Travelers are attracted to Alaska for its roadless travel and rugged outdoors. I was attracted to Alaska for a simple reason, I wanted to see the land where the sun stays awake for 20 hours, takes a power nap and is up again at 4.00am.  I thought it would be disorienting. It was quite the opposite. This is a sunset view at 11.30pm and we had just finished dinner 🙂 By talking with the locals at the hotels and in and out of our tours, I quickly realized one thing – every Alaskan deals with the long days in their own special way; some take in between naps, some don’t sleep for 48 hours and some just invest in heavy duty light control drapes. One way or the other, they find time to sleep and enjoy the bountiful of nature.

Up against the horizon you see Mt. McKinley or The Denali Mountain as the natives called it. This is a view of The Denali Mountain during day time.
Our second day started with a tour of the Anchorage Museum, which is a must see if you are a history buff and if you are not, start driving to Talkeetna.  Our destination was the Talkeetna Alaskan Lodge (http://www.talkeetnalodge.com/) our base camp for the next two nights. This lodge is the only place you want to stay in Talkeetna. There are other lodges and hotels, but if you want to see Mt. McKinley in your backyard then this is it and yes the view comes with a price, but its well worth it.

The Talkeetna Alaskan Lodge – rolling hills and Denali with outstanding service and every room is a room with a view.

Alaska is the only state where the dog mushers and their Alaskan huskies are celebrated like the Hollywood stars. If you go to Alaska, meeting the stars of the Iditarod races is a must do item. Iditarod? you may not have heard of the race, but I am sure you have heard of the movie Balto.. well think of these dogs as the modern day Balto’s. The Iditarod race  commemorates the “Great Race of Mercy,” a real race against time that saved lives threatened by disease. This real race inspired Balto 🙂

We took the Sun Dog Kennel Tour in Talkeetna, AK.  The hotel shuttle gave us a ride to Talkeetna downtown and from there the Kennel folks drove us to meet the stars.
Every March, the 1049 miles Iditarod race starts from Willow to end at Nome. Nome by the way is a tiny town in the middle of nowhere, take a few steps beyond Nome and you might just find yourself in Russia.  These strong hardy sled dogs race through the frozen tundra’s with their musher. It is one man and 16 dogs working as a team.  Here is a map of the race, with the Musher and his sled.

Here is  a glimpse of the dogs pulling the ATV. You say WTH? I said that too. But the dogs are not really pulling the entire 2000+ lbs load.. they are tied to it.. the ATV drives itself and the dogs run.. that’s how they get their exercise during the summer months. It gives them exercise and the mushers get their money in the form of tour fees to keep it going in the cold winter months. A very creative business idea. Please don’t think that the dogs were mistreated or are being abused.. these animals are loved and very well taken care off. We saw their facility and it was clear that the animals were family and well loved.

This little guy is 2 weeks old.

I am not a pet person. I don’t dislike animals, it’s just that I am incapable of communicating with them. That’s my handicap not their’s and I am not exactly proud of it, but that’s who I am, so when I saw these mushers and their families devoted and so dedicated to the nurturing and caring for them, I was humbled by their unconditional love. We left the kennel with a warm and fuzzy feeling and rested before our next adventure, when we meet the skies with K2 Aviation.

When we arrived at K2, we were armed with our winter jackets. Why you ask? Well, going on a glacier flying high into the mountains, it is reasonable to assume the air will be cold,right? Wrong. Turns out the temperature at the glaciers was only about 10 degrees cooler than the land and it was 80+ F on the land. Yes, Alaska can get very warm too.  It is much more than permafrost and snow.  So looking like absolute city folks we were politely told, we can take our jackets if we want or else we can leave them in the bins. We left them in the bins.

An aerial view of the mountains. The tallest peak is Denali.As the pilot approaches the landing area – I look at the crevices and wonder how will he land in such soft snow. And then we land and step on to glacier. 

I gently stepped out and looked beyond, and silently said to myself, Shilpa “welcome to Planet Krypton.”  Ok, yes, I am a Superman fan and if Krypton was real, this is how it would be; Crystal blue skies with mountains of dark blue Kryptonite covered in snow.  Another plane lands on the glacier. We asked the pilot who owns this area and manages it. He said, no on owns it. Multiple people use it and respect each other and the glacier.  Again,  a simple thought and yet so novel for us city folks. 

In the brief but ever lasting 20 minutes, we took our pictures, the kids made their snow angels and we were on our way back. 

One last look at the mountains from the best seat on the plane – co pilot. The teen in the group got to be the co-pilot on the flight back and took some amazing picture of the sun peaking through the clouds and the tundra below. 

PC: Ansh Verma

Before the glacier landing experience, I was nervous. I thought it would be an overwhelming experience to stand on a glacier amongst the mountains as high as my eye could see, but it was not. With mountains on all four sides, the mild fog caressing our warm bodies, I felt nestled in. 

The seas of Alaska were like the wild and unbridled youth, full of adventure and the want to explore, the mountains remind us to be mature, patient and calm. The world may call them a Volcano, but until the balance is not tipped, they stay at peace with themselves and the world around them.

I now wondered what the forests would feel like. Alaska, you continue to tantalize.
The Alaskan Tiaga forests tomorrow. Stay tuned. 

Summer vacations – they are almost here and so is the Summer Contest. Last year, I took a small step towards my vision of having an education system where in the lack of being able to memorize  was not punished. It gave rise to the summer writing contest – http://www.shilpaverma.com/a-summer-contest/

The contest got a lot of good responses but unfortunately not too many entries came in and the judges didn’t really have much to choose from. This was probably a lack of marketing on my effort, so this year, I’ll try and be more active and keep reminding you.  Hope that’s ok 🙂

The rules this year are simple. Any student can participate. Since I don’t know how many kids will actually participate, I will leave the age and topic categories out.  My total budget for prizes for this contest is $200.  I know it’s a small amount, but since this is a self sponsored event, I can only afford so much.  The essay is open to all ages and school going kids.

Many of you have small businesses out there, if you would like to sponsor a prize, please email me at bloggingtale@gmail.com and we can make it bigger and better. I love creative collaboration and promise you it will be a relationship that is mutually beneficial. 

Topic? That is always a big question mark for me. Should I give it structure or should I let if flow freely. This year I have decided to keep it free flowing.

                                    The topic is: I wish my school….  

Maximum words allowed: 700
Essay has to be typed. For the younger ones, parents can help type, but please be honest and let it be their ideas and not yours. I think our judges are smart enough to know the difference.
Due Date: August 10th, 2015.
Email final essay to: bloggingtale@gmail.com Include your name, age and email ID/Phone number. 

“I wish my school…” is a very abstract topic. I chose this for two reasons. First, summer is when they unwind from the rigor of testing and studying. This is the time when they can  imagine their school to be all they want it to be. Second, education industry is the only industry in the world that puts out products with no input from its end consumer – the student. Let this essay be their opportunity to express what they want their school to be. Will it make a difference? Who knows? It’s a start, lets see where this takes us. The free flow is to let the student take it in any direction that they want.  They get enough rules in the school, here they can write as they want. The can write about their abstract wishes of wishing that school was only 2 hours long or how they wish they could play all day or maybe they wish they had no tests in school. But here’s the key – In addition to writing what they wish, they also need to say Why that is important to them and How will that help them as they venture into higher grades or the real world.  

For instance, the student can absolutely say, I wish my school was on Planet Mars, but he/she then has to explain why and how will that be helpful as compared to the school being on Earth. The student can say, I wish I had no tests but projects in school, but then remember to say why and how will that be helpful and more important. The student can also say, I wish my school stayed the same and then explain why he/she does not wish to change anything.

The idea is to let them express themselves and like last year, there are no extra points for using the dictionary while writing. I am a firm believer
that good writing is simple and yet captivating. No one should be penalized for not memorizing the English dictionary. The judges will be looking for good hooks, ideas, a cohesive structure to writing, a thought process and a good conclusion.

I hope you, the parent will help me by showing this to your student and encourage them to participate. Don’t force, but friendly reminders are okay. If you would like to sponsor any part of this competition, write to me at bloggingtale@gmail.com

Thank you again for the love and support to this blog. Have a wonderful summer and keep in touch.

Staying true to our pledge of discovering as many national parks as possible, this Spring, we once again chose an alternate destination – Crater Lake. Oregon. It is one of the top 100 places to see before you die :), but  what makes it different is its surroundings. Usually, any national park or popular destination has small towns buzzing with activity and signs of commercialization are visible from far, but not near Crater Lake.  We saw nothing but acres and acres of open spaces, lakes and mountains. The tiny towns with their abandoned shacks and buildings looked more like ghost towns and yet part of the lake is open all year round and welcomes visitors to experience the calm and humility of its magnificence.

DAY 1: We start our drive from CA to our destination, Running Y Resort, Klamath Falls, OR (www.runningy.com) It is approx a 6 hour drive filled with nature and beauty. Mt. Shasta welcomes you to the beauty and grandeur of this area.

Mt. Shasta – It’s grandeur is humbling and a reminder to how little man is.

 

The drive to Crater lake was an experience in itself. We saw towns which were abandoned and yet there were acres and acres of lakes and open farmland around. It defied all logic. Man has historically found home in such areas and yet this part of the world stays isolated.

As we drove into the park, snow dusted evergreens welcomed us.  Crater lake is a caldera that gets its water only from rain and melted snow. It also happens to be the deepest lake in the US and the s7th  deepest in the world. There is no inlet or outlet to this lake, and maybe that’s why it is so pure and still.

Another conundrum of nature; OR a state with so few people and yet an abundant supply of water and here we are in CA, next door neighbors scrambling for water. Wonder why the world can’t just be a free place.

If the cost of living wasn’t so high, I think many of us would continue to be travellers. What do you think?

CRATER LAKE. The water is still – not a single ripple, almost as if life takes a pause to marvel at its beauty.

DAY 2: We decided to drive to Lava Beds National Monument, CA (http://www.nps.gov/labe/index.htm) Yes, this National Park is an undiscovered CA treasure that sits at the border of CA and OR.  Once again it is one of those national parks that on paper will seem very blah, but when you go there, you will be amazed to see how Earth presents itself in the crudest form and yet looks so pretty. It is a volcanic and geological paradise. One of the few places (I think) where you can experience the magic of ice-caves, it was home to the Modoc’s until we the civilized man entered the area and gave rise to the famous Modoc War. It is 700 caves that are a testimony to half a million years of turmoil.  It is approx an hour from Klamath Falls, OR.

We saw an ICE-CAVE. An ice-cave is usually formed in lava tubes, and has at least some portion of the cave that is below freezing temperatures and so there is ice all year around in that cave. In dry arid areas such as the lava bed national monument, these geological features play a critical role in keeping life alive. DO NOT go in here without flashlights. We DID NOT have any, so we only ventured in a little bit with the help of our trusted iPhones. There are steps that go deep down into the cave and if you are brave enough to do to those depths, you will be rewarded with Ice at the bottom. 

Next we decided to explore the Petroglyph Rock. The park claims to have the largest collection of Native American drawings, unfortunately though a lot of it has been destroyed by the modern man graffiti.  Believe it or not, about 4000 years ago, this area was submerged in water and what looks like a gigantic rock today was actually an island.

We walked around this and tried hard to find some remains of the Mordoc tribe. Below are the two clearest markings we could find.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We stayed in the area for 5 nights, and only saw two national parks. We could have driven to Bend and other places around, but we decided to honor the slow life of Klamath Falls and just took it easy.  Sometimes that’s important too.  Go with the pace of the place. The Running Y resort has plenty to keep the kids busy an the adults can enjoy the serenity of the area.  BBQ dinners in snow courtesy a brave family that accompanied us, completed every evening perfectly.

 

As we drove back, the magnificence of Mt. Shasta made us pause in humility once again.

Crater lake was amazing, but the experience is incomplete till we hike to the Wizard Island. Until then, keep discovering.