We went across the street to forage for food. We picked up a muffin and some fruit. After we had some food in us, we hiked to the Denali visitor center. This was about a two mile hike, with half of it through the hills and woods.
We arrived at our destination and watched a slide show about Denali. It was very informative. We bought some postcards and got our national parks passport stamped. After the visitor center we decided to walk to the horseshoe trail.
This was a short .5 mile hike up the road to where the railroad tracks crossed the road. We crossed over to the trailhead. We saw a very unique train warning sign. The trail was a 1.5 mile round trip. The trail descended about 200 feet to a lake. There was a portion of the trail that was about a 60 degree slope that dropped 100 feet or so. It was a good workout and a beautiful view.
We reached the bottom and took a break. There were some benches at the lakes edge. We walked around the lake and saw a beaver house and a lot of birds. The birds looked like sea gulls.
We must have picked the right time to hike down, because just as we got ready to leave, a lot of people including tons of kids started arriving at the lake. Some of these kids had duffel bags that were at least 3 feet long. We could not imagine how they were going to hike back up the hill with these bags. Some of the kids had jackets with feather patches on them. Steve thinks they were part of the "Indian Guides".
Once we got back up the steep part of the trail, we took a break. We learned
that the fleece jackets we were wearing don't breathe. Our clothes were soaked.
We took our jackets off so that we could air out.
We made it back to the trail head and then past the visitors center and back down the wooded trail and back to the hotel. The total trek was about 6.5 miles. We got a good workout.
Having a small breakfast and knowing that we probably would not have good luck at the hotel for food, we stopped and had lunch at lynx creek pizza place. Someone from the tour said this was some of the best pizza they have had. We ordered a pizza and iced tea, no pitchers. Who ever heard of a pizza place without pitchers. The pizza was just ok, but we were both starving so we ate the whole thing! There goes the diet. Oh well, at least we hiked all over the place earlier.
After lunch we walked back to our room. When we got to the room, it was not clean. It was 15:00, but the maids were just next door. I guess because the hotel is very spread out it takes longer to clean all the rooms.
We decided to walk back up to the bar for a drink. They had no frangelica or snacks. I guess the bar tender WAS joking last night. Also when I got up after our first round of drinks, I ordered a second drink for Angie. When I got back she still did not have her drink. Another five minutes went by and the manager came by to ask if we needed anything else, I told her we were still waiting on our order from 10 minutes ago. I guess he just forgot her drink. We cancelled the order and left.
We browsed the gift shop across the street looking for souvenirs. After our shopping, we went back to the room to rest before dinner. We were tuckered out from our hike. The room was clean and ready for us to lay down and rest before dinner.
Tonight we decided to have dinner at the dinner theater. This was a family style dinner and musical show. Family style is basically they keep bringing you food until you don't want anymore ;-) After dinner, our waiters and waitresses were our entertainment. They put on a musical show where each person represented a major figure in Denali history. They told their stories about how they survived in the harsh conditions of Denali. p> They told lots of corny jokes like the traditional one about finding men in Alaska - "The odds are good, but the goods are odd."
The show was very entertaining, and we had a rowdy table. A good time was had by all. After dinner we walked the 15 yards to our cabin for bed.