Mt. Denali and Mount Fuji are missing

Trips overseas can take months of planning. Visions of famous sites pepper the imagination. You feel yourself standing there – seeing, smelling and hearing it all. Venturing into the world takes a certain amount of surrender. Things however will never go completely according to plan – sometimes for the better and others not. That’s just part of the bargain. At some point, there’s only surrender. Here are two life-changing trips that turned out a bit differently than expected:

Alaska and Mount Denali:

I’d backpacked in McKinley Park, or Denali as the Inuit call it, years earlier and was filled with excitement to be returning with my son and another family. Ours was a short trip taking in several areas of the magnificent state, from the urban mash-up that is Anchorage, whale-watching in Seward and exploring the Inside Passage. I especially wanted to see my son’s face as he looked up into the mind-numbing grandeur of the big one, Mount Denali.

It wasn't to be. As fate would have it, we were in the northern areas of Alaska for one of the wettest summers on record. I’d expected rain in the Southeastern rain forest. The interior of the state is the known as the land of the midnight sun with 24 hours of summer daylight but our entire stay was dogged by precipitation - fog, drizzle and showers. I could only point to the cloud bank where Mt. Denali hid. Still, the trip was spectacular. There were grizzly bear, whale tails and moose sightings. We had time to visit native long houses and witness tribal dances. A boat ride to see Seward Glacier was still a great adventure with glacial calving and puffin sightings. The kids had a ball.

Japan and Mt. Fuji

The peak is an icon. Its perfect cone shape and snow topped grace is beloved around the world. The mountain is so large it can be admired from Tokyo – about sixty two miles away as the crow flies.  On this trip we’ve planned to stay a few nights in the Lake District near the base of the mountain. From the area, many pilgrims set out to visit the summit and pay their respects. There won’t be many doing that today. It may officially be spring but the summit road is closed with snow and typhoon conditions forecast. From my guest house on the shore of Lake Kawaguchiko, Mount Fuji remains a mystery as I peer into towering, thunder clouds and a wicked, cold wind whistles past the windows.

Travel is ultimately about culturing flexibility so it’s time to get creative and switch gears. There are other distractions nearby: Museums, Shinto shrines and historical sights. Perhaps it’s the perfect day to settle into an onsen, a traditional, hot spring bath, wait out the storm and just let go.

Picture courtesy of the author, Elaine J. Masters