Welcome to Alaska!

Here's to late nights, early mornings, and a tired first day of school.

I returned home from Alaska later than originally planned Saturday night. It is now early Friday morning. I didn't have much access to the internet while up there, so instead of posting cool things while they happened, I'll have to do it all in retrospect. I also don't want to try to cram my time spent up there into one post, so this may turn into a bit of a miniseries, if that's okay.

The morning was stellar enough even before the moose joined me at the lake.

I had expectations for Alaska that I didn't expect to be met, if that makes sense. Expectations usually ruin things. In this case, Alaska was actually so wide open, so huge, so overly beautiful and refreshing and welcoming that it surprised me. I lived in the small town of Healy, about ten minutes down the highway from the entrance to Denali National Park, and all of the resorts and tourists that come with it. For 'work', I gave ATV tours on the nearby abandoned coal mining roads and on the Stampede Trail. I also did a couple of side jobs, like paint the boss's bathroom, help construct a massive tent, and dig up a collapsed sewage tank. :)

In Alaska, I didn't have a close encounter with a Grizzly like I had hesitantly hoped for going in, or a Moose or Lynx or Wolf or even Dall Sheep for that matter. I didn't spend a freezing night alone out by the bus, or spend multiple days tramping around the interior of Denali. I didn't do an incredibly challenging trek to the top of any great mountain either. I did manage to lose things though: Lens cap and polarizer, beanie (though only for a time), jacket, gloves. And I also met people. Hundreds of twenty-something guys and girls from all over flock to Denali for four months out of the year to work and have a good time. I met bartenders, waitresses, coal miners, raft guides, housekeepers, horse guides, coffee shoppers, hotel managers, cooks, actresses, etc., from all different parts of the world. Who knew the people would be my favorite part of the trip.

Maybe next year I'll fix this boat, for now, I'll photograph it.

Besides just meeting people, I had the opportunity to do some pretty amazing things that I'm beyond grateful for: I took an 11 hour bus ride eighty-six miles into the heart of Denali National Park, the third largest national park in the country, went white water rafting down the freezing glacial melt off known as the Nenana River, hopped on a little ten-passenger plane as it toured the park and flew over, in between, and around the 20,300 summit of Mt. McKinley, and finally, thanks to the guys I worked with, was serenaded with happy birthday by an auditorium full of sixty and seventy year old tourists who were just trying to enjoy their cheesy musical and all you can eat salmon and ribs.