Going Home....

On our last day, we went rafting on the Nenana River. Two hours of more scenery and class 3 and 4 rapids. No photos, as we could not bring cameras, but it was great fun and a wonderful way to end the vacation. So after 8 terrific days, we boarded the Alaska Railroad one last time in the town of Denali, heading for Anchorage for our flight home the next day. The train travels very slowly so it took about 8 hours for the trip back. We saw more splendid sights.....including a last look at Mt. McKinley. We also saw many rivers filled with Salmon, and lots of tiny cabins along the way where people actually live "on the land", outhouses and all. They hunt for food, lug or pump water, and can only reach their homes by snowmobiles or ATVs. They can flag the train to stop as well....I guess if they have to go to town!!!

I can't say enough about the trip, particularly since I had the wonderful opportunity to be with my Grandson Ian for that amount of time. It is a trip that we will always remember..... and I hope you all enjoyed following us here on the Blog.

Signing off ,

Nancy and Ian

The Alaska Mountain Range

One interesting bit of information about the Alaska Range is how the weather and moisture from the south and east oceans affect the climate there. These two photos were taken within a couple seconds of each other. One out the right side showing the snow and rugged planet and one out the left side showing the greener planet. Apparently the moisture coming in the from oceans can't get over the range (remember the low mountains are 7,000 feet high) so it freezes. On the other side is the warmer climate where in July, the grass is growing. However, there are no snakes anywhere in Alaska, so don't let the green fool you. They also have no rodents to speak of (rats, mice) and the only reptile in the State is a frog that actually freezes solid in the winter and thaws to mate in the Spring!!

I Love these two photos!!!

Getting Out of Denali National Park

When our day ended at the end of the road in Kantishna, we decided we could not take another 7 hour trip by bus back out of the park (with the same views)....so we opted to fly back to the town of Denali where out hotel was. There were 2 seats available, one on each of 2, 5-seater planes. So we split up and off we went. Not only did we get a trip back to the hotel, which should have taken about 30 minutes, we also had a 1.5 hour flightseeing adventure. Since Mt. McKinley was in full view our pilots headed there and were we in for a flight of a lifetime!! These photos came out pretty well, considering they were taken from inside the plane. One the way there were some showers in the low-lands and we captured a rainbow. Then the dramatic shots of the mountains and the glaciers. To keep this in perspective, the lower mountains are 7,000 feet. The mountain with the bid snow slide on it is only 15,000 ft, and Mt. McKinley's highest peak is 20,300 +/- feet. Also keep in mind that there are crazy people down there hiking!!! FYI, that's Ian in the window where the door is on the plane!!

End of the Road in Denali

OK, so at the end of the 95 mile road into Denali, you end up in Kantishna. This isn't really a village but more of a settlement. There is a beautiful lodge and restaurant....but you would not believe how many mosquito's there are there!!! Anyway, we had about a 2 hour break and had the choice of panning for gold or a seminar about dog sledding. We chose the dog sledding event. It was actually very interesting. The young man who made the presentation trains dogs with his father, who won the Iditarod. After the presentation we went outside and he showed us how they spend the summer training the dogs by pulling him on a 4-wheeler. The dogs were so cute...made Ian and I miss our dogs. Interestingly enough, Huskies make the worst sled dogs...they do not like to get wet. I had heard about this before on my last trip to Alaska; that the best dogs are actually "mutts". This family breeds Malmutes with Laboradore Retrievers, and in some cases Irish Setters. He also said that they always use border collies for the front runners, and they are the most intelligent in learning the commands. Incidently, no one says "mush"!!!!

Trip into Denali National Park/Forest

Hello there....

You might say we saw the Denali Park the hard way...on a modified school bus. Hard being the description of the seats!! But actually it is the only way. The only thing modified were the windows..which are slightly larger for viewing. The bus tour consists of a journey of 95 miles in one road, and back out again. The road is mostly compressed gravel, maintained by the park services. They cannot have any pavement, as the perma frost is only 6-9 inches from the surface, so the asphalt will constantly heave. It was crunchy....as bumpy and I was reminded of my childhood, and car-sickness. Yuck. And this was a 7 hour trip...ONE WAY!! We did see lots of wildlife. And the most impressive views were those of Mt. McKinley which was in full view throughout the day.

The first photo above was a view from a rest stop. The brown mountains have copper and iron, but there is no longer any mining allowed. The grizzly photo was taken with my zoom lens, but I needed something more powerful. They are so far away from the road, getting a good shot is difficult. The snow shoe hare has already turned brown for the summer, and the little ranger station was at the base of the Savage river.

Here are some photos of the day.......

Pictures from Denali

Our Final Days in Alaska

Well I couldn't access blogger yesterday or the day before, so no update until tonight. I have a few photos to post but will post more tomorrow when we get home!!! Since our last post we spent one day in Talkeenkna. Here our hotel looked out directly to Mt. McKinley, which was hidden by clouds....which is the case 70% of the time. We took a flight out to the mountain range, but couldn;t get up into the see the big One!! So that was a failure... a non-refundable one.
We then took another bus North again to Denali. The most impressive event was the all day trip into Denali national Park (in a modified school bus), and saw 7 Grizzly bears and lots of other animals. Really great. We opted to fly out of the park (about 100 miles), but the flight took us all around the Alaska range and right up to Mt McKinley. It was incredible...pictures can't capture it, but we tried. Then today we did a 20 mile run of Class 3 and 4 rapids on the Nanena River. It was great, although we were both a little nervous when they briefed us before, and all they talked about was flipping over and falling out of the raft, and how to swim and assume a position so your legs don't get broken on the rocks under the water. It wasn't that bad, and it was 2 hours on the river, through the most beautiful canyons. We did get wet...me more than Ian of course, and it was cold 33 degree water. So obviously I don't have any photos, but they did take one of our boat, which I bought. It was a great experience.

We have had beautiful weather every day. In the high 60's and clear.....while you are all suffering back home....sorry. In any evnt it was perfect for these activities. The only place we had sprinkles was at the glacier in Kenai.

Nancy & Ian