and in this case a book mark since they didn't have a postcard.  Then I ran over to the jewelry store we passed on the tour.  It's in a little shack that doesn't look like much from below.  Doesn't look much better when you go in, but I found the prettiest blue copper and silver earrings.  Since he knicked one with the hammer they were even marked down.  And we discovered that he does take AmEx so those earrings became mine.  On my way back I went into the little gift shop where Jess started our tour.  The girl and I had a nice chat while I looked around.  I ended up with a couple of gifts.  Time to stop!  Some of our group had gone down on the 11:30 shuttle and started lunch.

Bunkhouse (in red), Hospital (in white).

Part of the town.

After lunch it was time to head for Valdez.  We had hoped it would clear up but it was cloudy and gray the whole way.  Ruined quite a few views I believe.  We did see a waterfall and part of a glacier. The new campsite was crowded but we each found a spot for our tent and put it up quickly in the rain.  Mary and I ended up in an alcove of trees.  I was climbing over branches to get stakes in.  It was nice to get a hot shower after almost 3 days of no running water.  I also ran a large load of laundry which meant a few pieces didn't dry very well.  Lots of fun trying to air dry things in the wet weather.  During dinner prep a little black bear came to visit us.  He didn't seem very old or very scared by all of us.  That could be a bad sign for him.

We ate dinner on the truck and hung out there until it was time for bed.  It was much warmer there or the laundry room but we dragged ourselves off to our tents.  We are in for some very populated camping areas going forward.  This will be interesting.

17 Days of So Much Fun!- On to MacLaren

Day 5-
This was moving day.  Before it was time to pack up Ulli and I really did head to the Beaver pond early to see what we could find.  The answer was nothing.  They didn't get the memo about being more active in the morning. So we headed back so Ulli could work on breakfast and I could change and pack.  (I decided going to the pond in my PJ's was fine at 6am.)  The goal was an 8am departure and we were on the bus by 8:10.  Not bad for the first time packing up the tents.

We only had a few miles on paved road.  We stopped for gas and snacks right before things changed.  Then it was off on unpaved roads for 90 miles.  Atka is a real trooper.  I asked Natalie if she would have to check later to make sure she didn't lose any pieces of the truck.  The views along the way were amazing.  There was some traffic but not much, so we could stop as needed for photos.  We saw some moose and caribou along the way but mostly enjoyed the views.  At the big wood bridge, we got out to walk across and take photos.  I looked behind before I walked to the front of the bus, but was not far enough to see the car coming around before David yelled at me.  He laughed since the day before I had been cautious when we walked the road in Denali.  I told him that I am cautious but not perfect.  The thing that really had me in awe was how vast, open and unspoiled the land was along our route.  No sign of humans except the dirt road for further than you could see.  I could have sat there and enjoyed that for hours.  Shortly before we reached MacLaren River Lodge we added Trumpeter Swans to our list of wildlife sightings.

Posing with the view from the bridge.

Evie enjoying the sunshine in the middle of the bridge.

MacLaren River Lodge sits along the river (as you would guess by the name) and has more amazing views.  It was also the first time I saw the top of a high peak on a mountain.  We had lunch there before preparing to take the boat up to the glacier camp.  Since the big boat was having mechanical issues they could only take 4 of us up at a time, which meant 2 trips.  I went up with David, Renee and Ulli in the first group.  We dropped our stuff at the tent and headed out for a hike to the glacier.  It is a very flat hike but it is deceptively far.  We went out for 2.5 hours and still didn't reach the glacier.  We stopped at the little hill before that point.  We climbed up and sat there enjoying the view for awhile.  The best part of the hike was the dancing caribou.  He kept checking us out and prancing or jumping around.  He might have been courting a female, but we were entertained.  On the way back we found the rest of our group.  They opted to turn around with us.  It was a fun trip back crossing the creek multiple times, but we made it.  The funniest moment was when the boys started comparing the fashion statements they were making with their cargo and warm up pants and rubber boots.  Because they had the pants tucked into the boots they were making them look like they were wearing jockey pants.  Suddenly David said, "You don't have pants like this," at the same time he pulled off the warm ups.  He had shorts underneath but we all cracked up.  Our own Magic Mike moment in Alaska.

David greeting an old friend on our hike.

The glacier from our closest view point.

Some of us enjoyed the river view while waiting for dinner.  Then we moved to the other side of the big tent for dinner.  The girls put together a really nice pasta dinner for us with the limited supplies we brought up river with us.  After dinner we moved back to the river side for the campfire.  Some of our European members of the group had not tried roasting marshmallows yet.  We all took turns with the 4 "sticks" that Natalie had brought up.  I think Evie might have eaten half the bag of marshmallows and Natalie kept trying to get one that was perfectly toasted.  Since some of the group were drinking red wine from a box at the same time, the conversations quickly became entertaining.  I love the photo below of Evie trying to hold the marshmallows, her wine cup and the roasting stick.  She managed.  The best topic of conversation was about whether we could aim when we pee.   It was a fun night around the campfire.  We also figured out ages, kind of.  Evie is the baby, the majority of the group centers around late 20's/early 30's.  Then David and I are a bit older than them.  We also guestimated that we hiked about 10 miles today.

Best photo of that evening.

Day 6-
Last night was our chance to sleep out under the "stars".  Renee and I opted to sleep in the big tent at the campsite with the doors wide open.  Everyone else found spots in the weeds or the open space outside the tent.  We had a gorgeous view from just inside the tent, but went with the inside option since we were already cold.  I didn't take my sleep mat with me and the cold seeped in from underneath me.  Natalie told me last trip she went without the sleep mat and used a tent but was cold.  This time she brought a sleep mat but no tent and was still cold.  During the night I discovered it is very hard to sleep in a fetal position in a sleeping bag, but I pulled it off a couple of times in an attempt to warm up.  It was a slow morning so we were able to sleep in as possible.  My feet were ice blocks all night so it was a relief to get up.  I warmed up in layers in the sun while breakfast was being made.  We had the best pancakes.  Renee is an artist and even added banana or apple to each one.  I had to have two they were so good.  I even gave in and tried some toast with nutella but it's too sweet for me.

We were cleaned and packed up in plenty of time so we had time to enjoy the view and sunshine a bit longer.  You could hear the boat coming before you could see it.  They use a flat bottom boat since the river is so shallow.  It was impressive to see the boat carrying 4 canoes piled on top.  We unloaded those and put our gear into the big boat.  Evie and I were very excited and wanted to be canoe buddies.  David had mentioned splitting us up since we had canoeing experience.  Fortunately, we convinced him to let us lead instead.  We took off and got a huge gap before the others were in the water.  We decided to wait, which backfired since we ended up backwards and then stuck on a gravel patch.  Thorsten and Mary got past us and it was awhile before we caught them, but they got stuck and kept having issues.  To give credit, they started out strong.  We saw 2 caribou in the river along the way.  Evie and I made a good team, she steered and I navigated.  Eventually we got back in front and led the rest of the trip.  There was one point where I wasn't sure if we should go right or left.  We had been warned about tree trunks at one point.  Evie and I started right and then tried to turn back but couldn't.  It turned out okay and our way around the island was faster.  The part to avoid was later toward the end.  We had to swing right around some gravel bars, head hard left to get under the bridge and then immediately cut hard right across the currant to make it to the shore.  We nailed it without any trouble.  David and Ulli were right behind us.  Natalie and Renee would have been last but Thorsten and Mary landed too far over and had to try again.  We were cheering them all on as they came in.

Me and Evie leading the way.

We loaded gear in the truck down by the river so that we could move it and then reorganize. Once we were back up the hill everyone sorted their stuff and grabbed a room in the Fox's Den (dorm).  We enjoyed a nice lunch in some warm sunshine that felt like summer.  After lunch I borrowed Natalie's computer so I could check something that came in right before we left.  I also sent a quick email to mom so she would know I was still alive.  By the time I headed back out it was too windy to sit in the sun.  I tried reading inside until a large group came in for lunch.  Evie and I decided to try sitting in the truck on the sunny side.  She totally crashed and I ended up dozing off a bit.  Eventually I convinced myself to try running and went to get my stuff.  There is a mile marker by the lodge drive, so I forced myself to go a mile out and a mile back.  Not quite the time I should do, but better than none.  It was a very rocky road, which made for a difficult run.  After that I just had enough time for a shower before dinner.  We had a nice pasta dinner outside while fighting the most annoying gnats ever and they bit.  Somewhat better than mosquitoes though.

After cleaning up I went to sit in the lodge.  Eventually Renee, Evie and then Ulli came in and we all ordered pie.  Natalie and David were in the bar area being entertained by a new friend.  They finally came over to see if any of us wanted to go out back and look for the beaver in the pond.  David, Natalie, Ulli, Thorsten, Evie and I all went and actually saw one.  It was swimming back and forth to get grasses for the winter.  It was cool to see the beaver, but I was completely distracted by the sunset.  It was beautiful and even cooler to see it reflect in the pond.  When we gave up on the beaver and headed back to the front we realized the sunset had turned the mountains and glacier pink.  Natalie and I headed for the road/bridge for photos.  After the range went dark the clouds to the west lit up in a bright pink.  It kept getting better and better, so I just stood on the bridge enjoying it and thanking God I was there to see it.  The one car that drove by stopped on the bridge to take photos.  When I finally went to the lodge the others hadn't seen the red sky but all rushed out to enjoy it.  We sat around until they kicked us out.  Our rooms are cozy with two beds and blankets to keep us warm with the window open.  Hopefully the dogs across the river won't bark too much.

Sunset reflection

Ulli's amazing sunset photo

17 Days of So Much Fun!- Starting with Denali

Day 1-
 Our trip began in Anchorage on August 2nd.  I took the late flight out of Salt Lake City the evening of the 1st and landed in Alaska a little after 1am on the 2nd.  When I sent the itinerary to David, he pointed out that I landed at 1am and departed at 1am.  He wanted to know what I was going to do until the group met at 6pm.  I told him not to worry, I'd catch up on sleep or visit with friends.  And then I discovered that almost everyone I knew in Alaska was going to be in the lower 48 states while I was in Anchorage.  How's that for timing?  Luckily, one of my summer camp friends is now living in Alaska and she reached out to let me know she was up there.  Meghan insisted on picking me up at the airport and taking me to her place to crash.  Of course, after so many years (the # of which we will not calculate), we had a lot of catching up to do.  I didn't get much sleep, but it was such a blast chatting with Meghan.  I also enjoyed getting to know Zoey and Terry in the morning.  We had so much fun hanging out and enjoying the worlds best blueberry pancakes, until Meghan and I headed into town for a late lunch.  I even had a chance to chat with her twin sister Sarah on the phone for a bit while we were visiting.  Meghan and I had a lovely lunch looking out over the water.  I had my first reindeer burger and some delicious seafood chowder.  Great way to start the trip to Alaska.
 

Meghan and Sarah during our camp days.

Meghan dropped me off at the hostel on her way to work.  It was a bit too early to check in so I waited the 15 minutes until they were ready.  I was getting a little nervous since the people ahead of me weren't having much luck with their check ins.  Fortunately, mine went smoothly.  Once I dumped my stuff in my room I headed back to the office to use one of the computers.  I ended up having a Facebook chat with David, which was entertaining since we were a block away from each other.  We were joking that he was going to let a bear get me and then mom would have to kick his butt.  (I'm doubtful on whether she would have done so since she always loved David.)  I teased that one of the most insane things I could have done was agree to go on a trip with him.  We'll see if that turns out to be true.

Our group, minus one, met at the truck at 6pm.  The truck has been named "Atka".  David and Natalie introduced all of us, talked about some of the details of the trip and prepared us for our departure the next morning.  Our group included the Germans: Ulli, Thorsten, Renee (and Natalie), the Americans: Me, Mary (and David), and Evelien from the Netherlands.  (Going forward you will see Evelien referred to as Evie in my stories.)  It was an interesting mix of old friends and new friends.  I had known David forever, Thorsten and Natalie knew each other from home, and Mary had gone on one of Natalie's trips in South America.  Renee, Ullie and Evie were new friends.  Mary was the one member of our group who was missing since she had late flights getting her in that evening from Virginia.  The others had flown in a day or two early and explored Anchorage.  After our meeting we walked downtown for lovely dinner and chance to get to know each other better.  Earlier in the day I had received a message from Katie about the kind of shirt she would like me to find for her.  David was nice enough to walk me over to one of the bigger tourist stores to look for one.  I hope the one we found will work.  It was nice to have the time to catch up on our way back to the hostel.  When I got back, I got the chance to meet Mary since we were sharing a room and she had finally arrived. 

Preparing Atka for our departure

Day 2-
We had an early start after breakfast at the hostel.  As we headed out of Anchorage, David was driving and Natalie was giving us information.  We had been divided into cooking pairs.  Since I had admitted before the trip that my cooking skills were slim, I had been matched with Thorsten who liked to cook.  Ullie and Evie were working together and Renee and Mary made up the third group.  Natalie gave us a paper with the days we would cook, the meals we would have to cover and the budget we'd have when we got to the store.  It had been suggested that if there were food items that we didn't like we should write them on a list by the door.  Then others could see what should be avoided.  I'm fairly easy going and open to trying anything once, so I didn't think I needed to write anything down.  We discussed some options for the meals we needed to cover and I went back to my seat to watch for wildlife.  Soon after entering moose country, David spotted our first moose.  It was trotting across a meadow and looked to be a big one but was kind of far from the road.

Our first stop was in Wasilla (No Palin Sightings) where we stopped at a Fred Meyer's grocery store.  This was a super store, so it was somewhat overwhelming to the European portion of our group.  Thorsten and I did a lap of the aisles before we started working on our shopping list.  His idea for our first dinner was couscous with veggies and pork.  I had pushed for French toast for our first breakfast since it was one of the mornings we had more time to prepare.  The rest of the meals we had to cover we chose to do simple things.  I walked around the store with the calculator on my phone in one hand, while pushing the cart with the other, so we didn't go over budget.  It was hard to keep Thorsten on target when things cost twice what they cost at home.  I had to keep asking him what things cost and then doubling back to figure it out when he didn't know.  Eventually we got everything purchased and packed into the coolers or storage bins and put away in the truck.  Pretty much everyone had taken advantage of the stop to stock up on the alcohol of their choice.  We are now ready for this trip.

Our next stop was in Talkeetna.  We had lunch in the truck since it was a bit windy, while David went to check on flight seeing trip status for part of our group.  After they decided it was too cloudy, we went to walk around the village.  I bought a funny photo card from a local artist and a baby shirt for my new niece who will be arriving soon.  Then Evie and I walked around taking some funny photos and picked up drinks.  It was a nice chance to get out and see things, while stretching our legs.

Kissing a Moose.

A few miles before we reached our camp area we saw our second moose.  This time we pulled over for photos.  It was standing in the river eating dinner.  A couple of us even climbed up on top of the truck to try out the viewing platform.  It helped us get a photo without the electrical wires in our way.  So far these moose sightings are not convincing me that they are bigger in Alaska than they are in Utah.  We'll see if I can find one that might prove whether this is truth or myth.

Our second moose.  (Guess I should have chosen the shot w/o the wires in it)

We reached the Denali area in the evening and set up our camp near a pond.  There were a couple of spots that were big enough for two tents and a picnic table that had a roof over them.  We put our tents under those so we were protected from any weather that might come in.  So far it is beautiful up here.  Natalie showed us how to set up the tents.  I reacted the quickest so she used my tent as the example.  Mary is going to be my tent mate, so she lucked out too.  They aren't too bad except for getting the top pole to fit in where it needs to be.  I'm just a tad too short to see it easily.  We set our tent up closest to the truck and pond.  Thorsten put his tent up next to ours.  The other two tents were nearby but uphill from ours.  After I got our tent situated I went and helped David with the cook tent and the eating tent.  Both will help protect us from the mosquitoes that are buzzing around.  While we waited for dinner Mary and I walked to the beaver pond but didn't see any.

Dinner was delicious but a bit too spicy for me.  This is what I get for not putting on the list that I have issues with spices.  My lips were burning before the end.  Ulli and Evie (with some help from Thorsten) had made a rice and chicken dinner.  We have a camp stove with a couple of burners for cooking, so not the campfire cooking that I was imagining.  As we finished up, David gave us the details for the next day and then went and started a campfire for s'mores.  It was fun to teach the Germans.  Roasting marshmallows looks like a bigger hit than the whole s'more.

Turns out that this camp site is just down the road from the hostel I stayed in when I visited Denali in 2008.  Small world, even in a large state.

Day 3-
This was an early morning.  We had to be out of camp at 7am and we actually made it.  Group 2 gave us toast and cereal for breakfast.  Then we packed up sandwiches to take with us.  I made a mental note to invest in some chips and fruit on the next grocery stop.


At the park we used the bathroom, grabbed a drink and got on Tony's bus to head for Eielson Visitor Center in the middle of the park.  David believes if you want to see something you need to project it out there.  We all took it to heart and had said what we hoped to see.  It was a slow start for wildlife viewing.  By our first stop we had only seen 1 caribou.  Fortunately after that it picked up.  During the whole day we saw 2 moose, 11 caribou, 11 grizzly bears, 11 Dall sheep, ground squirrels and a Ptarmigan (state bird).

The bears were actually the most impressive.  We saw two different mama bears with two cubs each.  One of them we saw on the way out and even closer to the road on the way back.  Tony wasn't always the easiest driver to deal with due to his desire to stick to the time line.  He also didn't care to stop for beautiful views, so we did what we could.  Sadly, Mt. Denali did not cooperate for us and was cloud covered.  We opted not to stay longer at the visitors center, but decided to head back for the last dog sled demo.  It was fun to walk around seeing all the dogs beforehand.  They are so excited when they realize it's time for the demo.  It sounds like a bunch of kids saying, "Pick me, pick me!"  On our way back to our truck we made a souvenir and in my case, park stamp stop.  I decided I need to try and visit all the National Parks, so I bought the passport book.  I never remember to travel with it, but can pick up a park stamp each time and add it in later.  I ended up with two for Denali so far, one for each visitor center.  I also found a vintage postcard for Katie and put the park stamp on there for her.  Hopefully it will help if the vintage looking t-shirt isn't a success. 

Love this photo of the baby bears.  They had been playing and suddenly stopped and looked innocent.

Since it was cloudy again, the portion of our group who wanted to go flight seeing decided to skip it.  We went back to the camp for showers before dinner.  Since it was a long day no one had to cook.  We went for pizza across the road instead.  Someone ordered 20 pizzas before we arrived so it was a long wait.  But the conversations going on around our table were entertaining.  I can already see that mixing Europeans and Americans is going to make this trip far more interesting than just the sights we will see and the adventures we will have.

Before bed I worked on writing postcards.  Hard to believe I can write after 10pm without a light.  It might have helped, but I didn't need it.

Day 4-
This morning was the cook day for me and Thorsten.  Since I chose French toast Thorsten deferred to me.  I got up early to get ready and then started organizing breakfast.  We also had to make lunches for a day of hiking in Denali.  For that we put out lunch meat, cheese, hoagie style bread and cookie packs.  I was nervous about the french toast since I have only made it a couple of times for myself, never for 8 people.  I had no idea on measurements so I just winged it.  Fortunately it worked out and I got a lot of positive comments.  We pulled it off and were ready to leave on time again.

French toast that I made.

 This was our hiking day in the park.  We didn't have to start as early since we had a 9:30 bus and weren't going all the way in this time.  I kept hoping Mt. Denali would show itself.  There were some glimpses of pieces of it, but we never saw it all.  Our group got off at Sable Pass after seeing 2 moose, a bird I can't identify and a mother bear with 2 cubs from this spring.  They were the smallest cubs we had seen yet and so cute.  David led us back down the road from the direction we had come.  the light and colors on the mountains in front of us were just amazing.  My photos don't even come close to doing it justice.

Ready to hike.

We walked down until we reached the creek/canyon area where we had seen the bears.  Talk about being outside your comfort zone.  At first it sounded like we would only go a little ways up the creek while keeping a watchful eye out for the bears.  Finally David asked if we still wanted to keep going or turn around.  We also had the choice to split up into two groups so some people could stay while others kept going.  We all kept going but it definitely made me nervous.  I would be the first to admit that that I don't take many risks.  I just told myself that I trusted David and enjoyed the beauty of the canyon.  I must tell you, David was doing everything right for keeping us safe.  He had bear spray, we were making noise so wildlife would know we were in the area and we were all watchful.  The only sign of a bear we saw were some piles of poop.  Eventually some of the group asked for lunch so we stopped on a hillside to eat.  Watching Thorsten take flower photos during this break was fun.  He is so serious about his photography.  He does end up with some fabulous pictures.  After lunch we decided to hike back toward the road and try a new area.

We headed down the road a bit further before trying to hike uphill to a ridge.  Tundra is soft and spongy to walk on which is nice on my knee, but not really that easy for hiking otherwise.  We got pretty high up the hill before Mary wanted to go back down.  Working the way down on tundra provided new challenges.  Evie and I took photos before we headed down to show how high we got.  Across the way we saw some Dall sheep.  We were almost as high as them.  There was a group of 6 and then one off by itself.  I joked that was the petulant child.  We made it back to the road and started watching for a bus to flag down.  The first one only had 3 spots so Natalie, Evie and I got on.  I tried to let Thorsten go first since I knew he was done with hiking, but he was a gentleman and sent me ahead.  The rest were able to get spots on the bus behind us.  Just down the road we spotted more Dall sheep.

That brown line below is the road.

The three of us had a fun trip down sitting in the back of the bus.  We talked about nicknames since I can't pronounce Evelien the way it should be pronounced.  That's when I asked her if I could call her Evie.  The best part of the trip was seeing a decent sized male moose very close to the road.  then he came right over and crossed behind us.  Evie was excited because it meant she would beat Thorsten in their daily photo contest.  She was bouncing with excitement.  I made the mistake of asking the ranger sitting in front of us if Mt. Denali had made an appearance and the answer was yes, for about an hour.  I shouldn't have asked.  We got back a bit ahead of the rest of our group so we shopped for postcards, stickers and drinks.  I also used the bird books to try and figure out what I had seen that morning but couldn't figure it out.  We greeted Thorsten with photos of the moose we saw as soon as he got off his bus.

Our fabulous moose photo.

Thorsten was in charge of dinner.  I helped by chopping veggies and I cut the massive pork loin into smaller pieces.  That was quite a challenge.  Then I got out of the way of Thorsten, Ulli and Natalie.  It took a bit longer than predicted but it was worth it.  I had chopped zucchini and cucumber and had them sitting in separate bowls.  I walked away for a moment and when I came back they were gone.  I made a comment about never trying cooked cucumber before and that's when Thorsten realized he had grabbed one too many bowls.  He sat there and picked the cucumber out from the zucchini.  The pork might have been the best part.  Most of us wanted seconds.  During dinner we all decided to go check out the beaver pond.  We were projecting what we wanted to see when Evie said, "I want to see a beaver in action!"  We laughed and teased her for awhile over that one.  Sadly, our walk did not yield a moose or a beaver sighting.  I told Ulli I would go with her in the morning at 6am to try again before we left for our next destination.

I love that we saw so many amazing animals in Denali and on this trip I got to hike.  I'm excited that I did something outside of my comfort zone.  That is going to be one of my trip highlights.  I am sure it will be the first of many times I challenge myself over these 17 days.  The guestimate for our hike today is that we did 6.3 miles.

Infinite Adventures

Believe it or not, I did travel in 2012.  I even had some small adventures.  Sadly, I got behind right from the start and never did get any of them written about.  Oops.  But I'm back to tell you about the amazing adventure I had in Alaska with Infinite Adventures.  The plan to go on this trip actually started last Fall when my friend David Patrick told me that he was starting a company with his partner Natalie Morawietz.  I had to be good all year to pull this trip off, but the travel withdrawal was worth it.

I have known David since I was in second grade and he was in fourth grade.  We used to carpool to our Catholic elementary school.  As a kid I thought he was cool and used to follow him and his friends around like an annoying little sister.  I'm not sure why, but he put up with me, at least I don't have any memories of him telling me to scram.  We overlapped again in High School for a couple of years and I still thought of him like a big brother.  Over the years we have caught up with each other when we could.  I knew that he had been a trip leader for different travel companies on and off during that time.  I was always interested, but never seemed to pull it off to go on one of the trips.  More recently David and Natalie had both worked leading trips for Dragoman in Africa and South America, which is how they met.  Reading about those trips I definitely wanted to make something work so I could go.  Before I pulled the resources together they were back in America and starting their own company with the things they had learned.  As soon as I heard the news, I told David that I would sign up for one of the trips.  I knew before my birthday last October that I was going to find a way to make this work.  Some of my birthday presents were things that would help me prepare for camping in Alaska.  Once I got those gifts there was no turning back, not that I wanted to.

David and I at his High School Graduation.  (Earliest photo I could find.) 

Infinite Adventures will have trips in the western part of the lower 48 states, but started with 17 day trips in Alaska this summer.  Ever since my first trip to Alaska in 2008 I've been dying to visit again.  This was the ideal way for me to go back, see more and experience things I had missed on a solo trip.  The first time I went I spent time in Anchorage, Denali National Park and Seward.  I would see those places again on this adventure, but I would also get to visit MacLaren River Lodge on the Denali Highway, Wrangell-St. Elias National Park in McCarthy, Valdez, Homer, Kasitsna Bay (near Seldovia) and Hope.  I studied the dates that were offered and compared them to my work schedule, finally deciding that the August 2nd trip was going to be the one that fit.  David was great about letting me make payments on the trip.  The minute I sent in the last payment I started working on saving up for the Kitty.  (You can find more information about the trip price and the kitty at www.infiniteadv.com)  Thankfully during those months of travel withdrawal David and Natalie were posting progress reports on the truck we would be traveling in, photos of the tents and showing us the beauty of Alaska that we would be experiencing.  It helped.  It also helped that David put up with all my questions and Facebook chats over those months.

On the way North, David and Natalie stopped in Salt Lake City to visit with David's cousin Chris, who also grew up in Bloomington.  Until their stop I had never met Chris, since he went to the other high school in town.  I was lucky enough to join the three of them for dinner.  It was nice to meet Chris and know there are other Indiana University fans in Salt Lake.  (It's amazing the # of Bloomington people who end up out here in Utah.)  I also got a chance to get a sneak peak at the truck I'd be riding in for 17 days.  David and Natalie took a school bus and transformed it into a fabulous way to travel.  They took out the benches and put in comfortable seats.  They also put lockers overhead so that we could keep some of our personal items on the bus with us.  There is a section of seats that face each other with a table in between.  Perfect for a group of 8 to eat together when the weather is less than desirable.  It had been a handicap accessible bus, so the back was sectioned off and made into a storage locker for our tents, gear and luggage.  On the sides of the bus underneath there are compartments for storing things like the plates, cook stoves, food, etc.  The back has a place for firewood and a ladder that allows you to climb up to the top where they added a viewing platform.  It's a great place to safely see wildlife or to just get that higher perspective.  The official countdown to August 2nd started with that first glimpse of how I'd be traveling.

Me and David this summer on his way North to Alaska.

Eventually being good about saving my time off was rewarded.  I headed to Alaska and the many amazing adventures that awaited me.  Watch for more posts as I tell you the stories of all the things David talked me into trying or convinced me I could do.  I fully admit there might have been some internal cussing at times, but all of it was worth it.  And I'm happy that I tried everything.  This was seriously the best adventure ever.  Hopefully after reading about my travels with Infinite Adventures you will want to join them next summer for your own.

Kayaking Yellowstone Lake

A couple months ago I saw a Groupon special for kayaking on Yellowstone Lake. I absolutely love any excuse to go to Yellowstone, so I called Katie and convinced her we should each buy one. She finally agreed and we got our Groupons, now we just had to find a weekend. I had a trip in July, and both of us were going to Colorado to see family different weekends in August. We eventually decided on the weekend of September 10-11th. I fully admit I liked the idea of being in such a beautiful place on the 10th anniversary of 9/11. The lack of tv and radio would be a bonus. I will never forget that day, but I prefer to remember it in a place of beauty.

Neither of us has a lot of time off work. To avoid using vacation I suggested and Katie agreed, to drive up to Big Sky, MT on Saturday, kayak on Sunday afternoon and make a late drive home. Katie picked me up Saturday morning in Salt Lake City and we headed up I-15. Since we were heading to Big Sky to use dad's condo for the night we cut off after Idaho Falls. Taking US-20 improves the scenery. You could see the Tetons off in the distance. We stopped in Ashton for lunch at a little place called Frostop that my friend Abbi introduced me to my first summer in Utah. They have fabulous milkshakes and tater tots. (I recommend the Huckleberry shake if you do stop in.) A few miles down the road we started seeing historic signs. Katie joked about pulling over to read them all. I told her I was fine with that since I always consider doing it but seem to be in a hurry when I go by. She didn't actually stop until she saw the sign for the Scenic Byway. We pulled over and it looked like it would connect back up with 20 so we decided to take it. It wasn't until we reached the upper water falls before the lower that we started to doubt the direction we were going. When we reached the lower falls next we knew we were in trouble. We ended up doing it backwards and ended up right back in Ashton by the Frostop. In the end it was a detour well worth the time.

Upper Falls

Lower Falls

The rest of your drive up to Big Sky was beautiful but mostly uneventful. We arrived in Big Sky shortly before 6pm. This is absolutely my favorite mountain. Katie says its because it is so easy to draw all on it's own. That might be, but I have always loved coming up to Big Sky. It is my happy place. Our first stop didn't count since it was a rush stop so Katie could buy some shorts at the sporting good store. The second and third stop were the important ones. First we hit The Cave, a liquor and gift store. We both got a mug and a beer glass, but Katie found a nice bottle of wine and I discovered they had Maker's Mark mini bottles. From there we headed over to the Hungry Moose Market. Katie picked up some beer and more wine, while I got a bottle of Ten Spoon wine called "Getaway", which seemed appropriate, and some postcards. Now we were ready to head to the condo to watch the Notre Dame football game. For anyone who saw that game against Michigan, you know it did not end well for our team. It was a quiet night after that.

Sunday morning we got up and headed out. We were on the road a bit before 9am, which was impressive even if that was our goal. Our reservation for kayaking was not until 2:30pm so we had time to enjoy the park. We came in from the West Yellowstone entrance, which means you have many miles before you can make a turn onto another road. So when traffic gets tied up due to wildlife, you might as well prepare to be patient. Our drive in became one of those. It took awhile before we were anywhere near the tie up so we could figure out the problem. My guess was elk since I'd seen them before in this area. Sure enough, there was a herd standing in or along the river right near the bridge. There were people everywhere taking photos. Katie was less than impressed. There was one elk standing in the middle of river almost posing. I asked Katie if she would be more impressed if a bear ran out and attacked the elk. She said only if it ran right next to the man sitting too close on a rock so that he pissed himself. Sadly, none of that happened so we kept going.

The route we chose was the one that would take us along the upper part of the loop toward the Canyon area and away from Old Faithful. We stopped first at the lower falls and somehow I found myself on the trail that takes you down to the brink. I have done that hike one other time, and have tried to avoid it since. It is only 3/4 of a mile round trip but you descend 600 feet and it is switch backs the whole way. It is a work out but worth it. The only bad thing is that then you are on top of the falls, so the pictures aren't amazing. Fortunately for us, we could see the view area across from us, and some crazy guy who had decided to climb down to get a better picture.

Viewing area across the way in the midst of the trees
1/2 way to 3/4 way down is the crazy guy

Blue dot on the big rock is the crazy guy

Katie and I actually watched him for awhile. At one point he went sliding over the rock to the Falls side. It took a moment to realize he had put his camera on a timer and was getting in the shot. I was convinced we'd be reading about his death in the paper. Katie on the other hand decided this just might be the guy for her. So if anyone knows him, let my sister know.

Brink of Lower Falls

After that excitement we hiked back up and continued on our way. We finally found the buffalo. The big guy below had been holding up traffic in the left lane by standing in the middle of it. At one point he was having a stand off with the cars. They say you should stay 25 yards away from wildlife, I'm pretty sure we broke that rule just driving past him.

The local welcome buffalo

As we were driving past the buffalo herds we could see rain in front of us. Then Katie noticed that the cars passing us had snow on them. Suddenly the stuff hitting the windshield was a lot slushier than rain. I'm not completely ready to call it snow, but it was close. At least I made it all the way until Sept. 11th before I saw snow this year.

Snow/slush on the drive

Seeing snow made us a bit nervous for getting out and into a boat. We watched the temperature reading on Katie's car slowly rise into the 40's. I figured I would need to pull all my layers out for this adventure. Fortunately, when we reached Grant Village for the kayaking it was a reasonable temperature. We both opted to stick with shorts, although I did put on a light, long sleeve shirt. There were only four of us going on the trip that afternoon. Katie and I were in one kayak and the other two women were in the second kayak. Then we had Dominick and Dan as our guides. After giving us instructions on how to get in the boat and paddle we got our safety lecture and were ready to go. Dominick was our lead guide and Dan was playing sweep. Which meant that Katie and I were with Dominick and the other ladies were with Dan. The trip is kayaking from Grant Village to West Thumb were you can see some thermals in the water. The wind had started to kick up but it was not too hard on the way over. On the way we got a National Geographic moment for Katie. There was a male elk in full on pursuit of a female elk. She on the other hand did not seem to have any interest in him. She kept running away and even went into the lake to get past him. A bit further down the coast there were also two younger male elk fighting. Then they started to head toward the bigger male. We tried to tell that was a bad idea, but you can't tell kids anything.

Female Elk trying to get away

We also saw some golden eye ducks. Dominick told us they don't like to fly so they try to duck under the water and come up away from you. They also start quacking in panic but never fly. When we got close we could hear them but we were close to shore so they were able to get up on land and run away from us. Their eyes really are a golden color. Kind of creepy. As we got closer to West Thumb we joked about all the tourist photos we were going to ruin. You could see a lot of them with their cameras up on the walk way looking at the thermals. Katie seems to get a kick out of being in the middle of their pictures. There is a point where we had to wait for the others since there are rules about being in the area of the thermals. It turned out though that the waves were getting too big to see anything. Dominick and Dan were getting worried and decided we should turn back. The return trip was a lot harder than the way out. The waves got so big I'm almost convinced I could handle ocean kayaking after this experience. Every so often we'd get hit with one and feel how cold that water was. Despite the extra effort we had to put in we were still having fun joking around with Dominick on the way back. We got really far ahead of the others and stopped to wait once. We were supposed to be fairly close to the coast line for the trip. At one spot we were not that close so I warned Katie about not dumping me out since I wasn't sure I wanted to swim that far. She informed me I wouldn't have to swim, just float and the waves would carry me in. I still wasn't ready to be that cold. Eventually we made it back to the dock. It was a great trip for my first kayak experience. I look forward to doing it again. We learned the hard way to pick the morning trips when the lake is calmer. Live and learn, the theme of the summer.

Katie and I by our Kayak

Katie wanted to stop in Jackson to have dinner with her friend Sam on our way home. So once we changed into dry clothes we bolted for the Tetons. We were told it would take us 2 hours from Grant Village. She was determined to beat that time. I think she might have pulled it off by about 10 minutes. It was a beautiful drive out of Yellowstone and through Teton National Park. I really think these are two of my favorites. It doesn't matter how many times I go, I love them every time. We saw some buffalo and antelope on our way through the Tetons. Still no bears or moose but we kept hoping. The sun coming through the clouds was gorgeous. The picture below just doesn't do it justice.

Sunset in the Tetons

We had a great dinner in Jackson with Sam. The whole time Sam and Katie kept trying to talk me into calling in sick or dead so we could stay the night in Jackson. This just wasn't one of those times I could pull it off. Eventually we headed back to Park City. Sam gave us directions to make it quicker. Unfortunately, we missed one of the turns and got a bit confused. We eventually got back on track and made it to Katie's house by 1am. Next time we take an extra day for the trip. Still, it was a great weekend. I'm glad we were able to go do it. If you are in the west I recommend a stop in Yellowstone and Teton National Parks. They are worth it.