We are visiting here for the weekend, which requires a drive about four hours north of Anchorage.
That means that just over … there … somewhere … is Mt. McKinley, the highest point in the country. Jessica drove us to Denali because Adam is on his way to France for work. Some kind of life, no?
The drive was, of course, beautiful. Lots of verdant scenes dotted by small towns and pure-Alaskan wide spots in the road. We saw some wildlife, but not the bigger animals we were seeking:
Also, there are mountains.
I’m taking a lot of pictures of mountains. I’ve noticed. But I’m not the only one:
Today we took a hike alongside the Savage River, which we saw at an elevation of 2,780 feet. Here’s The Yankee:
Perhaps she was taking pictures of a small thing:
Here’s what the hike looked like:
The water, snow melt that was probably 15 minutes old, was perfectly clear.
The rock formations through this little valley are some of the oldest on the continent. The Outer Range of the Alaskan Range are thought to be somewhere between 600 million to more than a billion years old. That little river is believed to be even older than the mountains.
The rocks feature schists, blended ribbons, of quartzite, mica, slate, marble, greenstone and phyllite.
OK, fine, one more mountain shot.
Oh, last thing. We had an Auburn family reunion today. I put the picture on my War Eagle Moments blog. I also met a nice lady from Birmingham as well. She goes to church, she said, with some of my Samford colleagues.
It is a small world, even in big Alaska.
