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! 

Finally Re-Living The Plane Ride in Talkeetna Thursday July 16th

Mike and I made the three hour drive to Talkeetna again. We finally got to take the plane ride over Denali! The weather wasn't the best and the chances that we were landing on a glacier were slim.  I decided to take the same picture I took in 2011 in front of the Talkeetna sign instead of on the glacier.  Same pose, same clothes. 

Ready, set go!

I mentioned to the pilot that we had taken this ride before.  He asked me about it and I told him we flew in 2011 and I didn't remember any of it because I had a ruptured brain aneurysm 11 months later.  I added that I was hoping that we could land on the glacier and I could take another picture like the one I took in 2011.  

Some nice person in the back of the plane offered to take a picture of us before we took off.  

Off we go!

Look at all these instruments the pilot had to navigate! 

Lots of clouds but I didn't care.  This was the most emotional experience of the trip.  I was back in the airplane flying over the Alaska Mountain Range again! No words could can describe how I felt.  So thankful to be alive and living this again.  Such a blessing! Thank you God for given us the opportunity to re-live the 2011 trip.  

The pilot mentioned different mountains that we were seeing.  We pretty much just saw the peaks but as I said before I didn't care.  Every peak was magnificent and I could see the beauty of God's creation in every peak.  

I don't remember all the names of the mountains.  

I think this was Denali.  He flew us all the way around each mountain peak. 

Our pilot was so good and talked to us the whole flight about what we were seeing. 

Still Denali from a different view.

We are now heading back!

Here is one of the glaciers we saw.  There were many.  We weren't able to land on a glacier because of the cloud cover.  The pilot had to see where he was landing and he couldn't.  I was OK with it.  I loved every minute of this even without the glacier landing. 

Perfectly clear blue water.  

Love this cloud formation

Another glacier. 

Glacier after glacier.

To the right of this glacier there was a waterfall.  

Getting close to landing!  I did not edit the color in these pictures. 

We are back.  I was definitely tearing up as this ended.  

The pilot took our picture and yes I had tears in my eyes.  I have tears in my eyes even typing this.  

Everyone at the airplane office said we really had to try the spinach bread.  We did and it was yummy. 

We had dinner in Talkeetna at the Fairview Inn.  It was really good food and a great atmosphere.

Well, we didn't see many animals on our bus ride but we saw moose on the way back to the White Moose Lodge. 

Oh, there is another one! Crossing the road safely.