It's that time of year again - ski train! It was a much smaller crowd this year since we did a very last minute sign-up and only 10 seats were left in the cars with tables. And a ski train without tables is no way to travel...
But it was a beautiful day in what had been a pretty long streak of "blah" days. There is absolutely no snow around Anchorage, so we were worried that the snow in Curry would be a bust. Luckily, it is far enough north that we quickly got back to the expected Alaskan landscape for winter. Yay snow! Also yay for Denali being so clear this morning!
Get unloaded was a lot easier this time since we actually knew what we were doing. And it was almost 40° outside -it made for a much nicer outing than when it was negative temperatures last year.
Last year, I thought we made such good progress and were well on our way up the hill when we decided to detour and go off trail. I was so wrong! We passed our turn off point ages ago from this photo! And this time we were in the middle of the pack, so we were taking turns passing the skiers on the uphills and getting passed by them on the flat / downhills. I am super impressed by their ability to get up the hills with skis on. I would have been falling all over the place (not that a few of them weren't doing just that...!).
I feel like we are so close to the end, but yet another hill pops up in front of us. Time for the self pep talk...
"Just keep walking, Jen - you can do this! Even though you can't see the radio tower that is at the top of the hill, I am sure you are super close!"
"I told you! Look, there is that radio tower! Sure, I was a hill off on where I thought it would be, but you are there!"
It's at this point that one of my friends tells me the radio tower isn't actually at the very top. What?!?
Thankfully, I look over to the side and see the awesome sight of Denali poking up over the mountain ranges of this valley. My friend and I debated if the top had clouds around it or if it was snow blowing off the peaks. Either way, it was a gorgeous sight and well worth the last bit of this climb that was kicking my butt!
Finally at the top! None of the pictures I took of the valley behind me really do it justice because I was shooting into the very bright sun, but trust me on the fact it was a great view in all directions. Of course, once we had been up there for a little while, the very strong breeze started to cool us down rapidly. Always challenging to be appropriately dressed when exerting yourself in the outdoors - especially in winter! Thankfully, we had our coats stashed away in the backpack. The return trip was quite pleasant. :)
Oh and I almost forgot to mention the new snowshoes! I found these awesome things at the end of last winter on the clearance rack for 90% off their original price. I was so excited I bought all three pairs! There were two men's pairs and this way cooler looking women's pair. We loaned the extra pair to our friend Ethan, so all three of them finally got some use. I thought they were great - especially considering the fact we bought them cheaper than the rental pair cost us last year. Score!
On the way back to Anchorage and we passed Denali again - thanks to the sun direction it looked even more amazing! They nicely stopped the train so we could all get photos. A beautiful ending for a super fun day. Always good to get a few nice winter activities in before winter really is over! :)