Rafting with Mary.

On this day our old friend Mary and the Nenana River called our name. We found out the easy way that dry suits not only keep you dry, but also make you look awesome.

Ash and Mary.

You can't tell with the smile, but Mary is feeling very nervous at the thought of class III and IV rapids. Not sure how we talked her into that one.

The infamous windy bridge.

The last set of rapids left the young Ashley Huffman very shook up.

Old Healy in the backround.

Very pleased that the dry suit came fully equipt, with suspenders.

It was a fun day. Thanks for being a good sport Mary.

Gull Rock.

...It all started in a little town called hope.

There is a fine line between being happy and being a sexual predator.

The end of the trail.

The morning after.

Morning a fallen comrade.

Tyler, and the Turnagain arm.

Just a last stitch effort to keep himself hydrated. Nothing more. Nothing less.

A print from the elusive black bear. We happened upon the culprit previously.

Low tide on the Turnagain.

This is the look of someone who just worked three months on the Alaska Railroad. In a dark room with a ceiling just shy of being tall enough for Tyler to stand up strait. Deep dispair.

Emotions ran high that day. Both happy and sad.

Mushrooms a plenty.

A good trip despite the rain. For all parties a success. One black bear, and a shit ton of rasberries. The end.

Mt. Margaret

Hello again friends and neighbors. The following is from an adventure about fifteen miles into Denali National Park (the furthest you can get in without paying). It was pretty cold but also pretty awesome up there.

Ashley on the skyline.

From the top a deep view into the wilderness.

The wind stance.

The face of a serious man

a look back towards Mt. Healy.

A dangerous wildlife encounter.

The trip was a success. One of our many "holdover" days in Denali. Our first taste of the interior of the park, but would it be our last....

Sugarloaf.

There is a mountain in the distant hills of Denali known as Sugarloaf. The mountains jolly name does not do justice to its harsh nature. The following is our adventure to the top.

Fantastic views

About halfway up we took a break to enjoy the scenery.

An anonymous couple

Victory. The top was cold. High winds and frigid temperatures.

A mark of victory.

down the valley from the top.

miles of mountains in the distance.

on top of the world 3.0

...and 3.1

the sun breaking through the clouds on the descent.

And so yet another mountain lies victim to our bootheels. Where to next?

Reed Lakes

The Reed Lakes Trailhead. We hit this trail at about seven P.M. one night after work.

Looking back at the pass. Beaver ponds and an old mining ghost town.

Ashley resting briefly and gazing back on the trail.

The first of the two lakes. We pose for a timed photo. Don't laugh. These lakes were pretty awesome though. Very peaceful and beautiful. We were the only ones who dared brave the weather so we found ourselves alone. I have heard this area near Hatcher's pass described as, "Where God lives." Blasphemy? maybe, but still, the reed lakes hike is pretty sweet.

A waterfall between the two lakes. This place felt very mysterious and middle-earthly. I was literally scanning the countryside for orcs and hobbits.
The lower lake from a higher view.

We camped out at the upper lake. For lack of a better word I will just say... Awesome.

This was our last adventure with Mel's tent. Thanks mel.

Simply adorable.

One last picture before we retired for the evening.

We were lucky to have very little rain on our first day hiking up to the lakes but we woke up to a serious rainstorm and made our way as quickly as possible back down to the truck.