Anne and Davy in Alaska ! :-): 8/14/11

Hello everybody!

I know you didn't hear much from us over the last few days, but we just did not have any wifi access at all inside Denali National Park.
But I mean... that's why we went out there isn't it? :-) We wanted to be away from people and into the backcountry!

So before entering the park, we spent some time in Fairbanks! Now they have excellent "Hot Licks" (local) ice cream, for example their alaskan blueberry one! Mmmmmhhhh! :) Then they also have a very nice Visitor Center, all new and fancy, with a very nice museum inside! That sure was worth checking out. But other than that... well, there was not that much to do there, for us at least. Cute little town, but that's about it...

So from there we drove down to Denali, where we had to spend one last night outside the park, waiting to fly in (Yes we did - FLY IN! :-) ). So we arrive at that hostel, exhausted, knowing we misbooked it... See, we thought we had booked a tent space, but instead we had booked one of those wooden floor, wall tents like the gold miners had back in the day... So here we are, exhausted, not too happy about the "not using our tent" part and here's the receptionist telling us that we are not allowed to use our own sleeping bags!! COME ON! Now we didn't argue, but I can tell you this: We spent the COLDEST night of all down at that hostel!! -4°C outside (and inside... AND inside the "sleeping bag" which wasn't one actually...) whatever... So that was BAD, is all I can say about that... but at least it proved that our gear is first class :)

Outside the sun was shining, it was one of the BEST days since 6 weeks, that's what they said and we were going to fly into Kantishna only by 4pm (that's at the end of the road going into Denali)! So Davy called them and asked for an earlier flight in. Luckily, they said: "Yeah, we can squeeze you guys into a flight by noon" AWESOME!! :) Now we had some more time on our hands which is why I convinced Davy to go see the Kennels, where they keep the huskies and sleds! :-) Now I know he doesn't like dogs that much but as you can see, he does like these A LOT! :-) So that was funny, we spent like over an hour cuddling those overly cute dogs :D

From there we were up in the air in no time, and... there are just no words to describe what we saw up there! I mean we had THE view! We saw it all!! They only have this kind of opening in the sky, like once every month! Usually it's all foggy and rainy! :) I can only say this: the view seemed taken out of a photographic, national geographic book! See for yourself... I just simply cannot describe this to you people in words... :D That park scenery is just amazing!

And here we were, in the Kantishna Skyline Lodge, which we booked for the last few night of our trip - a treat! :) You could argue it was expensive, but it was worth every penny, that i can tell you! (Plus, compared to the only other Lodge there, which rents out rooms for 800$ a night, we were staying at a cheap hostel :) haha... ) the team there, Matt, Bobby and Shakti amongst others, was incredible! Welcoming, nice and friendly, which is why we immediately felt at home in the lodge!

So for three days we went dayhiking, trails, trailless tundra and we even went blueberry picking :) Now that was amazing too! :) And they were sooo tasty! :-) I took them home and had to wait until 5pm (which is when they switch the generator on :D ) to be able to use the blender and make Milkshakes! :) Yummy!

Davy told me he didn't want any milkshake because he just didn't like it, so I made lots of it anyway and left a big glass in the fridge. Shakti came in and was really happy when I told him he could go down to the fridge and get some too! :) Now 5 minutes after that Davy asks me if he could taste my milkshake... so I said yes of course and not a minute later you see him grinning and heading for the stairs to get the rest of my blueberry milkshake :-) A first for him, and it just proved that my alaskan blueberry milkshake was excellent :-) Haha! (Or like Shakti said: "Anne Burg made smoothies you guys, they're really good!") :-)

So hey, flying into Kantishna means bus-ing out of the park! 6 hours of bus drive through the park over the only road there is. And I would say it is a very cheap Safari you pay for :-) All in all, we saw 3 wolves, 9 caribou, 2 golden eagles, 2 marmots, 1 moose and lots more :-)

So hey, now we're back at the airport in Anchorage after having spent our last night at Linda's place (Remember? We spent our first two night with her too!) Seeing her again was amazing too, we were so lucky we met her, and all the information on backcountry trips she gave us (plus the bear spray... obviously) helped a lot! :) So thanks again Linda for all of you advice and support! :D

Now guys, we are coming home tomorrow at 5:45pm, but that doesn't mean we're never coming back to Alaska! We loooved it! And talking to Linda last night there seems to be an opening in the future for a float trip by canoe down the Yukon River (5-9 day trip) which we could combine with a 5 day backcountry trip in Denali National Park!!

All I can say is: "Once you got the Alsakan experience in you, there's just simply no way you're going to just let it go!!" :D So listen up everyone, because WE'LL BE BACK! :-)

Take care all of you and stay tuned for our next adventures! (We're thinking about Thaïland, Cambodia, Vietnam, Indonesia, India... that part of the globe :) )

AnD