All play and no work makes you poor. While I feel so fortunate to be able to play in this little corner of nature's paradise, I am here to work. And work it is. Hard work. Long work. 5 days a week. 10 hour days. Here is a glimpse at a day (actually week) in my life as a seasonal worker in Alaska.
Normally my day starts at 6:30 to serve breakfast to guests. There is a set menu for each day and we set up the dining room with place setting for each guest. For meals guests sit down like a family, talking about each other's days and travels. The meals are served individualy to each guest as a beautiful, delectible, artfully presented plate.
Next I have a shift in H2 or Housekeeping 2 or aka Rubbish lady. I go around collecting all the recycling and trash, throw it in a large box truck that is driven out once a week to the garbage and recycling centers at the park entrance. Not glamorous, but somebody's got to do it!
I also go around stocking wood in the cabins. Walking from cabin to cabin with a backpack of wood and kindling for their fires. It is great to get to walk around in the Tundra, getting to stare at the mountain. Guests come by and are always interested in the pack and what is in it. I think they go away thinking "Only in Alaska"...
After finishing my housekeeping shift, I have a couple hours break where sometimes I nap, sometimes I hike, or sometimes I watch a movie. Then it is time for dinner service. Similar to breakfast, but fancier. Then I go to sleep with light still lingering outstide. Those days happen 3x a week.
The other big days here are transport days. Monday and Friday guests leave early in the morning heading to the park entrance. After they leave it is a flurry of cleaning and getting rooms and such back to picture perfect for the new guests that arrive that night. As a staff we come and welcome the guests, taking them to their cabins and making them feel at home. On Fridays, I am Cake Girl. As Cake Girl I prepare a station of cake and beverages for just off the bus guests.
Pretty much that is my week. It goes by fast. I am always amazed when it comes time for days off. My days off are Tuesday and Wednesday, which can make the actual days seem a little dissorienting. What day is it again? Which day is my FRIDAY, FRIDAY?
Friday, July 8, 2011
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Trail-less Hiking
The destination was a hike called the Eye of the Dragon. With a name like the Eye of the Dragon, it has to be a fantastic place, eh? The day started out with a Moose sighting on the little pond near my cabin. Not a bad way to start a day. We hopped the bus to go down the road in the morning.
Right before being dropped off at our hike what did we see? Why a cluster of 3 grizzly bears! We heard there were bears in the area. I guess this way we knew where they were and could avoid them. We jumped off the bus, skirting around the bears at a safe distance and with caution. The mountains were shining and clouds opening up for the hike. The forecast for the day was looking good.
'Off we were~! Hiking on the tundra with destination in sight. Admiring wildflowers and the landscape. So green and lush. Yet the mountains ahead were a beautiful red/rust and grey color with streaks of white snow coming down. The contrast was stunning!
In the distance we saw something moving. It was a wolf! It was just walking right in front of us. Not paying much attention to us, looking like it had better places to be. So cool! What better wildlife sightings could you ask for? Moose, bear, wolf!
Moving on we started moving up the mountain. Hiking without trails in the tundra is wonderful. You can just go where you want. In a group you are able to walk side by side. Finding a route that suits your fancy.
The mountains were getting closer. We were on the dragon, approaching the eye. The eye of the dragon is a small lake nestled in the mountain. A pristine blue and green clear lake. After enjoying the lake for a few minutes, we decided to go further up the mountain.
We started climbing of the spine of the dragon.
Climbing up the mountain was pretty cool. Wouldn't you know when I got to the top, my camera battery was dead! Urgh!
Heading down the mountain we followed a chute where we skipped around a creek and slid down snow. We rushed down the mountain so we could catch the last bus home. We barely made it. We were on our way back home to the end of the road. Even made it back in time for dinner.
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
Denali National Park
Denali National Park is expansive. It is 6 million acres of protected land, larger than the state of Massachusetts. Most of the park remains unspoiled wilderness. It was made a national park is 1917. To say you could live here your whole life and only see a portion of it is an understatement.
In the park you have the taiga and tundra. Taiga is a Russian word for the northern evergreen forest, refering to the little bit of tree growth up in the Artic Circle. Tundra is an open and vast landscape of dwarfed shrubs and small flowers. The tundra starts at above the tree line (about 2,700 feet) To hike on the Tundra is fantastic. It is wide open and you have spring in your step. Below the tundra and soil is the Permafrost. Permafrost is frozen ground, which has been that way for thousands of years. Plants have to be tough to survive this landscape. But somehow some 650 species of flowering plants have adapted and found a way.
Denali is home to the Big 5 animals. Bears, Caribou, Moose, Wolf, and Dall sheep. Other smaller mammals in the park include fox, weasel, wolverine, lynx, snowshoe hare, marmot, ground squirrel, pika, porcupine, beaver, shrew, vole, and lemming. In total there are 37 mammal species in the park.
The landscape's most impressive feature is the mountain: Denali (aka Mount Mckinley). There has always been a debate over the name of the mountain. While the official name is Mount Mckinley, locals and natives prefer the Athabaskan name of Denali. The Athabascans say that Denali was created by their first ancestor while in battle. He turned his enemies' ocean waves of anger into mountains. The largest mountain he named Denali, meaning the "High One".
But in 1896 a gold rush reporter, William Dickey, named the mountain after presidential candidate Mckinley, who happened to be a supporter of his favorite issue (gold). But the US Board of Geographic Names dictates that no living person can be commemorated. But when the President was assassinated in 1901 the name change become official. Throughout the years many Alaskans and mountain climbers have lobbied to have the name changed back to Denali. In 1975, the Alaska legislature made an official request but it has never been accepted because Congress always has pending legislation to keep the name. It is currently at a stalemate.
Denali is the highest mountain on the North American continent. Looking at the mountain from Wonder Lake (elevation of 2,000 feet) up to the summit of 20,320 feet is a greater vertical relief than that of Mount Everest! Permanent snowfields cover 75% of the mountain.
Only one (mostly dirt) road going through the park. In 1972, to protect visitors and reduce threats to wildlife a bus system was put in use to travel the road. Which is the main way of travel in the park today. I live (and play) at almost the end of the road near Wonder Lake.
There are only a few designated trails in the park. But the majority of the park is trail-less hiking. You just go. It seems a little strange at first. Routing skills, including map and compass are very important. But with such a wide open landscape, finding your way isn't that difficult. Every hike is a true adventure.
The other day I finally got a chance to travel up the road to hike and see more of this vast park. The hike was called Eye of the Dragon. And it was a marvelous day of exploring......
In the park you have the taiga and tundra. Taiga is a Russian word for the northern evergreen forest, refering to the little bit of tree growth up in the Artic Circle. Tundra is an open and vast landscape of dwarfed shrubs and small flowers. The tundra starts at above the tree line (about 2,700 feet) To hike on the Tundra is fantastic. It is wide open and you have spring in your step. Below the tundra and soil is the Permafrost. Permafrost is frozen ground, which has been that way for thousands of years. Plants have to be tough to survive this landscape. But somehow some 650 species of flowering plants have adapted and found a way.
Denali is home to the Big 5 animals. Bears, Caribou, Moose, Wolf, and Dall sheep. Other smaller mammals in the park include fox, weasel, wolverine, lynx, snowshoe hare, marmot, ground squirrel, pika, porcupine, beaver, shrew, vole, and lemming. In total there are 37 mammal species in the park.
The landscape's most impressive feature is the mountain: Denali (aka Mount Mckinley). There has always been a debate over the name of the mountain. While the official name is Mount Mckinley, locals and natives prefer the Athabaskan name of Denali. The Athabascans say that Denali was created by their first ancestor while in battle. He turned his enemies' ocean waves of anger into mountains. The largest mountain he named Denali, meaning the "High One".
But in 1896 a gold rush reporter, William Dickey, named the mountain after presidential candidate Mckinley, who happened to be a supporter of his favorite issue (gold). But the US Board of Geographic Names dictates that no living person can be commemorated. But when the President was assassinated in 1901 the name change become official. Throughout the years many Alaskans and mountain climbers have lobbied to have the name changed back to Denali. In 1975, the Alaska legislature made an official request but it has never been accepted because Congress always has pending legislation to keep the name. It is currently at a stalemate.
Denali is the highest mountain on the North American continent. Looking at the mountain from Wonder Lake (elevation of 2,000 feet) up to the summit of 20,320 feet is a greater vertical relief than that of Mount Everest! Permanent snowfields cover 75% of the mountain.
Only one (mostly dirt) road going through the park. In 1972, to protect visitors and reduce threats to wildlife a bus system was put in use to travel the road. Which is the main way of travel in the park today. I live (and play) at almost the end of the road near Wonder Lake.
There are only a few designated trails in the park. But the majority of the park is trail-less hiking. You just go. It seems a little strange at first. Routing skills, including map and compass are very important. But with such a wide open landscape, finding your way isn't that difficult. Every hike is a true adventure.
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