Alaskan Summer Solstice

Hello All- We have survived another couple of weeks here in Denali. Last week on our day off we went on a two day backpacking trip. We started on the road about 7:00 after work and hiked around 5 miles to get to a place to camp. The biggest challenges are that there are no trails in Denali so we have to plow through the waist high brush just like regular animals. Also, you have to set up your tent out of view of the road. This road curves all through the park so sometimes that is easier said then done. In the morning we woke up to a beautiful clear view of Mt. McKinley. We hiked another few miles to the top of the mountain that we slept on. We packed up our camp and hurried to the road to catch the bus. We got bussed to our next camp site which was at the end of the road in the park. We hiked up another mountain to find a great place to camp. We're not great at finding the easiest way to the top of the mountain, we ended up having to trudge through the thick willow bushes that were taller then our heads. The mosquitoes were so bad that we put our tent up on a slope that was about a 45 degree angle, once we got in our tent and it felt good to be able to rest and not have to swat bugs. During the night though, when the bugs went to sleep, i caught a great view of the sunset and then the sunrise soon after. We woke up at the bottome of our tent in a small ball and realized that we almost missed our bus back out of the park. We packed up camp and packed straight down the mountain. It was amazing how it takes 4 hrs to go up and 35 min to get down. We kept joking that we were carribou. Since we took a different way down then up we ended up hiking several miles through a small river. The good news is that we made our bus and survived our first backcountry backpacking trip.

One morning before work we went rafting and Nate and I got to be the front paddlers. We did a good job leading the boat. We had a great time. It's a rush going through the rapids.

Nate went King Salmon fishing with his friends. They started on the river at 11:00 and fished until 6:00 in the morning. He was pretty sad that he didnt catch one, but still had a great time. We went to a muskox farm in Wasilla. They are big animals that sit there. Then we went to Anchorage we went to the Haritage Center. It is similar to the PCC in Hawaii. Its all about the different Native American Tribes in Alaska.

Well our days here are winding down. We only have 21 hrs of sun now and we are feeling cramped for time. Hope all is well at home. See you in a month!!

More ALASKAN News

We've survived another couple of weeks in Alaska. We started our jobs here. Nathan is cooking (where he comes home covered in sweet and grease) and I'm a housekeeping supervisor (I just make the housekeepers work). The only thing that is good about it is we get the same days off. We are planning our first backpacking trip into the park for this tuesday and wednesday. We did our back country training which included a 30 min video and a talk with the park ranger. Whenever you stay overnight in the backcountry you have to register for a bear proof food container and a permit to be in a specific area in the park. You have to buy a map from the park (the kind with only lines that when they get closer it means that the terrain is getting steeper) and we have to mark off the restricted areas so we don't stumble into wolf dens. We took a long bus tour into the park and got to see some great wildlife. Our tour guide had this great zoom lens so we got upclose and personal shots. We saw bears, fox, dall sheep, carribu, snow shoe hair, magpies. We did spend a week in Utah. Nathans Grandpa died so we went home for the funeral and to support the family. Nathans grandpa was a really athletic man even into his 70's (He reminds me of Grandpa Baugh) He played basketball at BYU and Uof U. He served in the Korean war and played basketball for the Army, which was a great blessing, since he didnt have to fight. The Hale family will really miss him. On our way back to Alaska we had a long lay-over in Seattle, so we took a cab into the city and painted up the town. We saw Pike Market Place, the space needle (quick fact: in 1962 was built totall cost 4.5 mil. in 1996 they replaced the three elevetors cost 4.5 mil. and in 2000 the re-painted from top to bottom and the total cost was 4.5 mil. CRAZY!!!!), and walked along the boardwalk. We had a fun time. We are really getting into the routine of life here and having one adventure after another

ALASKA

Well, we've survived a week here and it's been loads of fun. We flew into Anchorage Sunday night and we stayed in a small city about an hour away called Wasilla. Our adventure started that night when we set our eyes on our new "vehicle" and then locked our keys in the car. On Monday Nate and I went shooting with Nate's friends and their family. Nate did a good job but needs more practice at throwing the clay pigeons. I didn't bring my "A" game that day, but still managed to hit a couple of targets close. On Thursday Nate and I ventured in Anchorage to see the sights. We weren't impressed. So we drove south for about an hour and went on an glacier cruise. It was pretty cool. We even got to see a big chunck fall off and crash into the lake. It was loud and made a big splash. On Friday Nate went fishing with some locals at willow creek and caught 4 trout (supposedly he caught the most and the biggest, thanks Phil for spending time on the lawn to teach him how to fly fish) that night we camped there. It was our first married solo camping trip. It was fun. The rest of the time there was spent hinking and hanging out with Nate's old roommates. On Saturday we made the 3 hr drive to Denali and we're still learning the ropes. Our new "house" is more like a prison cell and make our cracker jack apartment in AZ seem like the Ritz. We went for a hike to Healy Overlook. From there you can see most of Denali National Park. Some of the things that we have learned so far in Alaska are the sun really never sets, they were'nt kidding about that. We also learned that everyone knows where the best place is to catch fish, but never really tell you how to get there. They also tell you that you have to go fishing with "so and so" because they are the best, but never give you their number. The last thing is that every Alaskan has a dog and a cigarette in their hand. But we love it here so far and are looking forward to what lies ahead. Keep in touch. I'm counting on my fellow bloggers to keep my up to date so I dont feel left out.