Click the link for some pictures from my Seward trip and Savage River watching the leaves change.
Alaskan August Pictures
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Sunday, August 21, 2011
Birthday and Beyond
Thank you again to all my family and friends for the birthday wishes. Since my birthday fell on a Tuesday this year, I celebrated the weekend before by going to Seward. I did not get to stay in Seward for the night but I did spend all day there by going on a cruise tour of the Kenai Fjords National Park. It was amazing. It was a 6 hour tour of natural coastal beauty and wildlife. I saw humpback whales, orka (killer whales), sea lions, sea otters, a bald eagle, and puffins (which by the way is one of my new favorite animals). Towards the middle of the tour, we got to see glaciers. The captain got close to the glacier, turned off the engine and we all stood outside listening to the glacier cracking and watching parts of it fall. It was very peaceful listening and watching glaciers. And its ice blue color is magnificent between the mountains. Not to mention that the glaciers themselves are enormous in size. The more and more I see Alaska, I cannot believe how vast this place is.
On Tuesday, I was traveling home from Seward. I wanted to go out that night with some friends, but I knew that wouldn't be a good idea since I had work the next day at 9am. So I went out Thursday night to one of the famous bars/restaurants here in Denali Park called The Salmon Bake. I asked all my friends to wear a bad/ugly/funny/cheesy tourist shirt in honor of my birthday. Mine was funny and unrelated to Alaska altogether, but it did say Alaska on it. I will post a picture soon. That night also happened to be two people's last night in Denali so there was a big party.
Also, a couple of days ago, my laptop died. Sad day :(
On Tuesday, I was traveling home from Seward. I wanted to go out that night with some friends, but I knew that wouldn't be a good idea since I had work the next day at 9am. So I went out Thursday night to one of the famous bars/restaurants here in Denali Park called The Salmon Bake. I asked all my friends to wear a bad/ugly/funny/cheesy tourist shirt in honor of my birthday. Mine was funny and unrelated to Alaska altogether, but it did say Alaska on it. I will post a picture soon. That night also happened to be two people's last night in Denali so there was a big party.
Also, a couple of days ago, my laptop died. Sad day :(
Saturday, August 13, 2011
Prayer Requests and Praises Page
In case you haven't noticed, I've added a prayer request and praises page on my blog. I don't know why I haven't started this earlier but I still have less than two months here so prayer to get through it would be much appreciated. Thank You :)
Saturday, August 6, 2011
And so it was August
Well it's August and I am really bad at updating my blog. July has been by far the busiest month and it just so happens that it is the rainiest month of the year here in Denali Park, AK. In July, I got to spend some time in Fairbanks again, went backpacking for the first time in the park (which was also my first time going into the park past the paying point), and had many visitors including my family.
A trip to Fairbanks is just really a shopping trip. There's nothing much to do there and as an employee, all you really want to do there is shop because you know you will be without a Wal-Mart or Fred Meyer's for weeks. I also got a pedicure and my eyebrows waxed which is always nice to be pampered.
My backpacking trip was amazing. I went with a friend for a night. We were near Eielson Visitor Center which is 66 miles into the park. We must have hiked 16 miles round trip. The first day was sunny; the perfect day to hike. Not even 5 minutes into our hike, I spotted something 20 yards away on the same trail as us while we were hiking downhill. I couldn't see what it was really well because the hill was very dense with brush. But after a little while we were able to spot it again. It was a lynx. It stopped long enough and turned it's head facing us so that we could take a picture. Lynx are apparently are rare to come by so we were lucky. We hiked near Mount Eielson and next to (but not into) Muldrow Glacier, which is a part of Denali (Mt. McKinley). That night, it was overcast and started raining at 9pm and it was nonstop rain all of the next day. My friend got sick and didn't get much sleep, as I got about 5 hours of sleep on and off. Our hike back to the Eielson Visitor Center was longer and very wet. The last couple of miles in our hike, it wasn't just raining but raining sleet. Then as soon as we arrived to the Eielson Visitor Center, it started snowing. The snow did not cover the ground but we could see the peaks of the mountains next to the visitor center covered in snow. The Eielson Visitor Center is about 3600 feet and the peaks of the mountains right next to the visitor center are about 4600-5000 feet. I think that was also the first time it had snowed in the park this season. It wasn't too fun hiking in that cold weather, but it was very cool to experience the park.
One week, we had two visitors. One was Bekky's friend from Ohio and the other an employee from ACMNP named Kimberly. It was nice getting to spend time with both of them. Bekky's friend just came out to experience a little of Alaska and Kimberly has the fun job of visiting various ACMNP teams. We all went out to dinner and spent some time conversing on how our ministry is doing in the park (well, on the resort). Both were a blessing to have visit. The week after that, we had another visitor that is part of ACMNP national board. She just happened to be vacationing in Alaska and was staying next door at the Princess Wilderness Lodge. She contacted the main office and got our info, then within a few days, we met up and had dinner. All these visitors sure like to feed us. And I'm grateful, cause cafeteria food can get mundane after a while.
The last week of July my parents and grandparents got to visit me. I was very excited. Even my friends could tell that I was excited. It was nice to be able to see a familiar face in a place like here. We took a bus trip out to Eielson Visitor Center where I tried to show them where I had hiked, but it was so overcast and rainy that it was impossible to see a mile out from where we were. The goal of that trip was to see Alaska's wildlife. Not even a full two hours into our drive did we see a grizzly. It was not too far from us where it was impossible to take a picture of it. It was also roaming near a caribou carcass. Once the bus starts driving off again, my dad jokingly says, "we can go home now." I almost feel that's half truth, half joke. Anyway, we did see a lot of caribou and almost saw a moose. I would say that's a pretty successful trip, especially since we saw a grizzly. The next day, we went to a free sled dog demonstration. There, you can pet Denali National Park's finest mode of winter transportation. And of course, they have their demo of five dogs pulling a ranger on an ancient sled. I've seen this twice and every time it's exciting to watch. My parents and grandparents got cool pictures standing on the sled with the dogs still attached to it. Later that day, they shopped and we ate at Cabin Nite, a dinner theater on my resort's property. The food and show was good and not to mention, all free (other than tip). It was very fun having them here in Alaska and having them experience the exquisite magnitude of the park.
This month, I don't know how it will be but it's starting to get colder. There is a plant here called fireweed, and when its blossoms reach the the top, Alaskans say that winter is about 6 weeks away. They are just about to the top and our fall season is moving fast. It's also starting to get darker. It gets pretty dark at 11:15-11:30 pm now. I know that sounds funny and it is even weird me saying that, but I've gotten so use to the sun not really setting that I forgot that it can.
To end, I want to wish my beautiful and wonderful mother Happy Birthday. She is....young today and I love her completely. They are in Southern California today and I hope they're having fun. I love you mom and I hope your birthday is going great. Thanks for visiting me and feeding me and birthing me and all that other wonderful stuff you do.
A trip to Fairbanks is just really a shopping trip. There's nothing much to do there and as an employee, all you really want to do there is shop because you know you will be without a Wal-Mart or Fred Meyer's for weeks. I also got a pedicure and my eyebrows waxed which is always nice to be pampered.
My backpacking trip was amazing. I went with a friend for a night. We were near Eielson Visitor Center which is 66 miles into the park. We must have hiked 16 miles round trip. The first day was sunny; the perfect day to hike. Not even 5 minutes into our hike, I spotted something 20 yards away on the same trail as us while we were hiking downhill. I couldn't see what it was really well because the hill was very dense with brush. But after a little while we were able to spot it again. It was a lynx. It stopped long enough and turned it's head facing us so that we could take a picture. Lynx are apparently are rare to come by so we were lucky. We hiked near Mount Eielson and next to (but not into) Muldrow Glacier, which is a part of Denali (Mt. McKinley). That night, it was overcast and started raining at 9pm and it was nonstop rain all of the next day. My friend got sick and didn't get much sleep, as I got about 5 hours of sleep on and off. Our hike back to the Eielson Visitor Center was longer and very wet. The last couple of miles in our hike, it wasn't just raining but raining sleet. Then as soon as we arrived to the Eielson Visitor Center, it started snowing. The snow did not cover the ground but we could see the peaks of the mountains next to the visitor center covered in snow. The Eielson Visitor Center is about 3600 feet and the peaks of the mountains right next to the visitor center are about 4600-5000 feet. I think that was also the first time it had snowed in the park this season. It wasn't too fun hiking in that cold weather, but it was very cool to experience the park.
One week, we had two visitors. One was Bekky's friend from Ohio and the other an employee from ACMNP named Kimberly. It was nice getting to spend time with both of them. Bekky's friend just came out to experience a little of Alaska and Kimberly has the fun job of visiting various ACMNP teams. We all went out to dinner and spent some time conversing on how our ministry is doing in the park (well, on the resort). Both were a blessing to have visit. The week after that, we had another visitor that is part of ACMNP national board. She just happened to be vacationing in Alaska and was staying next door at the Princess Wilderness Lodge. She contacted the main office and got our info, then within a few days, we met up and had dinner. All these visitors sure like to feed us. And I'm grateful, cause cafeteria food can get mundane after a while.
The last week of July my parents and grandparents got to visit me. I was very excited. Even my friends could tell that I was excited. It was nice to be able to see a familiar face in a place like here. We took a bus trip out to Eielson Visitor Center where I tried to show them where I had hiked, but it was so overcast and rainy that it was impossible to see a mile out from where we were. The goal of that trip was to see Alaska's wildlife. Not even a full two hours into our drive did we see a grizzly. It was not too far from us where it was impossible to take a picture of it. It was also roaming near a caribou carcass. Once the bus starts driving off again, my dad jokingly says, "we can go home now." I almost feel that's half truth, half joke. Anyway, we did see a lot of caribou and almost saw a moose. I would say that's a pretty successful trip, especially since we saw a grizzly. The next day, we went to a free sled dog demonstration. There, you can pet Denali National Park's finest mode of winter transportation. And of course, they have their demo of five dogs pulling a ranger on an ancient sled. I've seen this twice and every time it's exciting to watch. My parents and grandparents got cool pictures standing on the sled with the dogs still attached to it. Later that day, they shopped and we ate at Cabin Nite, a dinner theater on my resort's property. The food and show was good and not to mention, all free (other than tip). It was very fun having them here in Alaska and having them experience the exquisite magnitude of the park.
This month, I don't know how it will be but it's starting to get colder. There is a plant here called fireweed, and when its blossoms reach the the top, Alaskans say that winter is about 6 weeks away. They are just about to the top and our fall season is moving fast. It's also starting to get darker. It gets pretty dark at 11:15-11:30 pm now. I know that sounds funny and it is even weird me saying that, but I've gotten so use to the sun not really setting that I forgot that it can.
To end, I want to wish my beautiful and wonderful mother Happy Birthday. She is....young today and I love her completely. They are in Southern California today and I hope they're having fun. I love you mom and I hope your birthday is going great. Thanks for visiting me and feeding me and birthing me and all that other wonderful stuff you do.
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