Once at Denali National Park we had to get several vehicle and camp site permits. I walked around in my Alaska State Parks ranger shirt from Kodiak in the visitor center and tourists kept asking me questions about Denali, I told them I'm from a different park.
The guy at the front desk asked if we were the folks who found the dino bones a couple years ago. Yep, that was Dr. Suzy on the 2007 UAF Geo Camp, she found some kind of carnivorous dino foot prints that were previously never known to exist in the park.
Here's my shagon wagon all alone in the parking lot :(
Once the students arrived we did a bear safety class. If it's a Grizzly, stand your ground but don't fight unless it is gnawling at you, if it's Black Bear, be aggressive, throw rocks. How to tell the difference between the two? Grizzlies have a hump above their shoulders.
Then we headed to our campsite...
There was an instant rush of the wild going up my spine. Into the Wild... sort of.
Home sweet home... Teklanika campground.
Here was one of our camp hosts. She was a cool person to talk to during the day when the students were in the field... we chatted about Nova Scotia, pasta, bush fires, birds, etc.
We were able to get 5 camp sites. So where do we put the truck Bill?
Here he says. Alright, cool, now let's get all the junk out of my house so I can get to cooking.
They staff gang begins to set up tents while I unload the student totes/bags.
Around 8er I begin cooking some fried catfish.. simple, easy, good.
It was a big hit.
Next morning they all gather after breakfast to plan their traverse routes in the mountains where they will be taking GPS measurements in correlation with their geological observations.
I start my culinary plan of attack.
They leave, I'm done planning, I run a few miles up river to see what's around... nothing but wolves and moose.
Following moose trails.
I get back to camp and the sky is darkening. They still gone.
Beautiful.
Even more beautiful, I did up a whole line of various pizza breads.
It was a party.
After that dude and I played guitar and water jug... he played some blues while I hit the beat.
Some of the students got to their work and were excited to analyze their first findings.
After dinners I take a walk by the river.
After that I organize, brush teeth, pass out. Wake up, put breakfast and lunch out, the gang leaves to the field, I do dishes...
Drag gray water bucket to gray water bin. No food, no smell allowed near campsites, otherwise bears will come.
I eat lunch and think of what to do next for my down time and dinner prep.
Play guitar is always a good choice. I hike around the nearest mountain to my chill spot by the river where the wolves are.
Hey porcupine.
I play, I sing, I sweat in the 80 deg F...
I strip and bathe in the river. Feels sooo good even though the water is freezing cold and comming from a glacier just 2 miles east of us.
I get back to camp all clean and make a big mess again... a Mexican mess this time.
Quesadillas, salad, tacos, pineapple and mango pico de gallo, gallo pito, refried bean dip, nachos, only thing missing is some margaritas. We used Tang instead.
After din I walk the path to freedom thinking about my babe, thinking about home.
Come across a lone rabbit in the woods.
Go back to camp and see Dr. Rainer (Rai Dry) talking about rocks in the van. The van was warm, outside it was about 60 deg F. At night it got down to low 40s and in day upper 70s.
I take a quick rinse before bed.
G'night. It's about midnight and I'll see you again at 5 AM...
When it's bloody cold...
and first thing I do is put the coffee and water on the burners to create a sauna.
I could tell by the shadows what time it was. This is 6 AM. Right in between the two big stalks.
