O' Denali... "The High One"

So we made it. This was our destination and we all managed to make it to Denali NP safe and in good spirits. But first, the adventure from Palmer. The ride to Denali was pretty uneventful. To put in short several thousand RVs and a slow speed limit so I was trying not to fall asleep and kill my self on the way up. Especially cuz we are so close now I got to make it. On the way up we stop in at Mary Cary's Lodge. A woman who moved to the back country on the south side of Denali (Mt. Mckinley as it will be referred to as Denali the rest of this blog and forever more. I say this because this is the original name the natives gave this magnificent mountain) Anyways, we eat a great lunch right in front of the supposed best view of Denali but unfortunately it was cloudy but as we sat there and ate it began to clear up o just a little. It cleared up only enough to see a slight glimpse of the south side and I had a feeling it would be the last chance we had to gaze upon this grand mountain. We continued on to "glitter gulch" (as the locals refer to it) and stopped in for a bit of lunch as we were all a little pekkish. Glitter Gulch is the tourist area that has sprung up just outside the entrance to Denali NP. After Lunch we continued on to the Lakeview Lodge just a few minutes north in a town called Healy. Here we stayed 2 nights and got to do some fishing and had a breath-taking view of the lake w/ mountains behind it. In the middle of our stay here, my Mom and Aunt arrived from Anchorage. O it was great to see them. We were all tired so the rest of the gang hit the hay early while I jumped in the hottub. Hey how often to get to get in a hottub and especially one in Alaska next to a lake and mountains. Needless to say I was in heaven for a while. The next morning we headed to the park to catch our 8:30 bus ride to wonder lake. We waited in the rain but it was well worth it. Our bus driver couldn't have been any cooler. Chuck is a native alaskan and has climbed Denali 3 times, summiting twice. We got numerous stories and jokes from him. He made me forget about the rain the whole 5.5 hour ride until we got the weather report of rain for the next 3 days. That got us all bummed but we finally made it to wonder lake, then the shock factor hit. Rain, Biblical hoards of mosquitoes, and in the middle of the food chain. Who could ask for a better time? Well we set up camp and cooked dinner and rigged up our tents to be slightly less leaky. My bro and I had to sleep with garbage bags on our feet due to the door on the tent was no better than a sieve. But we were there and it was beginning to seem like we were going to have to spend our time in Denali NP with the rain and become part of the 70% of people who come to Denali NP and never see the mountain. Well the bad luck ran out and my feeling of seeing the mountain came true. On the second night around 9:45 it was a slow unveiling of the mountain from top to bottom. O what a site it was. The next day Mo, Matt, and I took a bus ride to a trail head and went o a little hike. There are no specific trails in Denali NP, you just walk where ever you want to go. So we did. After a few mountains and several miles with no bathroom in site we decided to head back to the road and get on the bus back to wonder lake. We spent one more night at the lake and left the following morning with clear blue skies. We got to see a wolf on the way out which was way awesome. So then we headed up to our perch overlooking glitter gulch. Uncle Spirit Dancin booked us some sweet cabins at the crow's nest and here again I stumbled upon a hot tub half way up this mountain. Wow things just couldn't be any better. But this was after we had dinner at a fine Pizza joint. Here we got to see a new friend we had met at wonder lake and he was playing standup bass while his buddy was groovin on the alto sax. We had a great time listening to them jam. The next morning we had to watch me Mum and Aunt board the train back to Anchorage and head on to Fairbanks. Denail could let up leave without one more shower. So after a few miles of rain it was smooth sailing all the way to Fairbanks. And this is where we are right now at the Fairbanks Public Library. Earlier today I had to send my bike in to get a new chain and sprockets. And the guys at Northern Power Sports were backed up for a week but somehow managed to get me in and I had my bike back by 3. Thanks NPS. I Have never met so many genuine and just plain nice people in an area. Alaskans are great people and have made me want to move here. Maybe not soon but definitely considering it. And I want to give a shout out to my cousins back in LA trying to somehow manage with the hellacious heat down there. LA means Lower Alabama just to clarify. but Thanks for reading Kevin and Kim. Please let other people know because this is the feedback we love to get. It just makes us want to write more. Well my fingers are all typed out and It is probably way to much to read but There are a few new pics at the end of my July 3rd pics update. (Some Really Sweet ones ... Yall should really check them out) . This is all and Peace.