Denali & Fairbanks, AK

Travel log entry #6 (musings edition)

On our way up to Denali from Anchorage, we stopped for a stroll at this WWII memorial . When the Japanese Imperial forces captured a couple of the outlying Aleutian islands and were about to build some airfields to be able to be in striking distance to the US mainland, there were many battles to dislodge the invaders at a cost of many lives. The state of Alaska did not wait for a national memorial to be built and built this tribute to those who gave their lives in defense of their homeland. The grounds were silent and

serene.

We checked into the McKinley Village Lodge and soon were picked up by a converted schoolbus to take us to Denali National Park.
The weather was horrible with rain off and on throughout our stay in the park. The trip down the Park Road was very scenic in spite of the weather. We strolled into the woods to see the Savage Cabin, a preserved backcountry log cabin and listen to some of the history of the early settlers.
Unfortunately, this was not one of the few days out of the year

when Mt McKinley was not obscured by cloud cover. No pictures of Mt. McKinley, or in Athabaskan... Denali.. "the high one".

With an amazing stroke of luck, I captured this scene of a lynx in pursuit of a snow hare... OK .. I admit it, it was only a display at the park museum.

Note the big feet on both animals.. kind of like built-in snow shoes.
We spent more time in the museum than in the park environs due to the poor weather. Ah, maybe next time.

We visited Jeff King's Goose Lake Kennel A/K/A Husky Homestead. Jeff is a four-time Iditarod Champion. Here's
Linda with one of the husky puppies. They were adorable.

Jeff and his crew are real masters at the sport of dogsledding
and showed us his training techniques and judging from his
recollections of his early days in this sport, he truly loves the

sport and treats his dogs with care and compassion.



We traveled in luxury from Denali to Fairbanks on the famous
Wilderness Express railcars. This is a two story railroad car that has a wrap-around glass upper viewing coach with wide comfortable seats and full bar with gourmet dining on the lower level. The prime rib was excellent.

The scenery was fantastic. This photo shows the Nenana River deep down in the gorge. The viewing was great all the way into Fairbanks.


While in Fairbanks, we stayed at this place on the banks of the Chena River. A lot of younger people sign up for trips to Denali where they will camp out for a couple of days and stay at a lodge the 3'rd day, etc.. Sounds great, this way one can get a good hot shower and comfy bed every 3'rd day.

Since it was Sunday, not many places were open in downtown

Fairbanks. We had lunch at this place. Burgers and fries but not bad. The help consisted of young college girls from the University of Alaska just outside of town.

Note the flowers cascading from their window boxes. Everything was in bloom while we were there.



This is the Unknown First Family sculpture located at the Golden Heart Plaza. It is surrounded by comfortable wooden bench style
seats. After scouring the downtown area, it was great to just sit here and listen to the water fountain as the splashing of the water was hypnotically soothing. As I sat there, I felt the sun on my neck and realized that it was hot. Temps were around 80F.
This sculpture was an example of wisdom in public statuary. By calling the first family "Unknown", the sculptor honored both the native indians who settled here eons ago and the first modern settlers.

These flowers surrounded the entire plaza. They were everywhere. Had I more time, I would have taken hundreds of flower pics.

The Chena River runs right beside this plaza. It is also a glacially fed river and has a dark sandy appearance as it is filled with fine silt. The river is wide here so it looks very peacefull but in areas where it narrows, it looks like wild rapids with continuous white water.


We visited the Eldorado Gold Mine and saw a real active gold mine in operation. Our effort at panning produce a combined $26 worth of gold after we had it weighed. Sorry, no nuggets, just some flakes. At the weigh station, there was a display with a 28 ounce nugget (approx worth $20,000+) which they graciously let us handle (but only near the counter).
Later I snapped this picture of this Piper Super Cub landing near the Riverboat Discovery on the Chena River. It seems almost evryone here owns a truck and a plane. The riverboat made its way past Susan Butcher's (Iditerod Champion) homesite and on to

the Chena Athabascan Village on the huge Tanana River.
Here is a raindeer (AKA Caribou) that was one of many at the Chena Village. They were very uncomfortable today due to the heat (close to 80F) and no wind. Those antlers must weigh a lot.
At the village there were many displays of routine daily activity of a typical Athabascan village both past and present. All the guides were Athabascan natives.. mostly young college-aged girls.

Well that's it. We took an Alaska Airlines flight from the Fairbanks airport to Seatle. I took this last pic from the plane as we cruised at 30,000 feet above the Coast Mountains in British Columbia.

Left Fairbanks at 4PM Monday and landed in Boston Tuesday 7AM in dense ground-clinging fog. A nerve-wracking landing.

Seward & Anchorage, AK

Travel log entry #5 (musings edition)
We said goodbye to the Radiance of the Seas here in Seward.
It was early in the morning and we hopped aboard a bus which will wisk us to Dinali with a quick stop-over for lunch in Anchorage. We saw nothing of Seward but managed to get a pic of the section of the ship where our cabin was.


To get to Anchorage from Seward by road, there is an obstacle
which needs to be by-passed adding about an hour to the drive. It's called the Turnagain Arm. It is an offshoot of the Cook Inlet.
From March to October, 1778, Captain James Cook under instructions from the British Admiralty, cruised from Vancouver Island to the Arctic Ocean looking for the illusive Northwest Passage. This inlet was aptly named since both the ships commanded by Cook, Resolution and Discovery, had to "turn again" when they were blocked by land. After his fruitless search, Captain Cook sailed back to Hawaii were he met his demise just five months later.

Our timing was right and we managed to catch a shot of a tidal wave(tidal bore). Note the thin white line stretching accross the inlet. When the tidal forces are at peak, one can

surf the wave all the way inside the inlet.

Here's Linda with bags of souvenirs (ulus) and a polar... er brown bear on 4'th Ave in downtown Anchorage. We had very little time there so we grabbed a couple of raindeer hot dogs. They didn't taste like chicken, they tasted like ballpark franks, actually.

Here's a pic of old city hall, now a visitor center. The flowers used in the public spaces are an amazing explosion of colors.

It's as if the growth cycle is at full speed... condensed in the seasonal duration but given reprive with endless daylight.

This is the biggest and busiest city that we have encountered in Alaska so far.

Icy Strait Point & Hubbard Glacier, AK

Travel log entry #4 (musings edition)

Pristine Alaskan wilderness. Even though it was cool and rainy, we combed the beaches for some souvenir pebbles and shells with some great finds. This is the site of an old historic cannery built in 1912 and is in close proximity to the town of Hoonah (population 800).

A short hike through these old growth woods was

full of surprises.

It was cooler and it rained off and on. The Tlingit people kept the traditional wood chip fire going on the beach and invited us to join them. We joined them in placing our cedar wood chips in the fire and thereby sharing in the legacy of all those who set foot on these shores. After some small talk we rushed to a small eatery and remained inside until we warmed up.

We tendered back to the ship and found this. It was another towel creation which looked like an aardvark wearing my sunglasses and relaxing on our bed.

The next morning we arrived at the Hubbard Glacier, 1,350 square miles of blue ice. The captain announced that there was a small earthquake in the area (4.2 rs) and much ice debris choked the inlet to the glacier. He promised to do his best to get us in close.
Here is a pic showing the bow of the ship as we cruise into the inlet. At this point we are about two miles out.

This is as close as we could get. Within a half mile or so. It was very cold here with wind chills that made my stay outside short. While taking a few shots from the bow I heard continuous thunder and very loud rumbling noises in the distance. The sound, I learned later, was the result of the constant cycle of blockage and release movement of this massive river of ice over bedrock.
There were some house-size chunks of ice but the captain was able to stear around the bigger ones.

After an hour outside freezing, I ran inside.

These two pics were taken from the dining room

while enjoying a hot breakfast and thawing out.

One can see the leading edge of the glacier on the right side.
The captain was doing a couple of complete slow turns (360's) so that everyone aboard was able to view this amazing wonder.

On our second rotation, I snapped this pic. The little orange craft was a rescue craft dispatched by our ship in a practice/training run. It also had a film crew aboard to capture scenes for an upcoming movie. Sorry, didn't get more details.

While here, there were representatives from the local native indian tribes. They informed the ship over the intercom system facts about the glaciers and a brief history of their people.

We got to meet and chat with them a little later. Here is Linda with them in their tribal regalia. She is wearing a kind of tribal shawl made from a fur-bearing animal. It was placed on her shoulders as a symbol of tribal protection. They told us that they believed that tribes such as the Apache and Navajo are distant cousins and continued south during the ice age migration over the Bering Strait.

Skagway, AK

Travel log #3 (musings edition)

If it's Tuesday, this must be Skagway. This is a small town with a small airport. Back in 1897, this was the staging point for 100,000 men and women to reach the Klondike Gold Strike at Bonanza Creek, Yukon Territory in Canada. The gold fields were over 70 miles from this town. Skagway was the closest point with a harbor at that time. The problem was that in order to get to the gold field, the gold seekers had to get themselves and their supplies through some of the most perilous landscape imaginable. The White Pass route into Interior Canada was such an obstacle that only 30,000 to 40,000 actually made it to the Klondike and only about 4000 struck it rich. The most notable attraction here is the famous White Pass & Yukon Route railroad which traverses the perilous landscape all the way to Whitehorse, YT, some 110 miles inland. A traveler cannot come here and not take the ride on this incredibly scenic route in restored antique passenger cars. So we did just that and were able to get a few good pictures.

We were sure glad they built a more modern bridge a little bit further down the line. This one was not looking too good.

This is a small glacial lake at the higher elevation

about the 26 mile point near Fraser, British Columbia. It's a good thing that we had our passports, the RCMP's looked like they meant business.

Many of the journalists that came to cover the gold rush never quite made it to the Klondike and were forced to turn back. They had to report something.. and hence the name of this town just outside Skagway. Some reports were so outragiously exaggerated and complete fabrications that the locals decided on a most appropriate name and it stuck. People in period costume entertained the visitors with song and dance and there was more baked salmon and more..you guessed it... Alaskan Summer Ale.

Back in town, we toured this place. Yes, it's a vintage period brothel in the middle of town. I told you they cherish these places here.

The dolled-up "madam" of the house, showing way too much cleavage, took us upstairs, so to speak. There our small group was treated to some wine for the ladies and Alaskan Ale for the men. The rooms were tiny (just enough for a bed and dresser with large mirror and no windows). I soon found myself to be the victim of one of the madam's raunchy jokes during the tour... something about taking only a couple of minutes... when explaining the "trade". HA HA HA. Ok, it was funny.

Back on the ship, we find this towel elephant.

Linda cracked up.. I think it's a little creepy.

Judging from previous cruises we took, this one wasn't bad.

The ship's captain was kind enough

to anchor just a short distance away and we were able to watch the fireworks display. Sorry no fireworks pictures. This one shows the harbor as we sailed away. Note that this was near midnight and it never did get completely dark.

Juneau, AK

Travel log entry #2 (musings edition)

Named after Joe Juneau who discovered gold there back in 1880, it is now the capital of the state of Alaska. Under Russian rule, the seat of government was Sitka situated SW about 100 miles away. Interestingly, this city is accessible only by ferry, boat or plane. No roads lead in or out of town. Reminds me of a Twilight Zone episode where people kept winding back in town no matter where they went. Nestled between Mt Juneau and Mt Roberts, it is the 3'rd largest city in Alaska. Still rather overcast, we visited Mendenhall Glacier which offers visitors the convenience of access without much of a hike. It has a glacier lake where there are tourist and park facilities. Walking along the shore, we noticed that the water appeared muddy. It was full of suspended fine grain stone dust from the crushing weight of the glacier grinding its way over mountains of solid rock. This is a common theme since most rivers here are glacier fed. After spotting some small beached icebergs which "calved" off the glacier, we saw a fellow tourist chewing on a piece that he broke off. His wife exclaimed in a panic-filled voice "Did you just eat that?!?" Ancient germs, anyone?

The visitor center has a giant glass-walled observation deck where glacier gazing and drinking a cup of Starbucks coffee just seem to blend together harmoniously.

On our way back to town, we stopped at the Gold Creek Salmon Bake. At the site of an abandoned gold mine camp in the middle of the woods, we partook of some King Salmon baked over an open fire and topped with a kind of sweet sauce. Alaskan Summer Ale ... the perfect accompaniment. We ate sitting on wooden benches underneath open-air log constructed buidings listening to a local folk singer singing and playing her guitar. This picture is of a mountain fed river that is typical of where gold was panned for. This was a short hike from the salmon bake. We will get a chance to devote some time to panning for gold later. I think I'm catching gold fever.

Back in town, we went up Mt Roberts on the Tramway to the top where we hiked some easy trails and spotted some Bald Eagles whizzing by. The views from the top were magnificent and we learned some Tlingit expressions at the Mr Roberts Pavillion. "Gunalcheesh" .. Thank you. Also, within the Tlingit nation, marriage is always between diferent clans such as the Eagle and Raven clans. Note the word "eagle" on the side of the tram.

Since we still had not passed out from exhaustion, we thought we'd get a couple of drinks in town before going back to the ship.

The Red Dog Saloon, a honky-tonk establishment with an old fashioned piano man whose job it is to lead the patrons in sing-a-longs of popular period songs and off-color jokes was

the theme. That's Mrs roman A/K/A Linda, striking a pose at the left side of the doorway. Atten-hut! It was crowded so they seated us with two other couples from southern Illinois. Soon enough, we were singing and drinking and being rowdy (Alaskan Summer Ale).

Drinking a lot. The piano man was uniquely

qualified and skilled at his craft.
Here's a pic of the inside with piano man.. note the sawdust covered floor and arm-bending chug-a-lugging patrons.

Ketchikan, AK

Travel log entry #1 (musings edition)

Ketchikan .. The first stop our ship "Radiance of the Seas" made sailing north from Vancouver while cruising the Inside Passage.
It is Sunday, July 1'st and its overcast, cool and wet. This area is a temperate zone rain forest area. The native Tlingit, Haida and Tsimshian indians are culturally similar to indians in Washington and Oregon but their languages are different.

When the clouds occassionally break and a sliver of sunshine pours in, the natives call this phenomena a "blue cloud". Totem poles are not religious, unless, of course, "nature" is considered a deity. Instead they represent an emphatic statement similar to a public record describing both their history and their mythology. Even though it was rainy and overcast, the Tlingit natives displayed warmth, enthusiasm and pride in their heritage. Potlatch Totem Park and Totem Heritage Center are places where a visitor can learn and

experience this rich culture directly from the natives.

In the afternoon, the sun finally peeked through

while we strolled historic Creek Street with its

infamous red light district and bawdy past.

Fine looking ladies dressed in period costume with feathered boas beckoned us in for a $5 tour of "Dollie's House", a well preserved but long-time defunct brothel. We passed on their invitation knowing that these old-time houses of ill repute are cherished in every town in Alaska and we will visit one later in Skagway.

Since this is the Salmon capital of the world and the creek was running fast and wild, try as I may, I didn't spot any salmon swimming upstream. Maybe they finally caught on to the idea of waiting for calmer waters?

Downtown modern Ketchikan with its 70 (last

count) jewelry stores. If a tourist comes here and just goes kayaking, ATV riding or floatplane

bear-viewing without taking in the native heritage sites, they will be missing a great deal.

Besides, those things can be done just about anywhere these days.

We did buy some warmer clothes and the usual embroidered hats and T's. I even hung a pair of binoculars from my neck to round of that special "tourista" look. Walking around downtown with binoculars... what was I thinking!

Alaskan Summer Ale... nectar of the gods!