A packed vacation day agenda makes my heart smile and today, in the words of Mike Brown, my heart was grinning like a possum! We had to be up and out of the cabin by 9:20 to make to our first stop: ATV riding near Denali. (Unauthorized off road vehicles are not allowed within the park, and face a $1,000 per wheel fine!) This is the first year that the boys can ride their own 4-wheeler, so they were pumped!

We chose the side by side – actually I chose it so everyone wouldn’t have to wait on me if I was slow on a 4 wheeler.

After the safety speech and getting equipment – and meeting one of the employees from Wilmington, NC – The boys had to meander through a little training course and then we were off!

We are riding through an old coal field/mining area so the roads were crazy bumpy and the dust was insane!

Someone is having a great time! 😂

We stopped on top of one the hills. In true Alaska style, the views were amazing. Our guide, Amber, told us the history of the area, and our other guide, Aiden, found some coal on the ground.

Right below us is Otto Lake. It is a warm lake that you don’t swim in because it has leeches 🤢 Because Otto Lake isn’t as deep as other lakes, moose come there to teach their babies to swim. I had no idea until this moment that moose can swim! Apparently, they are quite agile in the water! Who knew?!?!🫎

And then it was back on the trails…

I love how they told boys to ride to avoid the water. They looked like frogs🤣

The second stop was in an area called Dry Creek. Normally, this area is dry except when the ice and snow start to melt, and then the water and rocks start to move! These sand walls are called alluvial fans. They’re created from the wind and water.

The trees growing here have roots that don’t go down, they go out. The entire forest works together sensing when one area needs more of some mineral or is affected by disease. The roots and grass form almost a thick carpet called carpeted root system.

Aiden must have had a geology background or at listened carefully to training section on rocks because he knew everything about the rocks in Dry Creek.  For instance, one rock isn’t a rock at all, just hard pressed sediment.  The indigenous people would rub the sediment rock against another to break it up and then use the sediment in pottery and crafts. There was also this really crazy looking soil on the edge or creek.  They called it creek peanut butter because that’s what it looks like.  Peanut Butter is also Aiden’s trail name because he got stuck in this last year. (Side note, Amber’s trail name was Roadkill because someone ran over her foot with a side by side 😂)

You’re just going to have to trust us that we saw a porcupine.  He was right back there…

While we were looking at the porcupine, someone noticed that the front right tire of Leo’s 4 wheeler was flat.  Not exactly sure what he hit, but it sure popped the tire.  We were a bit ahead of schedule so Amber called on her radio and within a few minutes, a couple guys were there to repair. 

Unfortunately, since these are 4-wheelers, they were uncomfortable with any new drivers operating with the new tire. So Leo hoped in the side by side with Aiden. I was worried, he would be disappointed but Aiden really liked driving fast and crazy, and Leo said it was awesome! Loaded back up, we went to tackle the rest of Dry Creek which is the wettest dry creek I have ever seen.

Crazy eyes is getting nervous… but it was a beautiful space

We crossed back onto the coal miners trail and then back to a lower part of Dry Creek and then a new route back to the starting point. A few more pictures, and then it was time to clean up. Good gracious, we were dusty! But what a great day!

We decided to head into Denali for some hiking and of course, Mom’s Café!

From the video at the Vistor’s Center yesterday, we were really excited to go visit the Denali Dog Kennels! The dogs were so cute.  They were all just stretched out and napping when we arrived.  Some were in their houses, and some were in kennels on the side.  The ones in the kennels were there because they were prone to eat rocks 😂 Thankfully it was only 65° today, so not too hot for them.  One of the summer interns said it snowed last week, and all the dogs were on top of their wooden houses, just laying the snow!

And of course, my Mikes had to get their picture with sled dog Mike.

And then we got to the puppies… oh my goodness! They might be sturdy and dependable sled dogs one day, but today, they were silly goofy pups!  The pups were 9 weeks old and the biggest one, named Mammoth, was just a clumsy mess. They wrestled and chased each other.  Three of them got stuck on one tube and then one got stuck in another 🥰

We had about 40 minutes before the next kennel demonstration, we decided to do a portion of the Roadside Hiking Trail that ran nearby.  We saw lots of burl knots and moose scratching marks along the trail.

So glad we saw the kennel presentation.  When they dogs saw their harnesses, they went crazy!

But once, they started running, they were all business!

We met the nicest couple from Australia.  They are here for a month traveling through Canada and Alaska.  They told us they were so excited to go home and tell their mates, they met a family that had been to all 50 states! And then the very best surprise… they let the puppies try the run!!

While we were waiting for the puppy run, the official state bird of an Alaska showed up… a mosquito! (It’s not really the state. 😉) but look at the size of these things!!!

And now, the puppy run! This is how they start training for mushing.

We headed back to Mile 15 to try a portion of the Savage Alpine Trail. I say a portion because the total hike was a four mile one way hike which wasn’t bad.  However the elevation was over 1,500 feet and the hike was noted as strenuous. Usually, if the National Park Service thinks a hike is Strenuous, then it is going to be ridiculously strenuous. So Mike and I did one portion around the ginormous rocks, and Michael and Leo did the hike PLUS the  ginormous rock.

Boys definitely got the better view, but I’m not sure we could have handled what they did.

Afterwards, we decided to try the Savage River Loop trail.  This was a beautiful hike and if we had waterproof boots/shoes, it would have been so much easier. Our shoes and socks were pretty nasty by the end but thank goodness for a washer/dryer!  The hike was great, but was still icy in spots, so crossing was difficult in some spots.  We never could be sure that the bridge to cross over was there so after almost 2 miles in, we decided to turn around.  (Later on we saw another couple made it across, so I think we stopped just a little bit short of the bridge 😒)

But on the hike back, we got to add an animal to our ✔️ Saw It : Mountain Goat!

In fact, there were two. We started watching closely as a man got closer and closer.  Started thinking I was going to have a video to sell to “When Animals Attack.”

We started headed back to our cabin, but then saw one more quick hike to the “Ranger Interpretive Cabin.” I mean, what’s one more mile, right?

Both Amber and Aiden suggested dinner at 49th State Brewery, so off we went to grab dinner. Thankfully, it was on the way to our cabin. The food, atmosphere and the house made beers were great!

Tomorrow we say goodbye to our kitten cabin and Denali but maybe we can squeeze in one more hike 🤞🏼