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| Studying lichen (edible & otherwise) with Ranger Andy |
- The couple camped above us is from near Munich, Germany -- backpackers visiting the North American continent. Of the more than 400,000 visitors last year, I'm guessing at least 25% were from foreign countries, maybe more.
- The campers below stay only one night. Gary is a freelance photographer and journalist. She is a botanist. Both are in their 60's, I am guessing, but fit and focused on seeing as much as they can squeeze into their overnight visit. Gary is also a lucky duck. The one morning they spend in camp, Mt. McKinley exposes itself. Dale and I hear him snapping pictures by the hundreds with his Nikon. The clicking of the camera shutter wakes me up at 5 a.m.
- A young couple from southern California -- college-aged kids -- dress the best of all of us. She sports form-fitting high-end outdoor gear (Sierra Designs, Patagonia, Mountain Hardwear). He wears pegged denims, rolled up neatly above his combat boots. They have the eagerness of puppies about them.
- A couple from Washington state tells us they came to Alaska seven years ago and never left. A common story.
- A group of four college kids -- three young women and one fellow -- are volunteering with World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms (WWOOF). It's an organization I have never heard of, but it impresses me as a practical way for someone to both contribute and learn something of organic agricultural practices. They have been working near Talkeetna, and have taken a few days off to see Denali. I dub them "woofers." One young woman is a ringer for Jennifer Lawrence; I have to stop myself from calling her Katniss.
- A brother and sister from Taiwan (pictured with my brother and me and the rangers in a previous post) stay the same three nights as us, along with a couple of their friends. Amazing people. The siblings have been to a survival school in Vermont, learning how to subsist in the wilderness on plants and animals. Both are meticulous journal writers and artists, drawing pictures of edible plants and animals as they learn about them from the ranger. The sister has been in Mexico prior to coming to Alaska, living with a family on an exchange, then traveling all through Latin America. From our camp they are headed to the Stampede Trail, the site where Christopher McCandless (subject of the Jon Krakauer book Into the Wild) was last seen alive. The brother, Leo, tells me they are taking only a 20 kilo bag of rice and planning to stay away from civilization for 40 days.
- A group of four young people from China. When the ranger has us all introduce ourselves the first night, he points out how we are from all around the world and names China (but not Taiwan) as one of the places mentioned. The Taiwanese group speaks up to clarify that mistake.
- The camp host, Phyllis, and her visiting daughter, Jo, drive by in Ranger Magali's vehicle and stop to talk. Phyllis has been the campground host at Wonder Lake for 23 years, many of those years with her late husband, Harry. She is 88 years old. but continues to return to Wonder Lake and says she intends to do so as long as she is healthy. The mountain that backs up from the camp and lake is called Harry's Hill in honor of her husband. I ask if I can stop by and interview her, and she says, "Of course," and that she will have cookies ready. Unfortunately, the next day she leaves camp when her daughter has to return home to Texas.
- Two girls from Anchorage camp a couple of days in the Wonder Lake area to hike and bike. They ride the bus out with us and get off near Polychrome Pass around mile 40, planning to bike back to the park entrance yet that afternoon.
I imagine some of these people will be talking about "the brothers" when they get home -- those two crazy guys who go fishing and camping together every year. When it's time to leave, I feel a bit nostalgic already for Alaska.
It's another clear warm day for the bus ride out of the park on Monday. We load and head towards Kantishna at the end of the Denali road. At the ranger cabins a half mile up the main road, Magali and Andy are on the front porch doing the CanCan. She has on an apron printed with the neck-down image of a Folies Bergere dancer. Andy is wearing his Elmer Fudd cap. You make your own entertainment in the wild.
A few more miles up the road, we stop to take pictures from the northern shore of Wonder Lake. Paul, our driver, is in no particular hurry. He's happy to pick up and drop off hikers and bikers, or to pull over for wildlife photo opportunities. He's also much more talkative and we hear about his work history (spotty and opportunistic) and his divorce (she got the truck). It will take us 2 hours longer to drive out of the park than it did to drive in.
It's another clear warm day for the bus ride out of the park on Monday. We load and head towards Kantishna at the end of the Denali road. At the ranger cabins a half mile up the main road, Magali and Andy are on the front porch doing the CanCan. She has on an apron printed with the neck-down image of a Folies Bergere dancer. Andy is wearing his Elmer Fudd cap. You make your own entertainment in the wild.
A few more miles up the road, we stop to take pictures from the northern shore of Wonder Lake. Paul, our driver, is in no particular hurry. He's happy to pick up and drop off hikers and bikers, or to pull over for wildlife photo opportunities. He's also much more talkative and we hear about his work history (spotty and opportunistic) and his divorce (she got the truck). It will take us 2 hours longer to drive out of the park than it did to drive in.
When we stop at Eilson, I talk with the young woman, Margie, who has been sitting in front of us on the bus. She is a graduate of the University of Colorado and lives west of Boulder. She works at the Murie Science Center for National Geographic. Back on the bus, Paul strikes up a conversation with her, glancing in his rear view mirror.
"Where do you work when you're not at the park?"
"I work with the schools in Colorado. Environmental ed," she says.
"I had to take driver's ed," he replies. "Didn't know they still offered that in schools." And he rambles on about who taught his class and how he did on his driver's test. Margie is nice enough to humor him -- and us-- and says nothing.
During the seven-hour ride we come across nine grizzly bears: two separate mothers with two cubs each, a couple of males feeding together on berries, and another male ambling across the plain far below the Eilson Visitor Center. One mother and cubs walks smack dab down the middle of the road past our bus. Despite their proximity, they are gone quickly and we all get far fewer photos than we would like.
"Where do you work when you're not at the park?"
"I work with the schools in Colorado. Environmental ed," she says."I had to take driver's ed," he replies. "Didn't know they still offered that in schools." And he rambles on about who taught his class and how he did on his driver's test. Margie is nice enough to humor him -- and us-- and says nothing.
During the seven-hour ride we come across nine grizzly bears: two separate mothers with two cubs each, a couple of males feeding together on berries, and another male ambling across the plain far below the Eilson Visitor Center. One mother and cubs walks smack dab down the middle of the road past our bus. Despite their proximity, they are gone quickly and we all get far fewer photos than we would like.
From Denali we drive back to Anchorage, stopping to see if the silvers have arrived yet on Montana Creek. No luck. In Wasila we drop by a Goodwill to donate my tent, find a place to stay for the night, and sample some Alaskan brews at "Locals," the bar and restaurant across the parking lot from the hotel. In the morning we have breakfast at the "Trout Cafe" across the road. It's exactly what you would expect -- pine walls plastered with photos of huge fish and bigger game -- salmon, char, bears, caribou. Flannel-shirted locals are talking politics in loud voices over bottomless cups of coffee. Their politics are closer to Sarah Palin's than mine, but after all this is the town where she was elected mayor -- twice.
It's been a great trip. Two spectacular weeks in Alaska. Our annual fishing trips are always a kick, but this one sets the bar high for whatever follows. "Florida next year?" asks Dale. I'm already dreaming of bonefish and margaritas.
It's been a great trip. Two spectacular weeks in Alaska. Our annual fishing trips are always a kick, but this one sets the bar high for whatever follows. "Florida next year?" asks Dale. I'm already dreaming of bonefish and margaritas.
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