Time

In this moment, I am enjoying being here. Taking in the setting, the beauty, and nature. Peace. Relaxation. Tranquility. Taking time to get perspective. Time to relax. Time to think. Time to meditate. 

"I wished to acquire the simplicity, native feelings, and virtues of savage life; 

to divest myself of the factitious habits, prejudices, and imperfections of civilization....

and to find, amidst the solitude and grandeur of the western wilds, 

more correct views of human natures and the true interests of man. "

-Estwick Evans

Into Denali

 Just arrived inside Denali. The ride up was LONG. We left Anchorage at 8 am and arrived at 5:30.

On the way though we saw a lot of amazing stuff. We saw Caribou, Moose, Dall Sheep, and Bears! The terrain was cool. It is such a VAST park. 

Bear Nappin

The road through the park is pretty intense. It is a one lane dirt road that comes pretty close to the edge. 

Coming right up next to wildlife! The wildlife jams aren't really that bad here in comparison to Yellowstone. It was only us and one other bus that stopped by these sheep.

 

BEARS! We came by this group of 3 bears on the road. A mom and two cubs. Was pretty cool. We watched them for a little while. 

Getting settled into my cabin. It has an awesome view of Denali.
Tomorrow training.
Mosquitos here. Boo.
Not much snow and warm weather. Yay.
So far so good.
Nice place to be for the summer. :)

First View of Denali on the road

Denali from Camp

View of Denali from my window. I go to sleep with this view :)

The Tip of the Iceberg....

My Alaskan Adventure started out with some exploration and a drive to the coastal town of Seward. The drive is mind blowing!  The road follows the mountains and water. Everywhere you look you see amazing scenery. It seemed like I had it all to myself too. I am used to driving in Yellowstone where there are like a million visitors.  I passed by a moose at one point and I'm pretty sure I was the only one who took notice. It was funny because I was thinking "What is that there in the bushes? IT'S A MOOSE!" Oh yeah you know. Just a moose. Then I probably passed by 4 or 5 bald eagles that were in the water. Every turn had another peak or river or lake that just was breathtaking. At some point I just was overwhelmed with everything I was seeing. I was actually starting to get a headache. Haha...so I was glad when I finally arrived in Seward so I could get some rest.

Seward and Kenai Fjords National Park

"Ice Stretches as far as the eye can see, interrupted by an occasional jagged nunatek (eskimo for "lonely peak"). It's  nature's raw power sculpting the landscape."-Kenai Fjords NPS Brochure.

The  next morning I got up to take a boat tour of Kenai Fjords National Park. My first Alaskan National Park. Yeah Yeah! 

I was excited to get out and see the glaciers and coast. But I was a little concerned about getting seasick. So I took a Dramamine and some other medicine to combat the sickness. Making me a little tired and loopy. We took off from the harbor and what did we see first. A SEA OTTER!

So cute. Sea Otters have the densist fur of any animal in the animal kingdom There are over a million hairs per inch. It is a great coat for insulation. They roll around in the water to keep the bubbles in their coat for extra insulation. Back in the day their coat could get enough money for fur trappers to buy a home in Siberia! They are also the smallest marine mammal and the largest member of the weasel family. 

Next up we saw a mountain goat w/ kid on the ridge.

Can you spot it?

This picture would be more awesome if I had a better lens.
Anyone want to buy me a nice lens for the summer? :)

  

We started seeing glaciers along the water. All the glaciers in this area runoff from the Harding Icefield. The icefield is a relic from the last ice age. When the ice recedes, it shows the glacial covered valleys that fill with sea water, creating fjords. It's fun to see nature in action. Molding and sculpting the earth. 

The rock formations were pretty cool. There are a lot of islands and formations that are sticking up out of the water like the one below.

 Next up we saw some Steller Sea Lions on the rocks. They can weigh up to 2,400 pounds and are an endangered species.

We wandered off into the waters again and lucked into some orca whales (or killer whales). There were about half a dozen playing around our boat for about a half hour. We watched them come up and go back down.  Right beside them, a humpback whale popped up! It went right by our boat! At one point we were watching both the humpback whale and the killer whales in the same view!

More Sea Lions.

Watching some Harbor Seals playing in the water. 

Puffin Birds. They propel themselves into the water and use their winder and feet as rutter. They can dive depths of 250 ft in the water.

We went by an island where all these birds were on the sides of the cliff nesting. 

More Humpback whales! Humpback whales spend their summers in Alaska and winters in Hawaii. I think I would like to be them. :) They can weight up to 90,000 lbs and are a length of 56 ft! When they blow water they are exhaling and replenishing their oxygen.

There are three in this photo. Two adults and a baby.

Whales fluke up or lift up their tail, when they are beginning a dive. You can identify a specific whale by the coloration and markings found on the underside of their fluke. It's their version of a fingerprint.

Waving us goodbye. 

Slowly we started to approach the glacier. We were going to see Holgate glacier to hopefully watch the glacier moving and calving off. As we approached we came by these chunks of ice in the water that had broken off in the past couple of days.

The glacier is half a mile wide.

 The color of the glacier was a beautiful blue. What we heard and saw next was amazing. Watching chunks of the glacier falling off into the water (or calving).

The sounds that you heard were like THUNDER. Hearing the ice crack, break, and collide. It was cool. RAW POWER.

We returned back to Seward after the glacier. The trip back was a little bumpy. I did get a little seasick. Waters are not for me. But no vomiting! YEAH!

All in all it was an AMAZING trip! The things we saw were pretty great. I have today to explore a little more in the state. Then tomorrow morning bright and early I head off into the wilderness of Denali National Park.

Introducing Alaska

All I can say is that I am bewildered. The flight up here was one of the most spectacular flights I have been on. For a constant 2 hours I saw sights of wonder and amazement that got me so excited I just couldn't hide it!

I left Bozeman on a lovely sunny day. I took off from my connection in Seattle to rain (surprise).

For the first hour of the flight it was just clouds. But then the clouds would break and you would see snow frosted mountains peaking out! Eeek! The next two hours of the flight was a flurry of sights. It became a sea of mountains, peaks, glaciers, lakes, rivers, coast, just amazing BEAUTY.

It was mountains, mountains, mountains! We saw coastal towns with no roads leading to them.

 I felt like my passion and adventure was reignited again! Why hello old friend. At times I wanted to dance, other times I wanted to cry. It was a flurry of emotion. Mostly I just kept singing "I'm so excited, and I just can't hide it". Which I don't have on my ipod sadly. It was mother nature displayed in it's finest. You could see the land shaping itself. 

We slowly got closer to the mountains to where we were flying over them! YES! Closer! Almost there!

When we landed in Anchorage I was so happy to finally be in Alaska. Couldn't wait for the adventure to start. I grabbed my bags and took the the roads. Next up was a drive to the coastal town of Seward. The drive would blow my mind. Welcome to Alaska.....

One Giant Leap North

Tomorrow I will be leaving for Alaska. So bizarre that it is finally here. No matter how many times I travel or start new jobs/adventures, I always get nervous. But good things don't always come easily. Change is hard. Taking the first step is always the most difficult. The journey of a million miles begins with a single step. And a million other life parables...

I am excited though! I will fly out of Bozeman, Montana. Only 1 connection in Seattle and then on to Anchorage. How can Alaska be that easy to get to? Seems like I should be taking some grand adventure of trains, boats, or dog sleds to get there. But nope, I am just flying. I thought about driving, but that is some 2,500 miles.  Maybe later, for now I'll take to the air.


View Larger Map

Check out how big Alaska is compared to the rest of the states. And I am only going to see a tiny little snippet of the state!


When I arrive I will take a few days to drive to the coast to to Seward, Alaska. Where I will explore the mountains and glaciers of Kenai Fjords National Park. And then on Saturday morning I leave from Anchorage to make the journey into Denali!

Some Alaska factoids for you........

It became the 49th state in 1959. The state capitol is Juneau.  The state mineral is gold. The state sport is dog mushing. 5% of the state is glaciers (29,000+ square mile). Did you know Alaska is 2.5x larger than the state of Texas?  586,412 sq. mi for 626,932 people!  Half of which live in Anchorage. 

The federal government owns 60% of the land. This acreage includes national parks, wildlife refuges, national forests, military reservations and the North Slope National Petroleum Reserve.There are eight national parks in the state. The most out of any state. 

I'm sure I will learn oodles more about the state, the people, and the beauty that is Alaska. Hopefully I can share this in the coming months. Onward to my great Alaskan Adventure!

Packing like a champion?

THE TASK: pack up a summers worth of clothes, gear, books, shoes, toiletries, and more into 2 bags (one carry on size, the other a large backpack).

I spy Norris the dog.

THE OBSTACLES: size, weight, too many clothes, not enough clothes, too many books I won't read, not enough contact lens solution, heavy and awkward shoes, and a dog who apparently wants to be packed away also. 

I have trained for this.  (Cue Rocky theme music) I have been making the list.  I have had lots of time (4 months to be exact). I have the luggage, the bags, the cubes, the ziplocs. All my trip packing experience and expertise leads up to this moment.

 Will it be accomplished? What will I sacrifice? 

How many layers of clothing will I wear on the airplane?

Will I bring an extra bag to sneak Norris in?

Can I go the distance?

Stay tuned....

His eyes are saying "please don't leave"

UPDATE

______________________________________________

Days, Hours and Minutes Later:

I DID IT!

Although I had to make a box of Alaska rejects that weren't able to make it.

And sadly Norris was in it :(.