Nancy picked me up right on time from my hotel. We drove to the home station and people were assigned to one of 13 mostly brightly coloured jeeps. I was assigned with Abbey, the other leader. In fact we were in the last jeep, keeping the convoy in line. Each family group or group of friends had their own jeep. Because I am a solo traveller, I got to ride with Abbey. Nancy was on her own because she needed to be sharp, watching traffic around her and keeping an eye on the convoy to make sure everyone had headlights on.
The trip through Alaskan spruce forest with the spectacular background of the Alaska Range was fabulous. It was a fine sunny day and we even got to see Denali, which is a rare sight, like seeing Mount Fuji in Japan, without cloud.
The jeeps are all connected by radio. Nancy and Abbey took it in turns to give us information about our surroundings, together with a brief history of the climbing of Denali. We saw an eagle, some ducklings (the eagle was watching them!) and a pair of white swans. Although we didn’t see any animals, Nancy and Abbey still told us about moose, caribou and snow hares, and had pictures on tablets to illustrate their stories. Keep passengers could ask questions and they were all answered.
It was one of the best organised excursions I have been on, and I was especially lucky to share with Anbey and to be the last passenger on the home shuttle with Nancy. These women run a neat show. Thank you both for a memorable experience on my trip to Alaska from Australia.