Denali

I went down to Seward, Alaska for a short vacation this week, and woke up to a 5.5 magnitude earthquake just after 4 a.m. Saturday morning. True story about the earthquake: I was in the middle of a dream when I suddenly heard the song "Rock The Boat" playing as someone grabbed my left wrist. I then woke up to hear something rattling in the hotel room, and before I could think of who I was, where I was, or what to do, the earthquake stopped.

Here's a question for you: What can you see from 70 miles away? Go take a look out your window ... can you see a tall building?

In Talkeetna, Alaska, on a clear day, you can see the Denali mountain range, which is at least 70 miles away, and it looks a little something like this:

Sorry I haven't kept things up to date here lately, I've been busy with a few business projects. Within the last week or two the leaves have started to change colors, and many are yellow or a yellowish-green by now. The fireweed has also died ... I don't know if it turns to seed, or what it does, but it looks like a dead white color. (I'll look at it more closely on my next walk.)

While I don't have any photos of the current trees, here's one from Denali National Park on September 12, 2007:

If you were hoping to come to Alaska and take a shuttle bus into Denali National Park, time is running out! The shuttle buses quit running next week, on September 16, 2010. After that some private cars are allowed to drive thirty miles into the park ... and with the car problems I've had this summer, I wonder, what happens to a car that breaks down on those narrow twists and turns several thousand feet above the ground?

I've lived in Alaska on and off for almost a year now, and still haven't seen the Northern Lights, so when I checked the University of Alaska-Fairbanks aurora page and it said the aurora was going to be active the next few nights, well, let's just say that I'm throwing some food, water, and clothes in the car at 8:30 p.m., and heading farther north, in search of clear skies.

Adios, amigos ...

Wow, I just ran across this picture of Denali that I took from Talkeetna, and just had to share it here. This picture was taken while looking across the Talkeetna River (and partially the Chulitna River) looking to the northwest at Denali.

Here's a quick video of the Denali mountain range, as seen from alongside the river(s) in Talkeetna:

The Denali range, from Talkeetna

I only have a few days left here, so it's a real treat being able to see the full range at least one more time before I go.

After staying a few days in Healy, Alaska, accompanied by some long rain storms, I drove back to Talkeetna this morning. I hadn't thought about it too much, but when I looked up in all of the mountains I saw the same thing: snow.

Wow, I was incredibly lucky that the last day you can ride a shuttle bus in Denali was a very beautiful day. Like all the days lately it was very windy, and it was also cold, but it was well worth it.

I walked into the Wilderness Access Center at 7:15 a.m. and was lucky to get on a bus at 8:00 a.m. That's not something you can normally do during the summer, but this being the last day I thought I'd be able to get a ride at the last minute, though not quite this fast.

This first picture is from somewhere along the bus trip to Fish Creek:

September 11, 2007. On a very cold and windy night in Healy, Alaska, the sky has gone crazy. Here are two of many pictures that don't look much like things on planet Earth to me.

Here's the second one: