Our cabin is just about dead center in this pictureCopyright 2007 Lydia Hinshaw
DENALI NATIONAL PARK, AK -- So this is where we live at the moment. Wednesday Prince Charming and I hiked up Mount Healy, to a point almost 3,000 feet above our cabin. It was a beautiful day and I was able to get a pretty clear shot of our neighborhood.
Sweeping through the top of this picture is the George Parks Highway, which runs from Anchorage to Fairbanks. Along the road is what is scornfully referred to here as "Glitter Gulch," a tourist district of gift shops, restaurants, gas station ($3.48 per gallon), convenience stores, campground, all of which open only for the summer season.
The sprawling red-roofed complex at the upper right is part of Princess Cruise Lines' property -- two hotels, several restaurants, gift shops, etc. On the left are the McKinley Chalets, another hotel complex.
At the bottom of the picture you can see a section of the Nenana River.
In almost the center are some horizontal rows of spruce trees, and our cabin is one of several lined up there (click on the photo to enlarge it.)
Below us is the Holland America bus yard. Above us is the brand new Canyon Lodge, which is part of the McKinley Chalets.
We're surrounded by tourist craziness, but things are pretty quiet here, though when the Holland America coaches come home to roost in the evenings, the cabin shakes and the sky darkens as each behemoth bus rumbles close by our front porch.
When we finished our five-hour, six-mile up-and-down hike, it was just starting to rain. So we came back to the cabin to shower, rest and gulp ibuprofen.
Tomorrow we take our aching bodies back to work.
Sweeping through the top of this picture is the George Parks Highway, which runs from Anchorage to Fairbanks. Along the road is what is scornfully referred to here as "Glitter Gulch," a tourist district of gift shops, restaurants, gas station ($3.48 per gallon), convenience stores, campground, all of which open only for the summer season.
The sprawling red-roofed complex at the upper right is part of Princess Cruise Lines' property -- two hotels, several restaurants, gift shops, etc. On the left are the McKinley Chalets, another hotel complex.
At the bottom of the picture you can see a section of the Nenana River.
In almost the center are some horizontal rows of spruce trees, and our cabin is one of several lined up there (click on the photo to enlarge it.)
Below us is the Holland America bus yard. Above us is the brand new Canyon Lodge, which is part of the McKinley Chalets.
We're surrounded by tourist craziness, but things are pretty quiet here, though when the Holland America coaches come home to roost in the evenings, the cabin shakes and the sky darkens as each behemoth bus rumbles close by our front porch.
When we finished our five-hour, six-mile up-and-down hike, it was just starting to rain. So we came back to the cabin to shower, rest and gulp ibuprofen.
Tomorrow we take our aching bodies back to work.
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