Category: 2017

All Good Things Come To An End (until next time)

Homeward bound. Darn, the holiday is over. Great memories created.

Highlights

  • Stunning Alaskan scenery with literally at times, a glacier around every corner. The fjords are beautiful as the mountains plunge into the sea. Yes, we have a little bit of this in NZ but not on the same scale! The easy access in Alaska is great too,  particularly to the tidewater glaciers.
  • Float plane ride -standing on the float in the middle of a cold deep fjord, stunning view and staying upright!
  • Going backcountry and appreciating the remoteness of some communities ( and there was still internet!)
  • Alaska Rail -yeah for great trains and views.
  • Sea life. Whales, porpoises, orcas, otters, jellyfish, sealions –  a delight to spot and watch especially in the inlets and bays.
  • Expanded minds and greater understandings of history and culture, colonisation and struggles to retain traditional old ways and native languages.  Reflecting on the changes in our lifetime and similarities the world over. Dinnertime discussions.
  • The weather. We did have rain but only when we were either in a train, bus or boat and it always stopped when we needed it to. Cold at the glaciers but otherwise mild and we were generally overpacked for the cold we experienced… it could have been so different. Some bluebird days and tee shirt times and a very warm finish.
  • People. Met some wonderful new friends, one of the joys of travel. Some fabulous people out there.
  •  The extensive first aid kit and medical insurance not needed.
  • A few good coffees ..be pleased to be home for more!

Hot here. Redondo Beach.

Good flight from Anchorage to LA with nice views of glaciers as we left and a distant view of San Francisco from the air (look hard in the cloudy photo in link below and you will just see the tall buildings and the Bay Bridge).

Chilling this time in LA in the South Bay area, with a lot of warm before back to NZ and the wet and cold being enjoyed there!

At Redondo Beach, the largest of LA  County’s beach cities. Huge performing arts centre here and recreational waterfront with 2 miles of sandy beach. Medium waves today, swimmers but not much surfing. Many are enjoying the huge artificial beach area. Plenty of other activity for a Saturday morning as we wandered out onto the pier and around the King Harbour Marina..some serious money tied up there and interestingly most boats were in the marina most of the day. Bit choppy out out to sea but not that bad. There is a huge seawall protecting the bay from the ocean and plenty of paddleboards, jetskis, paddleboats and sightseers on the water in the protected bay. Also lots of sealions on a pontoon barking loudly. Expect that the beach and waterfront gets a pounding when waves are really crashing in here. Biking is popular and well catered for with a wide double lane exclusive cycleway. Every type of bike and rider.

Enjoyed a long cool drink and some seafood in the shade overlooking the pier. Fishing off the pier seems popular and saw a couple of little fish caught.

Very happy to have air conditioning working well when we got back to hotel. Great dinner overlooking the marina with lovely sunset colouring the boats and masts.

Lake Hood Seaplane Base

Nice walk this morning around part of the 4.2 mile track around Lake Hood before our flight to LA.

Over 1000 floatplanes are based here, 500 on slips and 500 on tie downs and they look quite a sight around the lake edge. Apparently a 10 year waitlist for a floatplane slip and approx 300 people pay $25/year just to stay on the list.

 

70,000 aircraft operations /year averaging 439/day so plenty to watch from hotel and on walk. 25 remote lodges are served by the planes either dependent or partially dependent on the flight services. Flights support hunting, fishing and wildlife viewing plus mining exploration activity and oil and gas production. 24,000 flightseeing tours each year.

Base also for Iditarod Air Force-40,000 odd volunteer pilots who move hundreds of dropped or scratched dogs, over 120,000 pounds of dog food, hundreds of bales of hay for dog bedding and other materials to support the 1,049 mile sled dog race from Nome to Anchorage. And that is a fascinating story in itself and especially the use of dog sleds to deliver serum to save Nome from the diphtheria epidemic in 1938. Google it!

Link to photos

Anchorage

Slow start today after early start yesterday. Nice breakfast including reindeer sausage. Hopefully not Santa’s! Love the way food is presented when travelling.  My poached eggs came in a little bowl this morning, sitting by my fruit. Initially I thought it was yoghurt.

Enjoyed a visit to the Anchorage Museum today. Great space and especially enjoyed  exhibits showcasing Russian/Alaskan links and history and also the Native Peoples exhibition, excellent. There are 20 different languages and many are still actively spoken today. The displays of the various peoples focussed around Living from the Sea, Land and Rivers;   Ceremony and Celebrations and Community and Family. Clothing, accessories, instruments, art, culture and rituals gave great insight into their lives and experiences then and now. Interesting parallels to NZ with retaining language and culture. I was especially taken with the rainwear exhibit made of gut and of course the furskin parkas.

The museum also has an amazing Discovery Area for kids, very hands on and a large range of activities supported by Smithsonian Institute. I think the grandkids would love it.

The flowers and gardens in Alaska are very impressive particularly the begonias. Known as teh City of Lights and Flowers – they go all out in summer because not much will be seen in winter. Moose wander freely in teh city but we did not see any!

Russia “settled” Alaska in 1784, wanting to access lucrative furs and sold to America in 1867…600,000 sq miles approx for 7.2 million (about 4c/acre). At that point the gold and oil resources in Alaska were largely undiscovered! There is still a strong connection between the native peoples of Alaska and Russia. While only 2.4 miles separates the 2 countries at the narrowest point in the Bering Strait and family ties are strong,  it is difficult for people to pass freely between countries. Some things remain strong though like the love of vodka and caviar.

Our hotel fronts Lake Hood, the largest and busiest floatplane base in the world. The lake is adjacent to the main airport and the control tower is shared. Lots of activity but it’s not too noisy. Great casual dinner on the deck tonight. Sun still shining at 10.30pm and warm. Loving these evenings.

Lots of taxidermy animals around hotel foyer so interesting to look at these up close but hard to photograph. See here Dall Sheep and a few heads!

Link to Photos

 

 

 

Back to Anchorage

Left Denali at 6am-only us on the bus so “personal tour”. More good viewings of moose, large herd of caribou, Dall sheep, a Daylight White Owl, several bear including mum and two cute little cubs, snowshoe hare, various birds and numerous ground squirrels. No wolves/ fox seen by us. We did see the remains of a caribou been finally cleaned up by the ravens. Apparently a wolf had killed it yesterday and had then been driven off by a mother bear and cubs who capitalised on the kill. Many of the tourist buses accessing the Park had been able to observe the proceedings at various stages. Such is wild life. 92 mile drive out took 5 hours today.

The Park is largely closed in winter and patrolled rangers and by dog sled teams. Kennels are located just into the Park and many people living or working in the area volunteer to exercise the dogs in the summer months.

The Alaskan Train service then took us from Denali to Anchorage. Most attractive countryside for the most part, primarily green trees and swathes of wildflowers and ferns along the tracks with 3 small moose seen and several bears sighted quickly making their way off the tracks or away from them.

Observed some homesteaders – people who are living remotely and off the grid, some with no running water and who have no transport. They use the Hurricane Turn Train – they can flag down or hang a flag out for. Train will pick them up and take to services and return. Interesting bit of unique Akaskan history and to see train at Talkeetna.

Anchorage sits between the Chugach Mountains and the Cook Inlet (named by Captain Cook!). More than 50 glaciers of the many in Alaska can be found within 50 miles of Anchorage.  One around every corner here it seems.

Link to photos

Denali Plus

Truly awesome today. Denali showed itself completely in all its glory. First time in 2 weeks. So the top we saw yesterday was just the prelude.

The weather is amazing. Sunblock on. Sun on Alaska Range and snow truly magnificent and photos don’t do it justice.

Mark climbed Quigley Ridge this morning behind the lodge while I went back to Wonder Lake hoping to see Mr Moose again (no luck) as well as get Denali photos.

Link to photos

 

 

Relaxing afternoon beside the fast flowing Moose River, sun glinting on the water, bird life and a cheeky squirrel. Only a few of us in the lodge at present so very quiet and retreat like. 2 buses arriving later tonight and 4 for lunch tomorrow for their busiest day so we will escape the rush on the 6am bus in the morning in time to catch the train to Anchorage.

 

Sunset tonight is 11.43pm and sunrise tomorrow is 4.35am! Overcast now but last night we still had bright sunlight at 11pm. This photo taken then.

30% Club

Wow. We joined the club this morning. It is said that only 30% of visitors to the Park get to see Denali. Super lucky to see  mountain top this morning during our walk to Wonder Lake and Blueberry Hill. Also the very large bull moose we saw yesterday was still in the area and showed himself off for us. Very impressive beast ( not so the photographs in the rain yesterday and he was moving too fast today).

Lots of very pretty wildflowers along the trail. Also many types of edible berries including wild blueberries that were ripe and sweet. Wonder Lake is a lovely area formed by the retreating Mulgrowe Glacier. Watched a family of loons on Wonder Lake and admired Denali through changing cloud patterns.

Afternoon walk through bush nearby ( with bear spray) and down to Fanny Quigley’s cabin. Fanny was a pioneer woman who lived alone out here for many years offering hospitality to people seeking gold and passing by. Reportedly an amazing and formidable woman. Her blueberry pie recipe is hilarious.

We also checked out the airstrip and went to the end of the road in Denali! 3 planes took off and clearly a busy little operation albeit with no fancy facilities. They do have an awesome lodge up on the hill above us though so business must be good. Seems a few people bus in and fly out to avoid the long ride in/out twice!

Link to photos

Has been great weather, most of the day in a tee shirt with slight skiffle of rain at the end of our walk. Not much rainfall here generally but weather can close in quickly with low cloud and cool winds.

Well fed and watered! so to speak. No trouble getting the supplies in.

Met a good little bunch on the bus on our way into lodge- turned out we made a formidable team in the Denali Jeopardy Quiz tonight which we won. Great fun.

In Denali National Park

Today we travelled by bus (only 12 of us) to the Backcountry Lodge in Denali National Park and Preserve. The Park encompasses 6 million acres of Alaska’s interior wilderness. Its centerpiece is 20,310-ft.-high Denali (formerly Mount McKinley pictured left), North America’s tallest peak. Denali means ” The High One” and it is notoriously difficult to see the top. Here’s hoping. With terrain of tundra, spruce 9forest and glaciers, the park is home to wildlife including grizzly bears, wolves, moose, caribou, fox and Dall sheep.

There is a single 90 mile road winding through the Park on the north side of the  Alaska Range. Only first 10 miles is paved and rest is gravel, reasonably well maintained. 30 miles of road has some of the highest peaks alongside which plunge straight down to tundra. It is pretty spectacular and especially polychrome area with multicoloured mountains, steep valley and glacial activity. The road allows access to be controlled yet offers people numerous ways to be in the Park and protects the animals in the wild. Popular activities in summer include biking, backpacking, hiking and mountaineering …100 day season only. Private cars can only go to 15 mile mark then you have to use buses unless on private tour, hiking or biking. Park Ranger checks you through.

We got great views of caribou, moose and some bears, ground squirrels, water birds, hares and hawk. Observed a bear and a caribou grazing some distace apart and speculated on the bear’s intent but not much activity before we had to move on. Some great wildflowers  and different vegetation types all quite dramatic in a unique way. Great commentary from the driver, frequent stops and patience for observing wildlife and taking pictures. All in all a 6 hour drive in but went very quickly.

At one point, we came across a cyclist waving wildly at us. We thought he wanted water but he was waving his bear spray can. He was somewhere between terrified with an adrenalin rush and excited having just encountered a bear at close range. We must have just missed the action. Bear spray is an essential here if venturing too far away from lodge (capsicum spray) and you are advised to chatter!

Our lodge is at the 92 mile mark, 2 miles past official park road end and the last of 4 lodges deep into the Park. Beautiful setting on Moose River.

 

Link to photos

Anchorage to Denali Transit

A very early start this morning to bus to Denali ready for our trip into the Denali National Park and Preserve. Trip pretty good with lots of green scenery on both sides largely through Denali State Park- on the opposite side of the mountain range to the National Park. and Preserve. The spruce and hemlock are quite dramatic in the meadows and on mountain sides. Surprisingly, much less ice in the hills as we go inland. Rivers are braided from glacier debris left behind and water is grey from silt. Large numbers of 5th wheelers, campervans and the like on the road and at campsites. Salmon fishing very popular right now  as salmon are running.

Lovely stop at Talkeetna Lodge for morning tea, unfortunately not able to see Denali, as in Mt,  really clearly due to the mist. Also no signs of wildlife yet! In a bit of trivia there is no Mt preceding Denali (rare amongst world famous peaks).

Afternoon wander around the Denali township area near the Park entrance. Largely tourist and food shops a long a short boardwalk. Opposite is a huge resort built by Princess Cruises- chalk and cheese!

Link to photos

Weather very mild, drizzle this avo, with just…seems to be the usual.

Nice to have some down time tonight.

Adding photos to past blogs now (check them out) and chilling.

Kenai Fjords Glacier Lodge and Alaska Railroad

After a stunning out of the box day yesterday, this morning was grey and drizzling. Typical Alaska  weather they say. Mist drifting by as well but still very beautiful.

Mark went canoeing and tramping  across the lake to the bottom of glacier while I just soaked up the ever changing views and walked around the lodge area. Rainforest and mosses very green and attractive. Not good far afield  without the bear spray. Weather cleared late morning for more great views.

We headed back to Seward by boat early afternoon. Visibility  not so grand but we saw a large hunk of floating black ice- unusal not to have melted and also coloured black from silt. Also saw a jellyfish “smack” and a fin  whale..again both unusual, so lucky us. The smack is pretty much just a huge collection of jellyfish floating together about 10m down – awesome to watch and very beautiful circular shapes. A fin whale is the second largest mammal, kinda swims sideways and is of course pretty impressive as it breaches.

Then on to Anchorage  aboard Alaskan Rail. Impressive train and very beautiful scenery. Yet more glaciers, some icebergs in a lake, towering mountains, waterfalls and great vistas. Beautiful sunset to welcome us to Anchorage at 11pm! Still daylight so easy to see your way around.

Link to photos Kenai to Anchorage