Climbing Mount Healy

I knew that I had hurt my knee more than a year ago while wandering about on the Appalachian Trail. How bad was a mystery. I have hiked at least a hundred miles since coming to Alaska-- many of those hikes with some steep portions. Despite that, I was not ready for Mount Healy. Constant uphill climbing and winds battering at least 45 miles an hour (there were times when, quite literally, I was blown down) my knee gave out about two thirds of the way to the top of the 5000+ foot peak, forcing me to cower down from the gales and wait for Joe to finish. I'll never be a mountain climber-- just a hiker. However, the section of Healy I covered were spectacular.

the mountain

tropical storm force winds, at least

point alexander

Savage River

It was a beautiful day for a hike along Savage River.

a hoary marmot

Polychrome Pass

I took an evening bus trip into Denali to see Polychrome Pass in the westerly light. Simply unbelievable.

caribou, running

mighty Teklanika

caribou keep their heads in the brush to ward off mosquitos

Long Time Gone

It's do or die.  I feel certain that if I don't start posting these pictures from Alaska (this huge myriad of pictures... there are oh so many) I may never and the blog will fall deeper into decline.  So I'm going to start posting.  Text is more difficult, so I'm going to keep it to a minimum.  I'm also going to attempt to keep things on a vague chronological order, although the dates on the posts are likely to be not near the dates of the actual events.  Anyway, scroll down for all the Alaska pictures-- they'll be coming soon.  

Oh, and by the way, merry Independence day.

The Krewe

A group photo, encompassing almost everyone... and at least one utter stranger.