Welcome to Alaska. First, I'm going to mention that this post is going to be exceptionally long because of all of the photos I've added. This is a very tiny representation of the 600+ photos we took along the way, but they tell the story and show just how beautiful Alaska is. So, if photos irritate you, consider yourself pissed now and save yourself the trouble- because there are LOTS of them.
So, here we go, to the last frontier!
We traveled to Anchorage because I had some consulting to do with Anchorage public schools- and along the way made a sort of mini-vacation of our stay. On our first day we decided, sort of on a wim, to hike up flattop mountain. It was a beautifully clear day, so we wanted to take full advantage of the views- so off we went in our rental car. When we found our way to the park we noticed a serious-looking crew of folks. When I first saw them I thought there was no way we were hiking 'spur of the minute' unprepared. Neither of us had hiking boots, or Yak Traks or anything to help with slipping, sliding or basically falling down and creating or being part of an avalanche. But, hey, we were up for it, so we tured a blind eye to the people with their hiking poles, snow shoes, radar beacons and packs and started to trudge it up the mountain.
The weather in Anchorage was actually pretty warm- in the high 30's with no snow on the ground, but mountains have lots of snow and we were in the thick of it. So, we tried to stay on the trail and tread carefully. Off we went.
The views were spectacular, which made us forget about all the danger. We spent a lot of time taking in the view of mountains around us and of Anchorage down below. We loved being alone among the pristine envioronment and the crystal-encrusted snow.
It wasn't long into hiking along that we started to notice tracks from downhill skis. Flatttop is a great mountain to climb because it really isn't all that steep- its very flat at the top (hence the name), but the trail up can get a bit slick and there is some rock scrambling (or in this case, snow scrambling), but I image if you could lug your skis up there, it would make for some fantastic runs for an experienced skier.
It wasn't far into our hike that we stumbled upon this scenario. There was a patch of snow that had been entirely troden through by footprints- much like a grid. We found out that there was a search and rescue for a skier going on. We had a really hard time telling if it was a drill or the real thing because everything was so mechanical about how these people worked. As we hiked we watched them talk about an avalanche, and spiked the slopes looking for people who were or might be burried. It was both frightening and engaging- I couldn't help but watch these people and wondering if was just a drill, but at the same time I was concerned that there might actually be a skier buried in that area.
As we trekked in toward the peak we had a fantastic view of Anchorage, the mountain range of the lengend of the sleeping lady and Mt. Mckinley in the distance.
So, after returning from our hike, being unprepared as I mentioned when we started out, I was soaked. These are the shoes I wore. Ridiculous. I know. But, I managed, even though we had to ride back to the city with the heat on high so my toes could defrost.
For the weekend we decided to take the Alaska Railroad up to Talkeetna. Here is our train as we boarded it Saturday morning.
While we were on the train we made our way through famous Wasilla, home of the infamous Sarah Palin. It was gone in a blink of an eye on train, but not without the conductor first pointing out her previous residence.
What's that in the picture you say? Nope, its not a bird house. Its actually a 7 story home, owned by some crazy attorney in Anchorage. His idea was that if he built the turret tall enough to see Mt. McKinley over the trees he'd always have a spectacular view. Turns out the turret isn't finished yet, and hasn't been for the past, say 10 years, but someday, this guy will actually get to go up there and view Mt. McKinley.
Here we are riding along again. The baggage car was open on either side for us to poke around in and it offered the perfect opportunity to take photos out the side. Drew and I were prentending to be the Box Car Children.
Look! Its Mt. McKinley, from way far off, in a train car. It was our first view of it making it clearly identifiable. In a few short hours we would be flying right inside the mountain range, landing next to the grand Mt. McKinley.
Throughout our travels in Alaska I thought we would most certainly see many moose, as the last time that I was here I saw them all over. But this time they weren't out and about. The only two moose we saw were these loners, walking along the tracks as we traveled past.
Once we arrived in Talkeetna we quickly settled our goods in, and then took a short trip over to the Talkeetna Air Taxi service to take a flight to Mt. McKinley and land in Sheldon Ampitheater, after touring Ruth's glacier. We had to wear these lovely mukluks to keep the snow out of our shoes and pants since it was so fresh on the glacier.
Can you see the little green plate? Its the inspection plate in our little plane, the Otter. The plane was built in 1954. This didn't make me feel all that safe when we were in the air, but it turned out fine as the little Otter got us to and from Denali without a problem.
While we were in Denali national park our pilot took us around a series of glaciers. To add some perspective to this particular glacier he noted that each of these "cracks" is between 100 and 200 feet deep. It really captures the enormity of the glacier.
This is an outhouse right smack dab in the middle of Denali. Before it became a national park one of the first men to reach the summit built a tiny little cabin right at the base camp. It obviously doesn't have any electricity or running water, so this little outhouse right next to it, is the only accomodation available to those people who do rent it. Yes, its true, people do rent it, still!
On our way back to the airport I got to be the co-pilot, which made for a fantastic perspective. I was mesmerized by all of the gauges and dials. I did happen to find the gas gauges though and noticed we were going to be cutting it close. It turns out in airplanes you can regulate how you many gallons of gas you burn per hour. Our pilot slowed us down to make us burn less per hour so we would make it home without running out of gas.
Along the way our pilot pointed out these tiny dots. Can you see them? there are two groups of tiny little dots.
Upon zooming in you can see that they are actually tents. These are the tents of the crazy fools who made camp on the south face to climb Mt. McKinley in the middle of winter. CRAZY people.
After our weekend in Talkeetna I had to go to work for the school district, while Drew took a day Trip down to Seward to go on an ocean tour. While he was out on his tour he saw these mountain goats climbing along the mountain side.
and these lazy seals.
And this giant lug of a sealion.
The view was spectacular, but sadly, he didn't see any whales.
Seward waved goodbye to Drew with its beautiful harbor and mountain range in the background.
We ended our trip with a few late night dinners in Anchorage, before heading back home on Wednesday. We were able to enojy the vacation and it was rather akward to be without Collin for nearly six days. During our vacation Drew's parents took care of him at our house (read spoiled him with attention and love)-- by the time we were on our way home I was in a serious sate of homesickness to see our little guy.
But even though we missed Collin like crazy, the trip was a once in a lifetime opportunity- so we seized it, and we're so glad that we did.
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