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.