On Thursday, May 24th, the second to last day of our trip, we traveled into Denali National Park. At 9:00 AM, we got on our bus that would take us around 53 miles to Toklat. Round trip it was a trip that takes approximately six and a half hours to complete. It was amazing. The vistas there were like nothing else I had ever seen. It did evoke a similar emotion in me as the Southern Alps of New Zealand do, but the Alaskan mountains have a stateliness all to their own.

We also saw a huge amount of wildlife while there, much more than I expected. The sheer number of ptarmigan there was overwhelming, we counted at least eighty, but we must have seen a hundred or more. The flora is pretty consistent in Alaska, but as far as fauna goes for the most part we had only really seen ptarmigan, mosquitos, some really distant caribou, and some moose (which were huge and amazing and I love them). The famous Alaskan brown bear had yet to be seen. Until today at least. We saw I think seven it was on our excursion deep into the Denali National Park wilderness. Alongside that, add an extra nine caribou, bringing our caribou sightings up to around twelve or thirteen total. What I loved the most though were the moose. The first thing we saw when we began our drive in was a cow and her calf casually grazing alongside the road, and how beautiful they were. Moose are truly amazing creatures, they’re so large and powerful, but yet so calm and majestic. At least to me! We also saw a few other animals, a porcupine, a short-eared owl, a pika, and plenty of ground squirrels.

After the ride, we returned to the Denali park commons, Robert and I watched a movie about Denali wildlife and some safety tips to keep in mind around them. Very informative. After, we waited outside on Prof. Jackson and some others. Once we were ready, we left and returned to the hostel which we were staying at. Some people had decided to go on a hike in the park, so when Prof. Jackson went back to get them, Robert and I started a campfire in the pit at the hostel. When Craig returned, the group split in half, Craig and I and a few others going to Panorama, my favourite pizzeria/pub in Alaska. We hung out, and I met a super cool dude named Wilson, and when we came back we all hung out by the fire until we went to bed. I love Alaska.

(I guess it was really day two, but this was the first day in Fairbanks.) To begin, I am already late. At least I am not alone. Armando and I were left at the hotel, everyone had already left for breakfast. So we had to walk. Armando decided to take the lead, giving directions. Perhaps not the best choice, as we took a wrong turn and walked for ten or so minutes in the completely wrong direction. We turned around and finally arrived at the Bakery Restaurant, where I ordered a delicious Eggs Benedict, the same as Dr. Jackson. It was delicious. We then went to Safeway to get rations for the upcoming few days.

We returned to the hotel, and at 12:30 pm, we left to go to the CRREL Permafrost Tunnel. Our tour guide, Mikhail was our tour guide, and the resident dog scientist was Ruby Tuesday. We descended about 18 meters below the ground to view ancient fossils (woolly mammoths, etc.). The ice wedges were of particular interest. The air had a distinct odor.

After, we left at around half past two, we went to visit the historical Chatanika Gold Dredge. Armando and I explored the abandoned, burned down ginormous machine. It was truly fantastic. The rusted holding tanks, littered with beer cans and bottles that lined the ladder landing, had great reverberating acoustics. We climbed up the various components of the machine. Armando got all the way to the top of the central plateau. Very fun indeed. Afterwards, I ate my lunch quite hastily as we left to go to visit the Alaskan Pipeline. On our way, we stopped at an outlook. There was an abandoned home with just the foundation, chimney, and one lonely chair remaining. We stopped and took pictures of some sparse mountains far in the distance, then moved on to the next location.

When we got to the Alaskan Pipeline, we learned about the radical advancements in pipeline engineering that were necessary in the development of the pipeline, the largest in North America. We skipped rocks on the creek that ran adjacent to the pipeline. Aidan nearly knocked me out with a misaimed toss, as we were trying to throw rocks through the pipe under the bridge that ran across the creek. After we left the pipeline, we returned to the hotel to relax before heading out for dinner. We went to the Silver Gulch. I ordered a Shirley Temple, which was nostalgic in itself, while we conversed about our favourite things. I got I.P.A. battered fish and sea salt fries and it was delicious. Then, we returned to the hotel, and Armando, Aidan, and I went for a walk downtown at around ten thirty. We saw a beaver under a bridge on our way back. Then, finally, we went to bed.