heading south

Monday, Day 4
the plan for the day was to head back to anchorage and taste civilization again before our next big outdoor segment of the trip. however, we awoke feeling like we just weren't ready to leave Denali yet. while looking at trail maps the day before, i had noticed a hike labeled "strenuous" that takes 3-4 hours and rises an additional 1,700 feet to the crest of mt. healy. sounded like a perfect way to end our stay in the park. so....a quick check out of the hostel and two poptarts later, we were on our way down the trail. in the beginning, i remember breezing past several "slow" couples and thinking to myself, 'HA. they'll never make it at that pace.' i guess i was feeling like the experienced outdoorsman after our last two days. the trail was just steep enough to have me breathing steadily, but i was having the time of my life. then came the rocks. i bounded up a few crags. my legs were starting to tire, but 5 second breaks seemed to help between each set of rocks. as we continued, each steep rock runs started to feel longer than the last. it wasn't long until i started to realize that i was needing more than 5 second breaks to regain energy. i would stop and pant like an 80-year-old woman after just yards of climbing. marcus was far ahead by this point. i didn't really mind. he had set a pace and didn't want to break. understandable. however, i did mind when the couple i had smugly passed earlier came swiftly up behind me. i could hear their voices nearing closer and closer. how could they be talking so nonchalantly when i couldn't even breathe?! i started to get discouraged. what in the world was wrong with me? after all, i had climbed a mountain in colorado that was almost 15,000 feet high. twice. this should be a piece of cake! hm...piece of cake...it was then that i realized what the problem was. we had eaten only birdfood and jerky the majority of the day before, we had skipped dinner that night, and i had eaten two lowly poptarts for breakfast...which was 4 hours earlier. i was literally out of fuel. well i wasn't about to turn back. i cut myself some slack and slowed my pace. the couple skimmed past me and i gave them a weak smile. how embarrassing. suddenly, the tortoise and the hare made perfect sense to me.
when i broke treeline, i felt like i could see a light at the end of the tunnel. i could just envision marcus sitting at the top wondering what in the world had happened to me. i wanted to get up there! but after 5 more minutes of uphill rocks, i couldn't help it. i HAD to stop and sit down. i felt like i could at least recharge my batteries if i felt some sort of actual break. so i sat on the side of the mountain guzzling water, listening to an angry ground squirrel, and watching people with tons of energy pass me by. when i felt like i had sat long enough, i pumped myself up for the last leg. i could do this! i climbed to the top of the next ridge only to discover...the peak...and marcus. i had just taken a twelve minute break when i only had one minute left of walking to do. this is the irony of my life. we lasted a good 20 minutes snapping pictures at the summit before heading down and out as fast as we could go. next stop....FOOD. we ate at (literally) the first available restaurant outside the park and then waved goodbye to denali. i do believe we could have spent our entire 8 days there. quite a spectacular place. that evening in anchorage, we lapped up the "luxury" of a comfy hotel bed, warm private shower, and senseless television. we hit a local brewhouse and then a recommended dive named "humpy's" before calling it a night. it didn't take long to fall asleep.

Tuesday, Day 5
we woke up at a reasonable hour, quite excited about our next destination. we had an appointment to go rafting in a glacier fed river. we drove about two hours south to a town called hope where we found our raft, guide, and gear waiting. suiting up was quite the ordeal. the water is a frigid 38 degrees, so they have you wear dry suits. no, not wet suits, DRY suits. they are like a rubber glove that snuggly lock out all water from every inch of your body except your hands and head. we were warned to layer up underneath, so i was bundled in shorts, two pairs of pants, three shirts, and four pairs of socks. next came the dry suit, life jacket, helmet, and a ratty pair of old men's sneakers. we were ready! we took the van up to the water, where the guide proceeded to give us the 30 minute prerequisite safety and paddling speeches. standing in the sun, wrapped in winter gear and sealed in a virtual plastic bag, marc and i began to sweat. we started to regret our hasty layers. but then...the best part. they actually had us get IN the river and swim, or should i say struggle, our way ACROSS the raging current to the other side. my....let me tell you how invigorating 38 degree water is slapping you in the face. we were instantly chilled, to say the least. and the current....you are definitely no match for that rocket ship. they teach you how to swim in it...what to look for, when to float, and when to fight. i actually think it's kind of smart that we had to do this. lord knows, if i was to go flying out of the raft during the actual trip, the cold alone would shock the common sense out of me had i not experienced it in a calm setting first. so, needless to say, it got our blood pumping. and that was just the beginning of perhaps one of the best days we have ever spent outdoors together. it was adrenaline pumping rapid after rapid. i've never been on such a fast moving body of water. each pull of the paddle and splash in the face had me giggling like a little kid. we had a BLAST. after the last stretch of rapids, our guide told us we could hop out and float the remaining run if we were up for it. you better believe we were in that water within .3 seconds. we were instantly swept away in the icy flow, bobbing side by side. it was a magical moment. worth every single penny, and then some.
back at the rafting station, they treated us to hot cocoa and a slideshow of pictures taken of us along the ride. we probably could have stayed there forever, but we still needed to drive another two hours to seward as there are no hotels in hope. we drove on and floated on a high from the amazing adventure we had just been on. nothing could get us down...

Pictures, Day 4
~sign~

~ snow tunnel along the trail....very cool~

~hiking through the trees~

~headed up there~

~about halfway up. we started down in that parking lot~

~i can't believe i made it~

~together at the top~

~at the end of a long day~

~anchorage has conoco phillips! you know you're back in civilization when you spot your place of work~

There are, unfortunately, no pictures from Day 5. Taking a camera into a river with you is not a good idea :)