Alaska Day 5: Slow Down

Today is intentionally slow -- late breakfast (7:30), hiking the walking trails adjacent to the lodge property, some reading, then lunch. Right now (2:00 PM) I'm sitting in the Great Room of the lodge where the WiFi is available and Melinda's returned to the walking paths with the camera to capture some of the colorful Alaskan wildflowers we saw this morning.

The peaks of Denali are occasionally visible through the heavy clouds. This morning the cloud cover was so heavy we saw no blue sky at all. Things are clearing some now. We may have a mountain again by the time the afternoon is over.

Here are some fun facts about Denali. The lower summit was first reached in 1910, the higher one in 1913. It has been scaled by an 11 year old boy, a 12 year old girl, a 70 year old man and wife, and a man who was a double amputee. No excuses. Although the earth has more than 20 other peaks higher than Denali, most in Tibet, its mass is greater than Everest. The summit of Everest is 29,029 feet above sea level and Denali only 20, 320. But the base of Everest is at 17,000 feet above sea level and Denali only 2,000. It is sometimes visible from as far away as Fairbanks (150 miles) and Anchorage. The first team of climbers who reached the summit included Hudson Stuck, who was born in Paddington, England, but who immigrated to Texas and served as an Episcopal priest in Cuero and Dallas.

Well, Denali is back in the clouds and I'm going to sit outside and finish The Diary of a Country Priest. Tomorrow we take the shuttle in to Talkeetna and then board the train for a four hour trip to Whittier, where we will board our ship and begin the cruise home. Thanks again to all who made this journey possible. Wish you all could be here.