I insist on calling it Denali. The name reflects the history and the culture of this great wilderness. Fionnuala and I have been here for the last 10 days, and have explored the mountains in Talkeetna, the fjords in Seward, and the stunning Katmai national park from Homer. The vastness, wildness, and freedom of this state is indescribable. The people here are so friendly, so welcoming. So many seem to have come here to check it out, and never left. As one old timer said to us when talking about meeting someone in Alaska, he said “the odds are good, but the goods are odd!”
We have had such an adventure from landing on the Kahiltna glacier and seeing the jaw dropping hugeness of Denali, to kayaking through icebergs, to getting up REAL close to Alaskan coastal brown bears (cobb’s), bigger than grizzlies.
Today is our last day. Supposed to be halibut fishing, but a typhoon put an end to that. Not that there wasn’t a willing sea captain to give it a go, but rather 2 overly contented participants who have had 9 days of adventure, who felt like taking it easy!
Tomorrow Fionnuala heads home, and I get ready to try and scale Denali. The immensity of it, from our vowing a week ago, is intimidating. However, let’s give it a shot. The weather up there has been unforgiving for the last week, so it will decide how far we go, unless these 67 year old legs decide before that.
Not sure if this blog will ever “be out there”, but just like the hike – let’s give it a shot
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