Alaska: Part One
For the beginning of our trip, we started in Alaska for four of the eight parks there. Sorry it took so long to post, we didn't have much internet. We will try to keep up more in the future. Continue reading to find out what we did!
Glacier Bay:
Did you know that 90% of an iceberg is underwater? So when you see the really big ones, you can only see about 10% of them. We decided to start our trip to Alaska by going on a cruise. So our cruise ship took us through Glacier Bay National Park. The two main Glaciers in Glacier Bay National Park are the Grand Pacific Glacier and the Margerie Glacier. The Grand Pacific glacier looks more like a pile of sand you'd find on a beach than a Glacier. This is because over the years so much rock, dirt and sand has gotten mixed up in it as it has traveled down the mountain. So now it doesn't look like a glacier any more, even though it really is. On the other hand, Margerie Glacier looks more like what you'd expect to find a glacier - blue and white. The reason a glacier looks blue is because the ice is so dense all the colors pass through it except blue which is then reflected to the human eye.
Two rangers came aboard our boat in the morning and soon everybody was packed out on the main deck to see the Grand Pacific Glacier and the Margerie Glacier. When a big chunk of a glacier falls off, creating an iceberg, that is what you would call calving. Ranger Billy came around and told us different things about the two glaciers as we watched the Margerie Glacier calve for at least an hour.
Then Ranger Rebecca led the Junior Ranger program in which I got a patch and pin specific to Glacier Bay.
Kenai Fjords:
In Kenai Fjords we had a main goal to do two specific things. One of which was a hike and the other was a helicopter tour over Bear Glacier and Bear Glacier lagoon. The hike turned out to be a moderate hike with lots of little overlooks. It was so hot that the hike was not as enjoyable as I had hoped.
The helicopter tour, on the other hand, was way better than I had expected. We had to wear these boots that went over our other boots and earsets that had speakers attached to them so we could hear each other over all the noise. When we landed in Bear Glacier lagoon there were so many pretty flowers and plants to see. One of my favorite things was to find different shapes in the icebergs that had calved from Bear Glacier. One of them was a swan and another Mama told me it looked like the Sydney Opera House.
On our way back to the airport some kayakers waved at us so our pilot tilted the craft in response.
Denali:
Denali is by far my favorite experience yet. We flew into Camp Denali which is in the middle of Denali National Park near the Kantishna airport. We were there from Tuesday to Friday. On the day we arrived we went on a hike with Camp Denali naturalist, Rob, who promised me an extra cookie in my lunch on Thursday. He also took us on tundra for the first time ever. We also saw the Greenhouse. That is where Dakota harvests the herbs and other things for the yummy food.
Most people say Denali is a bear country but really it's a mosquito country. There are so many mosquitos that as soon as I got out of the airplane my legs got chicken pox from the mosquitos. Or at least that's what it looked like.
On the first full day there we went on a hike with a man named Red. It was supposed to be a "moderate" hike but it was a moderate +++ but it was totally worth it because while we were hiking over the spongy tundra we saw a caribou. If you don't know what a caribou is it's kind of like a reindeer but not.
We decided to stay at camp for a fireside forey on our second day. This is when you stay at Camp Denali and you can plan your own hikes, go bike riding, go canoeing on Wonder Lake or even take a dip in Nugget Pond. On the final full day we went on a forey with Nicole who used to be a NPS Ranger at Glacier Bay and Everglades National Parks. She told us her main way of coping with all the mosquitoes was to learn about them. One of the facts she told us is that once a mosquito sucks your blood they need to get lighter (they suck enough blood to equal three times their weight.) To do this, they get in a vertical position and then pee the extra liquid from your blood - in your face.
Katmai:
Katmai is a beautiful park, don't get me wrong. We flew into Kulik Lodge and on the very very first full day we went by seaplane to Brooks Camp to see the bears. It was my first time ever on a seaplane and our pilot, Sig, was actually quite silly. At the beginning he gave us a little pep talk during which he said "If you see something, (then he pounded twice on the door) get my attention. I can't hear you." The bears were fascinating. It's so fun to watch them rip up the fish.
On the second day we repeated the same thing -- going by seaplane to see the bears, flying back to Kulik Lodge by seaplane and having a delicious dinner.
On our third and final full day we went fishing with a seven foot tall man named Ben. It was my first time fishing and I caught two fish. Both of them were around nineteen inches, which is pretty good for lake trout.
On our final day, the day we were to get back in our plane and head back to the airport to fly back to Seattle - we went fishing once again, with a guy named Connor and I caught three fish. One was nineteen inches, one was twenty and one was twenty-one. After warming up in the hot tub looking out over Kulik lake we flew back to Anchorage and then Seattle.
