Paul and Sue, North to Alaska: Day7: Talkeetna, Mt McKinley Lodge

Blog post for Friday, September 8. We were a little slow getting up this morning, what with all the Yahtzee the night before. We had a quick breakfast and got the 11:00 shuttle to the horse stable for our excursion for the day. Mickey and Diane, Chic and Nancy went into town and visited a musher's dog kennel, but they will have to tell you about that.

This was our trail guide, Max. I think they hired him not only for his skill with horses, but for his Hollywood cowboy looks. We all thought we were stepping into the movie City Slickers

It was raining pretty good for a while and some of us were a little concerned at the outset, but after they provided us with good trail slickers, we were in high spirits and ready to ride. HEE-YAH!!

Sherry got to ride Cherokee. She kept complaining that her legs were too short to ride a horse, but they managed to shorten up her stirrups enough so she wouldn't fall off

The dashing Harry. By the pose you can tell he's done this before

Then there's Sue

Linda got to ride Chubby. She was not amused.

We did most of the ride on the road because the trails were so muddy. Max said they got record rains this year and the trails have been a mess all season. When we got off the trails for a bit we saw just how muddy. There were points wen the horses went a foot or more into the muck. They were slipping and sliding, which made for some tense moment as we walked along the edge of a 100 foot drop and my horse was slipping from side to side. I'm not much of a horse man.

I didn't get many good photos because I was holding on for dear life with one hand, and trying to shoot with the other. They make it look so easy on TV. Harry and John probably got some better shots, so I might add them later

We stopped for some photo ops at the top of a bluff. Linda: 10 gallon hat on a 20 gallon head (says Harry)

John, or as we like to call him, Captain

Heading back to the bunkhouse

The crew with Denis, our other trail guide, from Bakersfield California

And again with Max, from Nebraska

Obligatory Table Photo

We've been waiting a few days for Denali (Mt McKinley, tallest in North America at 20,320 feet) to come into view but he (she?) stayed stubbornly behind the clouds all week. Finally he came into view around 6:00 last night. As often with the grandeur of nature, the magnificence doesn't really come across in photos, at least not in the hands of this unskilled photographer. But when he appeared in person, it was like a Crocodile Dundee moment: Before, everyone was saying "Is that the mountain?"