Alright, I've reduced the amazingness of this trip to a list of things done for the first time:
Drove a 4-wheeler
Bought a fishing license
Went dip-net fishing
Caught a fish!
Gold-panned
Went 4-bying and almost rolled!
Saw a reindeer
Ate deer and reindeer meat
Met a fire chief
Drove a fire engine
Hiked a glacier
Visited the Arctic Circle and the Yukon River
Saw a moose
Rode a horse bareback
Shot guns - including a sniper rifle!
Visited Anchorage, Fairbanks, North Pole, Chitina, Fox, Chena River, Tanana River, Circle
As you can tell, I have been very hardcore on this trip :) I'm super stoked about the pictures and will regale you with stories until you're sick of my bragging. I miss you all. See you soon.
Tuesday, June 20
Wednesday, June 14
Alaska, Days 1 and 2 which were actually one.
What an amazing place it is up here!! You know that song that goes, "Oh beautiful, for spacious skies, for amber waves of grain..." or something like that? I'm pretty sure they wrote that song about Alaska. It is absolutely pristine and compared to home, completely unadultrated. I don't mean to sound corny, but hugeness of the mountains and the lushness of the tress reminded me of heaven... or that scene at the end of The Land Before Time :) All that to say - it's beyond words.
My adventure began... I was picked up by my friend Hunter in Anchorage at about midnight. The sky looked like 5:45am for us at home. It was really weird :) We drove, and took breaks, and unloaded the Landcruiser we were towing in order to take a short off-road 4-bying jaunt up a jagged mountain - scary! All this took about 10 hours. We were about an hour from Hunter's house when we saw one of his friends, Bill Cody. My hopes and dreams of a shower and a nap were gone. We turned around and followed Bill back to a valley (I'd include pictures, but I'm running on a disposable right now!). We climbed high up the side of a hill and sat on the roof of Bill's truck to absorb the view, which was phenomenal. We then decided to hike up the rest of the mountain, which was my first near-death experience of the day (threat: heart attack). We ended up being closer to the clouds than the ground - it was unreal.
When some of Hunter's other friends joined us, we set off into the Alaska wilderness. I can see why Alaska draws people - the entire state is kind of like a huge playground. No rules, just right. Or something like that. Anyway, the chaos that ensued for the next 10 hours included near-rollovers (my favorite part of the day!), being towed across a river, muddy swamp grass in my mouth, a million mosquitos, utter seclusion, good-natured swearing men with beer, and (as I was eventually told, I should have expected) - hours-long truck breakdowns. It was an amazing day and SOOOOO fun, but needless to say, when we finally pulled back onto the freeway at 12:30am, I was ready for civilization. My first Alaskan adventure ended at 2am Wednesay morning and after a long rest, I can't wait to see what comes next :)
ps I don't have time to proofread, so ignore my mistakes!
My adventure began... I was picked up by my friend Hunter in Anchorage at about midnight. The sky looked like 5:45am for us at home. It was really weird :) We drove, and took breaks, and unloaded the Landcruiser we were towing in order to take a short off-road 4-bying jaunt up a jagged mountain - scary! All this took about 10 hours. We were about an hour from Hunter's house when we saw one of his friends, Bill Cody. My hopes and dreams of a shower and a nap were gone. We turned around and followed Bill back to a valley (I'd include pictures, but I'm running on a disposable right now!). We climbed high up the side of a hill and sat on the roof of Bill's truck to absorb the view, which was phenomenal. We then decided to hike up the rest of the mountain, which was my first near-death experience of the day (threat: heart attack). We ended up being closer to the clouds than the ground - it was unreal.
When some of Hunter's other friends joined us, we set off into the Alaska wilderness. I can see why Alaska draws people - the entire state is kind of like a huge playground. No rules, just right. Or something like that. Anyway, the chaos that ensued for the next 10 hours included near-rollovers (my favorite part of the day!), being towed across a river, muddy swamp grass in my mouth, a million mosquitos, utter seclusion, good-natured swearing men with beer, and (as I was eventually told, I should have expected) - hours-long truck breakdowns. It was an amazing day and SOOOOO fun, but needless to say, when we finally pulled back onto the freeway at 12:30am, I was ready for civilization. My first Alaskan adventure ended at 2am Wednesay morning and after a long rest, I can't wait to see what comes next :)
ps I don't have time to proofread, so ignore my mistakes!
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