Geo: 61.5997, -149.113Aside from getting clear views of Mt. McKinley while in Denali, perhaps the highlight of the trip so far has been our ice climbing adventure in the Matanuska Valley. Sean, Caleb, and I met up at the blue yurt in front of the Matanuska Glacier where we met our guide, TJ, who helped outfit us for our climb on the glacier. Helmet, harness, rubber gloves (with stinky cloth liners), boots, and crampons. Then after meeting the others in our climbing party—Scott, a sports agent from San Diego and Kaitlyn, a recent high school graduate from Ohio—we headed to the "burb" (suburban), and drove to the glacier. One single family has complete ownership of all roads that lead to the glacier (can you imagine essentially owning a glacier?) so after paying our dues at their ... read more

Geo: 63.5253, -150.958It doesn't always rain on us after all! The morning we woke up to catch the bus into Denali National Park, there wasn't a cloud in the sky. Sean and I kept pinching ourselves, asking, "Is this really happening—to US?" (Some of you may remember the torrential, unprecedented rainfall we experienced in New Zealand… Or the rain in Glacier National Park… Or on the Toxaway-Petit loop in the Sawtooths… Or in Stanley on the 4th of July…) Only about 30% of park visitors ever get to see clear views of Mt. McKinley, the tallest mountain in North America at 20,320 feet. But apparently picking up those hitchhikers a while back brought about some good travel karma for us, because as we rounded the corner in the Polychrome Valley, sure enough, there stood McKinley in ... read more

Geo: 64.0378, -145.732We ventured into the wilderness along the Denali Highway, a 135-mile stretch of dirt road which connects Paxston (near the Delta Junction) with Denali National Park. We lunched at Tangle Lake where Kaia enjoyed a long swim and we watched the weather roll across the sky. Then we took a lovely hike which gave us our first view of the Alaska range and the valley below. Unfortunately, no caribou though. Last night we camped at a picturesque creek where we spent the evening fishing for grayling. Sean rose several, and I momentarily hooked one, but neither of us had luck landing any. What a cherry campsite though! And the weather (so far--fingers crossed!) has been pretty wonderful. ... read more

Geo: 60.1727, -132.719(Erin here.) What a great day! We traveled over 700 miles today from Dawson Creek to just outside of Teslin, YT, and all the promises about wildlife along the Al-Can have proved true. We've seen bison, caribou, big horn sheep, moose (one cow, and one very large, very intimidating bull), and three bears (2 brown, 1 black)--all right from the road. We're loving the new telephoto and wide angle lenses! :)The drive has been going well with no major mishaps--though we did hit a quick series of potholes that had Kaia leaping from her bed and hiding between our seats for safety. We had a good chuckle. But it was a quick blip, and no one (not even the van) was worse for it. We're getting quite adept at dodging potholes and spotting wildlife ... read more

Geo: 52.8736, -118.083Hello all!(Erin, here.) Today is Saturday and we're in the town of Jasper (Alberta) after camping last night in Jasper NP. So far, we have covered about 970 miles, nearly a quarter of what we will drive the whole journey. And what scenery! The pictures include views of Marble Canyon with its pale blue glacial runoff, and the Athabasca Glacier, which we hiked to the bottom of yesterday afternoon. It's so refreshing to be in the outdoors and traveling, as this vacation has been a long time coming! The van has been working out splendidly. We have had two very restful nights' sleep, and have been managing to keep things put away in their rightful spots so that we're not tripping over gear all the time. Kaia has the best seat in the house, ... read more