Day 73, Aug. 10: I drove into Anchorage today to pick up my
mail from Betty Springen. I was very
pleasantly surprised to see Tim Harris and Bob Novotney whilel I was at
Betty’s. Then I was off to the Anchorage
airport to pick up long-time friend (just figured out it is 45 years!) Sandi
Koch, who flew in from Seattle to stay a few days. The weather was good enough that she could
see some of the mountains as we drove back to Seward. By the way, the timberline in this area (north
of Seward) is just over 1,000 feet (305 meters) above sea level, so a lot of
tundra appears above them to the top of the mountains. (In some areas the timberline is just a few
hundred feet above the ground level (and not far above sea level), so it can
vary quite a bit depending on where you are in Alaska, or even in a very
localized area.)
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| Resurrection Bay at Seward out the front window |
From Day 74 (Aug. 11) through Day 79 (Aug. 16), Sandi has
allowed me to include some of her photos of our week together. Thank you, Sandi! It is always fun to see areas through other’s eyes!
Wildlife count: 2
Dall sheep, 1 bald eagle, 2 swans
Day 74, Aug. 11: Sandi and I did some shopping in the historic
part of Seward before going out to Exit Glacier which is a short distance north
of town. The distance the glacier has
receded since I was there in 2007 is astounding! In 2007 I was able to get very close to the
“toe” of the glacier but now it has gone back up the canyon so far, you can’t
get very close. I looked at my 2007
photos tonight and the change is really significant. (It reminds of when I first saw the bottom of
Portage Glacier southeast of Anchorage in 1988 which was easily observable from
the road. Now you have to ride a boat
across a lake and around a bend to get a good look at it.) As I said in 2007 when towns in northwest AK
were concerned with rising sea levels impacting them up there, all you need to
do is come to Alaska and observe the changes here to believe the climate is
indeed changing. It is “real world
stuff” up here and definitely not a pipe dream.
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| Exit Glacier |
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| Draw an imaginary line to the left side of the canyon from the 2005 sign to get an idea of how the glacier has receded (Can't get a better picture from the vantage point) |
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| Look at the vertical red lines I have drawn in that show where the glacier was in 2007 and where it is now in 2017 |
From the glacier we drove to the Alaska SeaLife Center
which is an amazing aquarium. The
highlight for me is to watch the fish, seals, sea lions, and birds swimming and
diving in the three large tanks. The
center also does important marine-life research here in addition to
rehabilitating wildlife. The exhibits
are exceptional and are geared to all ages.
It is definitely a “do not miss” attraction in Seward.
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| Tufted puffin |
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| Sea Lions |
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| Horned puffins |
Sandi was responsible for me getting into geocaching, so
we needed to find one for her here in Alaska.
A cache was located near the SeaLife Center, so we headed for it. A couple from The Netherlands had just begun
looking for it as we drove up, so the four of us searched. We were successful and, now, Sandi has logged
a cache in Alaska. Geocaching is enjoyed
around the world, so it isn’t unusual to run into fellow cachers from other
countries. By this time we were both
getting hungry so Ray’s was again the venue of choice for a good dinner.
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View of Seward Harbor from Ray's
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Wildlife count:
Numerous bald eagles flying along the shoreline in front of the park
this evening, 1 northern red-backed vole
Day 75, Aug. 12: I went on a cruise tour of Kenai Fjords National
Park with Sandi Koch today and the weather was perfect for us. It was an 8-hour tour to the foot of one
glacier and past others.
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| We are parked at the bottom of the turquoise line |
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Seward's Waterfront campground
The Aialik Glacier is a mile (1609 meters) wide at the toe and we watched it calve several times from about ¼ mile away. The sky was overcast which caused the blue colors to really show through—really a pretty sight. In addition to the stunningly rugged countryside, we saw many birds and animals including puffins, cormorants, common murres (they look like small penquins), black oystercatchers, lots of seagulls, and bald eagles. Animals included steller sea lions, harbor seals, Dall’s porpoises, sea otters, a couple of black bears, and some humpback whales. From a wildlife viewing perspective, it was a good trip. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to capture good pictures of much of the wildlife because I couldn’t get into the right positions on the boat. Oh, well…
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| Awesome scenery in Kenai Fjords National Park |
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| Still more awesome scenery |
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| And yet more awesome scenery |
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| And it hasn't ended yet! |
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| Bear Glacier |
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| Aialik Glacier |
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| Aialik Glacier |
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| Smile! |
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| Common Murres |
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Tufted Puffin
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| Harbor Seals |
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| Sea Lions |
We sat with two couples and one couple’s 20 month old
daughter from India who currently live in the Dallas area and are in the U.S. on
temporary visas. They flew up to
Anchorage last night, drove to Seward (120 miles) to catch the tour, then were
driving back to Anchorage after the tour—departing Anchorage at 1 a.m. for
Dallas in order to be at work on Monday!
They went to Hawaii last month on a similar 3-day weekend jaunt! Needless to say, we enjoyed talking with
them.
The main part of the trip ended
with a meal on Fox Island complete with salmon and prime rib. Then it was a quick trip back to Seward and
the dock. The crew was good as was the
ship—the captain/guide was a woman who has been on the water for 18 years.
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| Sandi gave the trip a "Thumbs Up"! |
It’s early to bed for us tonight—we are both bushed from
the fresh air and the wind blowing as we watched things passing by from outside
the cabin. Plus, not to mention taking
everything in that we were seeing and listening to from the captain. But, as the saying goes, it is a “good”
tired!
Day 76, Aug. 13: Homer here we come! Yes, it was moving day today. We started out in rain but lucked out and
broke into partly cloudy to clear skies the further we drove. It was a good drive and we took our time—even
found a couple of geocaches along the way.
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| Northern end of the Kenai Peninsula |
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A "stretch break"--going after a geocache
Mt. Iliama in background |
We also enjoyed time in a lush area of fireweed which grows very tall on
the Kenai Peninsula. It was over 5
feet/1.5 meters tall where we found the first geocache of the day.
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Admiring the tall fireweed
It grows taller here than anywhere else I have seen it! |
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| Fireweed |
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| First view of Homer Spit |
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| Kachemak Bay |
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| Down the hill into Homer |
Fortunately, we were able to get a parking spot at the
Homer Spit Campground with a beautiful view out the front window. This campground is on the end of Homer Spit
and is a popular spot—a rather spartan campground with great views. We took a walk on the beach after dinner and
enjoyed watching all the boats going to and fro.
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| Alaska Marine Highway ferry coming into Homer |
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| Sunset is approaching in Homer |
Day 77, Aug. 14: We took a drive to Ninilchik this morning so
that Sandi could see the Russian Orthodox Church and surrounding cemetery. Unfortunately, the church was closed;
however, it was a clear day and the views across Cook Inlet were
wonderful. We drove through the old
village which was settled in the early 1800s by retired Russian-America Company
workers who took Native wives. Since the
salmon weren’t running, there weren’t many eagles to be found, but we saw a
couple.
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| Russian Orthodox Church--Ninilchik |
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| Ninilchik "Old Village" |
From Ninilchik we headed down to
Anchor Point where Sandi could see the end of the road system on the North
American continent. We found a geocache
there and watched as the tractors hauled in the fishing boats on trailers that
were backed into the water. That is
really an interesting operation to watch—and it really runs like
clockwork.
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| Sandi at Anchor Point |
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View of Cook Inlet from Anchor Point
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| Boat retrieval--Mt. Iliama across Cook Inlet |
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| Boat retrieval at Anchor Point |
We drove on to the campground and then took a walk to the
famous Salty Dog Saloon here on the Spit.
When I was here in 2007 about the only thing you could do was walk
through the place shoulder to shoulder with the rest of the crowd. I never did get to sit down for a drink
there! We fixed that today as we enjoyed
a drink while watching the “mostly-locals” come and go.
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| The Salty Dog Saloon, Homer |
After some shopping and watching halibut
being cut up, we returned to the coach and fixed dinner which included some of
the salmon I caught with Gil Glover a couple of weeks ago. I grilled it—and we both agreed it was really
good! The evening was capped off by
sitting on the beach for awhile watching boats on the water and sea otters
swimming by. One observation: When I was here a decade ago bald eagles were
seen nearly continuously. This was
partly because an elderly woman fed them year around from her home here in the
campground. She has since passed away
and, although bald eagles are still seen, they are not nearly as plentiful as
when I was here in 2007. Although her
home in the campground and all the flowers around it that I remember are gone,
there is a plaque here which keeps her memory alive. Blog readers may have seen programs about her
on TV in past years.
Day 78, Aug. 15: Sandi and I found a few geocaches in the area
and we drove up into the hills above Homer in search of the elusive moose that
she wanted to see. No moose were out
there to be seen today.
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| Checking out Homer Harbor while geocaching in the area |
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| When you say "cache" in Alaska, this is what they think you mean |
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| We didn't find any moose, but we had nice views of the spit and the bay |
We stopped by
the Homer Elks Lodge for an adult drink while admiring their wonderful view of
Kachemak Bay that I had been hearing about since I was at the Lodge in
Fairbanks. The day was topped off by
wonderful halibut dinners at the Lands End restaurant located at the very end
of Homer Spit. All too soon our visit to
Homer, one of my favorite spots in Alaska, is coming to an end.
Day 79, Aug. 16: We drove from Homer to Anchorage today—228
mi./367 km. Skies were overcast and we
drove through occasional rain showers. We
saw a moose north of Homer off in the distance, so Sandi got to see a moose in
AK! Unfortunately, we were not able to
spot any Dall sheep along Turnagain Arm for her to see.
Some folks have wondered how I have been getting pictures
“on the run” while traveling the road ways on this trip. Sandi was wondering the same thing. I showed her the harness I had rigged up and how
I can use it with one of my cameras while still keeping my eyes on the
road. I miss a lot of shots using this
method because of 1. Spotting a likely subject too late to get a picture, 2.
Traffic either coming from in front of or behind me that is too close to take a
picture safely, or 3. The road is in such a condition that I can’t take both
hands off the steering wheel. I try to
not have anyone within a mile behind me and about the same distance coming from
the other direction in front of me. I
drive slow enough (50-55 mph, depending on the road and the speed limit) that
most people want to get around me ASAP.
And, I pull over very frequently to let them do just that! I used this method first on the 2007 trip to
Alaska and was able to perfect it quite a bit for this trip. The roads through Canada and Alaska have very
little traffic which makes this type of operation much easier. It is definitely not something I would want
to try very many places in the Lower 48!
So, there you have it—the story behind my grab-on-the-go wildlife and
scenery shots. They aren’t necessarily pretty
as far as the photographic aspects go, but I hope they have given readers a sense
of the awesome wildlife and country side I seen along the way on this amazing trip!
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| Getting another picture on the run |
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| Sandi getting a picture of my setup |
Wildlife Count: 1
moose, 1 bald eagle
Day 80, Aug. 17: I drove around some likely places to spot
a moose in the Anchorage area; however, we did not have any luck for Sandi to
see another one before she departed for Seattle in the early afternoon. We always have a good time when we get
together and It has been a fun week showing her around the Kenai
Peninsula. I spent the rest of the day
getting ready to begin the trip to the Lower 48. Cool and wet again today. This really is NOT my kind of weather!
Day 81, Aug. 18: This was a day for doing laundry, grocery
shopping, and getting the coach ready to head out of Alaska. It was also another wet and cool day. This evening I had a nice dinner at an
Italian restaurant with Betty Springen and her mother, Betty Novotney. It was good to see them again before I leave
the state and I look forward to seeing them this winter in Arizona. Thank you so much Betty N!
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| Dinner with Betty Novotney and Betty Springen |
