Reliving Camping Trip to Alaska 21 Years Later

In wilderness I sense the miracle of life,and behind it our scientific accomplishments fade to trivia.
- Charles Lindbergh

Reliving Camping Trip to Alaska twenty one years later. 

Thank you FB for this Memory Lane: 

Summer 1996: ❤️ ⛺️ in Alaska!! 

Hiking Harding Ice Field, Kenai Fjords National Park Alaska, USA; forgot my hat in the car, broke my sunglasses at the beginning of the hike resulting in "snow blindness"; no shade as you can see, hiking for a few hours.  I wrapped my shirt around my head; I guess that was my attempt to shield my eyes:-), obviously I was getting totally disorientated; but it was exhilarating; the burning sun but the cold breeze - it felt amazing on the skin.  Sensory trip!  

I could not even keep my eyes open for the photo and yet I recognize acceptance above all written all over my face.  Once we got to the top, I was totally exhausted.  

Everybody else was taking photos, I was ready for a nap ; the vastness, beauty, colors (once off the snow) the air, it all was so overwhelming and I constantly ate.  We had a cooler in the trunk.  Regal noticed.  Was I alright, he asked.  It was the early days of our relationship.  My system was just totally out of balance, and eating grounded me, I recognize.  The days were so long, too.  

But man do I love this photo (pre-selfie cool me), the walking stick, etc. perhaps because of the adventures associated with it and the excitement it still evokes many years later; all of the above and more:  Being sea sick (but who cares?) during a 10-hour ferry ride to Kodiak Island made it more memorable.  Ultimately, I stretched out on a bench and tried to calm down; it was also the early days of my yoga practice.  Driving around being almost alone most of the time, seeing bisons, eating the best pancakes ever.  I am not a pancake fan (except for Palatschinken aka Austrian style crepes), but those sour dough pancakes were delicious.  We had them at a diner in Kodiak.  It's a specialty there. 

Doing our laundry with the locals, hiking around a lake first thing in the morning, munching on salmon berries fresh off the bush before breakfast as well as wild blue berries which finally regulated my digestion.   Bike ride to a black sand beach on a dirt road, a Muslim family, dogs.  Arriving at a camp ground with flyers of bear sightings late at night, spawning salmons, Japanese tourists gifting us a salmon, grilling at midnight (remember it does not get very dark in the summer).  Hearing foot steps of a Kodiak bear  as I was about to fall asleep.  I am almost sure this happened and was not a dream; ok maybe not, maybe it was a fellow camper, but then again there were these flyers, so yeah some fear.  Was it too adventurous to be grilling so late?  Did the smell attract a bear?  
And I think at one point it was spilled oat meal on salmon inside the cooler.  

❤️ ⛺️ in Alaska!!  Wondering how it would be to go back there; ah never mind.  Back to the Here and Now and scheduling.  

One of my favorite photos, indeed.  Life is full of adventures anyway but I am especially appreciative of this trip and the memories: the vastness and beauty of the state; how overwhelming it was and enjoyable; it was a great break from life in the city, and I learned again how tough a cookie I can be.  America the Beautiful back then and still. 

Thank you for reading,
B.