Cruising Altitude

We packed up our stuff, battened down the hatches, and headed out of the park and back towards Anchorage.  After a little research on the world wide web, we were able to find a coupon book for the flight discount... in the form of an app.  The app was $100, but would save us $300, so we spent a few hours doing the math, and ended up going for it.  We pulled into Talkeetna with an hour to spare, so we headed into town for a cup of coffee.  MacKenzie decided to go with the Musher burrito, which tasted like they ran out of meat and put the actual dog in the burrito... to me!  We headed over to the airport, and the app worked perfectly fine, and we boarded the Beaver for a flight around the highest peak in North America.  Earlier our pilot Brandon asked us if anyone one wanted to be the co-pilot, I immediately volunteered for better shooting angles.





























 
The flight was amazing, we flew of Tokisitna Glacier on our way around the peak.  Along our way we marveled at the morraines, hanging glaciers, the granite peaks and the climbing campsites.  The climbers looked like ants in a line, heading on a three week trip up a frozen peak in the middle of the summer.  I was disappointing to not be able to sit next to my wife and hold her hand, however, as you can see, I think she will forgive me for taking the seat with the view!

After landing and trying to fathom what we just went through, we hopped back in the moving home, and headed back towards Anchorage.  We got to town in time to pick up the car.  They were so kind to help me get the car fixed while we were out of our element and away from home, and so kind to ask me to "come again".  We had a great night in Anchorage, and I drove my beautiful wife to the airport so she could go back home and care for our dog, and pay the bills, while I am out chasing a dream to drive the complete length of the Pan-American Highway.

Denali National Park - Day 3

Our third day in the park was rather calm, as we were still drying our socks out.  But there is no better way to cure sore muscles is to get back out there.  We headed for the horseshoe lake trail for a little walk.  The hike was nice, and provided beautiful reflecting views.





























































































Afterwards we set off to go and see about a long standing tradition in the park of dog sledding.  The park is so remote that in the winter, the best way to get around the park is on a sled.  Good thing we went, because the lady on the bus warned us that we would be "underwhelmed", and we had to see what that would feel like.  We finished up with some laundry and wrote some postcards and prepared for our trip back to Anchorage.

Denali National Park - Day 2

 Our second day in the park, we decided to check out the visitor center and educate ourselves a little.  It is very informative and a relaxing morning.  

We stopped for a beer, and to make some decisions on the rest of the week.  We  decided that we wanted to try and take a flying tour of McKinely, and found out that there is a coupon booklet with a 50% discount... basically worth $100's of dollars.  So we began asking around and found out that the tour companies give them out as gifts for the patrons.  So we sent Mom on a scavenger hunt over to the hotels to see if she could finagle some poor soul into selling us a coupon book for $20.   The rest of us headed back into the park, to try and get a little intimate with the park.































We got back on the bus and headed up to Savage Creek and hit the trail up the Savage Alpine Loop.  The local ranger informed us that the trail was not complete, and we may need to "bushwhack" a little.  When we ascended the mountain we came to a small section of snow where we post holed up to our knees, but finally found the trail again.  When we made it to the lookout, we thought we were past the "bushwhacking" section.  Only were we to find out that we would be walking through marshy tundra in soaking wet shoes for the next hour until we made it to the eastern side.  We began to count every time we sank in the frigid bog, Ala Count Dracula... two soggy feet... ah ah ah.











































If the bushwhacking hike taught us anything, is to follow two rules.
 #1 - The Captian is always right.
 #2 - Rerer to Rule #1.
 He was right that we were only about 1/4 of the way, when we thought more like 1/2.  And he seemed to know the driest ways through the tundra. Etc, etc.
After the few hours with my fellow bushwhackers, we made it back to the road, and began to wait for the next green bus that would take us back to relaxation and our coupon hound of a mother.  The first bus didn't have enough space, so we passed a couple of seats, thinking that another would be by soon.  Sure enough a bus came up and had plenty of space... only it was a training bus that couldn't take us back.  When the next bus came up, Laura, the Captain, and I all saw the "training" placard in the front window.  MacKenzie didn't.... and she didn't hear the driver say training either.  She thought he said cleaning, in which she replied, that's ok, we will take whatever we can get.. he almost had to physically stop her from getting on.  When the fourth bus came by, after almost 45 minutes of waiting we thought we would lose it.... another training bus.  We had so much time to kill, that we began to play totem pole.  The bus was a beautiful site, and we cruised back to the RV to find a frantic mother who thought we were eaten by bears.  Good thing she didn't call the Bolivian Consulate.