Breaks

 This morning I slept up to my alarm going off, which meant that I would not have time to do my morning workout. No guilt here as I had planned when I started this journey that I would take Wednesdays off. I am usually awake well before the alarm though, so I get up and complete my routine. This is the second week in a row I slept in a bit on Wednesday. I need the sleep more than the workout as I rarely ever get a good nights sleep. The only reason I slept in this morning was I lay awake from 4 am to around 5 am. I may do a light workout this evening, it will just depend on how tired I am. I usually don't exercise before bed, I have dome some yoga in the past but I really prefer taking time to read for a bit before I fall asleep. I just prefer to read no matter what. 

This week I am reading "Homestead" by Melinda Moustakis. It is set in 1950's Alaska and follows the story of newlyweds that are homesteading in the wilderness. It is very timely to be reading it with my upcoming trip to Alaska. The book is beautifully written, almost poetic in its prose. A real joy to read.

Yesterday, I finally got excited about the  Alaska trip. I did a bit of research into where to hike in Denali in the limited time we will have there. We are taking the Tundra Wilderness tour on the one full day we have, We won't know the scheduled departure time though until 48 hours prior. I really hope it is early morning so we will have the afternoon to hike. Our arrival day gives us quite a bit of time to hike too, as we arrive on the train at 12:30 pm, I hope that the hotel will collect our luggage and we can remain in the park until evening. I'd prefer not to head over to the hotel until after 7 pm just to allow time for check-in, dinner and an early bed. If the skies are clear I will set an alarm to get up during the night to hopefully get a glance of the Northern lights. Fingers crossed that the Aurora will be active and the skies clear. 

So I have picked out three possible hikes at Denali that are on designated trails. 

Mount Healy Trail

• Distance (one-way): 2.7 miles
• Duration (one-way): Around 2 hours (uphill; likely less on the return)
• Elevation change: 1,700 feet gain.

Savage River Loop

• Distance (round-trip): 1.7 miles
• Duration (round-trip): ~ 1 hour
• Elevation change: Negligible. The trail rises and falls a bit, but there are no major uphill sections.

And lastly the McKinley Station Trail a moderate walk of 1.6 miles one way with a slight elevation gain of 100 feet and a 8.5% grade.

I am excited! I think the Mount Healy trail will be top of the list to do and the Savage River Loop. The McKinley Station trail will be only if we have time.

I will be taking lots of pictures as I got a new camera a few months ago for this trip. I'll be looking forward to sharing them on here.