Denali National Park and beyond

 Our friends Don & Debbie came for a visit.

But first a pic with the grand kids  when we were home for a visit in Texas.

Denali

Formerly known as Mount McKinley. 20,310 feet tall, the tallest mountain in North America.

McKinley National Park was created in 1917, in honor of former President McKinley. In 2015. President Obozo renamed the National Park and the Mountain to Denali, which is the original Athabascan name

 We took the 8 hour bus ride into Denali and saw the mountain. I (Nancy) was so excited to see it so close up. We'd seen it from far away and then as we flew over from Fairbanks but this was the best. As it is in a National Park, masks were still required everywhere. The park is over 6 million acres or wilderness, so must still be a Covid hotspot.

                            It is estimated that less than 30% of all the people who visit Alaska ever get                             to see the entire mountain, as it it so tall it creates it's own weather and is                                 usually shrouded in the clouds

We took a hike

Sled Dog kennels.

                                The dogs at Denali are actually working dogs. All winter long there are                                     sled dog teams that patrol the park with Forest Service Rangers to                                         prevent poaching and other illegal activities in the park while the roads are all closed.

Beaver Dam

The Horseshoe Lake loop trail is a great hike, it takes you through the forest and around the lake to the Nenana River. We saw a mother moose with her calf in the lake, along with several Beaver damns

                                Of coarse we had to enjoy a cold beer after the long hard day of hiking and                                 sightseeing.

Katmai National Park and Brooks Falls

Katmai is about 290 miles Southwest of Anchorage and is only accessible from the air or water. It is about an hour and a half flight from Homer. Katmai is a little over 4 million acres and contains thousands of brown bears. It also is famous for having many volcanoes, and Mt. Novarupta, which was responsible for the largest volcanic eruption in the 20th century

Great picture of the Homer Spit from the float plane on our way to see the bears.

 

                            We did see the bears catch a few fish but the Salmon run really started a few days after                                 we left and is really strong now for any of you who want to watch it live streaming on the Explore.org webcam.

https://explore.org/livecams/brown-bears/brown-bear-salmon-cam-brooks-falls

Back in Soldotna

There is a Russian Orthodox Church in Soldotna, AK that we toured.

The Alyeska Tram in Girdwood is a nice day out.

Had to have a drink at the Salty Dawg!

The guys went fishing and caught a few fish. Halibut and Alaskan Cod.

We have concrete!

 Concrete

We were in Texas but work on the house continued

 

                        Concrete for the shop floor, going over top of the radiant heating coils, much different than what we are used to in the lower 48 in that the concrete is poured super dry.

                                 The company we are using to build the house is a small, family owned contractor.

                                The foundation crew, which was normally only two or three guys, has to get help                                     from the framing crew for large pours like this one, which just slows down the                                             framing on other jobs

            It ended up being a really nice day, all the guys working comment on how the nice the view is.