Bored
Okay, right now I'm on the night shift at my job here at the McKinley Chalet Gift Shop in Denali, Alaska. And I do mean night shift. I'm working 10:00 PM to 6:00 AM the next few nights until we open on Monday. You see, the front desk isn't open yet, so they need someone to guard (babysit) the merchandise until the resort opens. They apparently need someone with the merchandise all day long. So, here I am. Most, if not all, of the stuff was supposed to get in today, so I assumed I would be organized displays all night long. But no, there's only a few things here, and the guy on the shift before me set out 95% of it. There is NOTHING to do. Except maybe surf the internet (though that does keep me away from the merchandise, so I won't stay long).
So, last night, Chris (my roommate) and Tali (a friend we made here from Florida) went hiking last night. We were looking for a frozen waterfall along Dragonfly Creek. We thought, "Well, it's most likely upstream". So, we ended up bushwhacking upstream for about an hour before we finally stopped lying to ourselves and admitted we had chosen the wrong way. Once we were back at the road, we decided to try out going downstream. 10 minutes later we found what was left of the frozen waterfall. I think I enjoyed the bushwhacking more than the others.
Then, we decided to hike out at Horseshoe Lake, which, as the name implies, is shaped like a lake. The lake is inside the Denali (McKinley) national park, and for the time being, you can get in for free, though I think after the end of this week Chris and I will end up having to buy season passes for $50 apiece. Which isn't too bad, considering that admission to the park is $10 for a week. But, okay, the trail to the lake is inside the park, and is a wide, well used trail with lots (lots) of offshoots. We took many of them on the way down and ended up finding some beaver dams. We saw some beavers too. Man, I'm seeing so many animals I've never seen before. We watched this one beaver for at least thirty minutes--he swam across one stretch of the lake, and then around the side. We quietly squatted until he came by where we were. In this day of short attention spans and high-paced, explosion-filled action flicks (yes, I will be seeing Star Wars in Anchorage, next weekend hopefully), it's a nice change to have a beaver as your entertainment for the evening. It strikes me as very wonderful to have sat for a half hour just to watch a beaver swimming around. It's so...refreshing, is the word I guess I'm searching for. I think I'm going to like it up here.
By the way, moose poop looks like acorns.
And hey Jonah, I'm doing fine. I plan on calling you this weekend.
Oh, and I also brought my Jew's Harp up here. I'm finding out that I can often accompany Chris on his guitar with it pretty well. Jew's Harp seems to go well with Cake, too.
So, last night, Chris (my roommate) and Tali (a friend we made here from Florida) went hiking last night. We were looking for a frozen waterfall along Dragonfly Creek. We thought, "Well, it's most likely upstream". So, we ended up bushwhacking upstream for about an hour before we finally stopped lying to ourselves and admitted we had chosen the wrong way. Once we were back at the road, we decided to try out going downstream. 10 minutes later we found what was left of the frozen waterfall. I think I enjoyed the bushwhacking more than the others.
Then, we decided to hike out at Horseshoe Lake, which, as the name implies, is shaped like a lake. The lake is inside the Denali (McKinley) national park, and for the time being, you can get in for free, though I think after the end of this week Chris and I will end up having to buy season passes for $50 apiece. Which isn't too bad, considering that admission to the park is $10 for a week. But, okay, the trail to the lake is inside the park, and is a wide, well used trail with lots (lots) of offshoots. We took many of them on the way down and ended up finding some beaver dams. We saw some beavers too. Man, I'm seeing so many animals I've never seen before. We watched this one beaver for at least thirty minutes--he swam across one stretch of the lake, and then around the side. We quietly squatted until he came by where we were. In this day of short attention spans and high-paced, explosion-filled action flicks (yes, I will be seeing Star Wars in Anchorage, next weekend hopefully), it's a nice change to have a beaver as your entertainment for the evening. It strikes me as very wonderful to have sat for a half hour just to watch a beaver swimming around. It's so...refreshing, is the word I guess I'm searching for. I think I'm going to like it up here.
By the way, moose poop looks like acorns.
And hey Jonah, I'm doing fine. I plan on calling you this weekend.
Oh, and I also brought my Jew's Harp up here. I'm finding out that I can often accompany Chris on his guitar with it pretty well. Jew's Harp seems to go well with Cake, too.
posted by Casey at 12:24 AM
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