Alaska?
Amazing.After a long, long flight from DC to Dallas to Anchorage, we were there. On a truly spectacular Sunday morning, Tiger and I drove north to Talkeetna, where we hopped on a small Cessna for an up-close look at Mount McKinley.
The flight-seeing trip was probably the best money I've ever spent. We got to spend two hours swooping over the Alaska range, looping behind the behemoth that shoots 20,000+ feet up from the surrounding plains. The pilot tipped the wings as we soared past so that
we
could fully take in the Wickersham Wall, the most dramatic incline on the face of the planet. After that, we landed on a glacier in the Ruth Amphitheater, just southeast of McKinley's highest peak. We got to run around on the ice and snow, taking pictures and such. It was incredible.
Once we were back on the ground, the next stop was a bed and breakfast in Healy, Alaska, just north of the national park's main entrance. It was a pretty sweet location, right on Otto Lake, just below Mount Healy. The lake was still mostly iced-over, but there were ducks, geese, and the occasional eagle all out around the areas where the ice had melted.
On Monday we took a bus tour as deep into the park as possible. The views were spectacular, and we got to see some Dall sheep, lots of caribou, ground squirrels, snowshoe hares, a porcupine, and a handful of different birds. But Monday was just a prelude to the magnificent, spur-of-the-moment trip to...
Barrow, Alaska
(The Northernmost City in North America)
Barrow could also lay claim to the title "Dirtiest City in North America" because the melting snow and ice on the permafrost renders any ground that shows through a sloppy, muddy slush. During the summer, it's also the "Sunniest City in North America" because the sun never really goes down. This was a 
phenomenon we encountered everywhere we went in Alaska. In Healy, the sun would drop below the horizon at around 11:30 and rise again at 4:30, but the sky always stayed light enough that I could read without turning on electric lights
. In Barrow, it just doesn't set at all for about two months. Really, the best thing about Barrow was the idea of being as far north as you could get without a boat or plane, and dipping our feet in the Arctic Ocean -- because how many people can claim to have done that?? It was a very cool part of the trip, and Tiger and I proved an endless source of amusement to the others on the tour.
On Wednesday, our last day in the state, we decided to tackle the Mount Healy Overlook Trail, the most difficult established trail in Denali National Park. It was... um... difficult. The day had turned cold and drizzly, and the trail was extraordinarily steep and muddy in places. But we persevered! (That stack of rocks in the picture designates the highest point on that mountain.)
After that, it was just the long, beautiful drive back to Anchorage to catch our flight. We stopped off at a great little seafood restaurant where we had shrimp, king crab legs, and hallibut. Very, very tasty. And then we went off to the airport to get on the plane. But not before I'd hollered at some bears.
So that's the story. This was definitely one of the coolest vacation's I've ever taken. I highly recommend it, if you get the chance.
