If there is an emergency and you need to reach me, you can call me at the Vistors Center at 907-683-1266. I just talked with Jerri and she says I will not believe the scene up there. By the way, only Alaskans are coming through now, and they are all complaining about the weather. It was spitting snow today and is VERY cold. Even Jerri was cold with all kinds of clothes on including two pair of pants and several top layers. Love, Mom/Sally

here i am in anchorage after a trip of umpteen hours. jerri met me and we are spending the night in a hotel. will let you all know how things are laqter. ajerri can''t believe i actually came. love to all, sally/mom

I am here and having a GREAT time!!! Of course I haven't started to work yet. Best to send mail to me at this address--aol seems not to work. Got Simon's letter! today--give him a kiss for me.

Sally in Denali

Employee Housing in Denali National Park

   

Communication is definitely a problem--will see if I can find a free phone somewhere and try to call some of you if possible, but probably not. Computers are even harder--we have only ONE in the Park where we are living. There are about 200 employees living there, all connected with the Visitors Center or transportation (translation bus drivers, bus washers, etc). One of my supervisors is about 20 years old. The kids are great! Tomorrow I start my On-the-job training. Will see you at the beach. Have a few more things to bring here that I can use--It gets pretty cool at night, so will bring back some kind of comforter, etc. Great life. Love to all. Susan G, tell everyone I'm having a wonderful time. One day we will go out to Kantishna, which is 90 miles into the park. Yesterday there was a mama moose and her baby right outside the Visitor's Center.

Much love to all,

Sally/Mom/Grandma, etc.

Dear All,

Today I pretty much finished my training, as you can see. But I am also sending you a couple of pics we took last night when we went out to Savage River, which is 13 miles from our base camp here. The fox was just trotting down the road very happy�master of the universe, with his 3 prizes, which were 2 squirrels and either a vole or a mouse. He was so proud, walking down the yellow line and pretty much ignoring all the cars that we coming in each direction. The caribou we saw by the road at Savage River.

   

Tomorrow we have to work and then our days off!!! We are going on Thursday out to Eileson on the 6:30 am bus. It�s an 8 hour RT--66 miles, but we hope to see the mama grizzly and her newborn **triplets**!!!!! Everyone who has been out there in the past 3 days has seen them. After returning from Eileson tomorrow afternoon we are going to pack up again and go out to Savage River Campground for the night. Another woman is joining us. We intend to camp for the night and hike a bit. One of my customers from yesterday came back today very excited as she had been out there for 2 hours and seen 2 herds of Dall sheep plus much other wildlife today. She could hardly wait to get on the bus for Eileson tomorrow.

Lots of love to you all from the campground.

Mom/Sally/AS

   

Sally Helping Customers at the Visitor Center!!

Dear All,

Yesterday was our first day off, so the night before I checked the bulletin board before leaving the Visitors Center. Weather report was: Today, sunny. Tonight, sunny. :-) It never gets dark here, and solstice is 2 weeks off. We hope to go north of the Arctic Circle to be there then.

Yesterday we went up to Eileson and hiked. 66 miles out from VC (Visitor Center) and 8 hours by bus. We got some good pics--DID see the mother grizzly and her cubs! Also a black wolf, loads of caribou, a bull moose, and lots of birds. The attached picture is from the night before--we went to Riley Campground for a ranger talk on bears, and as we were driving out this moose was just at the corner. And that morning I wasa rushing to the bathhouse and heard someone say "Hey"--"Hey"- -"Hey". Looked up (from the roots I'm carefully avoiding) to see a huge mother moose and her yearling not 10 feet away. Fortunately she was grazing. Doid not have my camera. Must go now for hiking.

Love to all, Sally

Dear All,

Well, I think the last time I wrote was before we went out to Eielson. It's 66 miles into the park and we went out in the usual green shuttles that take everyone everywhere past the 13 mile mark. The day was gorgeous and the mountain MUCH bigger since we were a lot closer. I can't send any pictures right now, but may be able to get a few off later on. Trying not to overwhelm you, and we'll probably never get another one like the fox. But who knows?

Back to Eielson--we did see the grizzly with her three cubs up on the mountain-- they were pretty close, but not good enough for great pictures. Also a black wolf--loads of caribou, and various birds. Took a couple of hikes, which were fun, and ate our box lunches (they didn't include the dehydrated water or the compressed air we had been promised) sitting on the tundra overlooking a river, with the mountain in the background. Great day. We had another day off and did more hiking--this time really UP--tried to go up a mountain at Savage River so we could be on a level with the Dall sheep, but it was too steep, so we slid down on our bottoms a least half way. Finished up our hike by spending a half hour watching 3 marmots playing with each other about 6 feet from us. Another day in the gorgeous weather.

   

Marmots Playing!!

But all good things have to come to an end, and yesterday we had our first rainy day AND our first real work day. Unfortunately it was snowing so hard in the mountains where we had been the past two days that we had to refund most of the tickets for the day--what a mess!! But today it's sunny and cold again, and we'll be swamped as usual. Pretty exhaustin--on your feet all day (today my day is 11:45 til 8:00 but that's really almost 9 by the time you get through counting the money and reconciling. Making $8 an hour, though :-)

The people here are great. Lots of young ones, quite a few from Eastern Europe. The ones who have been here longest are the bus drivers--people who have jobs in the Visitors Center don't last that many years (think I understand why). Most of them are students trying to earn enough to keep studying or to travel. I continue to be the sole interpreter of French and German--!!!!!

Just a few notes: this is the best address to reach me at and I am getting all your notes. Thanks a lot for keeping in touch. I have tried to call a couple of you but some of the phones are blocked=--I understand completely. I am not sure we can receive pictures on any of these computers, but if you send them, I'll see. The PO Box works great--Susan, I have received both letters, but now internet is OK too.

Thursday we are going to Toklat to visit a young woman who lives alone up there AND has an internet connection!! Both Jerri and I are looking forward to that! Jerri is studying for her Alaska drivers license exam--one of the questions was "What are parking lights used for?". The answer was "Parking"!

All for now. Let me know if you want to be taken off the list. More pics later.

Love to all, Sally

JUNE 11, 2003: UPDATE

Dear All,

Yesterday was the first warm day we have had--the temperature hit the 80's and as a result the dreaded mosquitoes have begun to appear. On our days off this week (Thursday and Friday) we are headed all the way to Kantishna (end of the Park Road and 6 hours out and will stop at many places, including Wonder Lake, where if the mountain is out, it will be quite a sight. Two of our young friends just came back from overnight backpacking there, and said the mountain was out all night, perfectly clear. Have my fingers crossed. We have decided not to spend much time there--just the 10 minutes the Camper Bus stops there as most of my clients who camped there last night said the mosquitoes were impossible. Their tent was covered with mosquitoes and they didn't even try to go out.

Today I had another adventure--the kind I'm not used to. A nice young colleague of mine offered me a ride back to The Zoo for lunch (which gives me about 20 more minutes to eat before I have to return). On the way he informed me that he had spent 10 days in jail on a DUI just before coming here, but not to worry as it wasn't a felony (???) and anyway he had applied for the job in the Visitors Centers before the DUI. Also he has no license, and was in very bad shape from drinking so much last night that he was 2 hours late for work. He may not last here too long.

Love to all,

Sally

JUNE 14: UPDATE

Dear All,

Our last day of vacation and we are back from a two night journey--yesterday started out with an early (6:30 am) trip to Kantishna--91 miles away and the end of the Park Road. It's a 13 hour round trip, what with the stops at all the places en route. It was an absolutely gorgeous day--not a cloud in the sky, and the mountain visible totally from everywhere along the route. The only cloud was the mosquitoes at Wonder Lake, but Jerri and I had our head nets and also the wind was blowing at more than 3 mph, which they say keeps the mosquitoes from landing.

We aren't allowed into any of the hotels or lodges at Kantishna--just turned around near Fanny Quigley (?)'s cabin and made our way back to Wonder Lake. Definitely plan to camp there in late August or Sept, when the mosquitoes are totally gone. It will be cold by then.

Our trip back ended at Toklat, where we found our way to a friend's cabin and had the best sleep of the summer--9 hours. Amazing, esp since the sun was blazing in most of the time. Thought you would enjoy the Eielson weather forecast picture.

It doesn't really give the picture--when they say "sun sets", it just means it goes below the horizon, not that it gets dark. But it's amazing how well you can sleep in a mummy bag with the sun shining brightly in your face (she has no shades or blinds).

Today we left and made our way back after waiting for a couple of hours in our nets for the first bus back. As you can see, we thought we'd try other means of transportation, but since nothing is allowed to drive in the park except buses and park rangers, it was useless.

Now back to work tomorrow--I go at noon, and probably won't be back til about 10 pm--Jerri is expediting buses and has to sign in at 4:45 am but gets off at 1:30 pm. I have a chance to do that, but getting up and being outside at 5 am in the freezing cold with no place to go inside does not appeal. Think I'll stick with reservations.

Love to all,

Sally

JUNE 21, 2003: UPDATE FROM THE ARCTIC CIRCLE: SUMMER SOLSTICE

Dear All,

Well, the solstice was approaching, and Jerri and I decided to drive up to the Arctic Circle. It's about 350 miles from here, going up through Fairbanks. From Fairbanks there is only one road going north--the Dalton Highway, which starts 76 miles north of Fairbanks at Livengood and goes on to Prudhoe Bay. What a place!!!!!! Absolutely no one there! It is paved road to Livengood and then the rest of the road to the Circle is various stages of gravel. It parallels the Trans Alaska Pipe Line, and what views!! The pipeline is amazing--over ground, underground, several well barred pump stations along the way.

From just past Fairbanks there is nothing but gorgeous trees, sky, road, pipeline and sun, sun, sun. We saw some black smoke in the distance early on the road, but it was pretty far away, so didn't think much about it. The highway is a beautiful road despite the gravel--no one on it--counted about 25 vehicles (mostly big trucks hauling propane or supplies for the people up in Prudhoe Bay) in total on our 4 hour, 115 mile trip from Livengood. That's about 30 private cars (mostly RV's)in 24 hours!! Deadhorse, at the end of the highway, has only about 30 people in winter, but maybe 3-4000 in summer for the work on the pipeline.

Anyway, up the Dalton Highway we went--with our Milepost (guide to every mile of every road in Alaska). It's an amazing book--updated every year and takes note of every twist, turn, and stop in and on the road. There were major warnings not to stop on the road, and we found out why--trucks come barreling along this gravel road at 50-60 mph and can easily sneak up on you--no turnoffs except to the access roads to the pipeline, and they are barred from traffic.

Finally reached the Arctic Circle about 10:30 pm, planning to camp there with tent and stove etc, and the minute we opened the car doors, we were surrounded by mosquitoes--hundreds covering every garment we had on--there was one RV in the parking lot, and the people turned out to be ones I had sold tickets to here in Denali and been loaded on the bus for Eielson by Jerri. They had also determined to get out of there and head on for Deadhorse that night (I say night, but the sun was far above the horizon). So they took some pics with our cameras and we took some with the sign, and then we took off to go back to Fairbanks.

About 55 miles down the road we came to the Burea of Land Management cabin on the Yukon River, and though it was closed, decided to nap in the car before continuing. After about 15 minutes I noticed a notice on the door of the cabin that said "Fire Alert" and thought we should read it before proceeding. It warned of a fire at Mile 23, and since we had to pass through Mile 23 and were only at mile 60, we decided to go back 4 miles to the HotSpot Motel--(the only motel on the entire road)--there is not a single town anywhere from Fox to the Yukon River. We had gassed up at the Hot Spot on our way up--and had decided that tenting was preferable to a night there. But Jerri was exhausted, having done all the driving, and back we went for whatever was there. Got there at 10 0f midnight, in bright sun, and fortunately they didn't close til midnight, so we got a room in some sort of prefab structure next to the gift shop--we were the only guests, but we had two beds, a screen on the window, and relatively few mosquitoes. The sun was high when we went to bed at 12:20 am, but we slept well anyway.

The next day we went back to the BLM cabin on the Yukon River (which is gorgeous and huge and fast), and the volunteers manning it, a couple from Florida, told us that 90 people had been there the day before. Also learned of a restaurant across the road (we hadn't noticed it before) and over we went-- for a breakfast of a huge stack of great pancakes and syrup, and a very large chef, with whom we had our pics taken.

Then on to the fire!!!!! What a sight!!! It was incredible. During the night the fire had clearly spread south from mile 23--we had been told that it was OK to travel, as it had crossed the road at mile 23, but when we got down there it was still spreading--it was now about 7 miles south of mile 23. Flames all around, HUGE clouds, including one that looked just like the mushroom cloud from Hiroshima--it was so big that we were able to get only the edges of it in our pics. An RV stopped while we were there and the people in it took our pics near the blaze.

Finally left all the clouds and drove back to Fairbanks--then on to Denali. Once we got near Denali it was cloudy and lovely and cool.

A great trip!! Hope to drive the Dalton Highway again, next time all the way to Deadhorse.

Hope this isn't too long. Must go off to work. More pics in next email.

Love to all,

Mom/Sally