Alaska Day 3: A "One or 5 Mile Hike"

 If yesterday's motto was "The Mountains are Calling and I Must Go," this day's mantra was "How Many Ways Can I Complain About Walking?"  

I'd been awake most of the night two nights in a row with an infection and knew I needed to get to the doctor.  Rather than explore in Denali another day, we decided to do a hike heading out of the park.  The kids hassled us about which hike we planned on and we through out ideas.  They heard us talk about a couple possibilities and honed in on the one that was 1-2 miles, deciding collectively that this was the decision.  We found a better option with dramatic views--including of Denali Mountain--but one child who shall not be named continued to complain 50% of the time.

We tried so many poses of Zac jumping off this rock but couldn't quite get the view he wanted.  Look at all the land!  Look at the views!  Feel that crisp air with the sunshine!  What a lucky morning.

Owen loved finding rocks and said he wants to be a glass blower like always, but also a geologist.

Owen was carrying a rock during some of the hike and a lady told him to "put it down right now."  Owen looked up with giant eyes and immediately replaced the rock, getting an earful about leaving natural elements in their place.  I was proud of his humble response to the abrasive encounter, and he was able to brush it off pretty quickly.  I told him we'd always have these photos, and we had a good discussion about why it is important to leave rocks, sand, etc. in their original places (while inwardly giving the lady stink eye for her brusque manner with my innocent and curious kiddo).

Such different terrain after a day of trail-less hiking to get on a well-traveled path.

After catching the shuttle bus and heading out of the park, we looked up Urgent Care locations and hoped for the best.  In the end, we didn't get back to medical services in time for me to get an appointment without waiting at the Emergency Room, and it wasn't yet that escalated.  We made a plan B, relied on Google Searches and Walmart's pharmacy, and headed to Red Robin for a late dinner.  I remember thinking Red Robin was a fancy place to eat in college, and the kids thought the endless fries/drinks/salads, etc. were exceptional.  We thought it was on par and slightly better than the Walmart prepped foods options we ate the days previously.

After a 6-hour-driving day, we ended in Girdwood.  It was after midnight when we pulled into our campsite, a place renowned for gold mining.  It was raining hard and Brady had to reverse into our site with the monstrosity we were driving.  We laid down under mostly dark conditions for the first time on the trip, so grateful for the burst of sunny weather and beautiful conditions we hit in Denali during Alaska's "less-than-sunny-summer" (Alaska Public Media).