Fairbanks, AK –
The theme of the last two weeks from my previous post is Recovery, Rain, Mountains, and Blueberries. Recovering from all the socializing and becoming a hermit. Enjoying (hating) the rain that has followed me from Fairbanks to Atlanta and then yet again back to Fairbanks. Finally getting around to checking out Denali National Park, despite the rain. Then seeing a little pop-up blueberry festival in Healy.
Recovery and Rain
After arriving back from the family vacation in Georgia on July 27th, I definitely spent the next week hermiting pretty hardcore. A lot of time just unpacking, going to the café and gym and re-establishing myself into a good healthy routine. And Music. Definitely Music. I don’t know about everyone else but going to the gym with some big fuck off headphones and working out feels great. Same with hiking. I think the song playing the most for me in the gym has been eyelids by iamjakehill.
Mountains and Rain
Having first parked my rig in Fairbanks over a month ago, it was really time to start doing more exploring of the area. I used to spend every day hiking in Rocky Mountain National Park for some of last summer, and I’ve yet to really hike in Alaska at all! Cue prepping my tent and other gear for an overnight trip into Denali. Rain was in the forecast (as it had been for the last 7 days or so). Got to Denali after driving two hours on Friday August 2nd. Despite the rain it was quite crowded around the visitor center. I picked my hike, Mount Healy Overlook, and set off. The song I listened to most for this section was definitely Old Dirt Roads by Owen Riegling. Honestly, I really missed hiking. I should’ve done this so much sooner. It was great just…. Exercising. Being outside. Enjoying nature, despite the rain. It would’ve been great if I could have seen more of the views in the area, but I was glad for the reduced amount of people. After the hike I hung out with some of the local paramedics who I’d made friends with and then headed back over to Denali to book a campsite. Wow, despite all the rain they had no spots available at all. Luckily with it being Alaska it was still light out even though it was 9pm. The long two hour drive back home at least led to a warm and dry bed.
Blueberries and Rain
This section is maybe named incorrectly. It actually stopped raining in the afternoon on Saturday August 3rd. But thematically I like it. The Tri-Valley Volunteer Fire Department helped put on the Denali Blueberry Festival. I didn’t stay too long, but I loved the venue on the lake. A minor donation for entry, with some swag you could purchase. You’ll be seeing me around wearing my Denali Blueberry Festival T-Shirt. Live music and even some beer was served later on. Like a lot of Alaska events, even though I left around 8pm or so it felt like the event was just getting started. Honestly, that’s very much a theme here. It seems like nothing really starts until fairly late. I don’t know if that’s just an Alaskan thing or a byproduct of the light being up so late. Or perhaps that a lot of the active crowd is active in the service / tourism industry and they’re not off until later on.
What’s Next
It’s Monday August 5th and I’m sitting at a café journaling and otherwise catching up after the weekend. I heard that there’s a local airhead gathering today that I might join. Otherwise I’m enjoying my routine again and then prepping for some big adventure plans in the following week…. Stay tuned.