Horseback ride and Bus Ride into Denali Saturday July 18th

Well, we didn't horseback ride in 2011 and I am glad we did in 2026!  This was amazing.  Riding a horse through the wilderness in Alaska.

Virginia was our guide.  She was so good.  She gave us lots of great directions on how to manage our horses.  As we rode she answered all of our questions and told us a lot about the area.  She was a gem! I am sure she still is for anyone else that has the privilege to have her for a guide. 

The Gleason's

This was the horse I rode.  I thought it was way to big for me.  It wasn't.  These were well trained horses for sure. 

Virginia full of joy!

Lovely, amazing, beautiful, unique and more. Enjoy the view. Mike took some of these pictures.  

Our fearless leader.  Virginia is a real mountain woman.  She has her own sled dogs. She takes hunters to the back country with her dogs.  When she is not guiding tours she lives in Fairbanks off the grid.  Her home was a kit that she put together with friends in two days.  Pretty sure it has no electricity.  She saved money to buy the land and the home.  She is truly amazing.

You may have noticed no one is on this horse, my horse.  Well, let me tell you a story.  Virginia told us to make sure you have the mane of the horse, the horn of the saddle and your body all in alignment. If you don't do that the saddle could slide to one side or the other.  You guessed it!  All of a sudden my saddle started siding to the right.  I tried to stop it and couldn't.  I yelled, "I need help!"  I grabbed on to the horn of the saddle and it kept going to the right.  Going, going, gone and I am down.  My next words were, "I fell!" I didn't really fall very far.  I held on to the saddle until I couldn't and then I let go and plopped to the ground. I didn't plop very far and I wasn't hurt at all.  I sort of slid and then plopped down. Virginia to the rescue. 

Mike's first words were, "I wish I would have taken a video of that!" He knew I wasn't hurt.  There is no video to view thankfully. 

I was concerned about getting back on this horse.  Virginia found a high spot for me to stand on and I got right back on. Thinking back on this event my left knee was sort of bugging me.  I must have had too much pressure on my right leg. I paid more attention after my slide/plop.

Off we go again. 

Keep your hands on the reigns! That was one directions we got.  HMMM!

What a great ride.  At times you can't describe the feelings you have while doing something.  This whole trip was one of those times.  We had another bus ride scheduled right after this horseback ride! Off we go to Denali National Park. 

This bus ride was so much better.  Well, the bus ride was the same but the animals we saw weren't.  This caribou was huge.  

Then we saw a huge moose! Everyone wants to take a picture so it is hard to get in-between people to get the best shot.  

You can tell how high the under brush is when the bottom the moose disappears. 

There it is Denali.  It popped out just a little so we could see it on the bus ride.  Majestic! 

God is so good! It is truly beyond our comprehension how much He loves us and how He created everything for us.  He wove it all together in a beautiful tapestry for us to see.  I am in awe of Him. 

These signs are everywhere.  I am not sure why they are necessary but apparently they are.  Moose are really big and tend to be on the mean side of things if you get close.  People, use common sense.  

These are snowshoe rabbits and they are everywhere.  See their big, white feet.  Snowshoe rabbits, arctic ground squirrels and we also experienced arctic mosquitoes often. We really thought mosquitos didn't like weather in the 40's to the 50's but apparently arctic mosquitos don't mind the cool weather.  We named the mosquitos arctic. That isn't their official name but it should be. 

Cute! 

Alaska Binoculars in Denali National Park Friday July 17th

On Friday Mike and I decided to drive into Denali National Park as far as we were allowed to go.  The drive was 15 miles long.  We stopped along the way and looked for animals with our binoculars.  

Mike in his element.  Looking for animals in their natural habitat.  He so wanted to see a grizzly bear.  

As it turned out I was the one that got to see a grizzly bear through my binoculars.  I saw it and told Mike.  By the time I told Mike where the bear was it was gone.  At this same spot we were packing up to move on and I saw a lynx cross the road just above us.  I called out to Mike but was occupied doing something else.  By the time he turned around the lynx was gone. 

As we headed up the road we saw a hiking trail that we explored.

Alaska is so unique and beautiful. 

Since we didn't have any bear spray we decided not to travel too far on the trail.  

We stopped at another spot toward the end of the road.  Mike spotted a caribou swimming in the river.  I didn't see the caribou and Mike said it went up into the brush.  We couldn't find it but someone else did a few minutes later.  If you stop to look at anything others stop to see what you are looking at.  We were glad this guy stopped.  The caribou didn't move much and we thought it might be injured.  When the caribou finally started to move we noticed it wasn't injured. We must have watched that caribou for 45 minutes.  No pictures of the caribou.  It was too far away.  

We made it to mile 15.  A hiking trail led to this rock formation.  It was way up high.  There were some people on top of it when we got there.  I wanted to get a picture but I needed to change the lens on my camera to get a better picture.  The people didn't wait for me to do that.  Unfortunate. I didn't get the picture. 

I wanted Mike to stand below the rock formation to get a perspective of how high it was but it didn't really work. You still can't tell how far up it was.  I kept the picture anyway.  

Wildlife taking pictures along the river.  HAHA. 

Our snacks were peanut butter and crackers. 

A volunteer was telling us about the area. This was a fun day just doing what we wanted to do and spending time it God's very unique creation.  Alaska is beyond majestic. I saw a caribou, a grizzly bear and a lynx.  Mike saw the caribou.  I wish the grizzly bear would have stayed around just a little longer.