More on Denali

On the hike with our ranger, the 2 people up front ran into a 700 lb. grizzly so we had to change our direction. 700 lb. grizzlies in Denali are big in that area. At Brooks Camp where we're going now is a small one, they get to be 1500 lbs because they eat so many salmon. Back to the walk--only one group is allowed to hike in this area a year so we all had to make our own trails so we wouldn't crush the vegetation. This was hard because the alder and willow was waist high...and also "bear food". Our guide, Nick, used a compass to tell us where to go (kind of scarey because it was his first guiding hike) It was quite an experience for us ole ladies....we were exhausted!!!
We saw fox and babies, dall sheep and babies, moose and babies, 2 wolves but the best was the grizzlies! One huge one was chasing another up a mountain.. it is mating season so we figured that the female was telling him "to get lost"!!!
On the way back to the camp on the bus we had hail, snow - actually it was a blizzard...and on June 26th. We saw a huge caribou as we were leaving Denali just strolling down the road. We stopped many places to take different views of Mt. McKinley (also called the "great one" or Mt. Denali. It was magnificent. Alaska has done a wonderful job with their parks and recreation areas.
Our jet boat ride wasn't what we paid for. We were suppose to get a small boat so the ride over the rapids would be adventuresome. Instead they stuck us on a boat with another 40 people. We went over only one rapid...it was a 6 and thrilling but we wanted more.
The flight over Mt. McKinley was awesome. We were worried at first because it was so cloudy but by the time we got to the mt. it was clear as a bell. We flew around it for almost an hr. wearing our oxygen masks and taking pictures.
We went to Seward on the Kenai penisular for the 4th of July weekend. They had a race up Mt. Marathon and back. Nancy and Patty watched as the 11-17 age kids came down the cliff. The mt. was straight up and straight down. They all were muddy and scraped up from crawling on all fours and falling. We talked to two guys that were running in the men's race but we didn't get to stay and watch them. Joe said that the top men get down from the top of the mt. in 9 mins. ! This was unbelieveable after looking at the mountain. This is the biggest race in U.S. except for the Boston one and we were right there. Another day we took a 9 hr. floyd tour out to N.W. glacier. We had humpback whales entertaining us, breathing and slapping their flippers on the water. Dolphins. porpoises, sea lions, seals and sea otters we saw. When we got to the glacier, we saw the sea otters and seals resting on the icebergs. WE could hear the cracking of the ice as it fell into the icy water. The temperature dropped the closer we got to the glacier.
While Gail was at church the three of us took a hike into a rainforest. It was refreshing to get outside with nature. We visited the Sea Life center where research on Alaska's animals/fish is done. We learned that a mother octupus dies after she spends time caring for her young and doesn't eat. The Pacific octupus is huge compared to the Atlantic one.
Later the four of us ventured up to the Exit Glacier. This is the only one that you can drive even close to. We did a nature walk and then huffed and puffed and climbed up to get a better view of the glacier. We could see the beautiful blue color of the ice, the brown parts (caused by the ice grounding down the mt) and the deep crevasses (sometimes 200 ft. deep). There were moraines around the glacier (piles of rocks) that were created by the glacier. That was what we were climbing on.
We're leaving for Brooks Camp tomorrow early so you won't hear from us til at least Friday.