The Covered Wagon trip

Wednesday was a day to get caught up on laundry and cleaning. We also planned a covered wagon tour at 5:30, that would take us on a ride into the woods and feed us at a cabin. It was a fun thing to do and the people were great, as was the food, wine and fruit cobbler (all you can eat). The ride was better than we anticipated, really because we had a cute little 3 and half year old girl entertaining us the whole time. On the way back we saw a coyote going down one of the side trails. After the covered wagon ride we decided to have a beer at the 49^th State Brewery where the bus used in the movie, “Into the Wild.” is on display. So we did get a closer picture of the bus, which has some copies of letters written by Chris McCandless. Another nice day in Denali National Park!!

Coyote

Healy, Alaska on Tuesday, 7/19/2011

Decided to have an easy day after our bus ride of 8 hours yesterday. On the way to Healy we saw a trailer on fire, no one was in it, but the trailer was not going to be lived in again. Healy is about 3 miles from the campground and we looked at the bus, the brewery wasn't open till 3, that was used in the movie “Into the Wild.” written about Chris McCandless, the one who died trying to live free from society, 20 miles into the tundra. The real bus is still out there and can be seen if you want to hike 20 miles and cross a dangerous river. Healy is a very small town, we found the post office and mailed my sister a birthday present. There really isn't much to see in Healy and decided to go to Denali Park and have a nice lunch and do some shopping. We ate at the Denali Park Salmon Bake and had a great meal of halibut and chowder. The place slants and is the oldest building of the Park strip, but the food is very good. We did some shopping after our lunch and I wanted to by the moose hat but Suzanne vetoed it:(

We decided to have ice cream for dinner and take a drive into the park at 8 pm. We drove 15 miles into the park with the hope of seeing some animals. No luck except for some dall sheep. Seeing the sun go down gives you some different looks at the scenery. On the way back to our campground we did see a mouse and her baby. So the drive wasn't a waste.

Going to Eielson Vistior Center in Denali National Park

We decided to take the 8 hour bus ride, 132 mile round trip into the park. You can only get there by hiking or bus, so you can understand why we took the bus. We left at 9:30 and it was a rainy, cold and  dreary day. But at least we were being chauffeured by Manuel. The bus was full and we loaded up and headed up 66 miles into the park. After 15 miles the road turns to gravel and with the rain it didn't take long for the windows on the bus to get dirty. But with every potty stop we got out and cleaned the windows. We saw several wolves, they stayed in the road and didn't care about the buses, caribou, dall sheep and a grizzly bear. Not bad for a rainy day! But the best was the SNOW!! We made the 66 mile trip to the Eielson Visitor Center and the snow started. It was a lot of snow and stayed on the ground and mountain side. It made Suzanne and I feel giddy and we went out and played and took pictures. It really made the trip worthwhile and fun for us Florida folks. Of course there was no seeing Mt. McKinley on a day like today. We got back to our truck around 6, what a great trip of seeing animals and SNOW.
This was a fun day and one we really enjoyed!!

Dall Sheep

Very heavy antlers!!

Had to wear my jacket, Very Cold!!

they like the road

Grizzly Bear (click to make bigger)

Visiting the Denali National Park

Today we drove as far as you are allowed in your own vehicle to take a hike. We hiked the Savage River Loop a 2 mile hike along the river. There were lots of other hikers on the trail and finding a parking spot was harder than the hike:) It gave us some pretty views and the river water is so clear. We also hiked another trail that gave us a good view of the area. It was a little more challenging and helped raise our heart rates. We had packed a lunch and were sitting in the truck when we saw a caribou coming down the road. The caribou had some very large antlers and was being followed by 2 tour buses. It finally got off the road and went into the valley. We watched it with binoculars until it vanished. This was our first caribou sighting and we hope we see more of them tomorrow. On the way out of the park we stopped to see the Sled Dogs. It just so happened they were having a demonstration as we got there. We got to learn how the sled dogs are used during the winter doing backcountry patrols. The dogs favorite temperature is minus 10 degrees, I can only imagine liking that kind of weather.
We had a great day and even visited the tourist shops in town. Another fun time in Alaska!!

Denali National Park on Saturday, 07/16/2011

We made it to Denali National Park, the drive was an easy one. We saw a place for sale, the Igloo, if any one is interested. Not sure what it was at one time, but a cool looking place. The clouds were out so we were not able to see Mt. McKinley on the drive. The Denali area has lots of restaurants and shops to buy the tourist items. We are staying at the Denali RV Park which is a pretty nice park with full hookups and some very nice workers. It is about 8 miles from the park entrance. To stay in the park you must dry camp and since we are staying a week decided against it. I had to back into the site and got it right the second time, I must be getting better:)) We went over to the parks visitors centers and made our reservations to Eielson Visitor Center which is 66 miles into the park. You can only get there by bus, as your not allowed to drive your vehicle any further than 15 miles into the park. That should be a fun 8 hour drive on Monday, to see the animals and maybe get a glimpse of Mt. McKinley.
Please remember David in your prayers as he is on a mission in Iraq.

Going to Denali

We left Seward and started the trek to Denali. We stopped for 2 days north of Willow at the Mat-Su Rv Park. This is a nice park with good wifi. The next day we went to Talkeetna a small little tourist town which can have great views of Mt. McKinley. We were very luck as the sky was very clear. We stopped at a turnout which gave us spectacular views of Mt. McKinley. There were a lot of people stopping and taking advantage of the clear view. After taking lots of pictures we drove on to Talkeetna a small town of 600. This town is the jumping-off point for most climbing expeditions to Mt. McKinley. Most climbers start at the Kahiltna Glacier at 7,200 ft and continue on to the summit of the South Peak at 20,320 ft. We saw a movie at the ranger station of climbing the mountain and it really is amazing that men and women tackle this mountain, the largest in North America. We enjoyed the town and had a great lunch at the Roadhouse. After lunch we went back to look at Mt. Mckinley but the clouds had blocked it's view. We were told that only 30% of the visitors actually get to see Mt. McKinley. But we were in the 30% and really enjoyed being able to see this masterpiece!!

On to Denali on Saturday:))

Our last 2 days in Seward

After our long day yesterday, Monday, we decided to relax and catch up on things. In the afternoon we took a drive around to the other side of Seward. We found a boat yard and the largest employer of Seward, the prison.
On Wednesday we were ready to tackle Mt. Marathon.

History of the race at Mt. Marathon:

Every 4th of July since 1908 there is a runners race that goes up Mt Marathon. The race begins downtown, on Fourth and Jefferson, in front of the First National Bank, and ends a block south of where it began, on Fourth and Adams. The halfway point is a stone marker^[1] atop Mount Marathon, 3022 feet (921 m) above sea level, and a mile and a half from the finish line. The total race course distance is about 3.1 miles (5 kilometers). Leading racers will typically reach the peak from the starting line in 33–40 minutes, and reach the finish line from the peak in 10–15 minutes. Average speed uphill is 2 mph. Average speed downhill is 12 mph. It is not uncommon for the racers who finish to cross the finish line injured or bleeding and covered in mud.
Well we found the place where the runners start to climb the mountain but it was way too steep for Suzanne and I. So we headed over to where the jeep trail goes up the mountain. This trail is also steep and as before our Stress test was free. The climb is very steep for a long way and we were only going to a section where we left the runners trail and go to a waterfall that can be seen from the main highway in Seward. We made it to this junction and continued on for about a half mile until we got a little worried about BEARS.  A decision was made and it was the correct one to go back to the truck. I forgot to mention when we started the trail we saw someone who had just come down from the trail and she said "do you have a gun or bear spray?" well we have neither.  We made it back to the truck unharmed and still felt we had a good hike.
We went back to the waterfront, had lunch and watched through the binoculers as a few people were making it to the top. I can't even imagine trying to make that climb!

On to Willow, Alaska tomorrow.

where the runners enter the mountain

view from our hikes highest point

Bald Eagles Nest