So, we are all set up at our new #CampHost job… We started our jobs at #TheDenaliBrewingCompany which is also known as the #TwisterCreekPub… We only have to walk 5 minutes to work… We have a place to stay with all of the basic amenities and we are not only getting our living for free, they are paying us $10 a day…

Now it was time to enjoy our new real estate and you better bet your ass, Tracey and I rushed to see the #River that runs through our backyard…

Above you will see #TheMillenniumFalcon… If you notice where I am in respect to #TheFalcon…

I just do a 180 degree turn and that’s the direction of the #TalkeetnaRiver… As you walk in this direction…

You will notice a little stream that has been formed, to my right, branching off from the mighty river… I was nervous at first that this was the actual river… What a disappointment that would have been… lol!

If you can see in the far distance, above, there are tents propped up,  which is a market selling all kinds of trinkets…

Right before you reach that market, you just do a 90 degree turn and there she is! You could hear her deafening roar in the distance… Its not a roar of rapids or any kind of volatility for that matter… It’s the sound of massiveness!

And if you think that massiveness is so big that it doesn’t  seem to make a sound, you couldn’t have been more right…

The river is just so massive that the sounds are amplified to a magnitude that engulfs the whole #environment… That’s why you don’t feel you are hearing this river and you technically are not… it’s just so big that you become apart of it, not being able to distinguish all of its sounds from it mightiness, leaving one major sound that engulfs us…

That’s why I think we feel that pressure on our ears when we are apart of such magnificent massiveness… It’s just too big for our feeble senses to comprehend , so our senses get over loaded with all kinds of pleasure that our instincts remember all too well… It’s almost like a certain type of deafness in the air… All sounds seem like they are being heard from inside a tunnel or something… I could imagine being out in outer space would feel like this…

And what better to show the complete enormity of this body of water, than a little flock of ducklings trying to make their way to shore… lol… I don’t know where their mother was but it was late into the evening… So these little guys needed to get to some sort of shelter or #predators will definitely pounce on such an easy meal…

I felt so bad for these little creatures… They were trying to make their way to shore but were too afraid of us people who were standing in their vicinity… All you could here was little squeeky chirps as the river flow tried to take them back down its  body…

This little area was a circle of calm water, along the bank… The ducklings would just swim in circles around this calm area, swimming back and forth between the flow that wanted to whisk them away and the land that they couldn’t dock on because of us… We tried backing off so they could get on shore… But people walking by made them very skittish… After about 20 minutes of this, they finally made their way to shore…

I was so afraid that they were going to be taken down river, which I don’t think they would have survived without parental guidance… We eventually left them there… It felt horrible but interfering in nature up here is prohibited… As hard as it may be, you should just let be what will be…

Now, if there was a cat or a predator trying to kill these harmless creatures, that’s when I would intervene… Hey, I come from the earth and am apart of nature also… I’m not going to sit and watch a predator get such an easy meal… Not fair! Lol!

These little ducklings were our first introduction to #TheBigSustinaRiver… And boy did it set a romantic tone for the evening…

Folks, I have no words… The sun doesn’t set here like it does in #TheLower48… It just moves across the horizon and slowly disappears for a few hours just to reappear again… We are looking North West right now, as the sun slowly makes it way behind the mountains veering right as it sets…

And when it is a clear day out, you can see #TheDenaliMountain right from my backyard! WTF!!!!!! The Denali Mountain is the one to the far right… The largest one… The other mountains are sister mountains called #FroakerMountain and #HunterMountain… they are to the left of Mount Denali…

Not only is this spot amazing for getting one of the most magnificent views of this mountain but it’s also famous for the three rivers that join here… The #TalkeetnaRiver, #SustinaRiver and #ChulitnaRiver join here to form the #BigSustinaRiver… But most just refer to the river as the Talkeetna River consdering we are in Talkeetna… there is just so much history up here, its hard to keep it simple with all of the different names… And Talkeetna is one of those towns that is in the center of it all… The history of Talkeetna alone is just so vast and complicated… There’s so many different facets out here… You feel schizophrenic trying to absorb it all…

Even the name of Mount Denali has been contested up until now… Before 2015, this was officially known as #MountMcKinley, named after the #POTUS at the time for political reasons… Well, who needs politics out in this beauty? So they changed it back to its original name… Denali which means ‘the high one’ in the #Koyukon language… which was the language of the #indigenous people here…

Actually #PresidentMcKinley never even visited this mountain and had nothing to do with it at all… That’s why Obama changed it back to its original name in 2015… There we go GOP, something you can’t blame on Obama! He actually did something right this time… lol!

But when you are out here experiencing this #phenomenon of #nature, names and occupation seem so frivolous and meaningless… How could anyone own this area which is impossible to hold in your hands? And what short name would do any justice to this magnificent, vast beauty… There are just no words to do it justice! I could write a million page book on this area alone and you still wouldn’t get what you would get just standing out here for a couple of minutes!

The air is pretty dry and calm out here… Talkeetna is not a windy town and is known for its calm environment in the warmer months…

To think that this whole river freezes in the winter in sub below degree weather… You can literally walk up this river in the winter… And even though it is cold as hell here in the winter, there isn’t much of a wind and the air is dry… So, 30 below  freezing really feels like 10 below freezing… lol! But it does make a difference to the ones who live here year round, that’s for sure…

Now, when you turn right and head North, you will see where the three rivers join… There’s a neat little trail that guides you along its shore…

And you can see the difference in the water from each river… One river would have muddy, beige water because it was shallow… Well, when the other river would join, you would see dark, clear water blend in with that muddy water… I wish I could have captured this but my iPhone camera just wasn’t good enough… The joining of the colors is beautiful in itself…

The town of Talkeetan also had another huge issue they had to address this year… If you notice the rock wall along the bank above… Well, that’s #ManMade and Talkeetna is in real danger of #flooding from this river…

So, the town has been working day and night, trying to build a rock wall barrier along the river… If they don’t, that water will flood the whole town eventually…

This really sucked for Tracey and I because the construction was right near the #TalkeetnaRiverPark… So, the sound of trucks and construction go on all night out here… All the way through to August… It’s hard for them to work during the day because the town is so congested, so they can’t get the trucks out here during the day… So, we are left with it at night… A good lesson in patience, which I need and got… lol!

But what can you say? The town has to address these problems… I actually had a #camper come up and start cursing at me about this construction, like I was in charge of it or something…  I think the immediate future of this town is a little more important than your camping desires… And with the long harsh winters out here, Talkeetna has to make up for lost time… That’s why they work through the night… ASSHOLE!

The bridge above crosses where the Talkeetna and Sustina River join… The Chulitna river joins almost immediately after the bridge from the North West… If I get any of this wrong and you are from Alaska, please feel free to correct me! I am trying my hardest to get all of this correct but there is just so much information, I get it wrong from time to time…

The #RailroadBridge is still used today… It’s mostly used for tourism now… There’s a Hurricane Train that comes through here, which takes you on an amazing tour of the nature near and around the Denali Mountain… Tracey and I unfortunately didn’t get to do this one but coworkers told us it was awesome… they even saw a Grizzly eating a fish he had just caught… I was so jealous!!!!

You can see one of the #BoatTouring companies that operates out here… They are called #MahaysJetBoatAdventures…  I myself am not thrilled with the motor part of the tour… I would rather see the river from a raft in its natural, quiet form honestly…

If you look above, I have taken a picture of the Talkeetna River which is to the north east (right) of the Denali Mountain…

Then I moved a little to the left to get the Sustina River…

Then I turned to the south and you can see to your far right where the Chulitna river comes in…

Walking across the bridge gave you a whole different perspective of the river… Looking down, you could see how strong and mighty this river really is… You could see the speed and the volatility looking down, showing the river to be a lot more dangerous than we think…

When you think of it, rivers are quite destructive and dangerous… They appear all calm and serene when viewing from the shore but when you think of the millions of gallons of water that make their way through here in just mere seconds, you realize the strength and hidden dangers… To think this is the result of melting glaciers and snow that has accumulated over the winter up here… Now its making its way down just to do it all over again next year…

The other side of the bridge was actually a pretty famous party spot out here…

They even have parties with bands out here some nights! They play into the wee hours of the morning… No one bothers them out here and if you don’t like the noise, then you can leave… This how Talkeetna operates and thats how it will stay…

For Talkeetna seems to keep its peace by exercising their freedoms in this country… Even though its a town surviving off of its summer tourism, Talkeetna does not cater to the tourists when it comes to their way of life… Residents here do it their way… you can be apart of it or not… your choice… Without this attitude, this town would never keep its mystique and originality…

Wow, so Tracey and I are on the piece of land that is between where the Chulitna, Talkeetna and Sustina River meet… What a special piece of land this is and how fitting that its where the people set up for late night parties…

To the right is the Chulitna River, above…

And here’s #TheTravelingMac standing on her bank… I found a pretty magnificent walking stick out here but it had a huge crack down the middle, so I had to toss it…

I feel so calm and normal out here… Like there isn’t a worry in the world that matters… My body and muscles naturally slump in relaxation… I don’t feel any tension when I am out here…

I just keep on looking around… trying to see everything… trying to experience everything through all of my senses… And all of those senses seem to connect out here… Like they are not working individually anymore… Like they are coming together to form one huge sense, that can notice everything through every sense…

I like to now call that new sense, my meditative sense because every time I get this ever amazing feeling, I feel like I have meditated for hours… And isn’t that what meditation is all about? Bringing all of your senses into one body to experience the world through one view…

Oh what we learn about ourselves when let nature take the reigns… It’s common sense really… Where do you go to get our head together? Out into the world that created you…

When you look at it that way, you can see why the world has all the answers to your questions… You just have to be smart enough to go out there and ask her…