The worlds last few wild places

In this world of ever growing populations and humanities need to tame everything I can appreciate Alaska and its true wilderness areas. Alaska is so much bigger then I ever gave it credit for. The top 4 largest national parks in this nation are here. Denali is #3 on the list at 6 million acres, and just to give some perspective, that's larger then the state of Massachusetts! That's just one park!
The one word that keeps coming to mind when I drive around or visit different areas here is rugged. The buildings, the roads, the plants, the animals, the mountains, the rivers, and even the people sometimes are all just rugged. They have to withstand whatever mother nature decides to throw at them and they continue to survive.
Denali was no different, although, I have to admit, it has been tamed a bit by humans. In the 6 million acres of land or about 7,370 square miles there is a 90 mile long road that will take you in for a peek at a little corner of the park (and we only went to mile 66). It's a little presumptuous for me to say I have seen Denali National Park when really I have seen less than 1% of it. When I think of all the vast area of land that we passed through on the bus out to Eielson Visitor Center and then I think of how little I actually saw its mind boggling.
I went to Denali with the other PT travelers that I mentioned in my last post. We started our adventure at the main park visitor center where we watched a sled dog presentation,

 and then had an up close encounter with a moose and her calf when hiking on a trail just out the back door of the building. After hearing how aggressive moose can be I was a little unnerved to say the least that this huge animal was on such a well trafficked trail. We gave the moose a wide berth, and unfortunately, I could not get a really good picture as I was trying to keep my distance and watch for any little sign that I should start running in the other direction. :)
Then next day, we went on the bus (the only way to get further than 15 miles into the park) out to the Eielson visitor center. This was a 4 hour long bus ride one way. It started out pretty foggy!

But eventually it cleared up and, the bus driver gave us a little info on the park, and told us that we needed to keep our eyes out for animals. If we saw something we were supposed to yell "Stop" and he would stop the bus for us all to take as many pictures as we wanted. We spotted 4 grizzly bears on the way there. It was pretty spectacular! I thought I was lucky to see 1 when I was at Glacier NP and I spent all day looking. Here I saw 4 in a couple hours time.

When we arrived at the visitor center we got our first glimpse of Mt McKinley which is a rare sight in the summer. From what I learned there is only about a 20% success rate for visitors to see the mountain due to the cloud cover. However, this year there has been unusually good visibility with the success rate somewhere around 75%! A record year!

Also, there were a couple of hikes that we did. One was pretty strenuous, but totally worth it. It was only 1 mile long, but it was all up hill at a pretty steep grade. When we got to the top the clouds were literally rolling in around us as we sat and ate our lunch. Once on top we decided to explore for a bit. At Denali they encourage you to go off trail to wherever you want to go. They have no problem letting you off the bus at any time and you can just wander. We wandered around and met some inquisitive Arctic ground squirrels.

 On our way back to the entrance of the park we spotted 3 more bears; a mama and her cubs. When we first saw them the cubs were nursing. The bus driver was even shocked by this one, it was such a rare sight.

We stayed there for quite some time just watching out the window and being as quiet as possible. I could not believe our luck! 

The following morning we packed up again and headed into the park for our next adventure. This time we were going with a ranger for a day hike across the tundra and down to the river bed. As we were driving we came around a bend and McKinley was coming out of the clouds again! It was even more clear then the day before!

The bus ride was only about an hour and right in the middle of nowhere the bus stopped, we all got out on the side of the road and began the hike. It was so strange to not have a set trail to walk on. Our ranger, Lauren, told us that the worst case scenario would be that we all walk in a line following one another and create a new trail. So we were all spread out making our own way through the moss and brush and willows just heading “that-a way”.  It was very freeing actually. And the views were to die for!

Just like my experience in Montana, Lauren regularly did her bear calls to “announce our presence to the bears.” But unlike the Montana hike we were all given mosquito nets to protect our faces. I was so grateful for this! We had gone all around town looking for these, but every place was sold out. There has been a run on mosquito repellent and face nets since this summer is “the worst they’ve ever seen” according to the locals. When Lauren pulled those out of her pack it was like the heavens opened and the angels began singing. We looked silly but at least the mosquitoes could not attack the most exposed area of our body. 

The tundra was an interesting thing to walk on. It was squishy due to all the mosses and the thick covering of plants. It was hard to judge where the solid ground was, and every step was a surprise till you got to know which plants were the thick ones and would hold your weight and which were going to let you sink knee high in moss. After a couple hours of hiking on it I would say I am pretty much an expert now.

Once we made it to the river bed it was much easier to walk on the rocks and we saw a lot of animal tracks in the mud along the bank. It was beautiful out there and the breeze kept the mosquitos away. 

Moose

Bear

Caribou

We ate lunch and then made the 2 hour hike back to the bridge where we were to be picked up. Along the way I asked Lauren what the names of some mountains were that were around us. A couple had names, but most did not. She explained that they may have a number listing on a map somewhere, but no official name and she thought that was cool. She said, there is an instinctive need for humans to “own” everything by naming it, and she appreciates Denali so much because they have really made an effort to keep it wild. I promptly told her that I was naming the big mountain “Ivy Mountain.” She told me she would inform the other rangers so they could tell everyone on their tours. I am sure I did not hear any sarcasm in her voice. ;)

Lauren was about my age and we talked a great deal on this hike and on the bus ride after. She had so much knowledge about the park and the inner workings of the parks systems. I was fascinated the whole time and could not stop talking to her. I think in my next career I am going to be a park ranger.

My PT friends, Milton and Lissie, and I stayed at a cute little hostel for the weekend. We met some interesting people, including one who had just gotten back from an attempt to climb Mt McKinley. He was unsuccessful, unfortunately, but his story was cool anyway. Traveling with my new found friends has been such a blessing. We have had fun getting to know a little about each other and we actually have a lot in common. I love the fact that the Lord continually provides for me.

Alaskan Orientation

This first week has been quite the learning experience as far as the Alaska experience.
When I went to Walmart I noticed that they had outlets at almost every parking spot out in the parking lot and I thought to myself, "Wow, they are really RV friendly here!" Then, I went to my work they had these plug in's as well in the parking lot. So that kind of confused me, but I reasoned that maybe they had a lot of electric cars here. Then, noticed them at my apartment and they even had a switch I could flip in my apartment to turn on my plug in.

Well, I was a little confused, but didn't really think much of it until I was in orientation at the hospital, and because so many of us were from out of town the security officer decided to enlighten us. He said that if we were going to be here through the winter we would want to get our cars "winterized". I guess they put some kind of warming device around the engine of the car. He said, we would then have extension cords coming out of our front bumper like all the rest of the true Alaskans, and we could plug in during the winter to keep the insides of our cars from freezing in the 40 below weather.
I had already noticed the plug in areas, but I had not noticed the extension cords yet. So right when I left orientation I started looking closer at all the other cars in the lot and sure enough probably 60% of them had cords hanging out of the bumper. I guess you learn something new everyday!

 

Can you see the plugs?

 Speaking of learning something... I think I am going to learn a lot on this assignment with all the different kinds of patients I will be seeing and working in an outpatient setting full time will be a new and challenging experience too.  I hope I am up for the challenge.
There are some interesting differences in the things you have to teach patients too. Check out this sheet we give out for crutch training...

You don't see this in Florida. :)

There is another PT traveler that started at the same time I did. He and his wife travel together and they invited me to go on a hike with them this weekend. It is one of the most popular hikes in the area called Angel Rocks Trail. It was a little overcast, but there was a lot of pretty scenery! It has been hot here recently and the overcast day actually helped to keep it nice and cool. The only problem was it was the perfect weather for the mosquitoes too. So far the mosquitoes have been the bane of my existence since arriving here. They get into my apartment and they get into the car, and on this hike they were worse then I have ever seen in my life! There were hundreds swarming around us. As I was walking down the path and my hands were swinging at my side I could feel my hands hitting mosquitoes with each swing. Thankfully, I doused myself in so much repellent that none of them wanted to bite me, but that didn't stop them from hanging around us until we got above the tree line.

 

We saw a moose on the way there!

This weekend was also the summer solstice which Alaskans take very seriously. They have a festival all weekend. Part of the festivities is the Midnight Sun Run. This is a 10K run all through town that starts a 10pm, but of course you don't have to worry about the sun going down if you are taking a while to finish it. I signed up and ran, but the most interesting thing about the run was the costumes. They had some good ones. The key was, in order to be considered for the costume prize you had to run the whole race with the complete costume on. Could you imagine running 10K in this...

 Yep. The army group pushing a cannon passed me... I was humbled... ;)

 It was a fun run and since this was one of the first times I was home pretty late I thought I would take another one of my late night pictures. I just can't get over how bright it is outside!

If you can't see the time stamp. It says 1:34 am!

Alaska!

Well, I have completed my goal. I can't believe it! I have loved the journey that this goal has taken me on and its not over yet...
I arrived in AK on Thursday evening and spent the last couple of days settling in and wandering around town just seeing what Fairbanks has to offer. It is not a "beautiful" city, but it does have everything I will need and there is some beautiful wilderness just outside the main part of the city.

The extended stay/ resort I am staying in is nice with large rooms and the Creamer's Field Migratory Waterfowl Refuge right behind the property. I can access the trails through the refuge from right out my back door.

 

 It really is daylight here all the time. I think it is funny that I have not yet seen darkness here. It is light when I fall asleep and light when I wake up. It takes a little getting used to, but I love the fact that I do not have to worry about the sun going down while I am out on a hike or driving around in a strange part of town.
Here is a view out my window at almost 11pm.

Tomorrow I begin orientation at the hospital. I will hopefully be meeting some of my co-workers. Can't wait to start to get more inside, local knowledge about what there is to do.

Last Weekend in Montana

For my last weekend I went back to Yellowstone. I drove down to Old Faithful and spent the night at a nice campground that was right by a river. I saw a buffalo walking by the water and fly fishermen out there having a grand time. The water flowing and the wind blowing through the trees made it a perfect place to sit and chill for a while.

I watched the sun set in a really beautiful spot on a bridge with the fish jumping all around me catching flies.

I decided I was going to wake up really early in the morning and get out to see the animals as the sun rose. When I woke up it was 26 degrees out. Boy, was I thankful for heat in the car. Once I was thawed, I drove as quietly as I could out of the campground and toward the pull offs where I had seen animals before. It was really cool driving in the dark with all the steam rising from the thermal features. I had never thought about what it would look like at night. The steam doesn't stop just because the sun goes down. It was just strange to think about. Later, as the sun was rising, I watched an elk meander through the fields, heard wolves cry back and forth to each other from over two different hills, and saw a coyote. (Of course there were a ton of buffalo too, but they are a dime a dozen out there.)

I took the Bear tooth pass again on the way home. A fitting end to my Montana travels since I took it when I first got there too. This time, however, there were no snow drifts as tall as my car. In fact, there was no snow at all. It looked totally different. It was pretty neat to see it in two completely opposite states like that.

The rest of my last week was spent packing, working, and planning my trip home. I had a good bye lunch on Thursday with people from work who have all been so wonderful. I said my farewells to the apartment I lived in. Then, after work on Friday, I went to Lame Deer to say good bye to Lu, Molly and the kids. That was the hardest one. It is so bitter sweet to leave. I am excited to be headed home, but sad to leave all at the same time... Happy to be on the open road again, but wanting to stay with the people I love. Too many emotions running through me. I do have to say, though, that at times like these I think I must be the most blessed person in the whole world. What problems to have... Too many people to love, too many places to desire to be, too many new experiences to have and new things to learn. All I can do is thank God!