AUGUST 1-17, 2007: HOMER, SEWARD, ANCHORAGE, PALMER, & VALDEZ, AK

August 1 Roberta and I went to the Alaskan Islands and Ocean Visitor Center in Homer. The center had very interesting exhibits and videos of birds and animals found in the Alaska Maritime Nat’l Wildlife Refuge which extends from the Arctic Ocean to the southeast panhandle. It protects breeding habitat for seabirds, marine mammals, and other wildlife on over 2500 islands, spires, rocks, and coastal headlands. This seems like a daunting task to me when I think about the weather and climatic conditions, plus the political influences they have to deal with. The center does a good job describing how human activity including the fur trade, WWII, post-war nuclear testing, and introduction of foxes and rats on the islands since the early 1700’s has upset the natural balance of nature resulting in extinction or near-extinction for many species. From the center, we went to Capt. Patti’s for lunch. This place had been recommended by the Aikin’s and it was good!

I took photos of the “Eagle Lady’s” home in our campground in the afternoon. She is 82 years old and has lived in the same location for 30 years. I didn’t get to see her, but looking at her garden is encouraged. It is truly beautiful with all the flowers in her small yard surrounding the park model style home. She is known for feeding 200-300 bald eagles approximately 500 lbs. of fish each morning during the winter. She has been doing this since shortly after her arrival on Homer Spit in 1977. Although her practice is somewhat controversial, she has become a fixture in the local culture. For more information Google “Eagle Lady, Homer, Alaska”. I especially enjoyed the videos on the Fogonazos: “The Eagle Lady” link.

It was time to leave the beautiful Homer area and August 2nd was our departure date. As with other places we especially enjoyed, Roberta and I decided to stay longer than we had originally planned. While I was pulling out of the parking lot in the morning, a bald eagle flew overhead and landed on the beach in front of me as though giving me a farewell salute. What a beautiful sight they are! Our destination was Seward on the southeast side of the Kenai Peninsula. I saw one black bear come out of the woods, look at me, and head right back into the woods while driving the Sterling Highway. There is a lot of evidence of spruce bark beetle activity on the peninsula as well as in other areas of Alaska. Dead trees are a very common sight as you drive through the countryside. We drove through light rain much of the way and parked in Seward’s City Campground. This is another wonderful spot right on the water. They really have their act together in this town when it comes to accommodating campers!

August 3 we checked out the town’s visitor center for maps and ideas, and then had lunch at Ray’s Waterfront Restaurant. Thanks again Aikins for another great suggestion! (Roberta says we are going to have to start sending them the bills because they have certainly steered us the right way to the good eating places along the way!) The afternoon was spent at the Alaska SeaLife Center which was very well done and time well spent. I especially enjoyed watching the underwater views of sea lions, seals, and diving birds in the large tanks. And the puffins were wonderful to watch as they scurried across the top of the water and dived underwater. They are amazing birds!

Seward is a very pretty area with mountains rising up right from the water’s edge. It is a temperate rain forest so there is a lot of vegetation. They also get a lot of snow here in the winter. Population is about 3,000 and the town’s economy relies on tourism, shipping, and fishing. Holland American Cruise Line ships come in three times a week. I watched one back out of its dock and turn around right in front of our campground this evening. It is quite a maneuver they do here to depart the harbor.

August 4th I did some shopping around town and spent over 4 hours uploading a blog posting. The library, where I found a good WIFI connection, closed before I was able to finish the post.

August 5th Roberta and I went to see Exit Glacier north of town. The glacier is within Kenai Fjords Nat’l Park and the road to it is the only road in the park. I joined a ranger-led hike up to the terminus of the glacier and enjoyed being able to get up close and personal to a glacier. I took a walk along the waterfront at the campground after dinner where I watched a sea otter for about 40 minutes as it floated along in front of the campground. It was just lazing along enjoying a beautiful evening, as was I.

Monday, August 6th, was going to be laundry day. They have one coin-op laundry in town and when I saw that the cheapest washing machines cost $4.00 per load and drying cost $.25 for 4 minutes it didn’t take long to decide I would do one load of necessaries instead of the planned 3 loads of laundry. When the laundry was done, I finished uploading to the blog while I could use the library’s excellent WIFI. Roberta and I went to the library again in the afternoon to see movies about the 1964 Good Friday Earthquake. The quake did a lot of damage in town; however, the tsunamis that kept sweeping through during the night really devastated the town. Silver salmon arrived here and they were jumping all over the bay late this day. What a sight! Some looked like they were dancing on their tails while others just jumped up and then dived back into the water. Sunrise in Seward today was at 5:50 a.m. and sunset was at 10:16 p.m. The days are definitely getting shorter.

August 7th dawned with the sun shining and we boarded a tour boat for a cruise into Kenai Fjords National Park. What an incredibly beautiful trip this was! The park, located on the southern Kenai Peninsula, has 32 glaciers flowing out of the Harding Icefield which is the largest icefield contained wholly in the U.S. The icefield is several thousand feet deep in places and receives over 900 inches of snow annually. We watched the Aialik Glacier, which is estimated to move 2 to 5 feet per day, calve numerous times while anchored. We also saw a lot of wildlife including humpback and orca whales, sea otters, Stellar sea lions, harbor seals, silver salmon jumping in the water, a mountain goat, both horned and tufted puffins, kittiwakes, several types of gulls common murres, cormorants, and bald eagles. Near the end of the trip we were treated to a bountiful salmon bake on Fox Island in Resurrection Bay.

We were back on the road the next day for the drive in to Anchorage. Enroute we stopped to take the Alyeska Resort tram ride up Mt. Alyeska. We had lunch at the top and watched paragliders take off from the mountain and land in the valley below. Girdwood was destroyed by the 1964 earthquake but has rebuilt about three miles inland from Turnagain Arm. As I drove along Turnagain Arm I noticed that the fire weed blossoms are gone which is a local sign that winter is but six weeks away. We boondocked in a Fred Meyer store’s parking lot during our two nights in Anchorage where we restocked supplies, did laundry, etc. The last evening Tom and Kristie Gummer invited us over for a delicious grilled salmon dinner. It was fun visiting with them and I look forward to seeing them again next year.

August 10th we drove a whopping 45 miles to Palmer in the Mat-Su Valley where we found a wonderful campground at Matanuska River Park, a city park. We didn’t find this campground in a camping guide—I found it in a “Moon” guidebook which called it “one of the most luxurious city campgrounds in Alaska” and is it ever! Sites were grassy like in a front yard in the Outside with flower gardens in the center island. We visited the local visitor center and spent the remainder of the 10th and the 11th exploring the Palmer and Mat-Su area. The 11th we drove over Hatcher Pass coming out at Willow. This was a sunny day to drive in the mountains and we saw more wild, desolate, but beautiful country. The foliage was just beginning to show some fall color. We were joined by Betty Springen and Joyce Logan, both RVers from Anchorage, for dinner and good-byes. We may have an opportunity to see one or both of them this winter on the Outside.

We drove to Valdez, AK, which is located on Prince William Sound on August 12th. It was a beautiful drive that began in light rain. I was thinking as I was driving that I haven’t seen many songbirds up here. There are some in Alaska, but not in the numbers you see in the Lower 48. We saw the Matanuska and Worthington Glaciers (both are large) enroute as well as some of the higher peaks in the Wrangell-St. Elias Nat’l Park. I hit a bird at my eye level in the left windshield north of Valdez—didn’t have any cracks show, but they probably will. Shortly after that a black bear came out of the bushes to my left and raced me down the road a bit before going back into the brush. Upon arrival in Valdez we met up with the Booths and the Morrisons who are guiding a WIT Tours caravan through AK. One of the couples on their trip had been to one of my ABQ Balloon Fiesta rallies and we all had a good visit.

Monday, August 13, dawned sunny (always a bonus on these seaside towns, I think) and after bidding the folks on the WIT caravan good-by, Roberta and I moved to waterfront sites at the Bear Paw adult campground. These were great sites and we could watch all kinds of boats coming and going. I went fishing with Gil and Sandy Glover in the afternoon and we had a wonderful time visiting and catching silver salmon that were running in Prince William Sound. We ended the afternoon with eight salmon in the cooler—not a bad afternoon’s work. Gil and I used to work long distance while we were employed by the FAA—he was in the Fairbanks FSDO and I was heading up the FSIRP program out of Albuquerque. He told me over five years ago before I retired that he would take me fishing when I got to Alaska--and we finally did it, didn’t we Gil? He has just retired and he and Sandy will likely have a lot more time to enjoy the water now. It was a great afternoon and will truly be one of the highlights of this Alaskan adventure for me! I hope we can cross paths next winter when they come down to the Lower 48.

The 14th through the 17th consisted of washing both the RV and the car which were filthy, working around the RV, relaxing, and sightseeing around the Valdez area. It is a quieter town than Homer and Seward which suited me perfectly. I could see nine or ten glaciers from the campground and, again, the mountains rose up directly from Prince William Sound. We enjoyed the location so much we decided to stay an extra day. Weather was rainy and cloudy much of the time, but the location was beautiful no matter what the weather. We visited the local museum which told about the area’s history as well as how the town was devastated by the 1964 earthquake. Old Valdez suffered a lot of damage from the earthquake whose epicenter was 45 miles away. The town was flooded and over 30 lives were lost, but it did not suffer the devastating tsunamis that Seward experienced.

Valdez was re-established on donated land 4 miles to the west when it was rebuilt and the area is called the “Switzerland of America” by one guidebook. If you like “wet”, this is the place to come! Annual snowfall in town is over 300 inches and Thompson Pass, about 35 miles north, records 600 to 900 inches annually. Rainfall in Valdez averages 64 inches and their record sun was in 2004 when they recorded 33 days above 70 degrees. However, their winter average temperature is 22.5 degrees and Valdez has the furthest north, year around, ice-free port in the U.S. This is why their port was chosen for the terminus of the 799 mile Alaska Pipeline.

One of the many boats we saw was a fuel barge that was parked at a dock in front of our campground for a couple of days. I asked what they were loading and was told they were taking on diesel fuel which would be hauled to various communities along Prince William Sound. Roads don’t exist beyond Valdez and the outlying villages use generators for electricity. The fuel would be used to power the generators.

We left Valdez on Saturday, August 18th, headed north. Our journey back to the Lower 48 really began this date since the remainder of our travels will be north, then southeast through Yukon Territory, and south through central British Columbia. We saw more interesting country on the 18th and beyond; however, that will have to wait for a later post.

JULY 21-31, 2007: ANCHORAGE, SOLDOTNA, & HOMER

Alaskan Trivia: When a scale map of Alaska is superimposed on a map of the 48 lower states, Alaska extends from coast to coast. Alaska is the United States’ largest state and is over twice the size of Texas. The state’s coastline extends over 6,600 miles and nearly one-third of the state lies within the Arctic Circle.

Betty Springen, an RVing friend from Anchorage, joined us on July 21 to go to the Anchorage Market and Festival which is a combination farmer’s market, craft show, and local entertainment. As in Fairbanks, we found the produce to be very expensive by Lower 48 standards. Quite a bit of it was shipped in from the Outside, also. We didn’t spend a lot of time there and headed out to watch salmon swimming up Ship Creek to spawn and to tour the Ulu factory. There aren’t many cities that you can fish for salmon right downtown during your lunch hour, but you can on Ship Creek in Anchorage! We did a walking tour of the city’s equivalent of the Parade of Fish downtown. They are salmon created by artists and sold to businesses. We had a nice late lunch during which we were joined by Joyce Logan, another RVer we had previously met.

July 22 through 25 were spent working around the RV, making a trip to the Freightliner dealer for work on the rig (maybe we have finally resolved the overheating issue), getting a haircut and groceries, etc., and generally getting ready to go to the Kenai Peninsula for a couple of weeks.

We had a beautiful drive to Soldotna on July 26th that included watching six dall sheep on a cliff above Turnagain Arm. We parked on a large gravel vacant lot adjacent to the Soldotna airport for a couple of nights where we joined probably about 75 other coaches and trailers who were boondocking. (Note to the Aikens: This site won’t be open after this year.) Most folks were fishing for salmon (kings and reds) in the Kenai River that ran just behind the lot. Some had clearly been there for awhile because they were set up with smokers, extra freezers, etc. It was quite a sight and an interesting bit of local flavor. Oh, yes, there is a type of fishing called “combat fishing” here where people line up shoulder to shoulder to fish during the salmon runs. The Russian and Kenai Rivers, on the Kenai Peninsula are famous for these kinds of crowds and they are quite a sight! A couple from New Jersey was parked next to us and gave us each nice fresh salmon filets before we left. You haven’t had salmon until you have had fresh salmon—the same goes for halibut, too!

We spent the 27th touring the northwestern Kenai Peninsula and found a wonderful museum in the town of Kenai’s visitor center. We also enjoyed looking at the mouth of the Kenai River (with lots of fishermen present, including people using dip nets which only residents are allowed to use), a local Russian Orthodox Church that was open to the public, and driving through the countryside where we came upon The Landing which wasn’t in any of my guidebooks for the area. It is an old fish cannery turned into some shops, an eating establishment, some rooms, etc. It dates back to the early 1900’s when Libby owned it and seems to be a work in progress as a lot of space is vacant. We eventually made a loop back to Sterling, east of Soldotna, where we checked out a wood carving, as in using chainsaws to carve logs, establishment. They apparently lease booths to local artisans who produce work for sale on site. We returned to camp and I took a walk down to the Kenai River where I watched the fishermen and women standing shoulder to shoulder trying to hook salmon. I saw a few salmon landed; however, I saw a lot more get away! I would guess fewer than 50% of the salmon hooked were landed while I was there.

The next day we headed for Homer—but we only drove 38 miles of the 89 mile trip! We pulled into a turnout to look at Mt. Redoubt and Mt.Iliamna and found the neatest RV park just below us. Scenic View RV Park had room so we parked for the night right on a bluff overlooking Cook Inlet with both mountains clearly in sight across the inlet. Mt. Redoubt is an old volcano that last erupted in 1966 and 1989 and, although Mt. Iliamna hasn’t erupted, it does have a couple of vents which spout clearly visible steam. Roberta and I took a drive to Ninilchik in the afternoon where we saw an interesting Russian Orthodox Church with adjacent cemetery and another adjoining cemetery (for other folks) just outside the church’s cemetery. We drove through Ninilchik Village, the old part of town that dates back to the early 1800’s when it was settled by retired Russian-America Company workers who took Native wives. This area is very quaint and relies heavily on sport and commercial fishing for income. We returned to the RV park after checking out some state parks/campgrounds near Ninilchik and got ready for a wonderful dinner around the community campfire. The park owners grilled fresh halibut and salmon provided by campers and we all provided side dishes. Wow! Was that fish ever good! Brenda fixed it using four different seasoning methods, so we really got to sample the fish fixed in different manners. About 10:15 p.m. I walked down to the edge of the cliff and watched fishermen tending their set-nets below and the sunset across Cook Inlet. It was a beautiful sight and I took LOTS of pictures. The sun finally set on the north side of Mt. Redoubt about 10:40.

We finally made it to Homer on the 29th, parking right on the water at the end of Homer Spit. The spit is a narrow five-mile stretch of sand that extends out into Kachemak Bay. This is a beautiful location with mountains rising right from the water across the bay and glistening glaciers high up in the same mountains. We stopped at an overlook on the way into Homer for a wonderful view of the area including Mt. Augustine at the head of Cook Inlet. Mt. Augustine is a volcano that rises out of the water to an elevation of 4,025 feet that last erupted in 2006. I grilled some of the salmon we had received at Soldotna for dinner (Good!) and, as I was sitting in Roberta’s coach eating, a bald eagle flew between the rows of coaches at eye level. This was the first of many eagles that we saw.

The 30th was spent sightseeing in the local area as we took a drive to the east end of Kachemak Bay where we saw some of the Russian Old Believer’s farms. The women in the area were dressed in long dresses with headscarves and the men had traditional long untrimmed beards (we saw a lot of the latter on the Kenai). We drove back along Skyline Drive on the north side of Homer where we had long, wide views of the bay and surrounding area. The marine layer was moving in which gave some parts of the land and water a surreal appearance. Then, it was on to Anchor Point which is the farthest west point that can be reached on the U.S. (and North American) road system. I drove the car right down on the beach there. We drove a few miles east to Nikolaevsk, another Russian Old Believer settlement. We were told in Anchor Point that, although folks in Nikolaevsk keep to themselves and dress traditionally, they also have modern conveniences such as electricity, satellite dishes, and computers. (We saw modern pickups and other similar vehicles/equipment in all of these settlements.) Then it was back to Homer Spit where we visited the Salty Dawg Saloon, a local landmark with the original part of the building dating back to 1897. A walk along the small boat harbor resulted in seeing fish caught by sport fishermen being weighed and filleted—one halibut weighed in at 140 pounds.

The last day of July saw us boarding a boat for a ride to Seldovia across Kachemak Bay. The only way to get to this village is by boat or by air. It was settled by Russians in the early 1800’s as a fur trading post but has lived off the sea for many years since. We took a leisurely ride across, checking out various wildlife areas enroute. Saw lots of birds (puffins, common murres, cormorants, kittiwakes and bald eagles), sea otters, a hump back whale and a harbor seal. After lunch in town, we walked up the hill to the Russian Orthodox Church where we got a good view of the area. A local resident walked by and told us the church is still in use. The congregation is made up mainly of Native Americans (Athabascan); however, because there is a shortage of priests, formal services are only held about every three months when a priest comes to town. The day was beautiful and the trip was full of new scenery and other things to see.

I spent some of the evening at Beluga Lake in Homer where I saw a 1929 Travel Air 6000 on floats. I especially wanted to see the aircraft because Tom Gummer had told me it was flying there. This exact plane was in use at Johnson Flying Service in Missoula, MT, while I was working in Missoula in the 1960’s. From a distance, it looked to be in good shape and I saw it flying several times while I was in Homer. While driving back to the campground on the Spit, I saw two bald eagles sitting on old pilings. I pulled over to watch them awhile and to get some photos. I had previously watched and photographed a bald eagle on the beach in front of my campsite in the morning. They are really regal, beautiful birds and were abundant in the Homer area. This brought July to an end. What a month!

JULY 1-20, 2007--DENALI, TALKEETNA & ANCHORAGE

July 1 we moved over to River View RV Park so we could have power and water the last few days in Fairbanks. I went to the aviation museum at Pioneer Park and found it to be interesting. They had several wrecked aircraft from around AK that had been retrieved over the years and they had the metal crosses that were placed at the Wiley Post/Will Rogers crash site about a year after the crash near Barrow. The crosses were later moved and donated to the museum.

The next day Roberta and I drove down to Nenana, a shipping port on the Tanana River about 57 miles south of Fairbanks. Nenana means “Camping Spot at Two Rivers” in Athabascan and the town is situated at the confluence of the Tanana and the Nenana Rivers. Freight and supplies, such as propane bottles for people in bush towns along the Tanana and Yukon Rivers, are shipped by barge since there are no roads west of here. The town has seen larger populations, as many as 5,000 people at one point, during the construction of the Alaska Railroad, construction of the Parks Highway between Anchorage and Fairbanks, and during WWII. Population now is about 370 and most are of Athabascan descent. The town has kept its Athabascan heritage which is quite evident.

Nenana is well known throughout Alaska for the annual Ice Classic which has become “Alaska’s Biggest Guessing Game”. Tens of thousands of Alaskans and Outsiders place $2.50 bets on the day, hour, and minute of the ice breakup on the Tanana River. The pot is over $270,000 which is 50% of the gross. A four-legged tripod is set up on the river ice in February with a cable running to a clock tower on shore. When the ice moves, the clocks stops and the official time is recorded.

We met a woman who moved to Nenana from Milwaukee in 1970 and who has become a local spearhead in the town, owning several businesses. In fact, as we went around town, it became evident she owned most of the businesses catering to tourists including the main restaurant named Two Choice Café. The rumor is that you have two choices there “take it or leave it”. Actually, the food wasn’t bad for a bush café.

We went across the Tanana River to the town’s Native cemetery located on a tree-covered high hillside overlooking the town and the river. White wooden crosses marked graves, some of which also had stone markers similar to those used in the Outside. Many graves had picket fences surrounding them, others were outlined with logs. There didn’t seem to be a lot of rhyme or reason to the location of the graves as they were scattered on the hillside--some in rows, others weren’t. There were a lot of folks that died at young ages (under 35), including quite a few children.

July 3rd we drove to the Healy area and parked at the Denali RV Park and Motel—a nice park at the base of the mountains about 8 miles north of the entrance to Denali National Park. I had serious engine overheating problems on the long 38 mile uphill climb out of Fairbanks. This situation had been frustrating me on much of the trip and seemed to be a continuation of problems experienced last year on the East Coast and in the Rocky Mountains. I thought I had it solved by people in ABQ, but evidently not.

We spent the 3rd, 4th, and 5th getting oriented to the Healy/Denali area, driving some backroads and the single 15 mile long road you are allowed to take into Denali Park. We saw several cow moose, some with calves, in this area and many arctic hares which are larger than rabbits I was used to seeing in the Lower 48. We also got the rigs ready to receive our Mothers who would arrive the end of the week.

I should mention a little about permafrost up here. It is of a discontinuous nature south of the Brooks Range—it is present in some areas and not in others. For instance, it is present on the north slope of the ridgeline on the north side of Fairbanks, but is not present on the south slope. That seems to be a pattern in a lot of interior Alaska.

Fish Lake
July 6th Roberta and I drove to the Talkeetna area where we had reservations at the Paradise Lodge for two nights. We didn’t exactly know what we would be getting into, but we really lucked out! The lodge was relatively new (less than 5 years old) and on a beautiful setting overlooking Fish Lake south of Talkeetna. The managers were from New Zealand and very personable. They even moved us to a newly built lodge for the next night when our Mothers would be with us so the Mothers wouldn’t have to climb

the steep steps in the main lodge. We were the first to stay in the new quarters and were charged the same rate for those quarters as we would be charged in the main lodge, which was $400 under the regular rental rate of $600 per night! The latter quarters had a living room, sitting room, 3 bedrooms w/ 3 baths, decks all around so you could see the views, and a large kitchen. Wow! What a way to introduce the Mothers to Alaska! And Roberta and I didn’t mind it a bit either!

We drove to Anchorage on the 7th where we had breakfast with a friend of Roberta’s and her friend—both RVers. Then on to the airport to pick up our Mothers who arrived within about 15 minutes of each other. We had lunch at the Sourdough Mining Company (good) before heading up the road to Talkeetna and Paradise Lodge where we enjoyed getting acquainted over cheese, crackers, wine and wonderful scenery. Everyone was very tired so the party didn’t last long that night!

The Mothers and the Daughters at Paradise Lodge

We were up early on the 8th to drive to Healy where we had to reposition our RVs to new sites as soon as we arrived. (This has happened more than once in AK as RV parks juggle their spaces to accommodate caravans and people like us that are passing through.) The Mothers settled in and we took them on the 15 mile drive into Denali National Park after dinner. And we finally saw a caribou in the wild near the Savage River! We had been seeing warning signs about caribou since arriving in Canada; however, this was our first sighting. What a rack it had!

Left: Finally a Caribou in the wild!

Right: Denali N.P. Country

This Wild Country Called Denali!

Left: Gizzly Bear

Right: The Park Road

"The Mountain"

Mt. McKinley aka Denali

(Rt. photo taken about 1 hr. after the left photo and 20 mi. closer)

Caribou and the Park Road

Denali N.P.

Monday, July 9th, Mom and I were on the phone early to family in SD to find out how everyone was fairing in the Hot Springs area with the fire outside of town. My niece had to evacuate her horses to a safe location, but the fire did not extend into the town or to the location where she boards her horses. Several others were not as fortunate. Midday Roberta, her Mother, my Mother, and I boarded a shuttle bus for a 6-hour tour back into Denali N.P. The scenery was incredible and we saw 6 caribou, 4 dall sheep, many arctic hare, and a grizzly bear. The large animals were all a large distance from the road so it was hard to get good photos even with the telephoto lens.

The next day Mom and I took the 8-hour shuttle tour back into the Fish Creek area—a 63 mile trip each way. It was a wonderful trip seeing the wild countryside and we were fortunate to see Mt. McKinley several times as the clouds parted. Some notes I took from the driver/guide’s comments:
--They have 8 months of winter in Denali.
--Tree line is at approximately 2700’ MSL.
--“Taiga” describes the lower forested areas. It is a Russian word meaning “little sticks”.
--There are 2 kinds of tundra: wet and dry. A brush line usually separates them.
--Road construction work in the park begins at 10 p.m. and goes all night during the daylight when buses aren’t running. (We saw some daytime; i.e. 8 a.m.-5 p.m., repairs being made because of mudslides caused by yesterday’s rains.)
--17 of the 20 highest peaks in the U.S. are in AK.
--The highest highway pass in AK is between 4800 and 4900 feet. (I didn’t get the exact altitude.)
We saw 6 dall sheep, 9 caribou, many arctic hare, 1 falcon, 1 hoary marmot, and 1 grizzly (seen twice) on the trip. Again, the larger animals were in the distance which made getting good pictures tough. I did get some decent shots of Mt. McKinley, though. It had been a long day, but we saw a lot of wild, wonderful country!

July 11th and 12th were spent in the Healy and Denali areas where we did local sightseeing, shopped for souvenirs, went through the Park’s Visitor Center and watched a dog sled demonstration. Dog sleds are still used by Park Rangers to patrol the back country in the winter where they are on the lookout for poachers, people in trouble, etc. These are extended trips lasting several days at a time. Mom and I took a short hike in the Park on the 12th and we saw a red fox in the silver phase a couple of times in the community of Denali. It was headed south at first, then back north with a hare in its mouth. Dinner for the pups? I learned later that a sighting of a silver or black phase red fox is quite rare; however, this one obviously lives in the area. I managed to come down with a flu-like bug in the early afternoon, so that was the end of my Denali area touring. Roberta took the Mothers on a drive in the afternoon to a backcountry overlook we had found which had beautiful views of Healy, the Nenana River, and south into the Denali area. They saw four moose during the drive which was a highlight for Mom.

We drove to Talkeetna on Friday, the 13th and set up at Talkeetna Camper Park—a neat camp ground right in town. I was still feeling lousy and running a fever, so spent the afternoon in bed. Roberta showed the Mothers around the town which is really an interesting, quaint little town. It has a back country feel to it that is really charming. The next day we all took in the Moose Dropping Festival which is THE BIG EVENT of the year. It was fun, complete with a parade, craft exhibits and entertainment in the park, and plenty of opportunity to people watch. We also saw a program about Don Sheldon (deceased) who really started the glacier landing business in Alaska. I’d heard about him for many years in the 1960’s and 70’s and enjoyed seeing the movie about him and his flying. We took the Mothers to Latitude 62 for dinner in the evening—a place we found the night before we picked them up in Anchorage. They serve good halibut in season.

TALKEETNA

Left to Right:

Carol & Betty

Roberta & Evelyn

The next morning I was up early and drove to the airport to see the planes used for glacier flights. I was particularly impressed with K-2 Aviation’s setup which was very clean and professional looking. I might mention that Talkeetna eats, breathes, and lives for “The Mountain”; i.e. Mt. McKinley. The National Park Service has a ranger station there and they station rangers up on the mountain (I think it was at the 14,000 foot level) during the climbing season. The vast majority, if not all, climbers use Talkeetna as their staging area and the local aviation operators fly the climbers and their gear up on the mountain. The success rate for reaching the top generally runs around 50%. I’ve never gotten into mountain climbing, but it has always fascinated me. I watch programs and movies about expeditions at every opportunity, so it was fun to experience the local ambiance surrounding The Mountain—even though the climbing season had drawn to a close a few days before we arrived.

After we had a hearty breakfast, complete with a tremendous crowd of locals and visitors at the Talkeetna Roadhouse, we drove to Anchorage. The Roadhouse is a quaint historic building in town—one of those places you have to visit when you are there. (The cinnamon rolls weren’t as good as the ones at Tetsa River Lodge.) We got set up in Anchorage and a fellow employee from the company I flew for in Missoula, MT, in the late 1960’s and early 1970’s, Tom Gummer and his daughter Gracie, came out to visit us. We made plans for a flight in the area the next day. I hadn’t seen Tom since our company reunion in Missoula four years ago, so it was really great to connect once again.

Tom Gummer
Monday, July 16th, was a day that I will never forget! Mom and I were up early to meet Tom for his “glacier flight”—and what a trip it was! Tom has a Cessna 185 on floats based at Lake Hood, the busiest seaplane base in the world. As we were preparing to climb aboard, a bull moose showed up on an island next to the waterway we would be using to taxi for takeoff. It stayed as we taxied by—totally unconcerned. We took off and went southeast along Turnagain Arm, then turned northeast over Girdwood and up

over the Chugach Mountains where we saw numerous glaciers. Our destination was the foot of a glacier that emptied into Lake George. The lake was a beautiful turquoise with ice floes scattered in it. We landed in clear water adjacent to and parallel to the glacier and parked there several minutes just to take in the beauty and serenity of the place. I could have stayed all day and not gotten tired of seeing the immense beauty surrounding me. However, we had to depart and Tom had some more beauty in store for us as we flew low down “The Gorge” which was a narrow canyon between Lake George and the Knik Glacier. We continued on alongside the front of the Knik Glacier before turning west. What a trip and what scenery! We flew on to a lake near Wasilla, landed, and had a cup of coffee at a picturesque resort before flying back to Lake Hood. Tom’s wife, Kristie, and daughter Gracie were awaiting our arrival and we all had an enjoyable lunch. Now for the confession. I “never” run out of battery power for my digital camera; however, my battery gave out as we were on final approach into Lake George so I don’t have any photos from while we were parked there by the glacier, from the flight down The Gorge, or in front of the Knik Glacier. I am still kicking myself about that snafu—thought I had a spare in the backpack, but it wasn’t there. That flight, though, will always be the highlight of this trip!

Left: Bull Moose on Lake Hood

Right: Chugach Mountains

east of Anchorage

Left: Glaciers in Chugach Mtns.

Right: Lake George. Note "The Gorge" along the mountain going from the lake back to the foot of the Knik Glacier in upper portion of photo.



Left,Right, and Below:

Lake George

The next day, July 17th, was another day for seeing glaciers because Roberta and I had made reservations for a glacier cruise in Prince William Sound complete with an all-you-can-eat salmon and prime rib buffet. We drove along Turnagain Arm to the one lane tunnel that is shared between trains and motor vehicles—each mode of transportation goes one-way at a time on a set schedule. Whittier is at the other side of the mountain (tunnel) and is where we sailed out of for the cruise on Blackstone Bay. We were about six hours on the cruise and saw several glaciers, including Blackstone Glacier which calved several times while we there. We also saw numerous kayakers, bald eagles, sea otters and waterfalls. We went with Major Marine Tours which has won awards for their shipboard cuisine and it was good. The cruise was enjoyable and seas were calm, so it was a good day. Then it was back to Whittier, through the tunnel (had to wait for a train to go through first) and back to Anchorage. A side note: Whittier was nearly destroyed by the 1964 earthquake as were many towns in south central Alaska. Approximately 80% of the town’s residents (town population is 300) live in one building that looks like an older apartment building but is reported in a guidebook to be condos. The mountains rise up rapidly from the waterfront here and they can get 14 feet of snow during winter. Other than some seaport activity, including glacier tours, we couldn’t find much to do in Whittier. We even had trouble finding a cup of coffee along the dock area while waiting to board the boat!

GLACIER CRUISE OUT OF WHITTIER, AK

Sea Otters

Blackstone Glacier (Calving in right photo)

Now here is some "cool" ice!

The 18th was a “down” day as we regrouped from yesterday’s activities. Mom and I went to Earthquake Park which commemorates the 1964 Good Friday Earthquake and walked around there. We then went downtown to The Anchorage Museum of History and Art before taking a walk to look at the beautiful flowers along the streets, on buildings, etc. We didn’t get through much of the museum—that is definitely a place I would like to spend more time in on a future trip. The afternoon was spent organizing and packing Mom’s belongings for her return to SD.

All too soon, it was time to bid the Mothers good-bye as they flew back to the Lower 48 on July 19th—Roberta’s mother to Sacramento, CA, and my Mother to Sioux Falls, SD. It had been a fun 12 days having them up here and they got to experience and see a lot of what Alaska is all about. We had to move to different sites within the campground this date, so we got that done after seeing our Mothers off and spent the remainder of the day working around the rigs.

Friday, July 20th, I was up early to drive to the Caterpillar dealer to see if they could determine what was causing the overheating issues I’d been having. They couldn’t tell much except that, yes, I’d had a problem. Roberta and I went over to the Alaska Native Heritage Center in the afternoon. This is an interesting facility where we saw native boys performing games that are done in the villages, artisans at work, and an interesting museum. Outside the central facility they have created five different areas showing the types of buildings used in traditional villages by the five principal native cultures in the state. This proved to be an interesting visit and well worth the time spent and the admission price.