From left to right….Mount Foraker, Mount Hunter, and Mount McKinley.  Today, all images are straight out of the camera, no photoshop, no processing.  It’s just that amazing!

Ryan and I having a good time on the flight

These granite cliffs on the right protrude 5000′ from the top of the glacier below.  The glacier extends 3000′ below the surface for a total of 8000′ of depth of the crevasse. 

Heart shaped glacial movement.  Aw…..

Landing on the glacier.  Getting there was so amazing.  It wasn’t a straight line right to the landing site, we flew in circles and all around the mountains.  We were really all over the place.  Sometimes I looked out of the front window of the cockpit and all I could see is mountains.  Kind of freaky, but very cool.

First steps on that glacier….

Ryan took this shot….he makes me so proud!

Getting a cold and wet dupa, but so worth it!  Those booties were essential.

Fun!  It was so bright with the reflection coming from the snow.  I could not take off those sunglasses.

The flight on the way back down to earth…..

Glaciers are the main source of water for these nearby rivers and they have lots of sediment from rocks they have crushed.

Photo by our pilot, Will.  Should have taken this on the glacier, but we were having too much fun!

We visited this rest stop yesterday, but it was too dark to see both the rock and the mountains.  Someone was nice enough to label them on this rock.

As soon as we entered Denali National Park, Erin mentioned that it was a protected area and we were more likely to see wildlife.  About 4 minutes later, we saw this mama moose and her moose cub by the side of the road.  We couldn’t move too much because we would frighten them both (away) or mama would charge our car.  So we watched for a few minutes and they got bored and left.  So there you have it….our animal sighting in the wild!

A view from the side of the road in Denali.  The pink plants in the foreground are “Fireweed.”  Erin says that a few weeks ago they were vibrant, very bright pink. I think they still look good but she claims I’d be disappointed if I saw them before. 

The main reason we stayed in Seward was so we could go to Exit Glacier. Erin and I are snapping pics at the glacier.  Photo by Ryan.

Exit Glacier in Kenai Fjords National Park

See me?

You can normally hike to the “toe” of the glacier, but it was closed due to flooding.

The incredible shrinking glacier…..

View of Mt McKinley on the way to Talkeetna.

Tonight we are staying in Talkeetna.  Talkeetna is the real city on which Cicely is based.  Cicely is the home of the folks from the good ole television show, Northern Exposure.  It is very cute and we are staying at the Talkeetna Roadhouse.

Tomorrow…..a flight around Mt McKinley with a glacier landing.  I hope everything goes well and we are able to take that flight!

We started out in Anchorage and had a repeat breakfast at the Snow City Cafe.  Our waiter told me I was honored to get the coveted “Pug Mug.”  The cafe has all different kind of coffee mugs.

After breakfast, we started driving toward Seward.  We didn’t make it far, only to a lookout point.  These cool rocks surrounded the parking lot.

Next stop–Girdwood. We went on the Aleyeska Tramway at the Aleyeska Resort.  The tram climbs a 2000′ vertical.  Atop the mountain, there is 1000 inches of snow annually and the staff works hard on Avalanche control.

A pup we met at the top

Just a few miles down the road, we stopped at Portage Glacier

One of the most exciting things that Erin was dying to share with Ryan and I was a trip through the Whittier Tunnel.

Whittier Tunnel is a 2.4 mile long ONE WAY tunnel into a mountain.  The tunnel runs on a schedule — 15 minutes into Whittier, 15 minutes closed, 15 minutes out of Whittier, repeat.  I took a video but it is too large to upload right now with limited computer resources.

Some nice photos from Whittier.
Prince William Sound. This area wasn’t impacted by the Exxon-Valdez oil spill.

These flowers are made of metal

Then the MOST EXCITING PART OF THE DAY!!!!  BEAR!

Confession: we were not in the wild. We are at the Alaskan Wildlife Conservation Center. From their website “WCC takes in injured and orphaned animals year-round and provides spacious enclosures and quality animal care. Animals that cannot be released into the wild are given a permanent home at the center.”

WOW amazing, huh?

During our drive south….

We didn’t make it into Seward until 9pm so looks like we will be exploring it tomorrow.

Tuesday morning, we had breakfast at Snow City Cafe and took a walk around downtown Anchorage.  I think I look pretty good on this moose.

These salmon sculptures are around the city

Fur store

One thing that really surprised me was the amount of flowers in Anchorage (or Alaska for that matter).  Erin said the flowers are plentiful because the growing season is so short, but there is a TON of daylight, which the flowers love.  I also learned that bears love the Anchorage Daily News.

Me and a wooden moose (who was skateboarding)

This is what our photos would look like if Erin and I were having an engagement photo shoot with this stuffed moose.

Westchester Lagoon

Earthquake Park.  “Welcome to Earthquake Park” with 4 bullet holes.  Apparently, people like to shoot things up here.

Concrete scoring.

Amazing stat!

Potter’s Marsh.  We didn’t see any wildlife, but did learn how quickly the weather moves in Alaska.  We had to run from the incoming rain!

My husband, Ryan, and tour guide (and BFF), Erin.

Tonight, as we came out of the hotel for dinner, a rainbow was shining down on this Auto Parts store.

After dinner (it was not yet dark at 11:00pm) I grabbed a shot of this painting by an artist whose work I was admiring earlier in a shop.  Katie Sevigny Art.

It’s my new laptop background.

I’m very excited for tomorrow. We are heading south of Anchorage towards Seward and Whittier.