Alaska

Aug 21, 2018
I finished a long 7 days of work, arriving home with less than a couple hours to spare.  I was already packed and figured my husband Bill and I would have time to eat dinner before heading to the airport together.  I thought wrong.

Ready to go... or maybe not.

I was greeted by my husband informing me that he was canceling his trip because he wanted to be home for Hurricane Lane.  My limited time was spent repacking my backpack (since my husband was initially going to carry the tent) and helping secure our house/belongings for the hurricane before making my way to the airport alone.  My friends Jenn and Joe met up with me at the gate, and we took a redeye to Alaska.

Stupid Hurricane Lane.

Aug 22, 2018
My kid brother Thal picked us up from the airport and took us to a bakery for breakfast, where we had amazing scones and croissants.  We stopped by Thal and his fiance Julie's house.  We met Julie's mom Kate, who couldn't have been more generous and welcoming.  Kate took us to the co-op store she runs and helped get us geared up for fishing and hiking.  She also lent us her car for the week.

We bought and borrowed more than we had intended.  This giant duffel bag was filled to the brim.

We took a much-needed nap at Thal's place and then took a beautiful drive to Seward.  It had been a long time since I drove a stick shift, but we survived.

View from the car.  We saw Beluga whales on the way!

Our first destination was Miller's Landing.  The weather was gorgeous and the scenery was spectacular.

View during sunlight

View as sun was setting

So peaceful

Plan A was to go kayaking, but no tour guides were available so we took a pleasant hike to Tonsina Beach instead.  We saw many salmon, birds, and jellyfish.

Jellyfish lying on the black sand

Lien, Jenn, and Joe

Joe and Jenn

Lien and Jenn

Miss you, Aunt Carol.

We cooked dinner and s'mores over a campfire, which was remarkably more difficult to start than we anticipated.  At one point, we actually put the fire out with lighter fluid - a feat none of us knew was possible.

Lien and Joe at our first camp site

Aug 23, 2018
Our fishing excursion day was my favorite part of the trip.  There were 6 of us on the boat, and each of us caught a lingcod, a yelloweye rockfish, and a large (>28 inches) halibut.  My halibut was 50 lbs and Jenn's was a whopping 92 lbs!  We got to see puffins and sea lions, it didn't rain on us all day, and I didn't get seasick.

Me, after catching the first fish of the day.

Jenn

Joe with our boat captain

Lien, Jenn, and Joe with our Captain Neil

Between the 3 of us, we ended up with 118.5 pounds of fish fillets

Though we missed Thal and Julie's wedding, we made it back to Anchorage in time for the wedding reception.  I had been too nervous about being seasick to eat much on the boat, so I was thrilled to be back on dry land, digging into pizza, beer, and tiramisu.

Thal and Julie's wedding

Thal's wedding toast drink: Hot Plum Liqueur.  A fine choice indeed.

Thal and I dropped Julie off at the airport; she was heading to Vermont to begin grad school.  Then Jenn, Joe, and I settled in at a nearby AirBnb in Anchorage.

Aug 24, 2018

This was our only sleep-in morning and we relaxed, at least as well as Jenn and I are able.  We eventually joined up with Thal, stopped by REI for some last-minute gear, and drove to Denali.

Jenn at a coffee kiosk along the way.

We stopped in Talkeetna to stretch our legs and eat some yummy pasties.

Our original plan was to camp at Denali but it was booked, so we camped nearby at Midnight Sun.  After multiple days of travel and low sleep, tensions seemed to be starting to build - but nothing that a few hugs and beers couldn't dissipate.  Thal impressed us with his fire-building skills before we called it a night.

Yay for more campfires!

Aug 25, 2018

The four of us woke early to get to the Denali Visitor Center right when it opened, but we still managed to be too slow to catch the morning buses.  We had some time before the afternoon bus arrived, so Thal took a nap in the car while Jenn, Joe, and I took a casual walk around Riley Creek.  It was another breathtaking blue-skied day.

My expression caught on camera, right as Joe fell over.

Hanging out on a suspension bridge

Riley Creek

It took about 3 hours on the bus into Denali to arrive at our backpacking unit.  Along the way, we saw lots of bears, caribou, and ground squirrels - as well as Denali itself!

Thal and Lien at Teklanika Rest Stop

All four of us at Polychrome Overlook

A bear!

Another bear!

Another bear... with two cubs!

A caribou!

Another caribou!

Close up

Another caribou!  This one walked right in front our bus for a while.

Denali!  It has to be a clear day to actually see this giant mountain.

We chose "Unit 8," out of 87 backcountry units.  The description for this says "This is a good unit for children if they can hike more than 5 miles a day."  Haha!  Oh, Alaskans.

Jenn and Joe getting ready for backpacking

These funny little birds are called ptarmigans.  Even their names are spelled funny.

Me collecting samples of bear scat for research!  We found and submitted three samples.

There were lots of gigantic animal tracks.

Jenn, Joe, and I had never been backcountry backpacking like this, and it was a really neat experience to try to make our way through the land without any trails.  It took about 3 hours of hiking before we found a good campsite.  We ate dinner 100 yards from our campsite so that the bears wouldn't associate food with tents.  As the temperature started dropping down to the low-40s, we snuggled into our sleeping bags.  Thal and I shared a tent and just like old times, we talked and laughed for a while before we settled down.

Jenn and Joe at the end of our hike.

Aug 26, 2018

Thal and I woke up early enough to see the sunrise, which was stunning.  We cooked up some breakfast, and then the four of us hiked back out to the road.  We saw a bear along the way!

Backpacking Part II

Happy siblings

Joe, Thal, and Jenn successfully crossing a river braid

Lien less successfully crossing a river braid

More bear scat!  This one was very fresh and full of berries.

A bear!!

Once we got back to the road, we caught a bus to Toklat River rest stop.  The wind was picking up, so we mostly huddled inside the gift shop for warmth until we could catch a bus heading back toward the Visitor's Center.

Jenn and Joe at Toklat River Rest Stop

All 4 of us at Toklat River Rest Stop

Warm inside the gift shop

Stopping at Teklanika rest stop on our way back to the Visitor's Center

We stopped by the sled dog demonstration before leaving Denali

After driving back to Anchorage and cleaning up, Thal taught us how to make feather sticks to start fires, and then he grilled us my favorite meal of the trip: a feast of vegetables and reindeer sausage with various hot sauces to choose from.  This was coupled with  sampling Thal's mead, sake, and absinthe.  I could barely keep my eyes open after the meal.

I forgot to take pictures of our feather sticks, but they looked something like this.

This mead was fantastic.

Aug 27, 2018

Our last day was ambitious, but we made it work.  We woke up early to drive back to Seward to pick up our fish, which had been processed and packed.  On the way, we swung by The Bake Shop for sourdough pancakes at my sister-in-law Julie's suggestion, and took a quick walk at Exit Glacier at my roommate Ashley's suggestion.  They were both definitely worth squeezing into our tight schedule!

Magical clouds on the way to Seward

Exit Glacier

Joe, Jenn, and Lien at Exit Glacier

We made it back to Anchorage in time to grab some hot chocolate at a delightful hot chocolate bar with Thal.  Chocolate is always a fine way to end a trip.

Chocolate!  :)