Agri-Environmental Wilderness Expedition (AEWE)

Alaska was so much fun. We flew from Detroit to Atlanta then up to Anchorage (Wednesday). Airplane food is crap, but we got to watch Wild Hogs, which was funny. Once we got up to Anchorage at 2 AM Michigan time, 10 PM Alaska time, we got vans and went to Centennial Park and stayed the night. Woke up the next morning (Friday) to go to the bathroom and a fox crossed my path. When we were tearing down camp, we saw a black bear hanging out around the campground. There was also a young moose. We drove for about three and a half hours to Seward and we set up camp at the Seward Military Base. They have nice showers and bathroom facilities. We went on an amazing dinner cruise through the Kenai Fjords (pronounced Keen-eye). We had some really good salmon on board. I would totally suggest going on the cruise. Then on Friday, we went to the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge and saw a year old moose calf. We did something else, but I can't remember what. Then Saturday morning, the groups separated and found our trail heads. We hiked Crow Pass from the Girdwood side. The first three miles were all up. The whole trail was 27 miles of beautiful. There were a few spots where I didn't think I'd be able to go much farther but a couple of my leaders were awesome and helped me realized that, heck, I only get to do this once, might as well do it right and finish. So, I carried my pack the whole way this year, and it felt great. We spent two nights on the trail. We finished early and then hung around Anchorage for a day, went shopping, which sucked because I only brought food money. It was still fun hanging out with my group. Everyone got along so well. Everyone is freakin' hilarious too. One of my leaders is going to be my physics teacher next year. Can't wait. On the last day, when all anyone wanted to do was go home, we went on a tour of Elmendorf Airforce base. Oh, boy, was that exciting. "This is such and such building, the Airforce is awesome! This is yadda yadda plane. These are the benefits of the Airforce." The actual tour wasn't bad, but the lady just yelled the whole time. Then our flight out of Anchorage was delayed three hours, and everyone got split up between three different flights, but we all made it home safely. I think we're going to Colorado next year.