63% of rain tomorrow
hi again!
let's get to business...
I spent a few days in Fairbanks, trying to organize a bunch of people to go north to Prudhoe bay (the northern point in the US there's a road to). But failing to do that, i just hitchhiked my way there, and after 5 hours i was ~80 miles north of Fairbanks.
but than i got a ride all the way up (and back again, and even to the Denali park!). i swam a little in the arctic ocean - well, swam is too big a world. but i did get my whole body wet...
The ride was with 2 young Americans - Andrei & Paul and it was a lot of fun. we practically drove for hours, until they were to tired, than we slept for a few hours, and kept going. they are both working at the "world famous Salmon Bake" restaurant near the Denali park entrance, and they had 2-3 days off so they just drove all the way there and back again - we spent 3-4 hours at prudhoe bay, including the guided tour to the arctic ocean, and we got back like half an hour before Andrei's shift began...
well, after that i spent 5 days in the amazing Denali national park. the 2.5 first days were just wonderful - though quite hard (there are no trails, and i had a lot of bushwhacking) - the scenery was just fantastic! the mountains have the most gorgeous colors! (i was hiking around a mountain called polychrome).
Than i took the bus to Wonder lake (further in the park, and that was nice), and a little back, and started my next hike in the park. this time it was rainy, foggy and cloudy all day long :(
after 2 nights, i woke up in a drizzle (and some of the water found there way into my tent). but and having permit for yet another night there, i decided to give it another chance, and climbed up for like 2 hours. but than i sat down, looked around, and seeing almost nothing but fog, i just decided to go back, pack my stuff and let it be.
and so it was, though during my packing up the sun came out - but as i thought it was only for 2-3 minutes.
the next day was very sunny...
about wildlife - from the various buses there i saw brown bears, lots of caribous, lots of hawks, owls and stuff and a gray wolf! hiking i only saw doll ship, a caribou and an eagle. oh, and tons of squirrels...
well, i got out, and went to visit Paul (Andrei was away). i spent 2 nights at his cabin, and we had a wonderful little hike just near the entrance of the park to "horseshoe lake" - and we even crossed a beaver dam, and had a great time.
well, next day i hitchhiked south, to the beginning of Denali Hwy, camped there, and the day after, failing to hitchhike along that road (and considering the fog and rain) i went to anchorage, where I'm staying now, resting a little, hoping to find partners for a hike in the area...
bottom lines
- it's a crazy summer by Alaskan standards much colder than usual and with much more rain. and that affect my trip quite a lot cause i found out i hate to walk in the rain (yes, i know, I'm going to New Zealand). but still, it's just great being here. and i do get to see wonderful views, and I'm having so much fun!
- don't trust things like "Alaska hostel association" - it turns out they have no standards, they're quite expensive, and sometimes there are just such better alternatives! my current hostel (arctic adventure hostel) belongs to no organization like that, and it's the best (found it on the net)
- costumer service in the US is so much better than in Israel! i had a problem with the bag i bought a month ago in REI Seattle, so i came to the local REI store, without any receipt, and they just took the bag and gave me a "zikuy" on the whole sum, allowing me to buy whatever i want (which was the exact bag, but new...)
- i decided i can be a weather man. it's easy. 50% chance of rain tomorrow. you can't be wrong... what does it even mean "63% chance of rain"? why not 61%? i mean, the exact situation has never occurred, so what statistics can they run resulting with "63% chance"?
well, i guess that's it for now.
hope you're all happy and that this cease fire will prove to be the right thing, even when looking back years from now
let's get to business...
I spent a few days in Fairbanks, trying to organize a bunch of people to go north to Prudhoe bay (the northern point in the US there's a road to). But failing to do that, i just hitchhiked my way there, and after 5 hours i was ~80 miles north of Fairbanks.
but than i got a ride all the way up (and back again, and even to the Denali park!). i swam a little in the arctic ocean - well, swam is too big a world. but i did get my whole body wet...
The ride was with 2 young Americans - Andrei & Paul and it was a lot of fun. we practically drove for hours, until they were to tired, than we slept for a few hours, and kept going. they are both working at the "world famous Salmon Bake" restaurant near the Denali park entrance, and they had 2-3 days off so they just drove all the way there and back again - we spent 3-4 hours at prudhoe bay, including the guided tour to the arctic ocean, and we got back like half an hour before Andrei's shift began...
well, after that i spent 5 days in the amazing Denali national park. the 2.5 first days were just wonderful - though quite hard (there are no trails, and i had a lot of bushwhacking) - the scenery was just fantastic! the mountains have the most gorgeous colors! (i was hiking around a mountain called polychrome).
Than i took the bus to Wonder lake (further in the park, and that was nice), and a little back, and started my next hike in the park. this time it was rainy, foggy and cloudy all day long :(
after 2 nights, i woke up in a drizzle (and some of the water found there way into my tent). but and having permit for yet another night there, i decided to give it another chance, and climbed up for like 2 hours. but than i sat down, looked around, and seeing almost nothing but fog, i just decided to go back, pack my stuff and let it be.
and so it was, though during my packing up the sun came out - but as i thought it was only for 2-3 minutes.
the next day was very sunny...
about wildlife - from the various buses there i saw brown bears, lots of caribous, lots of hawks, owls and stuff and a gray wolf! hiking i only saw doll ship, a caribou and an eagle. oh, and tons of squirrels...
well, i got out, and went to visit Paul (Andrei was away). i spent 2 nights at his cabin, and we had a wonderful little hike just near the entrance of the park to "horseshoe lake" - and we even crossed a beaver dam, and had a great time.
well, next day i hitchhiked south, to the beginning of Denali Hwy, camped there, and the day after, failing to hitchhike along that road (and considering the fog and rain) i went to anchorage, where I'm staying now, resting a little, hoping to find partners for a hike in the area...
bottom lines
- it's a crazy summer by Alaskan standards much colder than usual and with much more rain. and that affect my trip quite a lot cause i found out i hate to walk in the rain (yes, i know, I'm going to New Zealand). but still, it's just great being here. and i do get to see wonderful views, and I'm having so much fun!
- don't trust things like "Alaska hostel association" - it turns out they have no standards, they're quite expensive, and sometimes there are just such better alternatives! my current hostel (arctic adventure hostel) belongs to no organization like that, and it's the best (found it on the net)
- costumer service in the US is so much better than in Israel! i had a problem with the bag i bought a month ago in REI Seattle, so i came to the local REI store, without any receipt, and they just took the bag and gave me a "zikuy" on the whole sum, allowing me to buy whatever i want (which was the exact bag, but new...)
- i decided i can be a weather man. it's easy. 50% chance of rain tomorrow. you can't be wrong... what does it even mean "63% chance of rain"? why not 61%? i mean, the exact situation has never occurred, so what statistics can they run resulting with "63% chance"?
well, i guess that's it for now.
hope you're all happy and that this cease fire will prove to be the right thing, even when looking back years from now
posted by הזידנרים at 7:36 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home