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Twelve days passed between leaving Eagle River, AK and arriving to Duluth, MN. It was hard coming to terms with our 'long trip' being over... but the draw of family, friends, and Duluth in the summer was a light at the end of the long long driving tunnel.  It also helped that the drive was beautiful and we stopped for one day of hiking in Jasper National Park in Alberta Canada.

Now what?

Well, we are looking forward to about six weeks in Duluth then we must find some work. I imagine, if you have been reading our blog, we appear to have figured out a way to trick the tooth fairy into leaving $100 bills under our pillows. Unfortunately that is not the case and our hard earned savings is about dry. We must replenish, and luckily we are two young able-bodied ambitious workers. SO! Into the work force we go, laughing all the way, until we save enough for our next adventure...

Hot Springs

Chicken, AK

Entering Canada

Our dream home

One of the beautiful lakes in Canada

The Wal-Mart in Whitehorse 

Tourist attraction

Wildlife

Our day hike in Jasper

Also in Jasper

Our last truck stop dinner

Alaska: part 4

If Alaska were a restaurant, we had ordered the appetizer sampler- just a small taste of many things.  A month was hardly enough time to commit to something more rich and savory such as a main course of river rafting with a side of backcountry backpacking in the Brooke's range.  But even as we were satisfied that the time and energy we spent getting to Alaska was well-spent, Judy and Ken insisted we try a bit of dessert.  Bring on Halibut Cove!

Judy, having the same energy to weight ratio as a hummingbird, needed only a couple of days to get ready to go open her cabin down in the cove after having been gone for nearly two months.  She expertly bought and organized a week's worth of supplies and before we knew it we were on our way to Homer on the Kenai Penninsula where we would take a water taxi across Kechimack Bay.

When you think of a small and secluded coastal paradise nestled into Alaska's pristine wilderess, Halibut Cove is exactly what you are thinking of.  A small community of close-knit individuals have built their cabins in an area where there are no bad views.  A creative consciousness permeates the island and its residents which manifests itself in the form of two art galleries and a restaurant where the food is an artistic expression in itself.  Tall board walks line the inner rim of the island making it possible to access the various shops and residences where the only other way to get around is by boat or kayak.

Judy's cabin was spectacular.  It was the perfect jumping off point to explore the biodiversity of the surrounding waters or the hiking trails of the Kachimack Bay State Park.  We kayaked, hiked, drank coffee and talked politics, went clamming, had dinner parties with the neighbors, grabbed a drink at the restaurant, and just soaked up the surrounding beauty.  Juliet even got a ride in a bush plane.  The whole experience was, to finish my original food metaphor, icing on the cake.

As the water taxi sped away from Halibut Cove and the Island's land mass became smaller and smaller on the horizon, we realized that we were officially on our way home.

The wonderful Judy and Kenn.

Just outside of Homer.

Arriving by water taxi.

Welcome to the guest cabin.

Judy is ahead of us, we could barely keep up!

How did we end up here again???

Who needs to forge a river when you have a tram!

7.7 miles to the glacier - well worth it.

Clamming with Judy.

Austin: "I have to move this thing, who wants a ride?" Me: "I'm sorry, could you repeat the question."

It was a negative tide day so Judy showed us a secret tide pool. 

I had no idea they were so small/ colorful/ full of life!

Back at Homer.

Alaska: part 3

      When you think of the idyllic trip to Alaska what comes to mind?  Without question there is an endless amount of opportunity for recreation, but certainly on the top of our list were: Sea kayaking among the Kenai Fjords, and Hang out with world caliber dog mushers.  Check and check.

  Victoria! What a treat, a little slice of Duluth in Seward Alaska.  Let me just fill you in on a little secret: Seward is a gem. Victoria shared with us some of her favorite spots and we were hooked. A hike to a rocky beach on Resurrection Bay where whales and seals played in front of a mountain backdrop, fresh fish for dinner, and a day of sea kayaking. Victoria told us of a day hike that we should do on our way out of town that would afford us a bird eye's view of the town, bay, and surrounding crown snow capped peaks.  "It starts steep but levels off, it's really not that bad."  Wow, you guys must be in great shape. That hike felt about vertical the whole way up as we navigated mud and snow patches. But the view from the top did not disappoint.  How lucky we were.  It was so great to have caught up a bit and we hope to see you down the road.

  From Seward we split for Willow with a pit stop at Exit Glacier. What's in Willow you might ask? Ummm HELLO! Only our amazing talented dog mushing friend Joar! The Norwegian super star headed for the Iditarod. (It starts the first Saturday in March each year, follow it!)  Joar, having shipped his dogs to Alaska from Norway, had run the Yukon Quest last year finishing in an impressive 6th place.  His dedication is unmatched and it leaves us wondering what he could possibly set his sights on in the future if he checks off the Iditarod by the time he turns 25?  Where do you go from there?  We met his dogs and played with the new puppies.  We were cooked an amazing home-cooked Danish meal upon our arrival and the next day treated to a Solstice Party Supper at famous dog musher, Egil Ellis's house.  Now we're just getting spoiled.  Apparently our friends all want us to stay in Alaska and it just might work.

  We headed back to Eagle River to wait for Judy to get back from here travels in the lower 48.  Her and Ken were going to show us their cabin in Halibut Cove.  We couldn't wait...

Victoria took us on a little hike.

This is where your daily hikes take you!?   Photo by Victoria Witrak

What the?... 

Ryan, in the red kayak, takes us on a tour of the beautiful bay they live on. 

Seward: The population doubles when the cruise ship arrives.

Exit Glacier

Mille with her puppies.

Helen, standing (Egil's wife) was an amazing host.

Amazing dinner cooked over an open fire.

Cheers...

Jon and Joar

Alaska: part 2

       If you're driving around Alaska you have to visit Fairbanks, isn't that right? I feel like I heard that somewhere... anyway we went there aaaaand ---- it was worth it!!!! Aside from the drive being as beautiful as one would come to expect from Alaska, it had good coffee, hometown-y muesums dedicated to dog sledding, locally brewed beer, a giant oil pipeline (a staple of any cool city), and the *town NORTH POLE!!! Where it is Christmas all year round! That could be some peoples' dream come true- or some peoples worst nightmare, but if your just passing through it is a cute novelty. We snapped some photos and as we drove away down Santa Clause Lane (no joke) we couldn't shake the song "Here Comes Santa Clause" from our heads.

Feeling like we literally saw everything in one day we headed for "The Denali Highway" expecting the best views and wildlife sightings yet. Although it was foggy for much of the drive the few clear moments were everything we imagined. We saw two young grizzly bears eating a fresh road-killed moose and again paused to appreciate the resilience of all the wildlife that has adapted so well to living in such a variety of conditions.

Once we got back to our squatted cabin it was a quick sauna then packing for a midnight flight to Las Vegas for my cousin Nicolette's high school graduation party. Jon sat this one out opting to explore more of Chugach state park and trying to remember what life was like before he and I became attached at the hip. 

Here is some good advise: If you have realitives who are looking to relocate encourage them to move to Las Vegas and here is why - 

1) Family is a PERFECT excuse to go to Las Vegas where there is 100% chance of sunny skies. 

2) It is very close to Red Rocks National Park.

3) Plane tickes to Vegas from anywhere will be cheap!

The 1000 mile loop of driving around Alaska just wasn't enough for Jon and I so to see more we set out in search of our friend Victoria living in Seward.

A sweeping view near Fairbanks.

This was such a great museum.

Our friend Joar took 6th place in the Yukon Quest this past year!

Amazing beer :-)

Just what every beautiful place needs!

♫♪Here Come's Santa Clause, Here Come's Santa Clause, Right Down Santa Clause Lane♫♪

The classic 'open road' photo.

Freeze frame

Danielle (in blue) poolside in Las Vegas! Now it's a real family gathering <3

Victoria prepares a delicious 'welcome to Seward' dinner. 

Alaska

After having sat for so many days on end our first order of business was- well, to sit some more.  It is amazing how exhausting doing nothing can be.  Our second order of business was to unpack the truck and settle into our new cabin.  

Well, it wasn't our cabin.  But it certainly felt like our cabin as we had it to ourselves for two weeks as the owners, Kenn and Judy, were vacationing in Hawaii.  We had first met them back in October in Moab, UT (I think you can actually dig up a picture of us and Kenn in the 'ol blog archives).  They had been camping out of their van, us out of the truck, and, surrounded by monster RV's, we seemed to be attracted to eachother's modesty in our modes of travel.  We chatted over white wine for one evening and we got the invite to come stay at their place in Alaska if we ever made it.  We told them that we were heading South, not North, but maybe someday.  It turns out that someday came sooner than we would have thought.

We spent a week exploring a miniscule portion of the half-million acres that is Chugach State Park as we had access to it from their front door.  Then, we went for the big enchilada: Denali National Park.  We hoped to find ourselves in the minority of visitors who actually get to catch a glimpse of the elusive and often times cloud-clad behemoth.  On Judy's suggestion, we reserved a campsite at Wonder Lake Campground 90 Miles down Denali Park Road.

Cars aren't allowed to travel the windy dirt road, so we hopped on a Camper Bus that would take us there.  It takes nearly an entire day of navigating at a snail's pace to reach the end of the road, but the scenery is stunning and the wildlife viewing is fantastic.

True to it's reputation, Wonder Lake provided ample mosquitos and rain for the first two days.  We met many of the other people staying at the campground and bonded over our mutual discomfort.  But our patience did pay off towards the end of our time there.  We did some day hiking around the Eielson Visitor Center and even caught glimpses of Denali on our last day- a spectacular sight indeed.

We had a permit to stay a night in the backcountry in the Mt. Eielson area, but heavy fog and a continued forecast of rain encouraged us to leave the park a day early and explore Fairbanks instead.  As Fairbanks is out of the clutches of the Alaskan Mountain Range weather belt and far in to the interior of Alaska, it tends to stay dry and hot.  It is also the Dog Mushing Capitol of the World.  Our interest was peaked.

Chef Jon prepares stuffed mushrooms.

On a long day hike in Chugach State Park.

The hike to Eagle Lake - unbelievable.

On the way to Wonder Lake. One of the many gifts I have - the ability to sleep anywhere, anytime.

For two days fog was all we saw. I'm trying to liven up the scenery a bit.

Jon levitating a coffee mug in front of Wonder Lake.

The head nets were very necessary. 

Our friend André who was prepared to stay two weeks for a glimpse of the mountain.

"They say it's supposed to be right in front of us..."

We became part of the 30% of park visitors who get to see it.