Hey everyone, Nick here, Court asked me to take over the update today. So yesterday we left Denali National Park and our very cold tent cabin. Here's a little recap of our adventures there.
The thing about Denali National Park is that private vehicles aren't allowed to drive up the one road that winds through the park. You have to take a bus from the Wilderness Access Center which is located near the Visitor Center. You CAN however drive to "Mile 15" which is as far as you can go up park highway. Once we got there we debated as to whether we would take the bus into the park then decided, "we're here we might as well do it.
There are several bus rides (they're not really tours as much as they are bus rides) that leave throughout the day, each going a little further than the next. We opted for the Toklat River ride, which means the bus would turn around at Toklat River about 53 miles from where we started. It was a 6 1/2 hour ride and $25 but it was totally worth it! Because we decided late in the day to take the trip we didn't leave the bus terminal until about 5pm which we thought might be kind of neat because we knew the wildlife would be more active the later it got. We were right. About an hour and a half into the trip we spotted a grizzly and cub. A while later Courtney saw a grizzly and a lynx sort of chasing each other on the hillside. Court was the hero for the rest of the day because she had seen it first and it was very rare to see a lynx let alone a lynx chasing a grizzly bear.
There were only about 11 of us when we started out, four of the passengers were backpackers that were literally dropped off in the middle of nowhere. There are no trails in Denali, it's above tree line and it's mostly tundra so you can walk for hours and hours and see in any direction. Then we picked up about six or seven hikers that had ventured out for the day and needed a lift back. They managed to jump on a bus heading down the hill and we were a small group again.
The road we were on was gravel, but a well maintained gravel road and in some sections it was only as wide as the bus with a sheer drop off to one side but beautiful scenery the entire way. We finally made it to Toklat River where we took our final break before heading down. I had given my flannel to Court so I was freezing in a t-shirt as much as she was with my thin long sleeve. It was windy, cold and completely isolated.
On our way back the driver spotted something on the road ahead near where we had just dropped off some backpackers. As we got closer we realized that it was a grizzly in the road! It was walking slowly along the edge. There was no room to pass so we followed it for about 15 minutes taking pictures and whispering about how huge its paws and head were. Finally, the driver managed to pass and we all sat in awe of this animal that had a blood stained neck and back. It was amazing. An hour or so before we saw a moose with two young ones, the driver said the blood on the bears back could very well have come from one of them.
We made it back around 11:30pm in one piece without being mauled and of course it's still light as day out. We slept as well as we could in the drafty canvas walled tent and woke up to a cold and cloudy morning. While I was getting breakfast together Court had decided to take a shower. Unfortunately, she stayed in a little too long in the very small, no ventilation room and decided to pass out. I was wondering where she had gone until I saw her hand push open the door of the outdoor shower from the kitchen window. We sat there for a minute until the room cooled down and she got her legs back.
Other than that little mishap things have been great, Court is feeling better from whatever struck her that sent us to the emergency room in Fairbanks. She has been so much fun traveling with, she's always so positive, worries about nothing and is up for anything. I've been blessed to have such a wonderful travel partner.
Photos coming soon!
Thursday, June 9, 2011
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
Happy Belated Photo Update!
These pictures are from the drive up (which, we were too lazy to upload during that time) - through California, Oregon, Washington, British Columbia, and the Yukon Territory. Enjoy (we did)!
PS: you can note the order of the trip by Nick's facial hair length.
Starbucks apparently doesn't open until 8am on Sunday mornings - so we went three hours of driving (on little sleep) before we could stop and get some. Nick re-arranged the car once we got there (please be sure to notice the "camping box" he made, I'm incredibly proud of him).
We, as tourists, decided to take a 30 minute detour and go see said "Mystery House." Well, turns out you had to buy tickets so we took a couple of pictures and left. We figured it was pretty much the same thing even if we bought some.
Once we got into Washington, we decided to go on up and see Mt. St. Helen's. It was pretty amazing.
And on the way back down from the volcano, there was a "Bigfoot" nostalgia store, so, of course, we had to stop.
On the way to visit my family, there was this huge hatchery where apparently the largest egg was produced.
And, for reminiscent purposes, Nick took a picture of me at my Aunt's house that I hadn't been to in years. 
Once in Seattle, we walked to the market place and had to take a touristy photo.
British Columbia was literally breathtaking. I'm sure anyone in the car with us would have been so annoyed - every 5 seconds one of us was pointing to something and exclaiming, "Look at that!"
The infamous chocolate covered raisins. In this photo, the container was filled. Once we made it to Bell II, I spilled half of them on the ground and the next morning they disappeared.
Bell II, where we stayed. It was a neat lodge - within each building there was a common room with a kitchen, TV, and a stash of scratched and C-rated movies, and your bedroom was off of a long corridor. 
When we stopped to check the transmission fluid, Nick found where the spilled raisins had gone. Poor little squirrel probably came back and wondered where his goldmine of a stash went.
Just, you know, on the side of the road, eating some shrubs. We of course stop and take pictures.
Probably my favorite part of Canada was all of the bridges - practically around every turn you found yourself driving over a large body of water. I've never really experienced anything like that before.
And again, the majesty of Canada - and the terrible part about it is that no camera will ever do it justice. Every once in awhile we'd debate whether or not to take a picture of something, simply because it wouldn't even compare to the original.
Finally arrived to the international border - I'm not sure if you can tell in this photo, but there's a line that divides Canada from the US that's cut through this forest.
We just purchased tickets to go on a "night ride" into Denali National Park that leaves at 5pm tonight and lasts about 6 1/2 hours. It's prime animal spotting time - and we're so excited that we're going to go take a nap in our cots until then.
PS: you can note the order of the trip by Nick's facial hair length.
Starbucks apparently doesn't open until 8am on Sunday mornings - so we went three hours of driving (on little sleep) before we could stop and get some. Nick re-arranged the car once we got there (please be sure to notice the "camping box" he made, I'm incredibly proud of him).
We, as tourists, decided to take a 30 minute detour and go see said "Mystery House." Well, turns out you had to buy tickets so we took a couple of pictures and left. We figured it was pretty much the same thing even if we bought some.
Once we got into Washington, we decided to go on up and see Mt. St. Helen's. It was pretty amazing.
And on the way back down from the volcano, there was a "Bigfoot" nostalgia store, so, of course, we had to stop.
On the way to visit my family, there was this huge hatchery where apparently the largest egg was produced.
And, for reminiscent purposes, Nick took a picture of me at my Aunt's house that I hadn't been to in years. 
Once in Seattle, we walked to the market place and had to take a touristy photo.
British Columbia was literally breathtaking. I'm sure anyone in the car with us would have been so annoyed - every 5 seconds one of us was pointing to something and exclaiming, "Look at that!"
The infamous chocolate covered raisins. In this photo, the container was filled. Once we made it to Bell II, I spilled half of them on the ground and the next morning they disappeared.
Bell II, where we stayed. It was a neat lodge - within each building there was a common room with a kitchen, TV, and a stash of scratched and C-rated movies, and your bedroom was off of a long corridor. 
When we stopped to check the transmission fluid, Nick found where the spilled raisins had gone. Poor little squirrel probably came back and wondered where his goldmine of a stash went.
Just, you know, on the side of the road, eating some shrubs. We of course stop and take pictures.
Probably my favorite part of Canada was all of the bridges - practically around every turn you found yourself driving over a large body of water. I've never really experienced anything like that before.
And again, the majesty of Canada - and the terrible part about it is that no camera will ever do it justice. Every once in awhile we'd debate whether or not to take a picture of something, simply because it wouldn't even compare to the original.
Finally arrived to the international border - I'm not sure if you can tell in this photo, but there's a line that divides Canada from the US that's cut through this forest.
We just purchased tickets to go on a "night ride" into Denali National Park that leaves at 5pm tonight and lasts about 6 1/2 hours. It's prime animal spotting time - and we're so excited that we're going to go take a nap in our cots until then.
Alaska at Last-ka.
Well, about 6 days of driving and delays later, we finally made it to the last frontier. And let me tell you, those 6 days weren't the easiest.
For starters, our first camping night consisted of freezing cold temperatures, wherein which we had to relocate to the car. Now for any of you who have had to try to catch some z's sitting upright, you know the feeling of a crick-neck-meets-crusty-eyeballs, and, in my case, rickety rods and screws to boot.
One thing can be said, though, Canadians prove to be the best and most courteous drivers, not to mention all around individuals. They were more than willing to offer a hand to the Californian's who (sometimes) didn't have a clue at where they were going. When we first got past the border into British Columbia, Nick and I couldn't believe just how majestic (yes, majestic) the area was.
We made it past Prince George, through a rural land that consisted of abandoned log cabins, massive rivers, lots of green, and came to a road block just up past Dease Lake.Now, Dease Lake has a population of about 400 (probably less, though), a gas station, cafe, and a highly priced, expired-goods grocery store. There was a fire that apparently had crossed the road near the border, and no one was allowed to drive through. So we were stuck in Dease Lake.
We found a campground nearby run by an old man named Chuck. Our site was situated right on the edge of the lake, and Nick found some Moose droppings that he wanted to use as a fire-starter. I told him no.
The next morning, I found out that they were letting people through the fire zone escorted by a pilot car. We drove up to a second road block, where we waited for about half an hour when the pilot car returned, and led a caravan of RV's, minivans, trucks, and a Versa named Roller Skate through the scorched lands and onto the Cassiar-Alaska Highway junction. Once there, the roads were terrible and the sun never went down. So it began.
Our next stop was Whitehorse in the Yukon Territory. We got in around 8pm, went to dinner (we split this Elk dish and fries that were to die for), and crawled into bed (thank you Canada's Best Value Inn). It's been dreadfully hard to fall asleep (we probably wouldn't sleep at all if it wasn't for exhaustion), simply because the sun keeps you awake.
Two hours before reaching the border, the road became not a road, but rather, a nightmare full of large washboard gravel sections, uneven pavement, and potholes. After our moods drastically changed in those two hours, we made it to Fairbanks. The mosquitoes were literally swarming. While we were there, we spent a whole day doing laundry, relaxing, watching The Mummy, eating KFC, and going to the hospital. Welcome to Alaska.
Today, the morning greeted us with a crispness in the air, as we crawled out of our 8x10 canvas tent at the Mountain Morning Hostel near the Denali National Park.
We saw some moose last night with little mooses, and are hoping to feed some grizzlies today (Nick's idea). We're trying to stay at places with free WiFi, so we can update more often (oops) - but tomorrow we're heading to Anchorage, and we're pretty excited to finally get to the coast.Cheers,
Nick & Court
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
This Train is Bound for Glory, This Train.
Washington is a beautiful, beautiful state. I couldn't believe how unbelievably scenic the entire drive was - you're surrounded by rich, diverse, thick forests that travel for miles beyond the hills that the roads find their way through. Granted, it did rain on us a bit, but that's to be expected - after all, no place can really be that green without a large amount of precipitation.
The best part about it, though, was that we were able to make a couple stops and see a few familiar faces.
On our way to visit with family, we drove up to Mt. St. Helen's - a ginormous volcano that, shaken by a 5.1 earthquake nearby, erupted back in 1980, devastating 150 square miles of forest. It was freezing once we finally made it to the look-out point, snow had blanketed the peaks and it was strange to think it was probably sunny and near the 70's back home. The view was incredible (we'll put up pictures later). It would've cost us $8/person to get into the little observatory, but we agreed we'd save the money for a t-shirt with a 5-point elk on it and a penny from one of those penny-stamping machines for a memento. We're very wise with our money.
After the two hour long trip to the national monument, we got to spend some time with a handful of relatives. It's amazing the feeling when surrounded by people you love, and, quite frankly, I don't have the words to describe it other than this sense warmth and security. And I couldn't be happier that Nick is with me, because, well, as far as I'm concerned, he's a part of this family too.
We got as far as Bellingham last night, and now we're going to go across the border (my first time!) and get to William's Lake by this evening. We don't really need to rush, especially since the sun doesn't go down until well after 9pm (which is weird). We'll be camping in this remote area that Nick found where we'll be able to get some hiking in, too. The camera is out in the car, or else we'd have a lot of pictures to put on here as well, but I'm sure they'll all come in one gigantic post sometime sooner than later (hopefully).
Onto the next stop (good thing the passenger seat is able to recline now)!
The best part about it, though, was that we were able to make a couple stops and see a few familiar faces.
On our way to visit with family, we drove up to Mt. St. Helen's - a ginormous volcano that, shaken by a 5.1 earthquake nearby, erupted back in 1980, devastating 150 square miles of forest. It was freezing once we finally made it to the look-out point, snow had blanketed the peaks and it was strange to think it was probably sunny and near the 70's back home. The view was incredible (we'll put up pictures later). It would've cost us $8/person to get into the little observatory, but we agreed we'd save the money for a t-shirt with a 5-point elk on it and a penny from one of those penny-stamping machines for a memento. We're very wise with our money.
After the two hour long trip to the national monument, we got to spend some time with a handful of relatives. It's amazing the feeling when surrounded by people you love, and, quite frankly, I don't have the words to describe it other than this sense warmth and security. And I couldn't be happier that Nick is with me, because, well, as far as I'm concerned, he's a part of this family too.
We got as far as Bellingham last night, and now we're going to go across the border (my first time!) and get to William's Lake by this evening. We don't really need to rush, especially since the sun doesn't go down until well after 9pm (which is weird). We'll be camping in this remote area that Nick found where we'll be able to get some hiking in, too. The camera is out in the car, or else we'd have a lot of pictures to put on here as well, but I'm sure they'll all come in one gigantic post sometime sooner than later (hopefully).
Onto the next stop (good thing the passenger seat is able to recline now)!
Sunday, May 29, 2011
Starbuck's Doesn't Open Until 8am on Sundays.
I can't believe we're in Portland already.
Needless to say, at around hour 8 of being in a car, you start to lose your mind, and you begin saying things like, "It's a birdpecker!" or "Don't touch my head." And after about hour 10 of listening to Harry Potter, Louis L'Amour and Star Wars on CD, all that your mind can really take is smooth jazz (it's a life saver, really).
We ma
de it to the city, wherein which Nick and I decided to stay in a hotel so he could finish submitting his grades. We ended up going out to dinner (at 8 o'clock at night) to a place called Henry's Tavern; The receptionist at the hotel over-arduously recommended the joint after we noted our preference for a local eatery. Probably due to the fact that we both were exhausted (since we only got 4 hours of sleep the night prior), the food couldn't come soon enough in the socialite-y locale - but when it did, the gorgonzola fries tasted like joy in a calorie-laden concoction.
It's still hard to believe that we're headed to Alaska. I had asked Nick if the concept was somewhat bizarre that we're in Oregon - and tomorrow - Washington. Sometimes it's hard to see out your backdoor, or, at least, out from your comfortable little bungalow 800 miles away. He returned by noting it's odd in a sense that he doesn't know what to expect once we get there. I agreed, but then again, I've seen plenty of episodes of Deadliest Catch and Sarah Palin's Alaska, and I'm sure those are completely accurate in their representation of the state.
Here's to tomorrow, one day closer to the unknown.
Needless to say, at around hour 8 of being in a car, you start to lose your mind, and you begin saying things like, "It's a birdpecker!" or "Don't touch my head." And after about hour 10 of listening to Harry Potter, Louis L'Amour and Star Wars on CD, all that your mind can really take is smooth jazz (it's a life saver, really).
We ma
de it to the city, wherein which Nick and I decided to stay in a hotel so he could finish submitting his grades. We ended up going out to dinner (at 8 o'clock at night) to a place called Henry's Tavern; The receptionist at the hotel over-arduously recommended the joint after we noted our preference for a local eatery. Probably due to the fact that we both were exhausted (since we only got 4 hours of sleep the night prior), the food couldn't come soon enough in the socialite-y locale - but when it did, the gorgonzola fries tasted like joy in a calorie-laden concoction.It's still hard to believe that we're headed to Alaska. I had asked Nick if the concept was somewhat bizarre that we're in Oregon - and tomorrow - Washington. Sometimes it's hard to see out your backdoor, or, at least, out from your comfortable little bungalow 800 miles away. He returned by noting it's odd in a sense that he doesn't know what to expect once we get there. I agreed, but then again, I've seen plenty of episodes of Deadliest Catch and Sarah Palin's Alaska, and I'm sure those are completely accurate in their representation of the state.
Here's to tomorrow, one day closer to the unknown.
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Testing, Testing, 1, 2, 3.
For as long as I can remember I've always wanted to go to Alaska.
I'm not quite sure when this exact notion came into existence, but I'm pretty positive it was between my conscious-ability-to-put-stories-into-contextual-real-life and the age of 12. And, as a lot of dreams do, it began with my dad.
I grew up hearing anecdotes above my head about the last frontier, 36' trollers, freezing days and sleepless nights in the back of an old pickup. He'd tell tales of grizzly encounters, people encounters, mother nature encounters - and as the years went by I couldn't help but imagine myself in such a place. It doesn't hurt, either, that my less-than-impressive dress and uncontrollable hair would probably fit in rather perfectly as well (or so I've been told*).
I'm rather unaware as to what exactly I'm getting myself into, but I'm dragging my best friend and partner (literally dragging**) along with me for the month of June.
Like on our three day round-trip excursion to Arizona and the Grand Canyon, we figured that if we could last roughly 18 hours in a car together, we could probably make it through anything. I laugh just thinking about it - the mere thought of now being restricted to a small vehicle for 7 days of 10 hour driving is surely going to be packed full of peace, love and joy - and I can't wait.
I'm not quite sure when this exact notion came into existence, but I'm pretty positive it was between my conscious-ability-to-put-stories-into-contextual-real-life and the age of 12. And, as a lot of dreams do, it began with my dad.
I grew up hearing anecdotes above my head about the last frontier, 36' trollers, freezing days and sleepless nights in the back of an old pickup. He'd tell tales of grizzly encounters, people encounters, mother nature encounters - and as the years went by I couldn't help but imagine myself in such a place. It doesn't hurt, either, that my less-than-impressive dress and uncontrollable hair would probably fit in rather perfectly as well (or so I've been told*).
I'm rather unaware as to what exactly I'm getting myself into, but I'm dragging my best friend and partner (literally dragging**) along with me for the month of June.
Like on our three day round-trip excursion to Arizona and the Grand Canyon, we figured that if we could last roughly 18 hours in a car together, we could probably make it through anything. I laugh just thinking about it - the mere thought of now being restricted to a small vehicle for 7 days of 10 hour driving is surely going to be packed full of peace, love and joy - and I can't wait.
I don't know why I've felt so compelled to travel up north, let alone what's awaiting us. But there's something completely uninhibited - completely freeing about the idea of Alaska.
It's not just the concept of the final frontier, or roughing it, or even the chance at a potential Sarah Palin run-in. I think I've just been searching - searching for a place, well, to finally fit in. And granted, it'll only be a month, but for that one month I'll be with the man I love in a place I've always dreamed of living.
"Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don't matter at all, because once you are Real you can't be ugly, except to people who don't understand."
Here's to the future and the month of June, it's a good thing God's in control,
Court
* Several times.
** Note sarcasm.
** Note sarcasm.
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