My 23rd birthday! We woke up later than usual, 7 AM, and had our last campfire breakfast of the trip, consisting of Walmart blueberry muffins again, fire pit scrambled eggs, and a birthday cupcake adorned with a candle. I blew out the candle as Jarren boiled water over the fire so that I could have MRE coffee to start the morning. After breakfast, we packed up the campsite, said our goodbyes to Savage, and drove to the Mt. Healy overlook trail.

​

The trail was long and strenuous - for me. Jarren zipped up that mountain like it was a basic walk, only stopping to wait for me while I rested. The hike leading up to the trail is fine, mildly inclined but basically a straight shot. However, once we got onto the mountain and started winding up that portion of the trail, that was a different story for me. I'm not huge on physical exercise. I'm a subway Olympian, that's it. Running up the stairs and onto the platform so that I don't miss the train is my cardio, and I've always been pretty damn good at it. Jarren, on the other hand, is not only a Marine, but he's also a goddamned Montanan. Not only does he work out for work and for fun, but he enjoys hiking and has done it basically his entire life. Do the math there. Figure out why my soul died with every step I took further onto that trail. I was fighting for my life. Halfway up, we met a couple that was hiking back down, and I stopped them to ask how much further the summit was. When the woman responded with, "at least another 45 minutes or so, sorry," I wanted to cry right then and there. Jarren, on the other hand, was breezing through it, stopping to enjoy the view on the way up, not at all struggling to lift his legs like I was. I couldn't quit, though. I'd come too far and didn't go through all of that for nothing, so I kept pushing because I didn't want to waste my time. When I finally got to the summit, I was met with the most stunning views. Photos couldn't capture what my eyes could. It truly was worth the struggle to get there. We sat there alone and took in the view, took a few photos (I later realized my wireless remote wasn't turned on, so I didn't get as many photos as I thought I did), and ate some granola bars. After feeling fully recharged, we hiked back down, which took basically no time at all and was an absolute breeze for me. Once we arrived back at the car, we headed out of Denali and began making our way back to Anchorage.

Around 2 hours into the drive back, we decided we had to eat, so we decided to stop at Denali Brewpub, a location I chose specifically because I read online that they served reindeer, and that's exactly what I wanted to have on my birthday since I'd never had it before and would probably never get the opportunity to again. The Brewpub is located in a quaint little town called Talkeetna, a little ways off of the main highway. We waited approximately 40 minutes to get a table, then were seated and had some beer, reindeer meatloaf, and burgers. The food was good, the best I'd had in Alaska actually, but I'll be honest, I was a little disappointed by the fact that reindeer tasted like all the other ground meat I'd had in my life. I'll have to find reindeer again, elsewhere, so I can verify whether I truly think reindeer is disappointing or not.

​

Exhausted after our meal, we hopped back into the car and drove the last 2 hours back to our Airbnb in Fairview, where we were met by traffic - yes, you read that right: traffic - in Anchorage. I'm talking add-an-extra-hour-onto-your-trip traffic. In Alaska of all places. Once we'd cleared the highway and arrived at our Airbnb, we got ready to leave for the next morning and basically immediately crashed, missing the birthday dinner reservation I'd booked months before.