Alaska Day 3

 Alaska Day 3

Weather: another gorgeous day, sunny, clear, no wind, maybe high 60s.

Quote of the Day: do we need paddles?

It's a Covid World: For the first time ever, blogspot loads the pictures in reverse order of when taken. Uh OH!! in this post, doesn't really matter...or does it? Can you, loyal follower, tell?

THB went down for the count. In the morning we had a unbelievably easy kayak, in a tandem boat. Practically no paddling. Lunch of soup and salad at Mary Carey's included, and then a short ride to a hiking spot, led by Mo. During the relatively easy hike uphill THB starts to feel a slight soreness in his right hip. Not painful. At about the end of mile two, THB no longer feels anything in his right hip; instead he is sore in his left love handle. By the time the rest period is over, he is starting to tilt left (of  course)...further and further left (AOC or Bernie left). Near the end of the hike, THB needs to be supported by our tour guide and Mo (a firefighter). By the time THB is put in the van, he's feeling better. By the time he is in the room with an ice pack, he's feeling fine with no pain. And no pain or discomfort since (this is now Day 7)

DB goes to the hotel Bistro and makes two trips: the first is for a beer and a glass of wine, the second is with sandwiches. DB reports that the Bistro is slammed, and people from our group tried eating in Talkeetna where all the restaurants had long waits. It turned out that one of the hotels (maybe the only other hotel) ran our of food. In our hotel, the staff was running a marathon to keep up and at that they were there at 6am when the buffet opened for breakfast. 

Mo, THB, B the guide

Pics from the rest of the day:

THB in shade, Denali in back, THB standing straight up

DB in shade

Trumpeter swan

Swan ass

Theme of the week: Denali was visible, usually it is clouds (repeated over and over and over again)

There are millions of dead spruce trees, attacked by Spruce Bark Beetles due to lack of consecutive below zero two week periods. Same as the Pine Bark Beetles in the Rockies from 15 years ago. These trees are worthless if left for a few years after dying (which means the vast majority)

Byers Lake, the kayaking spot

Photographer and photograph, on display in our building's lobby (not the main lobby)

Breakfast buffet: fake eggs, sausage, bacon, fruit, vanilla yougurt, granola