Posts tagged #Denali National Park
Denali Adventures - Spring edition
Flashback Friday
Into the Mountains
Last year around this time we ventured out into the wild, into Denali National Park. We have been there so many times together before, but this time was the first time we were there together again. It was also the first time none of us still lived in Alaska. As we drove south towards the Alaska Range, my heart skipped a beat, as it always tend to do when I see those large mountains. We were listening to some bluegrass music, which is something we tend to do a lot. While driving in more remote areas we usually hook up the phone to the car radio, so we get access to offline playlists, because in Alaska you tend to loose both cellservice and radioservice. It's a common theme for anyone driving these roads. Sun was shining and spring was in the air, even though snow usually stay put on the ground until the end of April, sometimes even into May.
Silence and solitude
We were so lucky with the weather, blue sky, well semi blue sky, but what else do you need with views like these? Our friend lives right outside the park and let us use her cabin, while she was up in Fairbanks. How lucky is she, with these mountains in her backyard. It is a different life in Alaska, it's slower, but more intense. You focus on completely different things compared to people who live in larger cities. It's a different lifestyle. It's silent, around this time you could hear the water, drip, drop, drip, drop, slowly falling down the side of the cabin. Every now and then you can hear and see the moose walking by the cabin. I have had friends who have spent hours in the outhouse, because they have been trapped by a moose blocking the way back to their cabin. I know our friend outside Denali have had Lynx at her doorstep. But I love that lifestyle, and I miss it. Imagine opening up your door to this landscape.
Mountains
The first day we spent a few hours in the park. Mostly driving around and some short hiking. The snow was soft and we quickly sank in, knee deep in our boots. Spring was definitely here. The winds felt warm in my face, or maybe that was just the combination with the sun, or maybe just me being in my euphoria stage, the way I get when I see these mountains. It's incredible how small we are, how small we are against these large mountains. You can see so far but yet so short. There is a wide open space out there, that is still wild. When we got hungry we drove out of the park, to this fancy restaurant that is open during the off season, and serve great local food, for the few people that live around here. I know many people who drive all the way from Fairbanks down there, just to go to this restaurant, that's about a 2 hr drive. We were lucky, we didn't have to wait too long, and we enjoyed a nice dinner before we drove back to that little cabin in the foothills of the mountains again. As the darkness fell over the cabin we played Bananagram, until we both were too tired to continue.
Skiing
The next morning I woke up early, as I always tend to do. I went out and got some pictures of the mountains, and the sunrise. Those mountains, how can you not be mesmerized by them? After breakfast we packed our skis and drove back into the park. As we started skiing we saw some stretches with open water, now that is a clear sign of spring up north. We had to rethink our ski trip due to the open water, but found a safer way to cross down stream, and before we knew it we were on our way into the mountains. We continued skiing towards the mountains. It was only us, not a single other person could be seen out there. This is a common theme in Alaska, even in the summertime you can find places with no other person. Alaska is so large, so open and so wild. As in many other National Parks in the US, few people actually leave their car and venture out into the wild like we do. As we continued through the shrubs we even spotted a ptarmigan, or two. Those sneaky little birds are so beautiful, but hard to get a good picture off, so I'll leave you with one below and you can play the game "spot the bird" for a while.
The Beauty of Denali
Time passes so fast when you are having fun. But we can't stay forever in the park, and I managed to snap some photos of Denali, who finally decided to peak out of her clouds. She's tricky like that, she's large enough to create her own weather pattern, and seem to show herself on her own terms. Often times in the summertime people wait and wait to be able to see her, and finally miss their opportunity due to all those clouds she produces. Imagine flying all the way to Alaska and not seeing Denali. It happens more often than what you might think.
Are you going out into the mountains around this time of year?
In The Rearview Mirror 2017 pt. 2
Flashback Friday
April
The first day of April we went skiing into the mountains of Denali National Park. The ability to go skiing into the mountains of Denali is truly out of this world, or to just be able to go skiing in areas like that at all. Definitely something I took for granted while I was living there, now I understand what a different world I actually used to live in. Back in Madison Spring was well on its way. Went on a couple of trail runs and also planted the garden. Then, I signed up for a half marathon, and because I am the way I am, I wanted to run the route before the actual race. That combined with the fact that you actually do need a lot of training before committing to something like that made me hurt my chin, and I ended up not doing the real half-marathon. But, I did finish the half-marathon I ran on my own a week before the actual race, and celebrated with Swedish chocolate in bed.
May
By may we had full on summer. We went to Minneapolis and celebrated W's brother for graduating from law school. Garden was going really well, surprisingly well actually. We had some nice after work sessions at a local bar, that also has the most adorable dog. We went up to Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest. A forest that appeared to be infested with ticks. We went there for memorial day weekend, and managed to snag the very last spot at the campground at about 5pm in the evening. The days there were rainy, but we did manage to go on this amazing mountainbike trail, 12 miles in mixed weather conditions. We had everything from sun to hard on rainfall (which makes for an interest bike ride on slippery rocks).
June
We went on a couple of more mountainbike trails closer to Madison and then I went to Puerto Rico for fieldwork. I spent about a week in the rainforest on private land but also in El Yunque National Forest. Such a beautiful island and made me think of all the people that we met while we were there, later on when the hurricane hit. Especially this old nice lady who lived in a very simple house on top of a mountain. I still wonder what happened to her house and how she is. The rainforest has all sorts of poisonous and thornlike creations. Which is pretty interesting since there aren't any real large herbivores on the island. After having spent more than a week treading though the rainforest I finally got an hour or so at the beach. I never saw San Juan except for the airport. Not your regular type of tourist trip to the island I bet. Back in Madison I celebrated Midsummer by making a nice strawberry cake. I also managed to harvest my first beets, already in June, unbeliavable.
