Today we finally ventured out of Fairbanks. We headed south on the early train toward Denali, and I was almost shaking with excitement. (So excited that I woke up at 5:15 to ensure my bags –- and myself! -– made it on the train.)
The train was so cool. It had a glass dome top, so the windows extended from top to bottom. We were all thrilled to see Alaska roll by, with its tiny stunted trees and lush landscapes. (Because the harsh winters stunt their growth, the trees might only be 20 or 30 feet high, but 100 years old.)
The scenery was just breathtaking. We passed by rivers and swamps, past trees and open valleys. We went through little towns and even over a couple tall trestle bridges. We saw beaver homes, beaver dams and salmon wheels. And once, we even saw a moose along the swamp! Someone called out, “Moose!” and we all craned our necks to see. There it was, happily munching lily pads, and watching the train zoom past. The sight made us giddy, and we became even giddier when Amber pointed out a bald eagle on a tree top.
The train ride was about 4 ½ hours long. We spent the time playing cards, eating and hanging out on the open-air platform. The time flew by very quickly.
We made it to Denali, and took a short bus ride over to our hotel. After a quick lunch, the Stricklands, Edra, Mark and I decided to take a hike over at Horseshoe Lake.
It was another hot day, about 80 degrees. Everyone was in shock about the weather –- we’d expected cold, and even braced ourselves for a few rainy days (it rained for 42 days straight last summer). But here it was, 80 degrees and sunny all week long. We couldn’t have imagined better weather, and I NEVER imagined I’d be hot in Alaska! I even got a little red, and I said I wanted to print up a t-shirt that said, “I went to Alaska and all I got was this lousy sunburn.”
The heat didn’t bother us on the first half of the hike, which was all downhill. It was a gorgeous walk through the woods, quiet and peaceful. At one point, I heard a little rustling in the bushes and started to panic. I almost shrieked when a little critter jumped out of the bushes and freaked me out, until some passing hikers said, “It’s just a squirrel. We’ve been watching it the past few minutes.” See, just another reason to hate squirrels!
We made it to the bottom of the hill and were rewarded with an amazing lake view. (I know I describe everything as amazing, but truly, it all is! It’s so beautiful up here, words can’t describe it.) We found a little inlet where we noticed a swan across the lake. We kept walking until we came across another spot. We realized a beaver had dammed up part of the lake, and marveled at all the logs and sticks connecting one side of the lake to the other. Those are some industrious little rodents!
Here's a picture I took of a little beaver gnawing a hunk of wood:
Edra decided to coax the swan closer to us, and started mimicking swan calls. (Not that any of us really knew what swans sounded like.) It worked! The swan swam closer, and Amber and I went crazy taking photos. The swan then swam around to our original vantage point, so we followed it. We tried to be quiet, and were rewarded with some pretty close shots of the creamy white swan.
I noticed some people across the lake from us, and figured they were fishing, or just enjoying their view. But I realized that was not the case when Amber’s mom Cindy appeared, looking frantic, and waving her hand atop the side of her hand. This was a hand signal we’d jokingly practiced on our way down the mountain -– it was the sign for moose.
I thought she was kidding, but she kept on waving, and waved us to come over. We did, and then I about lost my breath. Standing in the water not 40 feet away was a female moose! It was the coolest thing I’d seen on an already incredible journey!
We’d been warned about moose the whole time we’ve been here. The guides all say the same thing –- if you see one, do NOT stop to take a picture. Hide behind a tree and get out of its sight. They weigh anywhere from 1200 to 1800 pounds, and will charge and stomp you if threatened.
So of course, the first thing we did was ignore that advice and start taking pictures. I tried to enjoy the beauty of the moment, but I couldn’t get the image of stampeding moose out of my head. I’m not proud to admit that I tried numerous times to get Mark to back up, finally hissing at him, “Mark, move! That moose will KILL you!”
Amber’s dad Bill had found an even closer spot to view the moose. We moved to the path we’d come down, and watched the moose standing in the water, chomping on lake vegetation. It eyed us a couple times, and more hikers stopped with their cameras. I kept trying to move Mark toward the bushes and away from the open areas, where I figured the moose would charge toward if spooked. But this is an animal suited for extreme cold, not heat, and she decided to stay exactly where she was, in the cool lake. She stood no more than 20 feet away from us.
Mark took a great shot of the moose!
Yeah, that's a giant MOOSE in front of us!
We hiked back up the mountain, even giddier than we’d been in the morning. We whispered “Moose!” to every hiker we encountered and pointed excitedly toward the lake. It was pretty cool to share our excitement with everyone we passed.
At the bus stop, we couldn’t stop talking about it. Every time someone asked how our hike was, we exclaimed, “We saw a moose!” It was a thrill saying it each time.
To recap, here's Amber showing the international sign for moose:
Here's what we were SUPPOSED to do if we saw a moose:
Here's what we did instead:
Back at the hotel, we were tired but happy. The Wawerchaks headed off to a nice dinner, but Mark, Edra and I decided to hold happy hour on the deck above the river. The view was phenomenal, the beer was free (the bartender was a fellow Angeleno), and the mood was happy.
We were there a long time, because the Wawerchaks came to find us. They wanted to go down to the hot tub, and I protested, because we had a 6:30 bus to catch in the morning. But I’m easily swayed, and I’d had a few beers, so I found myself in the hot tub, enjoying Alaska from another wonderful perspective. I did panic a little on the way back to our room, when I realized that though it was sunny and bright, it was 10:30 p.m., and my young son was nowhere near ready for bed.
But hey, we’re on vacation, and if that was my biggest worry, so be it. I stood 20 feet from a moose today –- nothing could ruin my good mood!
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