HNT...Eating to go

Summer in Alaska has officially kicked off. Last Friday a group of us from the hospital trekked to Denali National Park and were blessed with clear skies, views of "THE" mountain, and plenty of animals. A trip into Denali National Park is easy courtesy of the shuttle buses which run the length of the park road. Private vehicles are only allowed in to mile marker 15. An OR nurse joined me and the two of us got up early on Saturday morning to take the bus to Toklat. Early and weekend means only one thing for me...COFFEE!

There is a small village of shops outside the park and the first stop was the 24 hour Subway for coffee and sandwiches to take with us. This is me quite happy in spite of it being 8 am on a Saturday morning (check out all the daylight) in line to board the bus.

Food is not available inside the park. If you plan on being hungry you pack it in and you pack it out. I was well prepared. In addition to the Subway sammies I had Mike & Ikes, licorice, bananas, Dots, and my homemade assorted "trail mix". Dried bananas, cranberries, sunflower seeds, nuts, mango pieces and more. Perfect midday snack.

Rich and I got to see lots of wildlife along the way. Here are pictures of all the grizzly bears. I think we saw a total of 9. I was excited because there were several blondes in the mix instead of the usual dark chocolate. Of course, it's spring and they are hungry. This was the first time I got to witness a newly turned over field of divots from bears digging up roots. They can cover some serious ground. Beautiful creatures.















































No lions or tigers but bears galore feeding on spring greens and me happy with coffee and trail mix. Happy HNT!