Erin's Hiking Report

So, about two weeks ago I was invited to go on a hike with a few ladies from our church. I was a little apprehensive because, first, I know that as a general rule Alaskan women are tough, and second, I am aware that I am not in stelar shape, and did not want to make them wait for me and my labored breathing... The lady who invited me assured me that it would be a pretty mild hike and it shouldn't be a problem.

Well, I knew I wanted to go, so I tried to get a little exercise the week ahead, but it didn't really prepare me well. I've got to tell you, though, it was an amazing experience! Three of us hiked for 4 1/2 hours up and back down the steep side of a "hill" to get to a valley just on the north side of a mountain called Panorama.

The very left center of the first picture shows where we started out. The highway is just to the close side of the distant river.

As we gained elevation, we came to a rocky clearing and then into larger fields of tundra.

Eileen, the owner of the RV Park next to Cantwell Bible Church, and I (with her dog, Molly)

We stopped for dinner about 2 1/2 hours into the hike. Cynthia brought her dog and Eileen also brought another that she was "dog sitting" for a RV resident.

These plants are wild Alaskan blueberries. They grow all around in the tundra areas, and only get a few inches off of the ground. They are much smaller than berries that I'm used to in Oregon. It's the beginning of their season, but we found some good ones when we stopped to pick for about 15 minutes. I felt like my Grandpa White's "little berry picker" all over again!

It was a great experience, despite my terribly sore legs when trying to fall asleep last night!

Saturday our family was invited to a potluck at the community center in town. This building doubles as the local native Ahtna headquarters as well as the medical clinic.
We were very glad to have been able to attend as we had a chance to meet some of the local residents in Cantwell and enjoy some BBQ chicken and moose ribs.

We also celebrated the ribbon cutting ceremony for two new windmills that will supply energy for this building plus extra.

My Birthday!

We drove north 25 minutes to a tourist trap near the entrance of Denali National Park, that the locals call "Glitter Gultch", yesterday for my birthday.

We walked through shops full of Alaskan jewelry, art, decor, clothing, etc. and had lunch at a local pizzaria.

It was a lot of fun, and Rob and the kids bought a beautiful pair of fossil ivory earings for my gift.

Then we drove into the Park to say a quick "Hi" to a friend of ours from church who works in the Science and Education Center there. We ended up at the visitors' center first, where Connor and Samantha were given activity books to complete about Denali National Park so they can become "Junior Rangers".

Catching a Butterfly

Friday afternoon the kids and I wanted to take advantage of some sunshine (after 3 days of rain) while Rob worked on this week's sermon. We decided to take Cinder on a walk, so we drove over to the Cantwell School (the blue building in the background of this picture), parked the truck, played on the playground for a few minutes, met three

children who were new to us, and then walked the dog for about 1/2 hour.

Near the beginning of our walk, Connor spied a butterfly perched on a leaf and captured it in his hands. If you look close enough, you can see it just peeking its head and antenae out of the space between his thumbs and his pointer fingers. Connor has tried to catch butterflies a few times since our arrival in Cantwell, but always chasing them when they are flying. It was great to see his sense of accomplishment when he figured out it was possible when the butterfly had landed!

Rob's New Workshop

Rob is turning the 3 room "cabin" in our backyard into his shop. He is very excited about being able to have space to do metal and woodworking during the cold, dark winter! Before moving his tools from the garage, we built two benches: one that is basically a long table and this one that has two deep shelves above it. Connor and Samantha thought they looked like great bunkbeds!

Inside Our House

So, I've had a couple people ask to have me post a couple pictures from inside our new house...

Here are a few; one of our livingroom and some of the kid's rooms. Both Connor and Samantha have had fun decorating and making their rooms their own.

Wild Flowers on "RCA" hill

Friday was a beautiful day in Cantwell! I decided to take the kids out to find some wild flowers as I've been told it is nearing the end of the blooming season. As we were heading out the door a friend of Connor called and asked him to play, so Samantha and I dropped him off on our way up "RCA" hill. (The locals call it that because of the radio towers at the top, although it's now owned by AT&T.)

We drove all the way to the top, which is only about 2 miles up from old Cantwell. We played fetch with Cinder, ran a couple races on the road, and picked some pretty wildflowers. Samantha wondered why the ground was so "squishy", so I told her a little about tundra. Tundra is a type of ground where tree growth is hindered by low temperatures and short growing seasons. The vegetation is mostly small shrubs, grasses, mosses and lichens.

While we were enjoying nature, Rob was having a meeting with a man in town. When Rob mentioned where we had gone, the man told him that a former pastor's son shot about the fourth biggest bear in the interior of Alaska on the backside of that hill. Even though I didn't have this specific piece of information, we knew to stay close to the truck and be ever vigilant. You can see from the pictures that the top of the hill was open and I decided I could see things from a pretty long distance away if any wildlife showed
up... :)



Samantha took this picture of Cinder and I.

Canoeing and Picnic at Gas Lake

Friday evening, Connor was invited to have dinner and watch a video with two other boys at the home of "Miss Be" from church. After we dropped him off, the rest of our family were brought out to Gas Lake about 8 miles east on the Denali Hwy by the Hempsteads, also from CBC. We canoed against a strong headwind across the lake, let our dogs play together, had fun conversation, and roasted hotdogs and marshmallows.

The weather was threatening rain, but it held off until we returned home!

A View of Mt. McKinley

Thursday, July 1st, the evening sky was sunny and mostly clear. Rob and I decided that it would be fun to wake up the children and take them just outside of Cantwell to see Mt. McKinley. Still in their pajamas, Connor and Samantha excitedly joined us in the truck and we drove about 5 miles south to a turn out on the highway.

These pictures were taken at 9:30pm!

McKinley is in the center of the first picture with clouds surrounding its base. On the left is the more rounded summit, then a sharp peak and a flat area to the right. (Hope that makes sense...)

Connor Making Friends

Earlier this week a nine-year-old boy from our church named Titus came over to our house and played with Connor. They ended up in a "treefort" that had been built years ago in our back yard. This fort consists of a small platform approximately 20 feet in the air! Connor and Titus spent the better part of an hour up there just "being boys."