Back in Vermont

 It's been about a week and 1/2 since we have been home.  Establishing ourselves back into a more routine life has been slow.  As you can expect, after actively planning our Alaska trip for a year, and even mentally planning for many years before, now that it is over we have spent time processing it and refocusing on our Vermont life.  First, sleeping has been important and Ira came back with a cold (typical with traveling).  We have talked about a few things to share if others think about Alaska.  Most have already been stated, but here are a few others:

1. Loving it:  Be prepared to want to go back or maybe no leave!   We can only say, if we had visited when we were 18, be probably would not have come back to Vermont.  Vermont is amazing!  It is home and my heart lives here.  But, Alaska inspired something more wild in us - it is so alive, majestic and remote. Life is lived on a grander scale. 

2.  Know where you are going: Do plan ahead and do your research.  There are not many places for lodging, so plan and reserve ahead.  That said, there are enough remote locations that if you want to tent it anywhere, you can do that! 

3.  Food Planning:  Food costs a lot!  You can save money by preparing some, or all, of your own meals and carrying your own snacks.  If you have a car, stop and buy a Styrofoam cooler and keep it packed with ice and throw food in it.  Everything was much more expensive even seafood caught on the dock (example:  Subway sub - in Vt. $5 or so - in AK $6.50 - $8; dinners were around $30 for the main course; loaf of bread - $6.00 in some places).  

4.  Stores: Unless you are in Anchorage or larger towns, there are NOT grocery stores on every corner like the lower 48!  There may be very, very small stores - some of which may not even be easily recognized as a store - but substantial supplies all around are not there.  There re not many road in Alaska, and most are remote.  If you are out touring, carry with you what you will need for the day.

5.  Tourists:  We were told Alaska had tourists.  We never could have imagined how many!  They rely on tourists as their major industry.  Tour buses are everywhere.  If we were going to stop anywhere, we made sure there were no tour buses, or two, or three, only because we knew it would be very busy.  One day, we stopped into a grocery store outside of Talkeetna (the only one by the way) and buses of tourists were inside getting their lunches.  Busy!!!

6. Leaning about Local Life:  Ira and I are quite laid back in our manner of dress.  Hiking clothes and boots (preferably dirty) are our most comfortable attire.   What this attire did for us in Alaska was to allow us to blend in to the "locals."  We found the locals chatted with us a great deal, just as if we were a local.  It was interesting as the real locals were exceptionally nice to everyone, tourists certainly.  But, when we were standing near the locals, they seemed to roll us right into the conversation: "Sure was a hot summer, wasn't it?",  "Did you hear about XXX down the road?", etc.  The difference was ever so slight, but it was there and it was fun.  Frankly, we kind of felt more like we belonged there and didn't really feel like a tourist.  We attribute that to our years and years of reading and researching Alaska.  It helped in making us very comfortable there.

7.  Attire:  DO NOT bother with any dress clothes - that is if you really want to see Alaska!  We went to a couple of VERY nice restaurants when we were there for dinner and we wore jeans (okay they were our dress jeans with no holes!) as did many other people.  Dress for cool/ not so warm/ and wet!  Anything goes as long as you dress casually. And, I highly recommend backpacks!  Yes, we always carry ours, but even walking around a wildlife preserve, a backpack will carry your clothing layers, food, sun glasses and camera! 

8. Reading:  If you are a reader, we had a lot of fun on the rainy days looking at books by local authors.  As with Vermont being a haven or artists and writers, so is Alaska.  We both found great books by Alaskans. 

There are so many aspects of Alaska we could share, but these are a few that have come to mind since we came back from there. 

Note:  We are already talking about the next time we go to Alaska.  Alaska has us - heart and soul.  That said, it's good to be home, too. 

Denali World - August 29, 2013 - Our last day of Denali

Our time at Denali has been inspiring.  We are already talking about our next trip and what we will do differently, or the same.  At the end of this trip, when we have time to compile our thoughts and take-aways from this trip, we will share them.  We believe there may be very help ideas for others who may decide to adventure to our nation's last frontier. 

However, our last day at Denali we spent the day on our own, not on the park buses.  As mentioned in an earlier post, you can only go about 15 miles into the park without a bus, permit or other special circumstances.  But, a lot can happen in 15 miles. 

We went into the park 2 times on this day.  One time in the morning to spend time at a spot at the end of the 15 mile drive by Savage River.  We remembered there was a hike there we wanted to take.  So, we packed up our lunch and snacks and our hiking gear and set out.  On our way up, Ira caught sight of the sun hitting a bull moose's antler, so we pulled over.  We saw a huge bull moose, but it was quite far away.  Then we noticed a female (cow) with the bull, and another bull, too.   So we patiently watched them for almost an hour. 

During that time, a couple of Alaskan ladies stopped, obviously set up with very nice camera gear, to observe with us.  I got into a conversation with them and they both have husbands on the military base in Anchorage and one was a photographer.  We immediately clicked and we had a wonderful talk sharing stories.  I was telling the ladies that I've never encountered such kind, generous people as Alaska has.  They said they hear that all the time.  One told me she felt because there were so few people, that you embrace people more easily.  The other woman told me she thought maybe it was because whoever lived in Alaska really wanted to be there and were happy.  We exchanged business cards and promised to be in touch with each other.  They would actually like to come to Vermont to photograph fall foliage.  Also, during our conversation, they told me a photographer had told them the night before, in the same location we were standing in, a bunch of folks saw about 13 bull moose!  That was a nice encounter.  I do love the Alaskan people. 

Back to the moose story, which this time, wasn't spectacular.  It was nice watching the huge creatures, though they were such a distance away, I really could not photograph them with my small camera.  We really needed to get close enough to get some good photos. 

But, along the way into the park, we viewed more dall sheep then ever.  They were everywhere.  They are really hard to photo, too, because they are always waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay up there! 

When Ira and I got to Savage River, we did hike.  And because we were alone at the time, we made lots of talking and chatter so we did not startle any bear that might have been around.  This is rather funny, because Ira and I normally hike and are quite quiet, so this was a change for us.  I kept nervously chatting as we walked making sure anything around would know we were in the area.  I suppose I would get used to this, but it does making hiking less relaxing.  That said, the surrounds made up for my nervousness of predators.

Looking right straight up along the trail.

Ira, was much less worried about bear  than I was!  Savage River flows behind him.

So many of the water flows in Alaska have braided rivers where the water changes its course as it rises and falls with snow and rain.

After our hike, we sat by the river and watched the dall sheep up on the hillside.  We brought our reading books with us and just sat out in the beauty for a while reading. 

Once done, we started back down the road, and came upon another bull moose sighting.  This bull wasn't as big as others we saw, and again, was too far to get any good shots.  But, we did decide that we wanted to come back to the park later to try to see a good, up close bull moose.  So, we went back to our cabin, showered up, did our souvenir shopping.  Once done, we grabbed a pizza and went back to the park and had a picnic.  We didn't see much but stopped every mile or so to scan the areas for moose.  We went all the way to the end of the 15 miles, back to Savage River, and turned about to come back out of the park without much luck.  Other than, we agreed that Denali is like the Grand Canyon again in that it changes with the change of light.  So it was wonderful to see such spectacular light changes. 

And, we had another sighting where way off in the distance there were a couple of cows and again, a couple of bull moose, but too far to photograph.  All fun to watch, though.

Then it happened!  We came around a corner and a car was parked with a gentleman saying, "Bull moose, bull moose!"  We stopped and pulled over.  Sure enough, there he was!!!  The one we waited for!  At first, we could only see his antlers.  As you can see here, he still is in velvet except for some spots he is starting to scrape down.  Notice how HUGE the rack it.  That speaks to his age and size.

Here he is with ONE of several cows he had in the area.  I think we counted 4 or more right there!!!!

The bull was rocking his head back and forth here, demonstrating there was another bull in the area, but at this point, we couldn't see another one YET!!!

Very hard to realize how huge these critters are, but trust us, they are mammoth!

Within minutes of our stopping to view this moose (not kidding here, minutes!) over 30 (Ira thinks 35) cars showed up and I am telling you, we had never seen so many big, money cameras in our lives.  People were standing on roofs of vehicles with huge scopes, cameras and more gear than I had ever seen.  It was like a major event was happening, camera people running everywhere anticipating where this bull was going.  And Ira and I were there with our little point and shoot.  Now, if we got these photos...you can image what those guys got!  In talking with them, they were professional photographers who also heard about the nightly viewing.   The park buses were stopping, it was quite a sight how many people were watching this bull.  That said, a bull of that size was rare and the pros told us so.  The bull began rocking his head back and forth and one of the pros told us there had to be another bull around as that is what they do with other bulls come by.  And sure enough, another big (not as big as this guy) bull showed up, though by this time the sun was beginning to sink a little making it hard to photo (9PM at night) and nobody could really get photos, but we saw him. There must have been about 4 or more cows in that area, too. 

As the bulls moved away and the light got harder and hard to view them, the crowd broke up.  Camera equipment went back into cars and trucks and we were all on our way having seen just exactly what we came for!  We were so happy we were able to observe so closely these creatures.  We see plenty of moose in Vermont, but they are nothing like these. 

Denali was really, really good to us.

They told us, that only 30% of the people who enter the park EVER get to see Denali the mountain.  Not only did we see it in 100% clear weather, we saw it that way for 3 days!  And, we saw MOST of it another day (90% of the time it was clear).  Around here, they actually sell t-shirts for a 30% club, for those who get to see Denali on a clear day.  That was not a t-shirt for us, as we saw it for FOUR days in a row.  And the wildlife gifts we received from all of our sightings were beyond words.  We are so happy we had such a marvelous time after enduring the soaking rain we had.  It turn out well.

Denali was, indeed, really, really good to us. 

Today (8/28) we arrived back at Anchorage and we fly out tomorrow for home.  It is a night flight so we won't be back until Friday morning. 

We welcome coming home as it is where our heart is, but we will leave a bit of us behind in Alaska.  We will pick that bit up when we go back again! 

See you in Vermont!

The Vermonters Going to Alaska!

Denali National Park - August 26, 2013 - America's Wonder!

Just when I thought I had taken all the photos of Denali I possibly could, a view such as this punches me.  When in Denali National Park, and after traveling about 50 miles into the park, you come up over a very steep series of switchbacks in the road and as you hit the height of land, this view is in your face.  As you stand on this rise, before you below is a huge valley sweeping far to your right and left painted in beautiful golds and greens.  But the cream of the view is Denali and its smaller partnering mountains in front of you which will completely take your breath away.  This was like being at the Grand Canyon, for me.  You hear everyone telling you the Grand Canyon cannot be explained in words or photos.  Well, this view, this national part, this Denali cannot be described in words or photos.  To me, this was the most beautiful view of Denali we have seen - barring some of the close ups from the plane.

Denali National Park is truly a place I could call home!  This 600 million acre wonder is truly a world of its own.  The size cannot be imagined and in a lifetime, you could not explore all corners of this expansive park.  "Park" does not seem the appropriate word - "World" would more appropriately describe this world of its own.  Around every corner is another magnificent vista that is indescribable.  Here are some samples.

This is a braided river.  In the spring it will be full.

Denali is exposed in various places and around many turns on the Denali park road.

Now, let's show you the wildlife.  So far, we seen about 6 moose (and they ARE much, much bigger in Alaska!), but we didn't get great photos yet.  I say yet, because we are going to try a place later this evening where the moose are congregating.  A local told us that 13 bull moose were together early evening, last, so we are going to try.

Yes, we are so happy to say, we saw grizzly!  Aka: Alaskan Brown Bear.  We saw four on our first trip into the park.  This is one photo of about 30 I have of this big boy, who actually came right up to the park road and by the bus we riding in.  OMG.  They are massive even though this photo doesn't express that.  

Golder Eagle.  We have seen 3 so far.

Another brown bear.  They all were interested in fattening up for the season.  Grazing on berries and rodents.

Caribou.  We have seen a dozen or more.

Ground squirrels by the dozens.

More Dall Sheep than you can imagine! 

We didn't see a wolf, but they are extremely recluse, so we were not shocked by that.   Grizzlies were really what we want to to see!  Score.

Now, our hike!   He were thrilled to have hiked Mt. Thoro, a 4300 foot mountain which is at the Eilson Visitor Center at mile 66 on the park road.  When our bus got to the Eilson Center, the hiking trails were closed as there were 3 grizzlies in the area

Here is one of the grizzly bear that was preventing the hiking trail from being opened.  The rangers keep all people away and wait until the bear clear the area.  We waited for about 1 hour for the bear to wander away and they finally opened the trail.  So, we took off!

This is the mountain we hike - STRAIGHT up!

View as we got higher.

Cindy on the top!

Ira on the top!

View from the top of Denali.

The Building below is the Eilson Center which is where we started our hike.

Ira on the way down.

Cindy coming down the trail.

Before we were able to hike, the rangers had to discuss with us bear safety measures, which the park take extremely seriously.  You are coached numerous times at every stop, by every ranger and bus driver, how to act during a bear encounter.  The key is NEVER run!  Well, thankfully, I did not have to test my guts, as I'm just not sure if I could stand where watching a huge bear running at me.  As it is a matter of life or death, I think I probably would have frozen!  That being said, though we had to remain alert, we hiked nonetheless.  Overcame some fear there.  Whew!

 Some park signs had to have nails driven into them, preventing the brown bear from grabbing them and tearing them apart.  Ouch if they tried now!

They day we went into the park, it was 24 degrees!  Note the frost on the deck of one overlook.   There is only 15 miles that is open to cars.  The rest, is accessible by bus (or with permits or if you are in certain areas).  You must purchase a bus ticket to one of many stops along the park road.  Wonder Lake is the farthest at about 90 miles.  We stopped at Eilson Center which is at 66 miles.  It took us 12 hours round trip for our journey as we got off and hiked.  There are so many buses coming and going, you can hop back on a bus when you are ready to leave.  But, that said, below is a photo of the height of the road (some falling directly off 1000 feet or more) and how narrow they are.  Now imagine 2 buses meeting on that road!  It was terrifying at times.  There truly was a matter of inches (and few at that) between the buses.  They know exactly how far they had to get over, wait for one bus to get 1/2 way by, and then the first bus could inch by.  The skill of the drivers was amazing.  I was thankful when we got off the really scarey section of the highway.  Wow...that scared me more than the darn bear!

There is so much more to write, but for not, that's it.  Got to go grab some dinner so we can go watch for moose.  

Loving Alaska.

Denali National Park - August 25, 2013

Today we had a breathtaking trip to Denali National Park.   We have had a long day so this post will be short.  Tomorrow, we have a full day planned going into Denali National Park, so we may not post tomorrow either.  Our bus into the park leaves at 6:30 AM and we don't anticipate being back until late.  Be watching, we'll catch up! 

Cindy on a short hike when we arrived.

Ira watching for "the big ones."  Warnings are around about moose being in rut and to be cautious.

When Alaska is good, it is really good! August 24, 2013

Finally, yesterday, the weather started to improve - thankfully.  Today was one of those days when you can forget about the poor weather we experienced in the past days.  It was truly spectacular today.    This was what we saw from our deck this morning at the cabin we are staying at in Talkeetna. 

Denali is the highest peak in the US and is the king of the Alaskan Range of mountains.

The Alaskan Range travels 700 miles from Canada to Cook Inlet. 

We took our Grand Denali flying trip this morning and were blessed with great views even from the road.

Denali at road level.

We arrived at Talkeetna Air Taxi at 10:45 this morning for an 11:15 flight.  We were directed by the pilot to board our DeHavilland Beaver (it held 7 of us including the pilot).  There was space for 1 person WAY in the tail of the plane, and then each row held a pair of folks.  Guess who got the tail seat all my herself???  Yup, me.  Miss Plane-Scaredy-Pants!  I swallowed and climbed up ALONE into the tail of the plane!  Ira, meanwhile, got to sit beside the pilot in the extreme front.  Okay, so I am thinking, "When we go down, how the hell am I going to grab him?"   A little voice said, "Forget it lady, you won't and you are going down alone!"  That other voice began chirping, "Happy thoughts, Cindy, happy thoughts!"  So I put on my big-girl pants and behaved cool.  On the outside.

Cindy's View - BUT, I did have a tiny air vent in the window that I opened for fresh air.  And, I was able to see completely out of the left and right of the plane!  

I continued to say my little flying mantra and we were off!  These guys take off one right after the other and there are many, many flights around Denali in the day.  I'd guess about every 15 minutes another flight takes off and one returns.  Keep in mind, that is only when the weather cooperates.

We started by crossing the 3 major rivers here in Talkeetna that converge in the town.  They are very wide, and right now because of the rain, very muddy. Then we flew over great expanses of country that was overgrown with low shrubbery, which is indicative of the Alaskan landscape and which also holds much of their massive mosquito population.  Most of their mountains are barren at the top without the vegetation we know in New England (except the very highest peaks). 

Then things began to get more rugged!

The "Little Alps" are a set of mountains in the Alaskan Range that are used by rock climbers.  When we got up to them, they really looked like the Alps (at least how I've seen them in photos!).

Glaciers were plentiful.   We saw them in every stage of progression; from the beginning of the glacier to the end of the glacier which was mostly stone and lakes.  They were incredible.

We entered the area which is known as "base camp" for those who climb Denali in May through July.  After that, the ice becomes unsafe as it begins to shift and form crevasses which are dangerous.  Below you can see where the tent city was, when during the busy months, there would be hundreds of tents set up here waiting for the push to Denali.  You can see the crevasses forming below from summer ice melting as well as a new lake which formed.

And there it was - Denali.  It seemed close enough to touch, but we were still quite far away from it.  Here are several shots of it from various locations as we toured around the monster of a mountain.

We explored nooks and crannies of the mountain and our pilot explained much of the hiking history of the mountain - where the successes were and where the hiking failures were, as well.  And he showed us where the various routes up the mountain are and those one should NOT even consider!

But, one of my favorite parts of the trip was when we started navigating between mountains and it was so magical feeling like a bird between the rock faces of huge mountains!

As we were heading out of the huge mountain range, I saw this little mountain (little mountain which was probably 12,000 feet) poking out of a cloud.  

As we were ending our tour around the mountain, the wind picked up and the ride got a bit bumpy.  Enough so that I stopped taking photos and hung on.  When we took off from the airport, the pilot briefed us on where all the emergency gear was, and I replayed that back in my mind.  We had tents, sleeping bags, food, etc., in the plane in case we went down.  Whew!  But, I still hung on!  

The ride back was rougher than the ride to the mountain, and there is a funny story about that.  Yesterday, we called and made flight arrangements for a 3:45 PM flight on the 24th.  Well, we got up and it was so beautiful out and I was so excited, I called them to see if we could get on an earlier flight.  My mind was saying, "Why run the risk of bad weather coming in...go NOW!"  All of us who love and live in the mountains, know weather changes on a dime in the mountains and I knew Denali, especially, had that reputation.  So, I wanted to go NOW.  We called and could get in earlier (11:15).  As I said, our ride home was bumpy because the wind picked up.  As the day progressed, the wind really picked up!  So, I was sooooooo happy we had gone earlier when the winds were less active.  The entire day has provided for spectacular view of Denali, but our smooth ride (most of it) was a blessing.  Well planned and executed on our part!

This is our last night in Talkeetna, Alaska.  We move on tomorrow morning to Denali National Park and our stay at the Denali River Cabins and Lodge.  The weather is supposed to hold out for the next couple of days which is PERFECT!!!  

Be watching on news from Denali National Park.