Pulling the shades up, to assess whether this may be a Denali siting day, we concurred "yes,"
let's go for it! Blue skies with horizontal light wisps of clouds. We rushed through breakfast,
getting our packs ready, lunch done by Mark today (so glad he made turkey sandwiches and
took along our daily fudge ration with trail mix with peanuts, M&Ms and yogurt chips, since
yesterday's PBJs and trail bars just didn't sustain me throughout our shuttle ride), a sink full of
dishes, and scurried to catch the 8:40 shuttle to Eielson. Cut through an empty campsite and
had to jog the last bit, hearing and seeing the green bus pulling in.
The first bus was crowded, so that Mark sat and shared the seat in front of me. At the first pitstop,
he suggested we ask Keith, yesterday's driver, if there was more room for us, which
worked, so we got to sit next to eachother. I liken this shuttle to ferrying, with down-time to just
be, really. When I considered taking my book, Tisha, (Mark's recommendation about a young
teacher, during the gold-rush days here in Alaska, whose first job was in Chicken), but knew I
wouldn't be able to take my eyes away from scanning for wildlife, and awing over this
magnificent land again. Lots of caribou today, and outstanding shots of Denali, with only light
clouds below her peak, so Keith stopped for us to photograph around Sable Pass. Everyone
felt so lucky to see her glory, since yesterday she was camouflaged. There was a cheerful
camaraderie between people near us, sharing open windows for more photo ops, and loving the
grandeur and fortune.
Keith picked up about 5 young adult backpackers, who were on their way to Wonder Lake,
where they live while volunteering to work on the few trails in the park. Denali's philosophy and
protocol is to encourage visitors to create their own adventure in hiking through the tundra,
which is actually more protective of the eco-system, than creating defined trails, which are more
invasive. It is difficult not to ease-drop on the shuttle, with those next to you, and we had an
interesting group behind and across: an attorney for the farmworkers in CA, a knowledgable
male trail crew member, and several ladies from Madrid, who sounded intelligent and fun, with
their Espanol banter and laughter, and pulled-together European look.
The young trail worker was being grilled by the lawyer about the park. The former shared there
is current dialogue about whether more trails should be created, to draw more people, but it
sounded as though many more are opposed to this, and prefer how the self-forged hiking
experiences maintain the integrity of Denali. Tomorrow, Mark and I will do the latter, at
Polychrome, where he and Christine improvised two years ago. He pointed out their "trail" while
on the shuttle yesterday and today, and I am fascinated and a bit apprehensive with this new
physical concept, but game. May there be similar weather as this super one.
When we arrived at Eielson, more photos were taken, and then lunch tasted so good with our
view of Denali and the incredible variety of mountain panorama blessing us. The young woman
ranger, Jakara, from Baltimore, who Mark engaged yesterday on the shuttle from Toklat (where
there is a bunkhouse for some staff), came out for her break and to see who was out here, she
could chat with. What a treat that she found us! She is a haole girl, with pony-tailed blondebrown
hair, whose parents were hippies; therefore, her name she said. Mark likes to tell people
I was, too, which I qualify as being a wanna-be one, as many of us middle class kiddos were,
back then in the early 70s. This gal has it made from April through September, as an
interpretive ranger here (she has had other non-park jobs, and scored this one five years ago),
and loves living here. I do envy her cool ranger hat she dons when outside, with the official dark
brown leather NPS band around it. She backpacks, hikes on days off with her friends who also
work for the park. The rest of the year, she travels and then works in Maui, for a whale touring
business, as a naturalist guide! I just roared. Good for her, I say. We shared about Hawaii,
places we all have been. Yesterday on the shuttle, she gave Mark a hike suggestion, up to a
waterfall, where we'd have to get off shuttle at Sable Pass, which we'll probably investigate one
of the days left.
After visiting with Jakara, we followed one of the established trails by the center, down towards
the McKinley River, saving our hutzpah and bodies for tomorrow's Polychrome hike. One can
get lost in time sitting and focusing upon each mountain, which we did for awhile, and then
trudged uphill slowly to the trailhead and buses. Along the way, Mark photographed a chipper
looking ground squirrel, busily chewing some tasty morsel ferociously.
We caught a 2:30 bus with Marilyn, whom Mark later asked at rest stop Toklat, if she was the
one who suggested passengers just close their eyes when rounding sharp curves on the
narrow, ultra-steep gravel road, since that's what she does. He had told me earlier about this
gal from years past, so it was fun meeting and chatting with her. She and her husband, Tony,
also a park driver, do this seasonally, and then live in northern CA, the remaining months.
Before semi-retirement, she had driven school bus. Marilyn was a down-home, chatty,
informative shuttler, with interesting facts about Denali and our route, moreso than our first
driver Keith. This woman did speed around corners by narrow spaces, by a caribou we could
almost have touched on the bank, and did she squeak to stops and/or slowing down by other
buses. Keith was the opposite: cautious, slower, appealed to our wildlife spottings and
searching.
At home, we dined on a motley assortment of family of origin foods for fun: Chef Boyardee
spaghetti not ingested since childhood (earlier on the road, we wondered if they even still made
this, and I found it in a convenience store), combined with left-over Prego and pasta, and
canned green beans that I adore, since my mom never served them. We smiled, and thought
"not bad," but also not great, and kinda in awe that our moms fed us on Spaghetti-Os, Chef
Boyardee ravioli, as well.
The second Harry Potter was watched, via my request. Mark, again, enthralled, and with goose
bumps at scary parts with spiders, serpent, eerie music and scenes, and fearing bad dreams
afterwards; although he really prefers to watch other things than movies, e.g. The Lone Ranger
series, documentaries, or read, computer. I had to gently persuade him to do the film tonight,
which was easily accessed and enjoyed by all.
No comments:
Post a Comment