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Published: April 24th 2013
Well, much time has passed, but at last my second blog entry is here, sure to be jam-packed!
When I last left you, I was heading towards Juneau on the wonderful ferry. We arrived in Juneau at the wee hours of the morn, and I managed to shlep my luggage down and cram it into Kathy's truck. I then met up with the Road Scholar crew, and got on their bus to go see the Mendenhall Glacier. It was in the mid 20s, which for Alaska is mighty warm, but I was shivering down to my bones as we took a short walk to look at the spectacular glacier, took the requisite pictures, and loaded back on the bus to head back to the ferry. Kathy had gone on ahead with all of our belongings to check into the hotel. Turns out the ferry terminal was 12 miles from town, so I stuck out my ever useful thumb, and got a ride right to the door of the hotel.
Though the little nagging voice in my head whispered (not too loudly) that I should go out and explore Juneau, I took advantage of the down time to catch up
with my extraordinarily long to-do list, not to mention sleep. The two days did me well; I checked off taxes, business connected with my mother, and sundry other long-overdue tasks. On the third day, we checked out at noon, and found an internet cafe, where we continued the game of catch up. At 4:45, we drove back to the ferry terminal to load on for our 9 pm departure. Yes, folks, it's true; Suzanne actually arrived somewhere over 4 hours early for a departure! Of course, I didn't have much choice in the matter, since my travel mate wanted to be early, and we were supposed to be there no later than 6. The boat was as wonderful a place as any to hang out, so we loaded on, and set up camp. This boat was a more sea-worthy vessel, since we were going to be crossing the open waters of the Gulf of Alaska. This being the case, there was no open air solarium this time, only a completely enclosed one, with window's so high, you couldn't see the water when sitting in the lounge chairs. It took a full 24 hours for me to solve this problem by
piling 3 lounge chairs on top of one another, and thus getting a perfect view of the water and mountains.
This ferry was a much quieter scene; the solarium only housed 5 of us, and I actually left at night to go sleep in the aft lounge since the lights in the solarium never turned off. The boat itself was about 30 years more modern, and very nice. The movie theater was a real movie screen, not a TV (got to see "Skyfall", and discovered that I don't get seasick while watching a movie when the boat is reeling); the cafeteria was lovely and had pretty decent food (though I still had all my own), and it just felt newer and cleaner than the Columbia. Nonetheless, I missed the open air solarium!! I didn't discover a good place to ride outside and stay warm until the last day, 3 hours out from Whittier. The sun came out strong (the locals said it was highly unusual), and I sat in the back with the sun shining on me chatting with an aid to an Alaskan state senator (session had just gotten over, and the boat had quite a few state
legislators). I saw more whales, porpoise (quite by accident!), and leaping salmon as we drifted through more spectacular views of water, mountains fully covered in snow, and glaciers.
We docked in Whittier, loaded once again into the truck (easier this time, since we had left most of our stuff in it), and drove off. Whittier is so small, you can't even really call it a town. There is one large apartment building, and everyone who lives in Whittier lives in it. In days gone by, Whittier could only be accessed by train, but in 1998, they opened the train tunnel (through a mountain) to car traffic. Only catch is the tunnel is wide enough for just one car, plus the train still travels through it! Every hour on the hour, cars are permitted to go through from Whittier towards Anchorage for 15 minutes. Then at half past the hour, the traffic turns the other way and goes towards Whittier. If a train happens along, all must wait and delays are to be accommodated, if not expected.
Once through the tunnel, we wound our way through more mountains and beauty for the hour or so drive to Anchorage. After
a full week of seeing only wilderness and wee Alaskan towns (well, except for Juneau), I was ill prepared for the sight of Anchorage. Sadly, all I saw was another strip-mall collection, with all the same globalized chain box stores mile and mile after mile. I heard tell there is a downtown, but I never saw it. Kathy had told me that Anchorage is quite a cosmopolitan town; I hope this is not what defines that! I get so despondent when I see what America is turning into, and I'm seeing it more and more pervasively across the country.
At any rate, I did take advantage of the box stores by stocking up on over $300 of groceries at Costco and Safeway. Kathy, bless her heart, was still driving me around to do these errands! The kindness of strangers turned friends... After way too many hours of shopping, Kathy dropped me off at my friend Sherry's house (from Vashon!), and I dragged in my ridiculous amounts of luggage and groceries. We left the pile and went out to dinner with two of her friends who were also crashing at her place. When we returned from dinner at 10 or
so (still light out!), I started the arduous task of packing it all up to get on the train. Only then did I buy my ticket and find out that I had a two checked bags limit, plus one carry on, all with a 50 pound limit! I had at least 6 bags and boxes by now! Sherry and her two angelic friends dove in with me to move potatoes around, add bags and boxes, and finagle until we were down to 6 bags, each weighing 50 or less (we hoped!). The next morning her friends again went above and beyond and drove me to the train station. We dragged all my bags and boxes in, and went to the counter. I started taking individual potatoes out of one box and stuffing them into a suitcase to consolidate even more, when the ticket taker (in a moose antler cap!) interrupted me with a laugh.
"You can just check that other box, you know", he informed me with a smile.
"But I have 6 or 7 bags!", I wailed.
He laughed again, waving the complaint away.
"That doesn't matter! You're going to Denali to be a ranger,
right?"
I nodded emphatically.
"It doesn't matter, no limit!" he exclaimed.
"Even on weight?", I couldn't believe my luck could extend this far.
"Sure, it doesn't matter! Just pile everything you want to check by the door. Oh, and by the way, you get half price, since you're working for Denali. Just show me some proof that you are".
Faster than you could say Denali, I had my laptop open, and was emailing him my confirmation letter. Granted, I left my laptop on the counter for the next 15 minutes until he came and reminded me about it, but I was ecstatic! I had been so worried I had barely slept, and things were off to a great start once again.
In a matter of minutes, the 6 other folks going to Denali to be rangers all found each other (plus one going to work in a local hotel), and we all started to compare notes, ideas, and feelings in a high pitched fervor of excitement that didn't die down for the next 8 hours. We found our seats in one of the two cars, basically taking it over, and were the best of
friends before the train even left the station. We ran up and down the train, taking pictures, singing songs, dancing, sharing life stories, eating in the dining car, and once again I found myself loving the journey so much, I had trepidation about the actual arrival. I was not alone in this; we all kept saying we wanted the train ride to go on forever! The train, like the ferry, traveled through jaw-dropping scenery (except when we passed through Wasilla...), and we witnessed moose, caribou, coyote, and of course, the majestic and awe-inspiring Mt. Denali. The day was again completely clear, and the train crew said they rarely see days like that. It is said that people can go to Denali for a month, and never get a view of the mountain. Here it was, our grand entrance, and the mountain stood out clear and bold against the cloudless sky. Auspicious, to say the least.
We arrived at Denali station at 4 pm, and descended upon the group of supervisors waiting for us there. The giddiness amped up a notch, if that was possible, and we merrily loaded the vans with our insane amount of boxes and bags, took
a picture of us all in front of the pile, and got in for the ride to our new home.
Upon arrival, I got the bad news confirmed that my fingerprints hadn't cleared yet, and it would likely take one or two more weeks for them to clear. I had sent them in late, not realizing that there was a long processing time for them. No cleared fingerprints means no pay, so until they clear, I am "volunteering". That did dampen my spirit, but not a ton. Though of course the pay is important and needed, the excitement and thrill of being here is so far beyond being a job; if volunteer I must until they clear, that is what I will do. I am bummed about it, but it's not taking over my experience.
My cabin is actually a sweet, newly built cabin with two small bedrooms, and a living space with couch, small table, and kitchenette. I will have a roommate, but she won't arrive until May 4, so it's nice to have space to myself for a couple of weeks while I settle in.
Wow, just came back to add pictures to my completed
blog entry, and found that travel blog just deleted the last half. I had pressed save before leaving the page, but it's gone. How frustrating!!
To attempt to re-create - after settling into my cabin, I met a fellow interpretive Ranger named Georgette. We were both drunk with exhaustion and excitement, and completely bonded in the employee rec cabin. She is silly, fun, wise, and a joy to be around, and we had so much fun with each other. She is coming from years of being a ranger at Shenandoah National park. We've already arranged our days off to coincide, and I am so psyched to have a fun cohort to play and explore with. I also am getting to know others, especially a wonderful young woman named Jenny who is coming from working at Zion National Park.
It seems I am the only person, or one of the only people, who have never been a park ranger before. I have been repeatedly told how lucky I was to land a job here. The ranger level here is a level higher than most national parks. There is a pay-rating system, the GS (General Schedule), and we are all
GS 7 here. Most park rangers are GS 5, so I am working with a highly skilled crew. For every job opening here, there are about 200 applications; having the ASL skill got my foot in the door, and I feel so lucky! This will open up so many opportunities for me. I'm also nervous about putting together scientific walks and talks after such a long hiatus not doing so, and never having done so in such an advanced setting. We are completely responsible for choosing our program's topics and content. I have a huge resource in the other experienced rangers, so I think I will be alright, but it is daunting to say the least!
We had Sunday off before beginning training on Monday, so after a brief 12 hour nap, I got up at noon and took a walk around. There is a sled dog program here that I will be facilitating, so I wandered down to the kennels to meet the dogs. I introduced myself to them one by one, and had a furry, cuddly connection with most. One of the perks of my job is that we have the opportunity to "adopt" one of the
dogs for the season, and walk him or her 3 times per week. It will be a great way to bond with a pup, and also to get out and get exercise. Tomorrow we will get to go to the kennels and get matched with a dog who will have similar energy to ours; runners go with the younger pups; I think I'll opt for a slightly slower one; maybe a jogger!
Monday morning we began our training; basically a 3-4 week cram session of learning everything we can about the history, natural history, flora and fauna of this place, not to mention all the techniques for sharing that knowledge. As I said; daunting. We received a 40 pound stack of books yesterday, and I don't even know where to begin to peruse them! Still, the training is fun, the fellow rangers are an energetic, fascinating group, and I am sure to come out of this all better than I went in.
That brings me mostly up to the present moment, so I will bid you all goodnight once again (as I did before it was erased). Before I do so, however, I will share with you a
few tidbits of knowledge I gained of late:
*Caribou and European Reindeer are the exact same species, but the reindeer have been domesticated. Female caribou are the only members of the deer family who grow antlers. Male caribou actually shed their antlers around mating time; it's called rutting. This happens in the late fall, before December. This leads to the obvious conclusion that Santa's alleged reindeer were all girls. Guess that's Rudolphette to you!
*The big five mammals of Denali are Bear, Moose, Wolves, Caribou, and Dall Sheep. If you condense that even more into the top 3, then it's just BMWs.
*I have been told that Moose are far more of a threat than Grizzly bear. Moose, which can weigh up to 1600 pounds, can be very aggressive, especially when protecting their young. If you see a Grizzly coming towards you, stand your ground and try to look big. If you see a moose coming, run!
*And finally, Denali is a huge park, being equal in size to the state of Mass, NH, or Israel. In 1980, congress passed a bill enlarging the park, nearly tripling it's size. It also changed it's name
from Mt. McKinley National Park to Denali, going back to an Athabascan name for the Mt, being the big one. Alaskans were outraged when the park was enlarged.
OK, that's all for this episode! Tune in next week as Suzanne continues to try to learn all about Denali, and stumbles through her many trainings, while continuing to get her bearings, make new friends, and actually venture out into the bush. Same time, same station!!
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Diane Frauenholz
non-member comment
Wonderful news!
Hi Suzanne! Just wanted to drop a quick note to tell you how much I have enjoyed reading your two blogs, and how totally excited I am for you! What an amazing journey. All the best to you as you find your way in your new place. I'm looking forward to #3! Aloha, Diane