We finally got out into a bit of the wilderness of Alaska. Not the backwoods by any means but definitly out of town. We headed up Hatcher's Pass (don't know the highway) towards Independence Mine and stopped a couple of times to enjoy the beauty of the Little Susitna River. This river starts at the Mint Glacier so it is icy cold and that pretty blue grey color I am beginning to think would be a pretty wall color. There were huge boulders all through the river and Dylan enjoyed doing a bit of rock climbing. Of course he had to do it while hearing my yells of, "Dylan, be careful!" I didn't think I'd be able to dive into the frigid water to save him as I am a bit of a wimp when it comes to cold water!
While at Independence Mine we took a self guided tour of the mine and then explored the alpine tundra a bit. We followed a trail around the mine and another one up to a lake. Lyndsi and I waited for the boys at the bottom of a very steep rocky hill so we never actually saw the lake but not for lack of trying! We had fun singing in the rain - to scare away the bears of course! I was intrigued by the little plants that grow in the tundra as well as the many little streams that make their way down the hills.
Independence Mine is fun just in itself. This was a working gold mine in the 20's, 30's and 40's. Many of the original buildings remain and those that aren't still standing are piles of wood. We could explore as much as we wanted as long as we stayed out of the "Danger" zones. They do offer guided tours that take you a mile and a half into the mine but they were done for the day when we got there.
We didn't get home until after dinner again. Just in time to pop in another load of laundry in preparation for our weekend in Denali. We were lucky to find a reasonably priced hotel that had two nights available and a tour bus with seats available to take us into the park of Denali - no cars allowed beyond a certain point.
Tomorrow we meet Loi (a new friend thanks to Cathy) for lunch and then head to Denali. It's our 11th anniversary tomorrow and I am feeling a bit nostalgic as I think back to our honeymoon in Alaska. Who knew we'd be back 11 years later!
So... the pictures above - The first shows the hill that Lyndsi and I gave up on and decided to wait at the bottom of. The second is Independence Mine. Dylan found the dragonfly at the Little Su River (we took the picture because there are so many dragonflies here and they are so big!). The last 2 pictures were also taken at the river as the kids were crawling around the big rocks.
5 comments:
Happy Anniversary, Jill and Steve! Eleven years - where does the time go. It's such fun keeping up with your adventures on your blog - we love the pictures and descriptions of your travels - can hardly wait to see the hundreds more that you can't post and hear in person from each of you your favorite part of your journey. Love to you all!
Happy Anniversary to you! (and us, teeheehee, Jeff just got home). Looks like you are having a fantastic time! Love all the photos. I hope you'll have more to show us when you get back. Everything is great back home. Do you have any sugar hidden at your house (if not, I can grab some here), I wanted to make up some more hummer food, they've drained you! Max is sure missing Dylan. See you soon, The Cheesemans
Happy Anniversary! We are loving all the photos! Can't wait to see the rest when you get home! The girls are missing their Dylan and Lyndsi fix!
Lisa
Happy 11th Anniversary to the both of you. I was so eager to read your blog each day and hear about all of your adventures. I remember visiting some of the same places when we lived there in the 70's and again in the 80's. Dylan and Lyndsi are so cute in the pics--especially with that fish! Take care and see you soon. Love ya!
Happy Anniversary! Your pictures are fabulous--I love the puffin. Can't wait to see all of those bird pictures!
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