SATURDAY: Woke up Saturday morning, suited up in our "outdoor" gear, and headed into town for breakfast before our full day. We ended up at Black Bear Coffee House as it was the only other option for breakfast besides Subway. (Tangent: There is a Subway on what seems like every block of Anchorage, and there's also one in every small town).
After enjoying our coffee/juice/egg-ham-cheese muffin, we checked into Denali Raft Adventures where we signed our lives away and were given instructions about whitewater rafting. Though I don't have any pictures of us in our dry-suits and life vests, I think someone out of the 6 of us in our group captured the awesomeness. I'm pretty sure we looked absolutely ridiculous. Once outfitted in our rafting gear, we took a bus down to the Nenana River that runs through Denali Park to get our final briefing from Peacock (one of the guides whose real name we don't know) on proper paddle use and what to do/what not to do while rafting. After that, we jumped in the rafts and hit the river. Becca and I volunteered to be upfront and keep the pace for paddling. I had no idea what I was really getting myself into. Within the first set of rapids I was drenched and very happy to be sporting my dry-suit. Our guide, Nicole from Florida, provided us with history of the river which was pretty interesting. She also let us jump out of the raft between rapids if we wanted to go for a swim, so Tim and I both decided to jump out and the water was freezing cold. Once again, I was glad to have my dry-suit with warm layers underneath. In order to get back on the raft, another member of the team must grab your life vest and pull you up. Therefore, Becca helped me back in. After pulling me out of the water, I laid on my stomach for a second which Celeste took as me still needing help, so she dragged me across the raft. After all the "voluntary man overboards" were back in the raft, we finished the rapids and came to the end when the "involuntary man overboards" occurred. We hit the shore and Becca was tossed out of the raft. A second later Jason was overboard in the water also. It was quite an amusing and enjoyable time - thankfully no one was seriously injured.
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| Becca, Jess, and Celeste getting excited before rafting! |
We loaded the rafts and paddles up, and hopped back into the bus to return to the town. After getting back, we changed out of the gear and headed to Denali Doghouse for the lunch that was provided in the combo ATV/Rafting deal. After our stomachs were full of hamburger and reindeer (yes, reindeer dogs), we checked out the local gifts shops full of everything imaginable to do with Alaska and Denali. We came across a store that had fresh fudge so of course we tried it. Denali Oreo Dream was really tasty!
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| Yum! If fudge kept better, I would've brought some back from Alaska. |
After perusing the stores, we headed to Denali ATV Adventures to again sign our lives away. Emily, the owner's wife and office manager, was great. She told us about the different guides and explained a little about their business. Mike, the shuttle driver, came and picked the group of us up to take us out to where the ATVs were (which happened to be down the street from our hotel). Upon arrival, we received our "Star Wars" helmets and goggles along with instructions of how to work the ATV. Since I'm prone to wander off trails, I chose to be behind the lead guide, Tim, to hopefully keep me on course. This also prevented me from potentially running into the back of one of my friend's ATVs. They took us to two high overlooks and then down to the creek bed where we got to go through more water which happened to be my favorite part. We also got off the ATVs and walked around the creek bed when Celeste jumped into a the stream like a little kid in a puddle.
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| Celeste in her storm trooper helmet jumping in the stream. |
There was one point in the ride when Tim pointed out a swarm of butterflies on the ground at the side of the trail just before a pool of water which I promptly drove directly into stirring up the butterflies and drenching myself in the process. I'm definitely a kid at heart. Also, I guess I need to work on not smiling and laughing as much as I do since Tim told us that every time he looked back to check on the group I was either laughing or smiling...which apparently was distracting - Oops! The rest of the group immediately chimed in and said it's more like all the time that I'm laughing/smiling. I can't help it! Especially since I was having so much fun. I definitely had enjoyed this part of the day the best, and I can't wait to go again sometime.
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| At the first outlook: beautiful view, already loving the ride :) |
After ATVing, we headed back to the hotel to clean off the days dirt. By this point we were rather hungry and had heard from our guides to try out The Salmon Bake locally known as "The Bake". Unfortunately, I didn't get salmon which I wish I would have. The food was still good though. After dinner, we checked out a local ice cream store which had Moose Tracks (my favorite ice cream). I was glad to find another ice cream shop on the trip as it further reinforces my Alaskan trivia. After the long and exciting day, we headed back to the hotel to get some shut eye since it was an exhausting day. Before heading to bed, I was able to return a couple phone calls and catch up on stuff going on in Missouri while again watching the sort-of-sunset.
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