Alaska, Day 1: Mt. McKinley, The Hills Are Alive, Never-Ending Sunshine

You know what's awesome?  Taking a long flight without kids.  Who cares that it's the red eye, you get about 2-3 hours total sleep for the night, and you have a kinked neck?  I knew our vacation would be great the minute I realized none of the above bothered me a bit.

Then, we saw Mt. McKinley within a couple hours of landing.  Only 30% of visitors to Alaska see this peak, which is more often than not hidden deep within the clouds.  It's such an oft-quoted statistic that the souvenir shops even have Ts for the "30% club." 

Before going into my day-by-days, we tallied a list of totals for the trip.  Here it is:
1.  Hiking:  40 miles (27 trail-less)
2.  Kayaking:  28 miles
3.  Wildlife:  Over 200 animals, including:  3 Moose, 33 Caribou, 11 Grizzlies plus a growl, 10 Dall Sheep, Countless Ground Squirrels, 1 Wolf, 1 Fox, 4 Marmots, 10+ Bald Eagle, 1 Golden Eagle, 20 Puffins, Lots of other Birds, 3 Sea Otters, 8+ River Otters, 8+ Stellar Sea Lions, 20+ Harbor Seals, 12 Harbor Porpoises, 20+ Unidentifiable Porpoises, 12 Dall Porpoises, 12 Sockeye/Pink Salmon, 4 Humpback Whales, 0 Orcas (insert frowning face), and 21 Rock Fish (on the end of our poles)
4.  Number of Days in a Row Without a Shower:  4
5.  Cans of Hot Cocoa Consumed:  3.5 
6.  Packages of Oreos:  3
7.  Number of times I did my hair in 9 days: 2
8.  Amount of money we watched sink to the bottom of the ocean:  $400 + priceless footage
9.  Number of times I wanted to go home early to see my kids: 2
10.  Overall satisfaction rating for the trip: 92%  (I am a realist so this is an extremely high rating...)

Day 1 we landed in Anchorage at 5am, and found Aaron and Julie, who had curled up in sleeping bags in a corner of the airport since their flight landed at 2am.  We went to breakfast at Village Inn, which was actually delicious (although I do not understand why their buildings look so awful, and I automatically assumed my food would somehow taste orange).  REI did not open until 10am and we all had rental gear for our camping stint in Denali, so we killed some time by jogging around Earthquake Park, where we caught our one and only glimpse at Mt. McKinley (aka the highest mountain peak in North America at 20,320 feet).  We finally got our gear and groceries, and off we went on a 6 hour drive to Denali National Park.

I don't remember exactly when I got it in my head that I wanted to visit Alaska.  Brady says he's always wanted to go, and certainly it sounded appealing to me.  However, I was hesitant because I was afraid the only good way or best way to do Alaska would be a cruise, and at this stage of my life (when the general pace of my life is lovely but sort of slow), I needed something with more edge and roughness, and we tentatively planned on New Zealand.  Cue Cory and Kristen asking us if we might be interested in doing a trip to Alaska with them.  Cue my sudden spike in interest.  Cue Cory and Kristen bowing out.  Cue Aaron and Julie responding to a vague email question asking if they'd want to go with us and the rest somehow came together!  Aaron and Julie were perfect vacay companions, especially for this trip.  They are both very adventurous, outdoorsy, and they understand wilderness.  They don't take breaks, they don't have to relax, and they have the same drive to accomplish as much as possible in our time without children!  It also helps that we have been friends nearly 10 years.  They are the sort of friends you can see a couple times in 6 years and feel like you haven't missed a second.

We were giddy with excitement when we passed the Denali sign.  You must know by now how much I love planning trips, and we were finally here after a full year of preparation!

We did not realize this would be the only moose we'd see for a few days:

The caribou were everywhere:

Happy 10 Year Anniversary to us (a year late).  This was the first (but--unfortunately--not only) time we sang, "The Hills are Alive with the Sound of Music":

The car was chuck full of groceries, firewood, and camping gear the way up.  Aaron and Julie graciously sat in the backseat with all of it rolling around above their heads.

We set up camp at Tek Campground, the only camp deeper into the park that you can drive to (mile 29).  Denali has strict rules about vehicle traffic, though, and we had to camp 3 nights in a row, leave our car parked the entire duration of the visit, and use shuttles to get to our hiking spots.  This helps preserve the park's wildlife population and makes it a bit more remote.

It did not get fully dark in Denali.  Fantastic!  These pictures are taken later in the evening. The terrain was awesome--a mossy, tundra ground that almost felt bouncy like a really sweet track.  Aaron and Julie looked up some info on it, and it sounds like we were hiking on little hills called hummocks.  One person online described the surface of the land as something from Dr. Seuss' books.  Agreed.  It was very unique.

Mountain-man Aaron:

 These pictures are some of my favorite from Denali.  The sun was out one of the few times of our trip, and I think they really capture the remoteness and beauty of this park.

Totals for Day 1:
1.  Hiked: 2-3 miles
2.  Wildlife:  1 Moose, 3 Caribou on drive to campground