The next morning we slept in a little but we made it to the visitor center by 10:00 and checked out all the exhibits. I had hit my quota on reading wall plagues by lunch and figured I kind of had a pretty good understanding of what was going on. We had lunch and decided to go for a 4-mile hike. With 9 years olds this is about all you can shoot for. This is a “No Forced March Vacation” so we have to keep it doable.
We pick up a Discovery Backpack from the Visitor Center, which had tons of science activities for the girls to do, collecting samples and experiences in nature. I got to shoot photos so I was happy. While taking a picture of a stream I stepped under a bridge that ran across it. Looking up I discovered a hornets nest less than three feet away from me. Needless to say I didn’t spend a lot of time under the bridge after that discovery.
Once the hike was over we headed into the main Denali tourist area for a Jeep Safari. I wasn’t sure what this was going to be like but I actually thought it was pretty cool - in kind of white trash way. Each group got to drive a Jeep through the backcountry of Alaska. It was actually an old mining road call Stampede Road. Two guys in their 20s led the tour. They were from Alabama. They were both super nice guys but total jeep/off roading nerds. You know the type - flannel shirts; hiking boots and greasy hair - they really had the outdoorsy look going on. They did a really good job of getting us down the trails. Each jeep had a CB and they used it to tell us about the area as well as how the trail was changing. The water hazards were huge water holes that ranged in depth from 2 to 18 inches. No one got stuck but we did a do a lot of head bobbling .
The tour was about three and half hours total. In the middle we stopped and had a meal for beef stew and fry bread at a Kitchen Camp. The weird part of this was that the guy Christopher McCandless from the movie “Into the Wild” died in a bus less than a mile from where we were eating.
BTW This is not the reason I came to Alaska.
The ride back was cool. We ran up on a moose and got a couple of pictures.
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