Sunday, July 24, 2022

Day 5, Saturday, July 24

This day had been secretly planned for a very long time as a special occasion for Barb.

At 9:30am we left the room and went to the little local airstrip.  It is not an airport as there are no buildings there and it is just a one short landing strip next to the train station.

There we were first fortunate to see a mother Moose and her two babies come out of the bushes between the airstrip and the train tracks and walk right towards us.  It was amazing to see something that close just walking around.

Then Barb went into the train terminal and Ed waited for an old friend of Barbs family who used to live just north of us to arrive in his plane.

At 10:00am Rick landed and walked over to the train station while Barb was still inside.  Ed went in and told her there was another Moose and she came out and was totally, totally surprised to see Rick standing there.  It was an amazing moment.

After catching up for a few minutes, Rick, in his two-seater Piper Cub took Barb up for her first small plane ride for an hour or so and Barb loved the ride and the experience of seeing Denali Park and the Mountain from the air.  The Rick took Ed up and both of us had amazing flights around Denali.

When the flights were done, we took a cab into town, had a late lunch and spend a lot of time talking about the time when Rick and his family were in Merna.  They lived just north of us and Barb has known them since they were little kids.  Rick is now 71!!

We then took Rick back to the airstrip and he flew home, which was abut 2 hours away.  We make plans to hopefully meet Rick and his daughter Allison in Anchorage Monday or Tuesday for dinner.

We walked across the road from the train station to a bus stop within Denali Park where we bought tickets for a 4 ½ hour round trip into the park as far as the road will let you.

We boarded the bus at 4:30pm and since it was one of the last busses for the evening, there were only 2 other people on this big bus with us.  So, it was almost like hiring your own personal tour guide. 

During the trip, we saw some Mountain Goats, Cariboo and a couple of Wolverines so it was eventful.

The view however was the real attraction, including Denali which is the highest mountain in North America.  We were told that there have only been 5% of the people visiting the park have seen the entire Denali Mountain without any clouds and we were so trilled to see the mountain several times in all its beauty!

We arrived back at the hotel at 9:30pm, packed for tomorrow’s trip to Anchorage on the train and finally went to sleep.

Night from Denali and tomorrow is Anchorage.

                                                        Barb meeting Rick Snow in Denali


Momma and her babies


Barb and Rick - ready to take off

Rick Snow flying Ed in Denali

Rick Snow flying Ed low in Denali

 


The three of us - what a great day!!
 

                                    Denali Mountain - actually Mt. McKinley from 60 miles away




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