Well, we are winding down now with only a few days left, however, we just had to share with you our "fall season" which has occurred over the past couple of weeks. As with most of our photos taken here in Denali, we find it very difficult to fully capture the wonder and grandeur of this beautiful park. Click the photo to see some more.
We awaken most mornings now with temps in the low 40’s or high 30's but have been fortunate for the past few days to savor midday 70's before the evening coolness creeps back once again. Autumn is truly here; the reds and yellows have burst forth and painted the tundra and mountains with a glorious patchwork. Ron, on an early morning hike a couple days ago, noticed how some parts of local streams are freezing at night. And, how some of the glacier-fed streams are turning clear as the temp drops and the glaciers stop thawing so the streams are now being fed instead by snow melt and rain. We have also been watching how the Ptarmigan, that were all white in May and turned brown after we arrived, are now turning white again. Winter is just around the corner!
The "Black Bear" is a coffee house across the street, where I occasionally go to enjoy a quiet moment and a "decent" cup of coffee and read, however I found myself yesterday content enough to just feast my eyes on the autumn changes in the surrounding mountains ~Yes I will miss the clear crisp air which I am sure will be most noticeable when we exit the plane at Tampa on Sept 30th.
We had a treat last week.......a free opera evening in the lobby of the Princess Hotel....... staring baritone David Cangelosi. He truly deserved the standing ovation ~ we heard ballads sung in Italian, French, German as well as English....he actually brought a tear to my eye when singing "Oh Danny Boy."
It is strange that our "constant daylight" no longer exists; it is truly dark now by 10pm. However, we have yet to see the "Northern Lights.” It has been either too cloudy or the moon too bright…we do hope that we get a chance to see them before we leave.
Everyone is gearing up for departure ~ deciding what clothing to donate to the hardy locals who tough it out year round and mailing boxes of accumulated stuff home. We have our paperwork submitted for our train ride to Anchorage and are blowing the dust off the suitcases. The air is filled with folk calling out their farewells.... So with this, we too will bid our goodbye to the Magic of Denali.
This has been a fabulous adventure and we hope you have enjoyed sharing it with us. Stay tuned for the next one – yet to be determined.
Thank you Mary & Ron for bravely taking on such an adventure and sharing it with those of us who might never contemplate exposing ourselves to such a the lack of creature comforts. You blog has inspired me to take more risks and reminded me of how wonderful the world is, even in own country. See you soon.
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