6 years ago we thought first about going to Alaska. We wanted to see the glaciers before they all melted away, that was the excuse ;-) Plans changed swiftly and life's other pleasures like having our first own home and setting it up, getting pregnant and having Rian, etc. took over. We always thought about Alaska though. Very often. Over the years I had accumulated random tidbits from everyone about Alaska in my GoogleDoc for the place. I would come back to it once in a while but nothing made much sense to me. I had no idea what the geography looks like, when to go, etc. We knew for sure that we didn't want to take a cruise. The interiors are beautiful and we wanted a sampler. This summer we put a stake in the ground: one fine day Amit agreed to 10 days off in August when Rian's school has a 2-week break, and I just went ahead and bought our air tickets. Other things just kinda sorta fell in place. We're kinda lucky in that sense :-)
Packing has become very different for us now. Earlier we would fret and start assembling stuff into bags a week in advance. Now, with Evernote, we just build our lists without actually putting things in bags. We save the last 3-4 hrs of the day before we fly, and finish packing. For this 10 day trip, we had to pack for all seasons: summer, winter, and rain. We ended up with 2 checked bags of 50+ lbs each. Our handbag itself weighed 17 lbs. Almost 10 lbs of that weight in checked bags was milk for Rian. I'm a big fan of the aseptic containers for Horizon Organic 1% plain milk, even I chug a couple of them once in a while. We also carrier along our Deuter carrier, since we had plans to do some non-trivial hikes with Rian on our backs. We also needed to carry our car seat for the 10 day drive vacation, and we decided to take the bigger, safer car seat for that. For one day in Denali National Park, we also needed to carry a car seat/booster on the shuttle bus, so we also carried a second booster seat for Rian. So basically we had LOADS of luggage!
We had great flights in the middle of the day. We spent two whole days: day 1 and day 10, flying in and out. Rian almost never runs out of energy. What I've realized is that we need to conserve our energies, and that does not happen with red-eyes or bad flights. The time we think we'll spend at our destination then sometimes gets spent in a lot of stress. Instead I've just opted to pay a few more $$ and get the best flights, so everyone remains happy. As Amit's new mantra gets more and more ingrained in our brains, here it is for all to see: The first and most important thing in life is to be happy. The second most important thing is love. The third most important thing is trains :-) and Rian is in giggles by the third one :D
All of us had a good hearty breakfast at home and left ~10am to get to the airport. We chose flights from Oakland this time around, and decided to park close to the airport. Left over food from Thursday and before made for some nice frankies - rolls of veggies and chapati, along with my fav peanut-butter and jelly sandwiches. Our cook Ranju aunty had made us some amazing cauliflower stuffed paranthas and some spinach theplas, for lunch and dinner. Our halt at Seattle was short and sweet. The service in Alaska airlines was very good. They allowed a gate check-in of the backpack (and inside it nestled tightly was the booster seat), so there was least damage to it. 20-30 mins before touchdown, the landscape came into view, and it was mesmerizing. We could spot glaciers, snow-capped mountain peaks, rivers, everything. It was truly breathtaking.
We arrived in Anchorage and got a nice big car, a Dodge Avenger. Can't believe this is economy/compact, as Amit managed to fit ALL of our luggage into its trunk! Tired, we started our drive to Talkeetna, as we had decided not to spend any time in Anchorage. We had paranthas and theplas on the drive for dinner, so we skipped any halts and drove straight to Talkeetna. The drive was amazing. There were trees everywhere. The road was just carved in the middle of the forest. Lush green surrounded us. There were hardly any services/shops once we left Anchorage city. A stunning sunset caught us by surprise - two suns in reflection!
Rian was a little tired by the two flights and the long drive, but he was on his best behavior. Daddy entertained him through the 2 hr drive from Anchorage to Talkeetna, while being the driver. I guess Amit's creativity is challenged and increased when he's driving ;-)
When we reached our BnB in Talkeetna, we were super thrilled! Talkeetna Chalet BnB had 2 new cabins outside, and we loved the aroma of fresh wood. Everything in the cabin was new and untouched. The BnB owners had taken extra care to make Rian's bed as well, so everything was ready for us when we reached at 10:30pm local time. We were an hr behind Pacific time, so were all exhausted with our internal clocks still ticking 11:30pm, but the wonderful cabin truly reinvigorated all 3 of us. We slept happily in our new home for a night.
We chose to have a hearty hot breakfast in the main house. Rian was thrilled with the options and inspite of his cold (tail end of it) ate well, much to our delight. Maybe he was just hungrier and not too happy with last night's dinner options. Our plan was to do flightseeing Mt. McKinley and land on a glacier close to the summit. The day was cloudy and the owners called K2 aviation for us, and found out the obvious - no flightseeing today. We still drove down to their office. On the way there, Rian saw an old broken down train and he was ecstatic, asking us about the Denali Star. Here we made our first plan switch. Within 15 mins, I got tickets on the phone for Amit and Rian from Talkeetna to Denali National Park on the Goldstar class on the Denali Star. The smiles on his face were priceless.
Since I had a little time in Talkeetna, I rented a bike for an hr and did some TP. I saw the Mt. McKinley peak quite by chance. After picking up some yummy desserts for all 3 of us from a local cafe, plus some groceries, I started driving to Denali NP. Amit and Rian had a wonderful ride, and Rian even managed to catch a nap.
We all reunited at the Denali National Park visitor center. The visitor center has life size exhibits of wildlife found in Denali NP. Rian's instant favorite were the "Dall sheep". He enjoyed saying the word "Dall" and insisted they ate "daal" and said "daaaaaaaaaal". He'd burst into instant giggles. We saw an 18min film called "Heartbeats of Denali NP" in the theatre there. The landscape is ever changing. We were lucky to be visiting when the park had fall colors in bloom. Everywhere around there were hues of yellow, orange, and red.
The park ranger guided us about trails around the visitor center, and invigorated, we decided to try a small flat 2mi "roadside trail". True to it's name, it ran along the road and it was a perfect warm up for us. The weather was chilly and cloudy. Rian loved the Pringles chips with jalapeño and cheese. Rian now insists on using Daddy's camera to take pictures. It's so cute to see him go "Daddy that is so beautiful, give me the camera, I want to take a picture!" Thanks to him, we have a few pictures of the two of us together now.
We had dinner just outside the NP, at the infamous "Salmon Bake" restaurant. It's a local favorite, and fresh fish n chips, Salmon etc are their specialties. The much needed beer was reward for a 2hr 2mi trail :D By the time we finished dinner, it got super windy. We checked into our hotel "Denali Bluffs" where we planned to stay for 3 nights. We had an awesome view from our hotel room, we could see mountain peaks bathed in the setting sunlight. Sunset was close to ~9:45pm, so not too late, and gave us a long enough day to explore the place.
Rian had a long day and was ready to sleep. But he needs the room to be dark and quiet for him to fall asleep. We too fell asleep with him then. This became a routine. I would enjoy almost 8-9 hrs of sleep every night and wake up refreshed. Amit would usually be up an hour before me and had his iPad as companion. Once we were both up, we would get ready, bathe, and lay out everything for Rian. We would wake him up, and take him straight into the shower. I learnt how to give Rian a shower without getting myself wet and inside the tub. I'd just make him stand in the shower for a few mins under the hot water. When he was ready, I'd put the shampoo and soap on him. In the last few months, I had taught Rian how to clean himself, and he's enjoy another few mins under the hot water. A quick brushing session afterwards had us out the door in 30 mins after Rian woke up. By then, we'd be famished, so we'd walk in for breakfast. We didn't offer Rian his early morning milk, and so he was hungry at the breakfast, most mornings. He would eat a hearty breakfast, and then after ~2hrs or so I'd give him his morning milk as a mid-morning snack. This helped us save time in the morning tremendously.
We had buffet breakfast at the Denali Bluffs hotel on Day 3 and Day 4. There were 5-6 limited options and it seemed overpriced, but it was convenient, and Rian liked the options. There was lots of fresh fruit and I was happy too. Amit was okay eating there for 2 days, but needed variety on the third day. Day 3 was planned for exploring Denali NP on our own, and the first order of the day was drive to mile 15 inside the Denali NP. After mile 15, no private vehicles are allowed on the park road (there are some exceptions) and we need to take a shuttle or tour bus to go further inside. Our plan was to park at mile 15 and do the 2 mile Savage River trail. It was a wonderfully sunny day, but the wind from the previous night had not stopped. It was super windy and chilly, but the sunshine was the saving grace. Amit's luck in parking got us the last spot in that teeny parking lot.
Rian truly enjoyed the hike. He had a hiking pole in one hand and the bubbling Savage River along the trail entertained him. It was a flat trail and Rian had no troubles complying. The trooper walked all 2 miles :-) We took numerous photo stops, and some scenic detours to play with the water. A woman showed us some wild blueberries which were safe to eat, so we happily plucked some and ate. Rian also took a wonderful photo of Amit and me together. He started asking for Daddy's big camera every time he saw something nice. He'd go: Mumma this is so beautiful. Daddy give me the camera, I need to take a picture. The Canon 7D with the 70-200mm L series lens on it is almost 3.5lbs. Learning to hold it correctly, steadily, not dropping it, then focusing and taking a picture - Rian did an amazing job!
At the end of the 2mi trail though, Rian was wiped. He was done with hiking for the day. Amit and me were just getting warmed up and excited. We had a picnic lunch of bananas, theplas, some biscuits, and some Gatorade. After another mini break at the visitor center, we started the 5mi Mt. Healy Overlook trail which has 1700ft elevation gain. It was already 3:30pm though, so we were running against a clock. We would have to take Rian up on our back in our Deuter II carrier. Rian was kinda sorta happy with the ride. He was being carried after a long time, so this was exciting for him. The trail climbed gradually at first, and my layers of clothing came off quickly. Rian too started fidgeting around as the adjustment was not perfect - he was riding too high. Despite that, we were having fun. We were doing what we loved most, and we were doing it with Rian. This is what we had seen couple in Zion/Bryce do 2+ years ago, and had always dreamed of doing it - exploring National Parks with Rian on our backs.
The views on the trail were stunning. As we gained altitude, we could see the village and visitor center become super teeny. The railroad and rivers were shimmering in the distance down below. The wonderful sunny weather was a perfect complement. The temperatures were in upper 50s or lower 60s so in short it was perfect weather for a hike of this kind. We could also see the peak while hiking up, which makes it seem so much closer than it actually is! Amit thinks it would be a cool idea for our shoes to have a built-in mileage counter. Unfortunately though we were slow, and the trail was not very populated. Since we wanted to have a good sit-down dinner after our on-the-go picnic lunch, it made sense to turn back even though the peak was in our sights. When we smelled foul odor like a human or animal poop, it was the final straw and we turned back, after a mini snack break. We also had an early morning 9:30am shuttle to catch the next day.
Amit worked really hard on the hike. He fielded most of the strenuous climb, and then the steep descent as well. He was actually faster with Rian on his back, than me walking all by myself. By the top, we were joking that we had earned our beers for tonight already! Dinner was in another popular place outside the park - Prospectors Pizzeria, which had 49 Alaskan beers on tap. After a super long wait and way too many beers, we enjoyed our yummy, well-earned pizza. Rian was introduced to root beer and he giggled as he drank his beer which looked dark black just like Daddy's beer selection.
So far, we had no schedules in the plan. But Day 4 had us sitting in a shuttle bus inside the park at 9:30am. This was no easy feat, given the fact that our breakfast was getting done only by 10-10:30am on previous days. We tried to sleep early so Rian would get good amount of sleep. We rushed through breakfast, and we ran through the parking lot to finally make it to the shuttle. We were in the shuttle queue at 9:25am! Usually Amit and I are not last minute people. We show up 15mins in advance, to avoid stressing me out. This time around, the surroundings seemed to have relaxed me and I was like: ya, they won't leave exactly at 9:30am, we'll definitely make it over-confident. When the registration lady could not find my shuttle booking, for a whole 30 seconds, I was super tense. All said and done, we started off day 4 as planned.
We had looked into options of exploring this park. Due to various reasons, they do not allow private vehicles beyond mile 15 in Denali NP. After mile 15, we can take shuttle buses or tour buses. Shuttle buses are supposed to be hop-on hop-off kind of buses, but in reality due to the heavy volume of people, hardly anyone gets off the bus. If you get off, you need to be in line to get onto the next bus, which may or may not have availability. With a 4 yr old we did not want to take that chance - we might be waiting at one of the stops for upwards of an hr. Anyways, so it was decided that we will stop with the bus and leave with the bus. Which means = no hikes asides from the main destination. The park road is unpaved beyond mile 15, and top speed of shuttle buses often does not exceed 25-30 mph. The round-trip of 66 miles takes 8 hrs, with planned stops, rest stops, and wildlife stops. So we decided to go only till Eielson visitor center. There are 2 more stops after that: Wonder Lake and Kantishna. Eielson it was for us.
The shuttle bus had us wearing seat belts at all times. Also, car seat laws applied in the shuttle. This was the most painful part. For this journey, for one single day out of all 10, we carried a small booster seat for Rian, as we did not want to lug around his huge car seat into a shuttle bus. It turned out to be a wise decision. The height of the booster allowed Rian to see clearly out of the window. Also since it was just a booster, when we had a wildlife stop, Rian could easily see out of the window by standing on top of his booster. We saw many wild animals in their natural habitat, undisturbed by the presence of the shuttle buses. It turns out the animals are used to the sound of buses, but they are not used to the human voice. So whenever we saw wildlife, and the bus stopped to take a look, everyone was requested to be super quiet so we do not disturb the animals. Almost everyone in our bus complied, except understandably the kids, and so we had good viewing experiences. The caribou was most commonly seen. We also saw many grizzly bears, some black bears, and Dall sheep. The joke that Rian carried home from that day was: which is the scariest animal in Denali National Park? The cari-booo!!
We saw wonderful fall colors on this ride into the park. The bus driver was very chatty and informative and jovial. The landscape changes from the Taiga to the Tundra, almost barren. The colors are vivid in this time in August. Lucky us :-) Lunch was a picnic sandwich picked up at our hotel gift shop, and some of Ranju aunty's yummy theplas, plus lots of junk food. We were advised to eat in the bus, rather than outside, as it was better to NOT leave crumbs outside for wildlife. We took rest stops at Teklanika river stop, Polychrome pass, Toklat river, and reached Eielson visitor center just after 2pm. Mt. McKinley is supposed to be visible on this famed drive to the park's interior, and inspite of being a sunny day, Mt. McKinley (or Denali as the locals call it - the 'high one') was just being bashful. Amit renamed it the 'elusive one'.
Rian's favorite animal was the Dall sheep. Apparently Denali NP was formed for the protection of Dall sheep. These were seen high in the mountains and very easy to spot as they were in herds, and totally white against the mountains which were brown or green. Rian got a chuckle from Daddy's jokes - Dall sheep eat 'daal' and say 'daaaaaallll'... He was amazingly good during the whole 8 hr bus ride from 9:30am to 5pm, except a few cranky phases. All the animals and the junk food we carried kept him busy and entertained.
We finally got off the bus and were eager to walk. A whole day of sitting didn't sit well with us, so we decided to do a short hike, the horseshoe lake trail. The closest parking was right next to a railroad crossing, and Rian's luck was such that we saw a big train carrying coal pass by. He stood there, mesmerized, and a smile plastered on his face :-) Rian's favorite fruit through the trip was a banana. Every evening Rian would ask for a banana, and it gave him instant energy. Even before heading to a restaurant I would give him a banana, knowing the wait times would be 30-45 mins. It helped tremendously. Without naps, he was prone to tantrums and lack of energy. The sugar kept him going. The horseshoe lake trail was all downhill first, so Rian enjoyed it. On the way back, there was some resistance during the steep steps, and I was almost regretting not bringing our Deuter II carrier. There were many mini steps to climb. Suddenly we made it a counting game and Rian was engaged. The little guy climbed 237 steps!!! Proud of him :-)
We wrapped up dinner in 'Salmon Bake' again. I forget where Daddy had gone for ~15-20 mins, but Rian and me were seated upstairs. It was fairly uncrowded. I discovered there was a free popcorn machine, and Rian was overjoyed with it. So much, that he started dancing and I totally encouraged him. We were seated in a booth, so Rian was standing on the sofa and I was singing for him, and he broke out into super cute dance moves :-) Here's the video on youtube. A perfect ending to a long day, with some very good Alaskan beer! For the complete set of 239 images from these first 4 days, see Alaska 1 - Denali NP.
Packing has become very different for us now. Earlier we would fret and start assembling stuff into bags a week in advance. Now, with Evernote, we just build our lists without actually putting things in bags. We save the last 3-4 hrs of the day before we fly, and finish packing. For this 10 day trip, we had to pack for all seasons: summer, winter, and rain. We ended up with 2 checked bags of 50+ lbs each. Our handbag itself weighed 17 lbs. Almost 10 lbs of that weight in checked bags was milk for Rian. I'm a big fan of the aseptic containers for Horizon Organic 1% plain milk, even I chug a couple of them once in a while. We also carrier along our Deuter carrier, since we had plans to do some non-trivial hikes with Rian on our backs. We also needed to carry our car seat for the 10 day drive vacation, and we decided to take the bigger, safer car seat for that. For one day in Denali National Park, we also needed to carry a car seat/booster on the shuttle bus, so we also carried a second booster seat for Rian. So basically we had LOADS of luggage!
We had great flights in the middle of the day. We spent two whole days: day 1 and day 10, flying in and out. Rian almost never runs out of energy. What I've realized is that we need to conserve our energies, and that does not happen with red-eyes or bad flights. The time we think we'll spend at our destination then sometimes gets spent in a lot of stress. Instead I've just opted to pay a few more $$ and get the best flights, so everyone remains happy. As Amit's new mantra gets more and more ingrained in our brains, here it is for all to see: The first and most important thing in life is to be happy. The second most important thing is love. The third most important thing is trains :-) and Rian is in giggles by the third one :D
All of us had a good hearty breakfast at home and left ~10am to get to the airport. We chose flights from Oakland this time around, and decided to park close to the airport. Left over food from Thursday and before made for some nice frankies - rolls of veggies and chapati, along with my fav peanut-butter and jelly sandwiches. Our cook Ranju aunty had made us some amazing cauliflower stuffed paranthas and some spinach theplas, for lunch and dinner. Our halt at Seattle was short and sweet. The service in Alaska airlines was very good. They allowed a gate check-in of the backpack (and inside it nestled tightly was the booster seat), so there was least damage to it. 20-30 mins before touchdown, the landscape came into view, and it was mesmerizing. We could spot glaciers, snow-capped mountain peaks, rivers, everything. It was truly breathtaking.
We arrived in Anchorage and got a nice big car, a Dodge Avenger. Can't believe this is economy/compact, as Amit managed to fit ALL of our luggage into its trunk! Tired, we started our drive to Talkeetna, as we had decided not to spend any time in Anchorage. We had paranthas and theplas on the drive for dinner, so we skipped any halts and drove straight to Talkeetna. The drive was amazing. There were trees everywhere. The road was just carved in the middle of the forest. Lush green surrounded us. There were hardly any services/shops once we left Anchorage city. A stunning sunset caught us by surprise - two suns in reflection!
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Rian was a little tired by the two flights and the long drive, but he was on his best behavior. Daddy entertained him through the 2 hr drive from Anchorage to Talkeetna, while being the driver. I guess Amit's creativity is challenged and increased when he's driving ;-)
When we reached our BnB in Talkeetna, we were super thrilled! Talkeetna Chalet BnB had 2 new cabins outside, and we loved the aroma of fresh wood. Everything in the cabin was new and untouched. The BnB owners had taken extra care to make Rian's bed as well, so everything was ready for us when we reached at 10:30pm local time. We were an hr behind Pacific time, so were all exhausted with our internal clocks still ticking 11:30pm, but the wonderful cabin truly reinvigorated all 3 of us. We slept happily in our new home for a night.
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We chose to have a hearty hot breakfast in the main house. Rian was thrilled with the options and inspite of his cold (tail end of it) ate well, much to our delight. Maybe he was just hungrier and not too happy with last night's dinner options. Our plan was to do flightseeing Mt. McKinley and land on a glacier close to the summit. The day was cloudy and the owners called K2 aviation for us, and found out the obvious - no flightseeing today. We still drove down to their office. On the way there, Rian saw an old broken down train and he was ecstatic, asking us about the Denali Star. Here we made our first plan switch. Within 15 mins, I got tickets on the phone for Amit and Rian from Talkeetna to Denali National Park on the Goldstar class on the Denali Star. The smiles on his face were priceless.
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Since I had a little time in Talkeetna, I rented a bike for an hr and did some TP. I saw the Mt. McKinley peak quite by chance. After picking up some yummy desserts for all 3 of us from a local cafe, plus some groceries, I started driving to Denali NP. Amit and Rian had a wonderful ride, and Rian even managed to catch a nap.
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We all reunited at the Denali National Park visitor center. The visitor center has life size exhibits of wildlife found in Denali NP. Rian's instant favorite were the "Dall sheep". He enjoyed saying the word "Dall" and insisted they ate "daal" and said "daaaaaaaaaal". He'd burst into instant giggles. We saw an 18min film called "Heartbeats of Denali NP" in the theatre there. The landscape is ever changing. We were lucky to be visiting when the park had fall colors in bloom. Everywhere around there were hues of yellow, orange, and red.
The park ranger guided us about trails around the visitor center, and invigorated, we decided to try a small flat 2mi "roadside trail". True to it's name, it ran along the road and it was a perfect warm up for us. The weather was chilly and cloudy. Rian loved the Pringles chips with jalapeño and cheese. Rian now insists on using Daddy's camera to take pictures. It's so cute to see him go "Daddy that is so beautiful, give me the camera, I want to take a picture!" Thanks to him, we have a few pictures of the two of us together now.
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We had dinner just outside the NP, at the infamous "Salmon Bake" restaurant. It's a local favorite, and fresh fish n chips, Salmon etc are their specialties. The much needed beer was reward for a 2hr 2mi trail :D By the time we finished dinner, it got super windy. We checked into our hotel "Denali Bluffs" where we planned to stay for 3 nights. We had an awesome view from our hotel room, we could see mountain peaks bathed in the setting sunlight. Sunset was close to ~9:45pm, so not too late, and gave us a long enough day to explore the place.
Rian had a long day and was ready to sleep. But he needs the room to be dark and quiet for him to fall asleep. We too fell asleep with him then. This became a routine. I would enjoy almost 8-9 hrs of sleep every night and wake up refreshed. Amit would usually be up an hour before me and had his iPad as companion. Once we were both up, we would get ready, bathe, and lay out everything for Rian. We would wake him up, and take him straight into the shower. I learnt how to give Rian a shower without getting myself wet and inside the tub. I'd just make him stand in the shower for a few mins under the hot water. When he was ready, I'd put the shampoo and soap on him. In the last few months, I had taught Rian how to clean himself, and he's enjoy another few mins under the hot water. A quick brushing session afterwards had us out the door in 30 mins after Rian woke up. By then, we'd be famished, so we'd walk in for breakfast. We didn't offer Rian his early morning milk, and so he was hungry at the breakfast, most mornings. He would eat a hearty breakfast, and then after ~2hrs or so I'd give him his morning milk as a mid-morning snack. This helped us save time in the morning tremendously.
We had buffet breakfast at the Denali Bluffs hotel on Day 3 and Day 4. There were 5-6 limited options and it seemed overpriced, but it was convenient, and Rian liked the options. There was lots of fresh fruit and I was happy too. Amit was okay eating there for 2 days, but needed variety on the third day. Day 3 was planned for exploring Denali NP on our own, and the first order of the day was drive to mile 15 inside the Denali NP. After mile 15, no private vehicles are allowed on the park road (there are some exceptions) and we need to take a shuttle or tour bus to go further inside. Our plan was to park at mile 15 and do the 2 mile Savage River trail. It was a wonderfully sunny day, but the wind from the previous night had not stopped. It was super windy and chilly, but the sunshine was the saving grace. Amit's luck in parking got us the last spot in that teeny parking lot.
Rian truly enjoyed the hike. He had a hiking pole in one hand and the bubbling Savage River along the trail entertained him. It was a flat trail and Rian had no troubles complying. The trooper walked all 2 miles :-) We took numerous photo stops, and some scenic detours to play with the water. A woman showed us some wild blueberries which were safe to eat, so we happily plucked some and ate. Rian also took a wonderful photo of Amit and me together. He started asking for Daddy's big camera every time he saw something nice. He'd go: Mumma this is so beautiful. Daddy give me the camera, I need to take a picture. The Canon 7D with the 70-200mm L series lens on it is almost 3.5lbs. Learning to hold it correctly, steadily, not dropping it, then focusing and taking a picture - Rian did an amazing job!
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At the end of the 2mi trail though, Rian was wiped. He was done with hiking for the day. Amit and me were just getting warmed up and excited. We had a picnic lunch of bananas, theplas, some biscuits, and some Gatorade. After another mini break at the visitor center, we started the 5mi Mt. Healy Overlook trail which has 1700ft elevation gain. It was already 3:30pm though, so we were running against a clock. We would have to take Rian up on our back in our Deuter II carrier. Rian was kinda sorta happy with the ride. He was being carried after a long time, so this was exciting for him. The trail climbed gradually at first, and my layers of clothing came off quickly. Rian too started fidgeting around as the adjustment was not perfect - he was riding too high. Despite that, we were having fun. We were doing what we loved most, and we were doing it with Rian. This is what we had seen couple in Zion/Bryce do 2+ years ago, and had always dreamed of doing it - exploring National Parks with Rian on our backs.
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| R |
The views on the trail were stunning. As we gained altitude, we could see the village and visitor center become super teeny. The railroad and rivers were shimmering in the distance down below. The wonderful sunny weather was a perfect complement. The temperatures were in upper 50s or lower 60s so in short it was perfect weather for a hike of this kind. We could also see the peak while hiking up, which makes it seem so much closer than it actually is! Amit thinks it would be a cool idea for our shoes to have a built-in mileage counter. Unfortunately though we were slow, and the trail was not very populated. Since we wanted to have a good sit-down dinner after our on-the-go picnic lunch, it made sense to turn back even though the peak was in our sights. When we smelled foul odor like a human or animal poop, it was the final straw and we turned back, after a mini snack break. We also had an early morning 9:30am shuttle to catch the next day.
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| W |
Amit worked really hard on the hike. He fielded most of the strenuous climb, and then the steep descent as well. He was actually faster with Rian on his back, than me walking all by myself. By the top, we were joking that we had earned our beers for tonight already! Dinner was in another popular place outside the park - Prospectors Pizzeria, which had 49 Alaskan beers on tap. After a super long wait and way too many beers, we enjoyed our yummy, well-earned pizza. Rian was introduced to root beer and he giggled as he drank his beer which looked dark black just like Daddy's beer selection.
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So far, we had no schedules in the plan. But Day 4 had us sitting in a shuttle bus inside the park at 9:30am. This was no easy feat, given the fact that our breakfast was getting done only by 10-10:30am on previous days. We tried to sleep early so Rian would get good amount of sleep. We rushed through breakfast, and we ran through the parking lot to finally make it to the shuttle. We were in the shuttle queue at 9:25am! Usually Amit and I are not last minute people. We show up 15mins in advance, to avoid stressing me out. This time around, the surroundings seemed to have relaxed me and I was like: ya, they won't leave exactly at 9:30am, we'll definitely make it over-confident. When the registration lady could not find my shuttle booking, for a whole 30 seconds, I was super tense. All said and done, we started off day 4 as planned.
We had looked into options of exploring this park. Due to various reasons, they do not allow private vehicles beyond mile 15 in Denali NP. After mile 15, we can take shuttle buses or tour buses. Shuttle buses are supposed to be hop-on hop-off kind of buses, but in reality due to the heavy volume of people, hardly anyone gets off the bus. If you get off, you need to be in line to get onto the next bus, which may or may not have availability. With a 4 yr old we did not want to take that chance - we might be waiting at one of the stops for upwards of an hr. Anyways, so it was decided that we will stop with the bus and leave with the bus. Which means = no hikes asides from the main destination. The park road is unpaved beyond mile 15, and top speed of shuttle buses often does not exceed 25-30 mph. The round-trip of 66 miles takes 8 hrs, with planned stops, rest stops, and wildlife stops. So we decided to go only till Eielson visitor center. There are 2 more stops after that: Wonder Lake and Kantishna. Eielson it was for us.
The shuttle bus had us wearing seat belts at all times. Also, car seat laws applied in the shuttle. This was the most painful part. For this journey, for one single day out of all 10, we carried a small booster seat for Rian, as we did not want to lug around his huge car seat into a shuttle bus. It turned out to be a wise decision. The height of the booster allowed Rian to see clearly out of the window. Also since it was just a booster, when we had a wildlife stop, Rian could easily see out of the window by standing on top of his booster. We saw many wild animals in their natural habitat, undisturbed by the presence of the shuttle buses. It turns out the animals are used to the sound of buses, but they are not used to the human voice. So whenever we saw wildlife, and the bus stopped to take a look, everyone was requested to be super quiet so we do not disturb the animals. Almost everyone in our bus complied, except understandably the kids, and so we had good viewing experiences. The caribou was most commonly seen. We also saw many grizzly bears, some black bears, and Dall sheep. The joke that Rian carried home from that day was: which is the scariest animal in Denali National Park? The cari-booo!!
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| A lone caribou |
We saw wonderful fall colors on this ride into the park. The bus driver was very chatty and informative and jovial. The landscape changes from the Taiga to the Tundra, almost barren. The colors are vivid in this time in August. Lucky us :-) Lunch was a picnic sandwich picked up at our hotel gift shop, and some of Ranju aunty's yummy theplas, plus lots of junk food. We were advised to eat in the bus, rather than outside, as it was better to NOT leave crumbs outside for wildlife. We took rest stops at Teklanika river stop, Polychrome pass, Toklat river, and reached Eielson visitor center just after 2pm. Mt. McKinley is supposed to be visible on this famed drive to the park's interior, and inspite of being a sunny day, Mt. McKinley (or Denali as the locals call it - the 'high one') was just being bashful. Amit renamed it the 'elusive one'.
Rian's favorite animal was the Dall sheep. Apparently Denali NP was formed for the protection of Dall sheep. These were seen high in the mountains and very easy to spot as they were in herds, and totally white against the mountains which were brown or green. Rian got a chuckle from Daddy's jokes - Dall sheep eat 'daal' and say 'daaaaaallll'... He was amazingly good during the whole 8 hr bus ride from 9:30am to 5pm, except a few cranky phases. All the animals and the junk food we carried kept him busy and entertained.
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| A second much larger group of Dall sheep |
We finally got off the bus and were eager to walk. A whole day of sitting didn't sit well with us, so we decided to do a short hike, the horseshoe lake trail. The closest parking was right next to a railroad crossing, and Rian's luck was such that we saw a big train carrying coal pass by. He stood there, mesmerized, and a smile plastered on his face :-) Rian's favorite fruit through the trip was a banana. Every evening Rian would ask for a banana, and it gave him instant energy. Even before heading to a restaurant I would give him a banana, knowing the wait times would be 30-45 mins. It helped tremendously. Without naps, he was prone to tantrums and lack of energy. The sugar kept him going. The horseshoe lake trail was all downhill first, so Rian enjoyed it. On the way back, there was some resistance during the steep steps, and I was almost regretting not bringing our Deuter II carrier. There were many mini steps to climb. Suddenly we made it a counting game and Rian was engaged. The little guy climbed 237 steps!!! Proud of him :-)
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We wrapped up dinner in 'Salmon Bake' again. I forget where Daddy had gone for ~15-20 mins, but Rian and me were seated upstairs. It was fairly uncrowded. I discovered there was a free popcorn machine, and Rian was overjoyed with it. So much, that he started dancing and I totally encouraged him. We were seated in a booth, so Rian was standing on the sofa and I was singing for him, and he broke out into super cute dance moves :-) Here's the video on youtube. A perfect ending to a long day, with some very good Alaskan beer! For the complete set of 239 images from these first 4 days, see Alaska 1 - Denali NP.
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