Denali!!!

I'm totally stoked! Soph and I have cemented our plans to take off for Alaska this summer, something I've wanted to do for a while now.

We'll be spending about 5 days backpacking in Denali National Park (pictured here). The mosquitos will suck (literally), but it's wide-open, no trails. Basically hike wherever you want for days on end, with nearly endless sunlight. Cool.

Then we'll take an SUV down the Denali highway from Fairbanks to Anchorage for a couple of days. The road parallels the park, and has great views of the mountain. The whole thing is unpaved, too... Off-roading!

So then after a full week+ of exhausting vacationing, we'll take a cruise down the Alaska/Canada coast for a week, taking in the sights, doing day excursions if we have the energy, and basically soaking it all up with very little effort.

And then we come home and collapse for a day before returning to work/school.

I am SO stoked. I can't wait. I'm starting to compile a list of stuff I may need to buy in anticipation of the trip (and probably sell on Craig's list/Ebay again after we're back). Things like:

• 600mm lens (for bears and wolves and such)
• GPS (no trails, remember? and my map/compass skills are ok, but maybe not ok enough)
• mosquito netting (nasty suckers)
• solar recharger? (camera batteries, gps batteries)

If you've been to Alaska and have any recommendations, throw 'em my way.