Lauren, Keith, & the Yellow Car

After the Portage Glacier, we stopped by the AWCC where they keep and/or rehab injured animals until they can release them back into the wild. We saw bears, moose, ox, elk, an all kinds of animals. Very cool.

On our way back to Anchorage we stopped by the Portage Glacier and saw a huge iceberg in the lake that had broken off of the underside of the glacier a little over a week ago. Only 10% is visible of the iceberg, which is estimated to weigh 275,000 tons. Incredible!

We hiked with uncle Dan out to the Russian River Falls to see the salmon test their luck at swimming upstream. I was amazed that sone make it at all over the several tiers of pounding whitewater. After a good hike we took a break for a quick lesson in fly fishing. Trout count: Dan (1), Lauren (2), Keith (0). Maybe next time Keith. :)

We arrived in Soldotna tonight for a quick stay with uncle dan and aunt juli. After a yummy bowl of stew and some tasty rhubarb crumble, we toured dan's garden and picked some strawberries for breakfast. Yum yum! Where to next?

...but no bear.

We had a great (and cold) trip out to the Holgate Glacier - amazing ice. On our way we saw otters, orcas, humpback whales, seals, all sorts of birds, and all sorts of stuff. We're soaked and cold to the bone, but we had a great time. Off to the hotel to put on warm socks!

Here we go!

We're on our way to Seward to do the Kenai Fjords day cruise and it's a beautiful drive. Great weather, beautiful sky.

This is now our third outdoors store we will be at in a span of three hours. Vomit. The joys of travelling with a knife collector named zach. My thing? Not at all. Moose bags, animal traps, and ammo. Pure Alaska. Just what I was expecting to do on my vacation. Not really.

Since we're on a burger kick, the most amazing burger I have ever had was at Bear Tooth - a Rosemary burger with goat cheese and bacon. Incredible. Welcome to anchorage!

Denali was amazing. We arrived on one of the few days that it was 1) sunny, 2) clear enough to see Mt. McKinley, and 3) the mosquitoes weren't out in full force. After our five + hour bus ride out to wonder lake campground, we hiked around, ate freeze dried backpacker food (which actually wasn't terrible) and went to bed in the sunlight (since it gets dark at 11 or 12). We're back in civilization and waiting for a giant cheeseburger. Yum.

Almost to Denali.

Our first stop on the way to Denali was the small (incredibly small) town of Talkeetna where climbers take off for their Mt. McKinley climbs. There wasn't much of anything but food and gifts and overpriced polar bear poo (chocolate). Cute town, good food, kinda rainy weather, and we're moving on to Denali.

Here we go again! Off to Alaska today!! :) Our first stop is Denali - we're hoping for good weather so we can camp and hike in the park for a few days! Then we'll be off to anchorage for a night with cousin Kim and Rob. From anchorage we'll head to Seward where we'll catch the Kenai Fjords day cruise and possibly hike on Exit Glacier. We'll then head to Soldotna to stay with Uncle Dan and aunt Juli and maybe go Salmon fishing! Stay posted - we'll post pics when possible!

Beer in a city called Frisco...just like home..except it's 19 degrees here.

Keith, we're not in California anymore... It's funny how the safest place in the Denver airport is the bathrooms. Off to Breck we go!