Ruth's Glacier Landing - click the photo for more

Ron had a flight to Mt. McKinley to land on a glacier. We departed from a small strip in Healy (11 Miles north) in a 9 passenger Beaver. We flew south down the Nenana river valley passing over our resort and the Denali Park entrance. We continued SW over the Alaska Range and toward Mt McKinley. The views were fantastic and the vistas grand. The flight took us past multiple smaller glaciers, gigantic granite spires and braided glacier river valleys.

The landing site was tucked into an upper corner of the massive Ruth's Glacier. The surrounding peaks appeared to be close enough to touch, however, they were 3-5 miles away. We got out and tromped around in the snow, took some photos and basically stood in awe at the scene. Everything is on such a grand scale it is difficult to take it all in and even more difficult to describe. I did take a few photos and although they look good they do little justice to the actual thing (click the photo above for more).

The weather on the return was bit dramatic with thunder storms causing us to divert around lighting and rain. The thermals over the Alaska Range put several of our heads into the overhead...no damage and we returned safe and sound.

Mary's First Park Visit - new photos added - click photo below

We are now settled in to a routine ~ our living situation is much improved due to the fact that the motel style unit we live in now has the water connected and we only have to share the bathroom/laundry facility with 14 other "golden oldies" (yes we are in what is called "the mature unit!") generally we are not out partying till all hours of the night, so sleeping is not a problem either.

I have discovered a "beauty/spa" salon which our competitors (Princess Lodging...just a 10 min walk away) provide, and treated myself to a WONDERFUL massage yesterday after work....... I will definitely plan a repeat of this treat again next month :)

We have have found another employee dining hall which provides meals mainly for the Denali Park employees but where we may eat also. It is a 4-5 mile round trip which we walk, but the food is usually better. Another well kept secret we discovered is "The Spike" which we stumbled upon close to this particular dining hall........ it is a couple of old railroad cars turned into a bar........ so Ron has found his "local in the woods" ~ this is definitely only known to employees NOT the tourists.

Well, I had my first real look at Denali Park last Monday when we both took the 8 hour round trip bus tour. It was a perfect day weather-wise and we had the most spectacular views of Mt McKinley which typically is only seen 65 days during the 105 day season that the resorts are open. The grandeur of the scenery is impossible to describe or even capture on camera ~ trying to record Denali in photographs is like trying to go to a party through a keyhole.

We did see some Dall sheep and caribou way off in the distance, however one would need a powerful camera lens to capture any decent photographs. I was hoping to see a bear, but did not on this trip ~ there are estimated to be 3oo-400 bears in the entire park and they have a unique way of naturally keeping their numbers small ~ they mate in the spring, however, the fertilized egg is "retained" and not implanted until late fall, and then ONLY if the bear has managed to eat enough and gain sufficient weight/fat to sustain herself and her cubs until the following spring. This way bears are naturally limited and do not exceed sustainable numbers.

On the other hand, the Snowshoe Hare has a "boom and bust" cycle ~ currently Denali is in a "boom" cycle where we are told there are around 2,000 hares per sq mile! During the "bust" scenario they only number 50 per sq mile. There are currently so many that they are eating all the available food and there will not be enought to sustain them through the winters.

The Golden Eagle, of which we saw many, have a wing span of 7 feet and are capable of lifting 14 pounds in weight, as the new born Dall sheep weigh only 11 pounds the eagles are quite a threat to the new-born lambs.

Our closest encounter with the wild life during our bus tour was with a wolf who nonchalantly sauntered along the road, stopping to rest on a patch of snow giving us all the opportunity for a good photo.

We have decided that our next trip into the Park we will take the Hikers bus rather than the packed tourist bus, it will actually take us all the way to the end of the road, which is 93 miles, we only travelled as far as mile 62 this trip, but it did offer us the closest one can get to Mt McKinley which is 30 miles. (I over-heard one guest complaining that the road did not go right to the base of the mountain~ to which I privately thought "and then he would want an elevator to take him to the summit ". Denali is not the tallest mountain in the world but it does have the largest vertical rise (17,000 ft) from base to summit. There have been 3 climber deaths that we are aware of in the last month.

Ron really enjoys being in the midst of the hustle and bustle the front desk position has to contend with, despite having learned to keep quiet regarding the inefficiency in which it is operated. I find my time passes much more slowly as a hostess, however, feel I can now do my job with my eyes closed and backwards, whereas initially it was challenging.

While greeting folks yesterday in the restaurant, in walked Dr Silver an obstetrician I had the privilege of working with 10 years ago in Colorado Springs ~ what a small world. We are eagerly anticipating the arrival of Andrew and Kate (18-21st) and hoping for the weather to remain at the amazing 70 degree blue skies and sunny which has been the pattern for the past 2 weeks.

I hope to get some more photos of the Park posted soon.

Into the Park - click the moose for more photos

Well, Ron finally made a trip into Denali Park for a “Tundra Wilderness Tour”. I boarded a bus one afternoon with about 40 other folks for a 100-mile roundtrip (8 hour) ride half way up the one and only road that goes into the park. Our driver/narrator (Dave) has been conducting these tours since 1982, I suspected that he was one of the most experienced, but he says he is not even in the “top ten” of the 140 drivers that they have working this year. In any case, he was a wealth of information about the park history, animals, plants, geological history, and anecdotal bits he has picked up in his 27 years working in the park each summer.

There are on average 9000 bus trips into Denali each season (May – Sep)…that does sound like a lot but the human footprint on the park is really quite minimal. Since 1980, when President Carter enlarged Denali to its present 6 million acres, vehicular access to the park has been strictly limited. It requires special permission for private vehicles to be on the road. So, the 400,000 visitors that come each year are bused into the park and monitored very closely to ensure that they do not bring food or any other items into the park and leave them. It has enabled the park to remain extremely pristine.
The objective of our tour was, of course, to see as many of the animals as possible. And, in particular, what are referred to as the “Big Five”…. Moose, Bear (Grizzly), Caribou, Dall Sheep (very similar to the Big Horned Sheep in Colorado) and Wolves. We indeed saw all of them except the wolf and in addition we saw plenty of golden eagles, snowshoe hares and one very large marmot. The bears we saw were a mom with her two cubs. They were eating along a hillside and mom was keeping the two cubs close by. Even though they were some distance away you could almost feel the massiveness of them as they moved. Interestingly, the coloring of the grizzlies (in the sunlight) is more of a silver color than the dark brown/black that we think of. The most unusual creatures are the Caribou (Reindeer), they have hooves that are way out of proportion to their legs. Their hooves are large … like snowshoes…so they can move around easily on the snow. Very weird looking as they run along the road.

Most of Denali Park is well above the treeline and consists mostly of tundra with miniature plants, lichens and the occasional wild flower. The bears seem to like the edge of the tundra where the low scrubs give way to the treeless rolling tundra. The saying here is “The bear you don’t see might be a bear that has never seen a human.”

The vast natural beauty of Denali Park is quite something to see! Although Mt McKinley was not in view that particular day, the views of the other peaks in the Alaska Range were spectacular. From a point along the road called “Polychrome” (for the multi-colored hues of the earth) the view was incredible. Multiple peaks interspersed with Glaciers and ribbons of braided rivers.

All-in-all it was a great 8 hours. Mary and I plan to do another similar trip soon but starting early (5:30am) in hopes of seeing even more animals. As one of the Holland America Tour Directors here is fond of saying when asked how he is doing, we are “Living a Dream.”

Observations

A popular fridge magnet as sighted in the gift stores reads....... The Alaskan State bird is .... The Mosquito (and I believe it!).

Did you know that the sun rises in the NORTH and sets in the NORTH circulating like a halo above our heads at approx 35 degree angle.

The cluster of hotels, cabins, stores (a dozen at most) they range from the typical gift stores, the outrageously overpriced mini mart grocery, a bar called "The Salmon Bake" which is a restaurant/bar that remains open till 4 am, it is THE spot for the young employees to hang out in. Then there is the one and only much needed gas station, and this conglomeration of stores is called "Glitter Gulch" and is the widest spot in the road (apart from the town of Healy 10 miles away population 400) between Anchorage and Fairbanks, total mileage 365 miles.

In the two weeks since we have been here the trees have gone from bare twigs to full green growth and the spring flowers have burst forth, mainly lupins ~ which only reach a height of 8 inches at most.

Both the cities of Anchorage and Fairbanks seem to be "stuck in time" it's like being back in the 50's with the old style Sears store. A single banana costs $1, a box of tissues $4 and a bag of chips $8. Movie admission $10 with popcorn selling for another $10! It does not take too much to spend more than you make here.

While we were walking last night we had the delightful experience of having a large moose just step out in front of us, stop on our walking trail, and succeed in out staring us (I was looking for the closest cluster of trees in which to blend into). He must have decided we were not a threat as he ambled off and just seemed to disappear.

Today (June 6th) it is snowing very lightly! ~ this could quite possibly be the coldest summer I will have experienced.

No makeup or perfume needed here!

Well two weeks now since we arrived at "camp dusty" and we are
starting to get settled ~ we did move to a larger room and this feels
much nicer ~ it is a 16 unit motel style building which does have
it's own bathroom and laundry facility (so a BIT of an upgrade to the
previous room) however we are all still waiting for the water
connection!! .....and it is rumored that this may never happen ~ but
as with everything else the "shock" is starting to wear off ~ I
will never refer to our beach house in FL again as "small"! As part
of the fun we are experiencing a bit of a heating problem,~ it never
turns off!,~ which is fine when it is cold, but just stifling the rest
of the time, so our solution is to have the window and door open for a
through draft whenever we are in the room, this works at least until
the time we go to sleep. Hopefully our heating problem will get fixed
before the mosquitoes become too prolific!

Ron is starting to get the hang of the "front desk" one of his duties
is to climb into a bear suit and greet the buses bringing in the
latest guests from the train! So, as you can imagine he was hamming it
up, dancing around hugging anyone and everyone, posing for pictures
and trying not to scare the little kids. There is only one other
"mature" co-worker on the front desk, otherwise he has to put up
working with the youngsters (cute gals) and he seems to be the
comedian in the bunch (are we surprised).

I too am starting to be more comfortable in my position as "hostess"
having now learned most of the servers names and table numbers.. it
really is quite a juggling game trying to keep it fair so that the
servers all have an equal number of tables to "wait" on~ It does make
it a bit challenging when guests insist on being seated in a different
section of the restaurant.

In my 40 years of nursing with the long 12 hour shifts I have never
had my legs/feet feel so tired .... it must be due to the fact I am
"standing" in one place for the most part....... and the hands on the
clock seem to stop at times too...... however at least I am only
working 6 hour shifts, Ron works 8 hour shifts and our managers have
coordinated our 2 days off together each week which is Mon and Tue
and is greatly appreciated. We have both worked the early shifts
starting at 04:30! but have requested NOT to work these again when the
next schedule is made.

After our first week of incredibly warm weather, the second week was
just the opposite (can't imagine what it will feel like in Sept ) ~
we know we will get to experience all four seasons in a 100 day
period. Though the locals say there only have 3 seasons~" Winter",
"Break up", and "Construction". I STILL find it very strange to have
daylight ALL the time, we need to force ourselves to go to sleep at
midnight.

On Friday 29th May we joined a group of folk from "camp dusty" and
rode a bus to the nearest town "Healy" population 400, a mere 10 miles
away. You can call it a town but they don't have a grocery store and have to
drive the 2 hours to Fairbanks like the rest of us for supplies ~ oh,
by the way, it is said that the grocery list for the average Alaskan is
Lotto, Ammo, Beer and Gas. Anyway we joined the good citizens of Healy in
their community center for a great evening of live music by a group
called " Shealaurel" they were AMAZING..... (for those who know how,
go to "Youtube" and check them out) they are all one family, mom, dad
sons 16 and 20 and daughters 17 and 19. For 90 minutes they sang,
danced and played various instruments. They have traveled all over
the USA plus China and Europe. Mom and Dad gave away (not sold) all
that they owned 8 years ago and just went on the road, and have been
making a living this way ever since, they truly have talent.

On Sat 30th we went to what is called "Cabin Night" here on the
property for our guests to experience a family-style dinner while being
entertained with song/stories/music about the settling of Alaska ~ similar in a way to "The Flying W Ranch" where Andrew worked in his youth. And, funnily enough our "Shealaurel" family were at the same table as ourselves, so we had the opportunity to get to know them a bit. The 17 year old girl who, when performing was extremely outgoing, was in fact very shy. The evening
was an audience participation event, and naturally it almost goes
without saying that Ron was chosen to play the part of a "drunken old
miner" which he played to the hilt ~ the regular entertainers were SO
impressed several congratulated him later on his GREAT performance~
however to those of us that know him......... no more need be said !
He is however going to add this to his acting portfolio!

Yesterday we were part of the lucky group who managed to be
amongst the first 30 employees to sign up for a trip to Fairbanks for
the day. Our agenda...... to see a movie, eat at a regular restaurant
and to buy a few supplies at Wal-Mart. We hooked up with 3 other folks
(one of whom is one of my managers Mike ~ I so appreciate him, a hard
worker, pleasant and easy to get along with ~ we were like a bunch of
kids on a "field trip" it was so much fun ~ I can truly attest that
this is the furthest I have ever had to go to get to a grocery store (4 hour round trip) We saw the movie "Up" it was JUST GREAT, and
recommend it to each and everyone, for sure it is a movie I know we
will see again.

Well folk I guess this about catches you up with our news, We do feel
a bit remote and out of touch ~ for the most part regarding phone calls
the best time to call would be between 8am-noon, as generally we THINK
we will be working the later shifts, but if we can't answer leave a message/try again later, thanks.

The Activities Begin

Today we took a two and a half hour river rafting trip down the Nenana River~ it was wonderful...through forests and canyons with great views of the surrounding mountains. The river water is glacial run-off and a constant 36 degrees year round even though today the air temp was 72 deg F. Because it is relatively close to the glacier the silt has not yet settled, making the water very murky and difficult for the guides to see obstacles, consequently, we were hung up on a large rock at one point which created a bit of excitement. We also took our first hike in Denali Park and got to see our first moose! (two actually, but what is the plural of moose?!)

We have been here a week now and Ron is still in training whereas Mary has worked 3 shifts as hostess in the Courtyard Restaurant. Amazingly I seated three Irish ladies, one of whom is from the tiny town of Edenderry where my mother was born and raised. We struck up a great conversation and I now have her address and am expected to keep in touch, and most certainly visit when next in Ireland (there seems to be a lot of guests from the U.K. and Australia).

Although we are regarded as "the old folks" we are finding our young co-workers to be very friendly, and this goes a long way to making our time here more enjoyable. In fact we shared our rafting boat today with a nice young couple from Bulgaria.

The social hours around our sleeping quarters seem to be between 9pm - 1am, making it difficult to get to sleep before then ~ because of the constant daylight it truly feels as though it is permanently 2:00 in the afternoon at all times (why we were advised to bring a flashlight heaven only knows).

Note: Still waiting for second bathroom to be operational!

The Last Frontier Arrival :)

We have been here in Denali Park for 24 hrs now and still feeling a bit like a fish out of water. Just to back track a bit first........

We had a wonderful time in Seattle with Patrick and our good friends Jim and Nancy Doll. Both Sat and Sun the weather was spectacular (70's) we strolled the most beautiful Japanese Gardens, jogged around a favorite park close to Patrick ~ where I think every dog and their owners were out taking advantage of the warm temp ~ and, ate some amazing food, one place being a Spanish Tapas Restaurant where we celebrated Patrick's birthday. We also managed to fit in a play then spent Monday re-visiting our old haunts on Whidbey Island. It was so nice to meet up with old neighbors out gardening ~ they too seemed happy to see us and were disappointed we are not renting for the summer again this year, however were pretty excited to hear of our plans for being here in Alaska. We also had the tour of Patrick's house seeing it in it's "before" renovation stage. When we return mid Sept he will hopefully be moved in and we can help with the painting. In the meantime he is going to be living in a really cool 40 yr old van in his back yard.

So back to Alaska......... the approach into Anchorage on Tuesday had us surrounded by an amazing mountain range on both sides of the plane. Once again we were surprised by the warmth (60's) and had to peel off the warm clothing as soon as we checked in to the hotel. Kate and Andrew's friend, Brie, met us and chauffeured us around Anchorage plus shuttled a couple of bicycles we picked up for exploring the park bike paths in addition to hiking the trails ~ being with "a local" definitely gave us an advantage for a little sightseeing and getting to eat at one of the finest pizza/breweries we have ever been to ~ called "The Moose's Tooth" an absolute must for anyone visiting Anchorage, yes you will have to wait a while for your table, but without a doubt well worth it. Then dear old Brie shuttled us to the bus station at 6 am Wed (thank you SO much Brie, our time spent in Anchorage was so much more enjoyable because of you).

Okay, so now it is a tad cold waiting for the bus, but it was not long till we were on our way....... however 30 minutes into our four and a half trip into the Park, the electrical wiring for the a/c in the bus in front of us caught on fire!....... so it was evacuation time and hang around an hour to switch out buses (just a little extra added excitement). There is only one road, and have to admit, it seemed like a pretty long road, did not see any of the amazing wild life featured in the brochures apart from a couple of swans and one Caribou, however, the mountains really are spectacular ~ we had a great view of Mt. McKinley from about 175 miles away ~ at one point the road comes to within 40 mi of the peak. The treeline is at 2,000 feet instead of 12,000 feet which we were used to in Colorado, (the further north one goes the lower the tree line becomes). Here at Denali we are only 900 miles from the Arctic Circle.

SO........ here we are in "camp dusty" (i.e. employee housing).....it has everything we need, but not quite everything we would like. I was really hoping to have a bathroom included with our bedroom, however we would settled for "down the hall" right now ~ for in reality it is a trek across a dirt path to a communal bath servicing about 100 employees ~ a second bathroom will hopefully be functional shortly. Our room is "interesting" 11x11 two twin beds, desk with 3 draws, two night stands, and a small closet ~ actually all our stuff fits in! The view from Mary's bed is a snow covered mountain with fir trees in the foreground. The folks we have met so far have been very friendly, some of them are returning employees for many years, others just as green and clueless as ourselves! There is an upbeat air of adventure, which makes up for a lot. We have found the post office (a nice 3 mile round trip) so by walking or cycling we should fit in a little exercise just checking the mail!

Today we filled out paperwork and picked up our uniforms, this only took a couple of hours, tomorrow we start our orientation to "the front desk" for Ron and "Hostess" in the largest dining area for Mary. The food in the employee dining room seems to be okay but, Mary is fortunate enough to have the perk of being able to eat the same food as our guests on the days that she is working. It appears we will only be working 40 hrs/wk, we were thinking it was going to be a lot more, our shifts start as early at 4:30 am and end as late at 10 pm, as yet we don't know what our shifts will be, it will just be nice to have the same days off.

So far, so good....more to follow.