Alaska Part 1

I'm having issues getting more pictures loaded, so I'll try to add more later...

The simple truth is that I can not give a true impression of Alaska unless you've been there. If you have been, then you will definitely appreciate my experience and images in a different way than someone who has not. We got a lot less time "in the field" than we'd have liked, due to a number of snafus, but just being there was worth it. We started our trip in Fairbanks, where my sister lives, and started driving down the Parks Highway. We actually drove through a forest fire. A trooper stopped us to warn us of a fire ahead, but simply asked us to keep our lights and hazards on until we reached the squad on the other side of the fire. At first, we saw only singed trees and grass, with a few small flames here and there. There were fire jumpers here and there setting cross fires. Suddenly, the smoke became extremely thick and we could feel heat through the doors and windows of the car. We saw flames on one side, about 6-8 feet high, then suddenly on the other side there was a WALL of flame, about 20 feet tall. I didn't get any pictures because I was clutching my fellow backseat passenger. My sister kept her wits about her and got us through just fine. Our first stop was at Denali National Park. Years ago I was obsessed with the idea of climbing Denali (Mt. McKinley). I read book after book and dreamed big. That aspiration has since passed, but being in the place I had read so much about (even though the mountain itself was always far out of reach) was a surreal experience. We missed the last camper bus into the park (you can't drive far into the park at all on your own), so blew our chances for a couple of days of backpacking there, but camped at a more civilized site for the night. Before it got too late, we drove as far into the park as we could (about 12 miles) and hiked up a creek bed and into the foot hills, bushwhacking our way to the top of a gnoll. It was an amazing view, and quite a hike. The next morning we moved on to Denali State Park. We spent the day hiking around Byer Lake, where we saw a loon and trumpeter swans, and were able to watch Denali peek (peak?) in and out of the clouds. At one point we did see the south peak for a brief moment. It got really mosquitoey and rainy, so we decided to move on instead of camping there. We to Talkeetna and Beo and I had dinner at the Talkeetna Road House. Our sister's guest wasn't impressed with their fare of a choice of 2 soups, served with homemade bread, but it was simply amazing. The owners are climbers themselves, and there were amazing pictures from Denali and surrounding peaks, and autographs of famous climbers and rescue parties. It was one of the most authentic moments of the trip, and a memory I will cherish without a doubt.

More to come...