Part 1: Taking the Plunge

Forewarning, this is a two-parter...    

      Our fourth and final guest has arrived. Ms. Sydney Sipos, one of Ashley’s oldest friends made it up to Alaska for a fun-filled adventure. She arrived around 11pm on Friday night and it was unique for us because it was the first time we have had to drive in the dark up here. The midnight sun has finally left us and we get about 10 hours of nighttime now. The drive to the airport seemed to take forever as we eagerly awaited our guest. We mused how Sydney would not see any of the mountainous beauty until the morning and what a surprise she would wake up to. After picking her up we headed back to the Nature Center for some sleep as we were all a bit tired. The next morning, she woke to a beautiful blue sky with some low lying fog that cleared away to show the mountain tops surrounding our cabin. That first full day she was here Ashley showed her around the Nature Center and Eagle River while Adam worked all day. Ashley and Sydney even got to attend Adam's last nature walk! It was the last one for the season so it was fun to finish the way we started; together. After work we had a delicious halibut dinner and headed off for our first activity of the trip-a ghost tour of Anchorage. We arrived in downtown Anchorage where an older gentlemen in a full tuxedo guided us around town regaling us with the history and haunted tails of the local buildings surrounding us. Luckily, it was more intriguing than terrifying but we will never be able to look at downtown Anchorage the same. After all the stories and lots of good people watching we headed back to the cabin to rest up for the next adventure.

Before the Ghost Tour

After the Ghost Tour, luckily we are still smiling. P.S. the building behind us is haunted...

This is the selfie our guide took when the tour was done, he is the partial head all the way on the left....he might need some practice with taking selfies.

        The next day we headed north towards Denali National Park. The weather was beautiful, and I don’t think that word even does it justice. The entire trip Mt. Denali was crystal clear and could be seen all the way from Eagle River. We stopped at several view points along the way to take pictures and talked about what good luck we had with the weather. Not to mention that fall has arrived in Alaska and the leaves are changing colors! When finally arrived we set up the camper (it got too cold at night to tent camp so we took the Sweaty Yeti along) and did a bit of exploring around our campsite at Riley Creek. Then we soon headed off for dinner at the Salmon Bake and hit up some of the gift shops along the “Denali Dells” as we like to call it or “Glitter Gulch” as the locals like to call it. Soon it was dusk and we thought it would be a great time to take a drive in Denali and hopefully see some wildlife. About 7 miles in we were rewarded when a moose and two calves were spotted alongside the road grazing on a willow tree. We stopped and took pictures of them and then decided to drive on. As we drove past them the car came within 10 feet of the 3 moose and that was the closest to moose that we have ever been. Poor Sydney was on the passenger side and would have taken the brunt of the hit had they decided to charge, but luckily they didn’t so it was all good! We drove back to Savage River and did a little bit of hiking before it got too dark. After such a long day we headed back to the camper for some much needed rest. Unfortunately, around midnight Sydney got sick. She felt sick to her stomach and had uncontrollable shaking. We have all been there when a friend is sick and it is never fun to watch and of course we were hours from a hospital. We waited about an hour to see if she would get better and with no relief we decided she needed medical attention. We packed up, hitched the camper back on and hit the road under a sky full of stars. We would do anything for our friends and if that means driving four hours to the hospital in the middle of the night in Alaska than that’s what we do. Sydney has countless times been Ashley’s doctor (Web MD researcher) and chauffeur to the hospital when she would get sick in college so it was our turn to repay the favor. You may be thinking this would be suck to do the drive in the dark but honestly it was so beautifully set under a sky full of stars that it was probably the second best drive we have ever had to Denali. The first being that morning with the clear sky and Denali completely in view. We kept a sharp eye on the road as we drove looking for any wildlife that might be wandering late at night which paid off because there was a young bull moose hanging out in the road. We did not hit it but we did get to see it slowly make its way across the road which was cool. We eventually made it to the hospital and we are so glad we took her as she was in rough shape when we got there. They ran several tests and after an hour they were no closer to figuring it out than we were to Wisconsin. After sometime she felt better so they discharged her. After a phone call to her step dad who is a doctor we decided to go into a different hospital and not leave until we had answers. We headed into Anchorage and after several hours (many of which were spent in the waiting room) we figured out that a virus had attacked her gallbladder and the shivering was caused from her body dealing with the pain. They gave her some medicine to help and we headed back for an early night in. We were exhausted.

Mt. Denali on a crystal clear day!

This is Riley Creek, the place that we camped in Denali. 

Searching for bears, none were found. Thankfully. 

Pondering life.

Stoic Sydney

Trying to get across Riley Creek, they were not successful.

They were having a bed time snack.

The moose were as tall if not taller than the blue car.

Beautiful Mt. Denali at sunset

Beautiful mountain views with fall colors

The Denali sign was too big to get in the picture.

     
  We decided to take it easy the rest of the trip and stay at the Nature Center and just take day excursions from there. After a good night’s rest, we were all feeling a bit better which worked out perfectly because we were scheduled for glacier hiking (doctor approved of course). We drove up towards Matanuska Glacier passing beautiful fall colors and jagged mountain peaks. Soon the 26-mile glacier came into view and we arrived at our glacier hiking destination. We were fitted for boots, crampons, helmets and loaded into the van. We headed off and after a short drive we arrived at the glacier. We had two guides who were awesome, very chatty and personable. They guided us across the glacier and led us up to some pretty high points on the glacier for beautiful sweeping views. We were on a beautiful white glacier with a cool breeze and a warm sun looking around the mountains surrounding us with beautiful fall colors spreading from the valley floor up.  While we were hiking on the glacier we noticed a man hiking on one of the other glacier peaks, our guides told us that he worked with them and he was from Wisconsin. So what did we do? We yelled “Wisconsin” at the top of our lungs to see if he could hear us. We soon found out that he did as he busted out into several dance moves on top of the glacier, thus proving that he is an awesome Wisconsinite that just happens to live in Alaska. We continued our hike and after chatting with our guides for a while we realized that we both knew some of the same people, for Alaska being the biggest state, there sure are not a lot of people. It is not long before everyone looks familiar. After spending several hours on the glacier it was unfortunately time to go home.

Panoramic picture where we are on both ends! Science!

That river on the left is over 6 ft deep, a person fell in it the day before and went in over their heads. Don't worry they were fine. 

Fall is officially here in AK

The surrounding mountains and their fall colors

Matanuska Glacier

Our guide Pat photobombing our photo :) 

Our photo without Pat in it

Ice River Cave!

They licked this part of the glacier

I think Sydney liked the glacier! Her smile told me so.

Adam being Adam.

Reflections of Sydney

The view from up top!

The end of our glacier hike.

The car reached 250,000 miles this week! The Jeep is a tank and we love it! 

We decided to take Sydney to Hatcher Pass the next day seeing as it was one of our favorite local spots. We drove high up into the mountains and toured the old abandoned gold mine taking in the surrounding beauty of the mountains. Did we mention that the weather was beautiful again? We honestly could not get over it. We took our time hiking around on the trails enjoying the views and the cool mountain air. 

Independence Mine

The view from up here!

That is Denali and the Alaska Range in the distance.

Eventually we made our way a little bit higher into the mountains to Summit Lake. We will let our guest Sydney tell you that story…

“Summit Lake, a sloping long drive just past Hatcher’s Pass, is a beautiful teal lake tucked away on the mountaintop. The lake is left over from a glacier, so the water is frigid. We hiked down to the water to stick our hands and toes in, and quickly learned just how cold glacier water gets. But as I stared into the deep, lovely water – clear and shimmering in the bright sunlight – I knew I had to dive in. With some quick preparation on Ashley and Adam’s part, I shimmied out of my pants, secured my sandals on my feet, and plunged (rather ungracefully) in.

It was cold . . . very cold. But it wasn’t until I took another dive and fully submerged myself that the cold hit me. I surfaced and instantly couldn’t breathe, half from laughing and half from the frigid water. So I awkwardly doggie paddled back to the shore, and Ashley and Adam helped me climb out into the warm sunshine, still laughing at the ridiculousness of it all.

Later, we snuck over the hillside so I could change in privacy (however in full view of the valley – you’re welcome, Alaska, you got a free show). It was there that I felt an amazing surge, the realization that while we are a small blip in the timeline of this geography, we still had the incredible fortune and privilege to be able to experience it our own way.”

[One hundred thousand thanks go to Ashley and Adam for making this trip possible – there is no way I’d rather discover Alaska than under their wing.]          -Sydney E. Sipos

Summit Lake at 3886ft above Sea Level

This water is so cold it makes your feet hurt

Sydney's first moments in the water

Sydney's shirt was even smiling after she jumped in!

We had a great time staying dry.

Thank you Sydney for that story and insight on your trip. After thoroughly exploring Hatcher Pass we made our way down the valley to the Alaska State Fair. We made our way through all the food vendors and stands to go find the big veggies. Unfortunately, the veggie display was closed off for judging but we were able to sneak peaks and see some of the largest vegetables we have ever seen. That midnight sun really does help them grow up here. We were even able to see the giant pumpkins that they bring in and the winner was a 1,469lb pumpkin that had just taken the new state record! After a fun filled day we headed back for R & R, it is vacation after all. This concludes Part 1 of the trip. Until next time...

-The A-Team