Alaska: Days 12 - 21

Wow...a lot has happened and a lot of time has passed since I last posted a message here. We did end up going rafting on the Wilderness Run (the scenic raft) because the water levels were too low for the Canyon Run (which provides the class 3 and 4 rapids). It was pretty fun...in fact, getting into the dry suits was extremely fun...it made us feel like we were going to go deep sea diving or something!!! I worked Saturday, Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday from 4 a.m. to 2 p.m., which is mostly why it's been so long since I've posted anything...I even went to bed early a couple of those days!!!

When Wednesday morning came around, I slept in until 8:30 and went to the dining room so we could get a good breakfast before they closed, and a buddy of mine came up to me and asked if I would go backpacking with him that day since we had the same three days off. We had talked about it for about 2 minutes a couple days prior, but that was the first time I had ever talked to him, and I hadn't seen him since, so I was not planning on going and even declined at first...but I thought more about it and decided I might as well explore the park while I wasn't working so we headed out into the Denali Backcountry on 1.5 hours of preparation...I borrowed a ton of stuff from my neighbors and we set out to Sanctuary River (Mile 29 in the park) and hiked south for about 14 miles through areas rarely touched by man. We walked through forests on moss-covered ground, through big fields of little trees that scratched the heck out of ya, through some snow, some river, over rocks, marshes...pretty much every type of terrain known to me. It was exhausting, and we set up camp up on a ridge prior to reaching our destination...partly because it was snowing on us quite a bit during the hike...it was freezing that night, but I had borrowed a really nice sleeping bag and stayed warm...the next morning we hiked to the top of the little mountain we camped on and saw some Dall Sheep before we headed back down with the plan of heading back toward the road and camping one more night. On the way back, though, we stayed closer to the river and the hiking was much easier even though it snowed off and on all day on us, meaning we made much better time, and by the time I saw the road, I decided that we were going to book it to the road to catch a bus before we had to set up camp again...we made it, and both of us were glad to get on the bus and back to warmth...once on the bus, the sun came out from the clouds and the temperature and weather has been great ever since!!! Wouldn't you know it?!?

I didn't do a whole lot the rest of my time off...went to the post office, the sled dogs again, hiked Montana Creek Trail and hung out with some friends. I started working again Saturday, Sunday, and today. I have tomorrow and Wednesday off because another guy has a birthday coming up and wanted my days this week, so I'm not sure what I'll do tonight...it depends on what everyone else is doing, I suppose and what days they have off this week. Oh, and I guess I forgot to say that a group of us went to Parkside last night and played Bingo...they've decided that I have made our group into "the wholesome group" because we were the only ones (along with an older lady) playing BINGO for the first half hour, but then others started to join in. Other than that, I guess all I have to say is that life is good in Alaska, and I've been bantering with some Missouri and Kansas fans that I've driven around on my van lately...and that's always fun!!!

Days 7 - 11 (Mon - Fri)

These pics are from our hike on Sugarloaf Mountain...the building you can see on the left (in the forested area) is the McKinley Chalets where I am working.

Hey everybody! I haven't been around the computer that much this week, but it's been pretty fun. I did hike Mt. Healy on Monday like I planned...but what I didn't plan was for the hike to kick my butt...I thought I was in decent shape, but I got to the top and was huffing and puffing quite a bit...and then realized that there were better views about a half-mile farther along the ridge (which was also uphill some)...the sucky part? I FORGOT MY CAMERA!!! So I guess all that means is I have to get my butt kicked again when I decide to go back, but I will never forget my camera again! It was an awesome sight, though.

Tuesday was my first day of driving without another person on board...it was pretty fun, and I heard quite a few funny stories from older people...After I got off work around 2:30, I took a nap and just hung out with some people.

I don't really remember what happened Wednesday because all of the days run together up here due to the fact that there is virtually no change in daylight and we just know how many days we have off before we have to work...we've come up with the conclusion that the month and day don't really matter up here. Oh, actually there is a really cool story about what happened Wednesday night! I haven't done any running since I've been up here, and since I no longer play 2-3 hours of basketball a night (which I miss), I decided I should probably go on a run. The plan was to run to the Jonesville Trail, up the trail itself, and then to the Wilderness Access Center (WAC) and back. It would have been roughly a 4-mile run, uphill on the way there and downhill on the way back. However, I ran into a group of four people, two elderly and two middle-aged, between the Jonesville Trail and the WAC. They stopped me and asked how to get back to the Princess Lodge (which neighbors the place I work at) because the company never sent them a shuttle that was promised to take them back to their hotel. So I paused my run and told them I would walk them back to the lodge so they wouldn't get lost and because the old lady had trouble walking. We talked for a while and once we crossed a bridge, the lady decided she wasn't able to walk up the one big hill before their lodge (probably a half-mile walk to the lodge), so I told them to sit on the bench while I ran to the Princess to get a shuttle. When I reached the Princess the front desk lady said they didn't have any shuttles running and she would have to try and find a person who was certified to drive a van to pick them up and didn't think she could do it. I told her I could run to my hotel and get a shuttle to pick them up, but she thought that would be tacky and decided she could make the effort to get them a shuttle...so I ran back to the group of four and a van was just pulling in to pick them up when I got there so I waved good bye and started running back to the lodges. When I got to the Princess, the van was waiting for me and the people wanted to pay me, which I turned down several times until the lady said they refused to leave until I took it. She handed me some folded money, and I thanked them and ran back to my lodge, at which point I looked at what they gave me, and it was $40 for doing virtually nothing...I felt bad, but I guess everyone came out okay...I just thought they were really nice people for doing that...

Anyway, a couple of us hiked Sugarloaf Mountain yesterday. It was a lot easier than Healy and was pretty cool, but it was extremely cloudy and rained a little so pictures weren't that great. The white water rafting is starting up today so a few of us have talked about either hiking or going on those today and tomorrow because a lot of us have today off and all of the people we hang out with (with the exception of one) work mornings and are off by early afternoon. That's pretty much all I have for right now...hope everything's going well back home. Love ya all!!!

KB

Day 6: Glacier Landing and the Salmon Bake

Sunday was an AMAZING day!!! I woke up early and checked in with my boss to see what he wanted me to do, and after I helped him run an errand to get a sprinter (our 15 passenger bus), he told me to get into the park and see a lynx because everyone's been seeing them recently, even though they're extremely rare. I was going to do this, but I checked in the activities office to see if I could get a complimentary excursion somewhere, and they hooked me up with Fly Denali and a glacier landing tour! I jumped on that opportunity and managed to not mind the semi-bumpy, hour-long, plane ride to the glacier and back. It was AWESOME!!! We stopped on the Ruth Glacier, I believe, and I took about 100 pictures and a couple of videos...we got a glimpse of Mt. McKinley, but it was pretty cloudy so we never got a good shot of it. Pictures will explain the incredible plane ride much better than I can, so I'll post my favorites. I think I'm going to hike to the Mt. Healy overlook today, and if it's pretty clear up there, I might get to see McKinley today, but I've been told it's about a 3.5 hour hike one-way and lots of water is needed.

Also, last night after supper, a group of us went up to the Salmon Bake, the local bar/hangout spot for everybody, really, but it's "the young folk" who enjoy it the most. We didn't stay too long because we had minors, but it was a pretty cool little place. Beer is like gold up here (more so than anywhere else I've been)...at the Salmon Bake Miller High Life goes for $3.75, Bud Light and the similar goes for $4.75 or more, and the local store that sells alcohol will give you a 6-pack of good beer for $10 or a 12-pack of crappy beer for $10...needless to say, everyone's drinking crappy beer--in fact, if you don't get up the hill right after the trucks come in, Natty-Ice and Natty-Light sells out before you even have a chance...

Big Gulps, eh? Welp, see ya later!

Pictures From Yesterday's Hike (a lot of the snow is starting to melt...)

Days 3-5:

Not a whole lot has been going on these last three days. We've been training every day, which really means a lot of we've been going over a lot of protocol and safety sessions...for example, if we spill a tablespoon of water, we are supposed to run immediately to get a towel and clean the area...very difficult stuff considering I'm never going to be carrying water. Anyway, we got all of the formal training out of the way and have been shadowing a couple of the drivers up here. I went on my "drive test" yesterday with Beau (my boss). I basically drove him up to Healy, where he showed me all of the different hot spots of the 300-person town, but it was a really cool drive that left the canyon and drove past some pretty awesome scenery. I actually got in the sprinter (our van) today and shuttled some guests today...one group wanted to go to Healy to Saturday mass, so we went up there and were unable to find the church...when we finally did, the church ended up being closed until next week, but the guests were really cool about it, and we saw some Dall Sheep. Other than that, not a whole lot is going on. I think I get to officially start work Tuesday, but I'm not sure what I'm going to do Sunday or Monday...maybe find a free excursion to go on...

Anyway, that's pretty much the last few days in a nutshell...more hikes, more training, and I met some more people...a few of which go to Trinity College in Texas (the college that had the numerous laterals in that football game this past fall), and they're talking about getting a soccer team together, so that might be cool. I would post a couple pictures right now from a hike I went on today, but I think there's a little get-together going on down by the river (not in a van...), so the pictures will come a bit later...

Day 2 in Denali Complete

May 13, 2008 (Day 1):

Today was the first full day of being in Denali, Alaska. Our bus arrived from Anchorage last night around 3 p.m. AKST and we received our room assignments, ate supper in the EDR (Employee Dining Room) and filled out some additional paperwork. After that, I didn't really do a whole lot other than walk around the McKinley Chalets Resort and the Activities Building (where there is a pool table, dart board, and some workout equipment).

This morning we had orientation for the 15-20 of us that arrived yesterday. That only lasted a couple of hours and was pretty painless considering they told us about all of the free stuff we get to do while we're up here. After lunch (which I might add isn't all that bad considering it's cafeteria food) a group of about 5 of us decided to take a little hike with the plan of going up to visit the sled dogs at the kennel a few miles into the park. We started out fine, but hit a snag in our navigation of the trails and took a few detours which caused our trip to take a little longer than anticipated (not to mention that the kennels are a bit farther than we realized). Anyway, two of our number had to turn around before we reached the kennels due to time constraints, but three of us trekked on and were able to play with the dogs for a little while...I had a pair of favorites...I couldn't decide between Pingo and Blue, both of which had the coolest and bluest eyes I have ever seen! (They were also quite a bit skinnier than Dakota and Brandi, which made me think they were unhealthy, but I think it just means our dogs back home are a little hefty...) To sum up the hike, from our cabins to the park's trails is about 1 or 1.5 miles, the trails to the kennels is a good 4.2 miles, and we walked at least 1.2 miles out of our way...which means that particular hike was a solid 11.4 - 12.4 miles.

May 14 (Day 2):

We began our job-specific training today at 8 a.m. There are four of us who are training to become courtesy drivers and already 8 (we think) on the crew. Our boss Beau is a pretty cool guy, and our training basically consisted of driving around the McKinley Chalet property, all of the shops and properties in the Canyon, and the stops we may have to make in the first few miles of Denali National Park. It was during our trip into the park when we saw our first moose. Not 10 minutes later, we saw two more of them...the only downside was that all three of them were yearlings and had yet to grow their racks. We trained until about 4:00 and filled out some paperwork after that. I went on another hike tonight...this time around Horseshoe Lake. It was a really cool hike, of which I took quite a few pictures, but I didn't see any moose or wildlife which is supposedly pretty common on that trail. That hike probably only totaled 4 - 5 miles, but it might have provided better scenery than the one yesterday. Oh, and the Camel Pak Courtney and John got me has been working really well...and I've gotten lots of use out of it already! Well, I guess that's pretty much it to this point...I'll try and keep this updated with what's going on and add pictures, but I'll probably forget about it down the road. Love you all!

Kevin