Lots of “No Service” areas here in AK, so I’ll post when I can. Right now sitting outside a Safeway market which has Wifi at 7 am on 7/28. Denali’s two days of bus tours took me out to mile 85 of 92 miles on Park Road; so, I got to see most of what could be seen without hiking into the 6 million acres that are Denali wilderness. Nice companions and drivers on bus tours sharing warmth and their own humanity at tender levels. All is in Divine and perfect order right now! While Mt McKinley/Denali was cloud covered, I had seen her previously on the journey to Denali. So, I got to enjoy everything else-the surrounding mountains, valleys, canyons, rivers/ creeks/ lakes, wildlife, wildflowers, trees/ bushes/ grasses, braiding of rivers, more stones than one can imagine, smell of really fresh air, sounds of the wilderness in water/ wind/ wildlife/ and companions on the journey. It amazes me that wilderness does have its own order and randomness at the same time-perfectly aligned trees and rock formations and totally random occurrences of same-but, I have limited human observations while Mother Earth is perfection. There are 130 active volcanoes in Alaska! Denali is considered Arctic desert-who knew? Not I, for sure. And permafrost, areas below surface land, that never thaw out, so that before building a road the area must be dug down to permafrost level so it can thaw over a couple of years! A good portion of Chena Hot Springs Road had many series of dips in the Road which made for an interesting roller coaster type of drive with scenic beauty to knock my socks off. Relaxing in the hot springs for many soaks, then napping, and returning for more soaks revived my body and soul. Chena Hot Springs with lodge and campgrounds draws people from all over the world speaking their native languages which gets me into a global perspective, which I appreciate. The Aurora ice Museum topped off the day with magnificence! The museum is kept at a constant 25 degrees, so the sculptures don’t melt! It has a bar which serves Appletinis in glasses made of ice! It has a chapel, where world-reknowned ice sculptors couple married! It has its own igloo with an ice xylophone, bedrooms with caribou pelt coverings for seating. Colored lighting throughout adds to the ambiance. Amazing!
Wednesday, 7/26, I spent traveling to Fairbanks and in the Morris Cultural Center in Fairbanks being enlightened and entertained. Videos of archeological and environmental information along with the museum broadened my knowledge. The cultural presentation of indigenous young people dancing and singing entertained and delighted me. A helpful NPS Ranger helped me decide which way to go next to accomplish getting to my objective of seeing all NPS sites in AK, of which there are 16, to which only a small portion can be attended by driving! Roads are very limited in AK; l guess paved roads get to less than 10% of the state! Marine Ferry and fly is how I’ll get to the remaining NPS units, as I’ve driven to the only ones that can be driven to: Klondike Gold Rush NHP, Wrangell-St Elias NP &Preserve, Kenai (pronounced keen-eye) Fjords NP, and Denali NP& Preserve. Because of the remote locations, NPS has passport stamps for remote locations at accessible locations. On Wednesday at Morris Cultural Ctr in Fairbanks, I obtained passport stamps for Gates of the Arctic and Yukon Charley Rivers NatlPreserve. And in Homer, I obtained passport stamps for Lake Clark Natl Preserve and Katmai NP&P. At this point, I’m half the way there, with 8 passport stamps obtained and 8 more to go, for a total of 382 NPS units visited out of 417 total. Still to go are 8 in Hawaii, 6 in PR/Virgin Islands, 1in Guam, 8 remaining in Alaska and some scattered thru lower 48 that were closed when I went through the area. Anyone interested in joining me on the Hawaii, PR/Virgin Islands, or Guam adventures, please let me know.
Back to Denali. The Dog sled demonstration and kennels are fabulous! I didn’t realize that Iditarod dogs are bred for speed, while others are “working” dog teams, that haul, as part of a team, 40+ pounds each on missions. At Denali, in winter with temperatures colder than 40 degrees below zero, they haul rangers and materials needed to various sites in the park, and remove/bring back items needing to be removed from their current locations. Dogs in the team love their work! The mushers, people who work with dog sled teams, seem to love it, also, as was stated in a Ranger presentation about the 4 females and 1 male Ranger on the Winter Team. No hot showers for 3 months? Hmmm. Want Water? Melt dry snow. Want heat? Start a fire. Want food? Bring it with you. That’s really adventure! Hear nothing, still and quiet. No technology or communication with anyone but team members and radio communication with home base operations for 3 months. Talk about isolation! Oh, working sled dog teams don’t have dominant dogs; the dogs are put in different positions and rotated-can humans learn something from this approach? Okay, talked out, rather typed out. Y’all enjoy now, as it is all we truly ever have. PS- working sled dogs retire after 9 years to be adopted by loving caregivers residing in really cold places. Ten-minute showers obtained by purchase of $4.50 token in the shape of a bear head! I used outdoor electric outlet at Riley Creek Mercantile to charge phones and heat decaf coffee water in hot pot. Denali has its own USPO where the postal worker agreed to hand stamp postcards for me; postcards required additional postage and stamps can be overlapped-who knew?
Now Is Heaven 
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