After years of talking about it, we finally made a trip to Alaska. It's definitely all it's cracked up to be. Seriously huge, full of wildlife, with monstrous mountains, glaciers, and rivers. It's certainly the smallest we've ever felt. Not only is the landscape immeasurable, but when you're standing on your two feet out in the open, you're the smallest mammal around. Alaska's great like that.
We spent about 5 days bussing and hiking around Denali National Park and Preserve... and the weather was great. Perfect for hiking and sleeping in a tent. No bugs and no crowds. (The tent part was interesting though... somehow Dave grabbed tent poles belonging to a different tent. But we figured it out and made it work.) Mt. McKinley peeked out a few times for us and we were amazed every time. A truly spectacular mountain. (I've marked a photo so you can get an idea of the scale.) The video shows us trudging through a little Alaskan bush on our unsuccessful ascent of Mt. Cathedral. As their are virtually no trails in the park, you literally pick a mountain to climb and just start walking. Because the vegetation is so short, it's tough to get lost. We just picked the wrong route and ran out of time. We were about 2/3 of the way up before we stopped for lunch and went home. Nonetheless, it was a great day hike.
We had initially planned on heading from Denali down to Seward for a few days and taking in the sights on the water. But in true Dave and Lindsay fashion, we met some great folks in the park and they invited us to head to Homer for a few days and see that side of things. We're glad we did. They actually had us stay at their charming little home over looking Kachemak Bay. Of course, they treated us to an amazing salmon dinner and a 'pile' of a breakfast. Good folks up there. After a night in Homer, we headed over to Seward to get in some sea kayaking. Well, mother nature had something else in mind. The rain poured on us all morning and the moment we got into the kayaks, the wind kicked up and ruined our plans. But at least we got out on the water and gave it a go. Some very nice locals invited us into their yurts (permanent tent sort of thing) and brewed us some hot tea while we waited for the boat to come and pick us up.
If you've ever thought about going to Alaska... don't think twice. It's a place we won't soon forget.
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