Skagway

The Golden Circle/Skagway

Yesterday, we finished The Golden Circle highway from Haines to Skagway (360 miles by car/14 miles by ferry). If you remember back several weeks ago, we started our car trip from Haines, but we saved our trip down to Skagway on our return trip south. We drove most of the day from Dawson City following along the Yukon and the rivers and lakes that connect to this river. Many have traveled this route by water especially during the Klondike Gold Rush! After all the majestic scenery that we had seen to date, this drive was somewhat disappointing. Although after we left Whitehorse and finished our last 100 miles for the day, the drive became the Alaska we have come to love..."Colorado on Steroids!"...snow covered mountain, glaciers moraines, waterfalls, lakes, rivers, ...We slowly meandered down the winding highway up and over the White Pass and down to Skagway. Skagway was the hub during the late 1800's when the Klondike Gold Rush began. The miners would arrive by boat to Skagway and take either the White Pass route by pack horse or hike up and over the Chilkoot Trail. That was just the beginning of their journey as they then had to build a boat and travel the lakes and the Yukon to Dawson City.

Today, we biked to the Chilhoot Trailhead (9 miles) for a historical tour of Dyea and to hike several miles on the trail. Dyea was a boom town in 1898 during the Klondike Gold Rush, which lasted only three years! The miners would start their journey in Dyea and begin their ardous journey of 33 miles caring 1 ton of provisions up and over White Pass. Along the hike/bike, we saw the salmon swimming up stream to finish their life cycle (spawning), various birds, seals, sea otters...
Tomorrow, we take the White Pass and Yukon railroad to Laughton Glacier. The train trip takes 45 minutes and they drop off hikers for a half day or all day hike to the glacier.  We will hike 1/2 day and then begin our drive out of Alaska to Canada.  Tomorrow, we start our trip south to the states through British Columbia.  We are not sure how long that will take...Pictures to follow....

Anchorage to Dawson City

We left Anchorage after a day of rain and a repair on our RV (refrigerator)!  We had two great meals, a trip to the museum and I finally got my hair done!  Then off to Glenallen along the scenic highways south!  Yes, I said South!  We are heading home which will take two full days and 15 hours to arrive in California to see Kate and family!  But along the way, we will trace the Gold Rush years from Skagway to Dawson City!  I've been rereading Alaska to  refresh my memory about the stampede for gold in the late 1800's!!!!  We started on the Taylor highway that took 5 hours of driving on "The Top of the World" highway and crossing the Canadian border!  Yes, you need passports and bear spray that is clearly marked with a bear on it!  Along the way, before our eyes we witnessed the hardship that the miners took on to reach their dream of finding gold in the Yukon!  We arrived in Dawson City, the home of one of the biggest gold rushes on the Yukon River.  We are camping right on the river watching the continue flow of a muddy wide river (it freezes solid around December).  Today, we spent all day mountain biking to the top of Dume Mt. for a view of the valley and to Dedge for a park service tour.  The town is a very interesting old mining town similar to Georgetown or Silverton in Colorado.  We might end our day at the local saloon to drink some Yukon beer and watch Klondike Kate's dance girls!  Off to Whitehorse tomorrow and then back into Alaska for our last adventure....

Denali National Park

Denali...all inspiring mountain!!!

We started our adventure with a drive from Willow to Talkeetna!  The skies were blue and the sun was out!  What do you do on a sunny day as approaching Denali...get on a plane and fly to Mt. Mckinley!  This is a must and worth every dollar spent to get above the clouds to the highest mountain in North America..a mere 20,320' above sea level!!! The views were unreal painting the sky with untouched wilderness...snow capped mountain peaks, proud glaciers, valleys, glacier streams, and the majestic Mt. McKinley!  Tears came to my eyes as we approach the "High One" named by the Alhabascan native people! I was so busy taking pictures and then stopped to just relax and enjoy mother nature at her best!  The flight was just too short to take in all the beauty around us...

After driving two more hours, we reached Denali National Park  and drove into the furthest campground on the park road that allows RVs...mile 29 of the total 92miles into the park.  The rest of the park we traveled by shuttle bus.  Along the park road, we traveled into the interior of Alaska that was formed by ancient glaciers and tectonic geological changes.  The shuttle took all day to travel the entire length of the road and back to our campsite.  Along the way, we depended on our binoculars and knowledgeable bus driver to point out animals along the way... 15  grizzly bears, herds of caribou, Dali Sheep, Artic Ground Squirrel, fox, moose, ptarmigan, and yet to see the wolf and lynx.

The next two days was spent joining Park Rangers on Discovery Hikes.  We took an all day hike along the Toklat River and a strenuous hike up Cathedral Mt.  Hiking in Denali is not like any hiking we have ever done before!  There are very few marked trails because they want  the area to remain wilderness.."leave no trace!"  So what do you do...bushwhack through willows, delicate tundra, rocky scree and at the same time calling out "Hey Bear, Hey Moose!"  (This is to prevent startling one of the 5 large animals in the park..Grizzly Bear, Dali Sheep, Moose, Wolf , and Caribou.)  The only animals that we saw along these hikes was a family of ptarmigan and three Grizzly Bears running along the river and eating their favorite soap berry.  While hiking the tundra,  we saw a large variety of berries (all are edible), lichen, mushrooms, wild flowers, mosses.... We leave the park saying goodbye to  the wilderness within Denali National Park!

Homer ...Here Fishy!

Seward to Homer...Fishing, fishing, fishing!
We made it to the Kenai Peninsula on a Sunday afternoon after passing car after car driving in the opposite direction towards Anchorage!  This was a shock to us after spending two weeks in remote areas in Alaska! The Kenai Peninsula is famous for fishing for King Salmon, Halibut, and Silver and Red Salmon.  This was their busiest week of the summer!  The fishermen were lined up on both sides of the river.    We continued down the highway to the fishing town of Ninilchik (named by Russian fishermen), which is about 50 miles north of Homer.  Jim and I spent the next day fishing for King Salmon on the Kasilof River.  Jim was determined to catch himself a King!  This time, we did what is called flat trolling (floating down the river, your line drifts ahead of the boat and the guide slows the boat by oaring upstream ). Interesting concept, but not enough action for me!  You basically sit in the boat,  watched your line until a strike and then  reel the fish in. After 7 hours on the river, Jim was the only one out of 4 that caught a fish!  We celebrated with a Salmon dinner with roasted veggies, salad, bread and the most beautiful Sunset (sun doesn't set until approx. 11:30) looking out the mountain range!
The next day Jim went fishing for Halibut on a boat out of Ninilchik.  The Morgans and I headed to Homer,  the " Halibut Capital of Alaska!",  where we took a water taxi to the state park on Kachemak Bay with the Morgans. We left the Homer Spit (a 4.3 mile long, narrow bar of gravel) for an 18 min. taxi ride across the bay to the park.   We spent a lovely day hiking the Glacier Lake trail and the Ridge trail to another bay where the taxi picked us up at the end of the day.  Glacier Lake was beautifully  with the backdrop of a Glacier dropping into the water depositing iceburgs.  The only sounds that we heard were the seagulls squawking and the iceburgs cracking with pieces splashing into the ice cold water.  Along the hike, we saw definite proof of "Do Bears Shit In the Woods?"  Well, if you need an answer to that question...we have a digital picture to prove they do!!!! We were obviously following the bears preferred route to berries, grubs, fish, bark, etc. were happy to reach our destination withour a bear encounter this time!
Jim had a very successful time fishing for Halibut!  After an hour high speed boat ride they arrived at the fishing spot just in time to watch two pods of Orcas feeding on Salmon.   He was the first one to catch his limit of 2 fish... one 50lbs. and another 25lbs.  Dinner last night was delicious with smoked salmon on crackers, fresh  halibut cheeks sauted in butter, garlic , onions and spices, grilled fresh halibut, orzo with pesto and tomatoes,  and sauted snap peas!
We now have   45 lbs. of halibut and salmon being shipped to Kelly's house!  Thank goodness she has a freezer!  We'll be cooking up Alaskan Halibut and King Salmon for the next year!

Girdwood/Alyeska Ski Resort

We'll be are on our way to Denali National Park and stopped to see Carol Smith's favorite spot in Alaska...Girdwood!  A small ski town south of Anchorage with the famous Double Muskie restaurant!  We decided to make it a "Date Night" and get a condo for the night!  Great stop...mountain biked to the Cold Creek Mine to view some panners and took the tram up to the top of Alyeska Ski Resort!  Perfect day to do it because the sun was out and we were able to hike to one of the 7 glaciers in the area!  We decided not to ice climb, rock climb or paragliding!  Although, I was very tempted to try paragliding!  The trouble with Alaska is there is too much to see and do!!!!!

Hear Fishy!!!!

Valdez To Seward

The last two days we have traveled to Valdez (the location of the oil spill) to Seward on the Kenia Pennisula.  The drive to Valdez was spectacular..snow on the mountain peaks, large pristine lakes, meadows and waterfalls (Briday Veil Falls).  The scenery just gets more magnificent as we continue are travels!  As we approached Valdez, the traffic increased ...the salmon was in and swimming up the streams to spon!  RVs were everywhere with serious fishermen!  We spent the night in a state campground that had closed off two sections due to an eagle habitat and frequent visits from bears.  The next morning, we drove to the ferry to cross the Prince William Sound!  (I saw 4 bears that morning!)

The ferry trip along the sound was spectacular...if you don't have time to take the ferry up the Inside Passage, then this is the trip to take!  In three hours, we saw a condensed version of the Inside Passage...snowcapped mountains, glaciers dropping into the sea, iceburgs, whales, birds, sea lions, etc...

After we got off the ferry, we drove to Seward on the Kenai Pennisula which included driving through a 6 mile tunnel that is shared by the train (one way direction for both cars and train)!  Again the drive to Seward was beautiful much like Colorado with mountains, lakes and streams.  We also began to see fishermen along the streams!  Seward is a busy little town due to a location 2 1/2 hours from Anchorage!  But, the location is convenient to fishing, kayaking, the glaciers, hiking, etc..  The crowds were a bit overwelming after seeing no one in the Copper River area!  We decided to try out our kayaking skills and go on an adventure to Orca Island and Humpy bay!  It was a lovely drive over in a water taxi and then we were guided in our kayaks to a beautiful waterfall!  The afternoon ended with a bike ride to town, but ended with our first really strong rain and wind!  We were soaked and muddy by the time we returned to our campsite!  The day ended with a pot luck  dinner with fresh halibut cooked by the owner of Miller's Landing!  Alaska continues to draw us  to more adventures and further exploration......

Wrangell-St. Elias National Park -conti.

(I am still working on my editing skills ???)  We spent the night at the Half Way B&B after the owner gave us a lovely tour of her special home...house, cabins, bunkhouse, tenting area, greenhouse, gift shop, and pelts!!!  Yes, I said pelts...they are trappers!!!  Real Alaska!  The trap fox, lynx, bear, coyote, wolf, etc. and sell the skins.  The Russians love the lynx! A different world!!!!  The next morning, conti. our drive to the end of the road, then hiked two miles over two walking bridges to McCarthy (small mining town) and then took a shuttle to the Kennecott Glacier and mine.  We spent most of our time taking a walking tour of the mine and then a hike to the Glacier.  Although, we did not make it to the glacier because a black bear was grazing on berries along the trail.  We did get good pictures of the bear, but decided to head back to the mine.  Awesome day again as if living within a National Geographic magazine!  Alaska is an incredible piece of our world!!!!  Next adventure..Valdez....

Wrangell-St. Elias National Park

The adventure continues after catching a 40 lb. King Salmon in the Copper River area south of Anchorage!  We floated down the river, our guide gave us instruction and after 3 casts, I caught my first salmon! The salmon fought for about 5 min., but with the help of Todd (our guide) and was able to pull in the proud fish! What happened to the fish after we netted her was not a pretty sight!  Anyway, we packed up the fillets in ice and sent the fish to Denver to be smoked!  (We'll need to find a recipe!)

After all the excited on the river, we headed into the wilderness to McCathy (old mining town) 60 miles on a dirt road (three hours of driving)!  The drive was like spending 60 miles on Diamondback Way (grated dirt road with occasional potholes, washboard, rocks, etc...We left around 7:30 in the evening and we were rewarded with a very quiet road with spectacular vistas of the snowpacked peaks, woodlands, pristine lakes, and the moving glaciers! The road was originally the railroad track to the large Kennecott Copper Mine, which has now become a National Historic Landmark.  After two hours, we stopped at the Half Way House to camp ( www.alaskahalfwayhouse.com)...authentic Alaska!  The owner live in the heart of the wilderness year round living off the grid...no running water, solar energy, propane, generator

Wrangell - St. Elias National Park/ Copper Center

Today, we conti. our adventure along the Alaska Highway and the Richardson Highway towards Valdez. The road continues to be gravel in spots with upheavals in the road surface, but we did see our first moose with a baby calf!   Our day's plans were interupted  when the Morgans lost a tire on their RV and a rock cracked  our windshield!  After a tire change and  a trip to  Ace Hardware (yup! even in the wilds of Alaska), we were back on course to see the sights. First, we arranged for a guided float trip down the Chitina River to catch the King Salmon and a stop at the visitor center at Wrangell-St. Elias National Park (America's largest National Park).  Most of the park is only assessable by plane, but we plan to take the McCarthy Road to the Kennecott Mines National Historic Landmark. (60 miles on a gravel road into the park).  The highlight today was sitting by the campfire along the river watching two bald eagles, several seagulls and magpies fight over  fishermans scraps from a cleaned King Salmon. Guess who won out?  The adult bald eagle...size and prowness ....To be conti.  Who will catch the 40 lb King Salmon?  

Haines to Tok

We arrived in Haines by ferry and began our adventure up the Haines Highway and onto the Alaska Highway.  Haines was a beautiful small fishing town where cruise ships only arrive in port on Wednesdays.  So, the town was empty except for the few tourists that came by car or RV.  Our campsite on the Chilkat River and the Chilkoot state park was picture perfect...resident grizzly with two cubs appeared off and on checking the stream for salmon. We even saw her gracefully sit in the stream and scoop up salmon and then tear them apart on a convenient rock!  She occasionally shared with the cubs!  (David, we were so close that we could hear the Mama growl at the cubs to stay close)  This bear or BMJ,( the locals name for her), has had triplets three times since making her home in Haines.  The say the bears really appear in Aug and Sept. when the salmon run it at its height!  They were counting salmon at a fish weird with that days count of 225 and 12,000 since the season opened!  Yesterday, we began our adventure and I mean adventure along the Alaska Highway.  They have a bumper sticker that says, "I survived the Alaska Highway!" Permafrost causes severe road damage that has to be repaired every year!  We heard every rattle in the RV and every rock that hit the RV from the gravel on the road.  We are seriously thinking about taking the fast speed ferry back to Washington rather than drive that road again! Along the way there were magnificent views, more eagles, a large grizzly along the side of the road, swains, construction, dust, gravel, ....

Hains

We arrived in Haines by ferry and along the way we saw whales
bubbling (a group of whales heard the fish with bubbles and then eat the fish), dolphins and orcas! Haines is another unspoiled town which still remains quite a quaint fishing town! We spent the day cycling, hiking and exploring the town (Ft. Seward,Totum Village and Dalton City). The highlight of the day was an adult grizzly walking her cubs along a salmon stream ! It was quite exciting watching the cubs stand on their hind legs looking for Mama! The Chilkoot Stream has plenty of large sockeye salmon for all to share! Jim's grilling salmon for for dinner! Tomorrow we head Tok!

Juneau

Yesterday, we arrived in Juneau for the 2nd time..first by ferry and then by a seaplane from Glacier Bay.  The seaplane was the preferred mode of transportation by all!  The plane was a six passenger plane flown by a young handsome pilot!  It took all of 35 min. to return to Juneau...beautiful views of the Auke Sound into the Glacier Bay and the Mendenhall Glacier! (Although, we were grounded by fog for a short delay before taking off). After arriving at our RV campsite (Spruce Meadow), we took a steep 3 hour hike up the West Glacier Trail.  The trail opens up to several panoramic views of the Mendenhall Glacier!  The peacefulness of the hike was only disturbed by helicopters flying over the glacier.  If you are not up for a hike or the cost of a helicopter ride, you can take a short hike on the east side from the visitors center (we did that on Tuesday).  Stunning views from both sides of the glacier dropping into a beautiful blue lake.  Today, we will explore the waterfront area of Juneau and then take a ferry to Haines.

Glacier Bay National Park : conti

Note to self: save file

The hardest part of keeping up with a Blog is finding wireless on the road on Alaska!
Back to our trip to the glaciers.. The boat was only able to stay by the glacier for 30 min!
So we all waited with baited breath hoping to see the calving of the glacier!! Everyone was silent listening for cracking and small pieces of ice falling into the sea and then it began! It was like avalanche control on a ski slope ..loud explosions of ice dropping off the glacier and into the milky sea!! Quite exciting for all except a cute little harbor seal laying on an iceberg undisturbed by the noise! We left the glacier again appreciating the power of Mother Nature!!

Note to self: need to work on editing skills and uploading pictures ..I haven't given up yet!

Glacier Bay National Park

Today is Friday and we have been gone one week!  It is amazing how much wildlife and beautiful scenery we have seen in such a short time.  Take a look at the map of Alaska and we have only touched the small leg of land south of the mainland!  We've been in Glacier Bay since Wednesday arriving by a 6 passenger SMALL PLANE.  The flight took 35 min. with incredible views from Juneau to Glacier Bay.  Upon arriving in the National Park, we immediately took a short walk along the beach and heard the orchestra of whales noises echoing in the bay and the ballet began again!  Later that afternoon, we walk among the dense forest with a park ranger and learn all about the plant life.  The highlight of our stay in the park was of course the all day boat trip into Glacier Bay to view the glaciers. The trip was 65 miles out to the Margerie and Grand Pacific Glaciers.  This was our first misty day in Alaska, but along the way the boat would slow down for a closer view of islands to view wildlife and did we see the critters of the bay...whales, sea otters, dolphins, birds, mountain goats, sea lions, GRIZZLY BEARS, bald eagles!!! The sea otters really took the show!  They lay on their backs, popping their cute fuzzy faces up out of the water and place dinner on their tummys to eat at their leisure. Hey do you know what a group of otters are called?  "A raft of otters!"  They look like they are gathered for a party all lined up like logs floating in the sea!!! Very cute and completely comfortable floating around in the deep blue seas...  The finale of the trip was of course the magnificent tidewater glaciers!  We knew that the boat was getting closer due to the icebergs floating alongside the boat, the chill in the air and the milky gray water.  Luckily, we bought hats, gloves, and several layers to keep us warm!  The mist cleared and their she was the magnificent Margarie Glacier towering above the tallest cruise ship!

Glacier Bay National Park

Petersburg

Note to self: try again with a picture (Kelly I need your help!)

Petersburg..what can I say but picture perfect Alaska!  All that I pictured into my mind when I thought about Alaska was in this small Norwegian village.  (First settled by a man from Norway)  The town is completely surrounded by snowcapped mountains with a glacier flowing into the the Inside Passage.  Petersburg is still a small fishing village (known for their spot shrimp..yum). The town is untouched by cruise ships, so remains untouched by tourism.  We spent our day with Barry ( a marine biologist) on his small boat whale watching in the Fredrick Sound.  What an absolutely picture perfect day viewing over 30 humpback whales playing in the blue waters of the Inside Passage.  It is hard to describe the emotion that I felt as I witnessed these very large animals easily perform for us in seas over 100 feet deep! We were alerted to the whales when we began seeing several geysers popping up in the distance against the backdrop of the snowcapped peaks!  Then the sound...(like someone clearing their snorkels)..it sounds very musical when surrounded by several whales.  Then the show began...whales showed off their skills floating, fin flapping, breaching and of course diving to the deeps and showing off their tails.  Barry could identify the whales by the colors on their tails.  Their were moments on the boat when we could keep up with all the whales showing off their stuff!!!  Incredible...mother nature at her best!!!!  We ended our day viewing eagles, sea otters, birds, seals, fish jumping....We left Petersbury with a desire to return to this peaceful haven along the Inside Passage...

Ketchikan

Note to self:  OK, first it is really difficult to keep up with Blogging when you are in and out of internet service and trying to copy and paste logs, but I am still at it trying to figure all this out...(Where's Kelly when I need her!!!)

Our trip on the ferry Columbia was absolutely beautiful and peaceful along the Inside Passage!  It took 1 day and 13 hours!  It was like floating in time with a 360 degree of unspoiled nature surrounding you!  The ferry moves so slow that it is easy to capture the scenery and wildlife along the way. We arrived in Ketchikan early in the morning which allowed us to spend the entire day exploring the highlights...visiting the totem pole villages on the north and south of town, cycle to a salmon steam (Jerry I will need you to help me land one of these LARGE fish), watch young eagles (they look quite different then a mature bald eagle, kayate the waterfront area (we saw starfish hanging on to the rocks until high tide returned) and a mystical hike along a beautiful waterfall.  We ended our day with a local fare of fresh seafood and then hopped onto the Ferry Tuke.  Where we met our friends Vickie and Dick for the trip to Petersburg.

Whale of a Tale

Sunday! We arrived in Ketchikan, Alaska!

What excitement getting off the ferry after two days traveling the Inside Passage and just seeing the occasional boat, birds, whales, dolphins and pristine scenery! Our first sights where 4 large cruise ships in a commercial port! We headed out immediately for a bike ride south of town to see native totem poles, the coast, the salmon run and bald eagles! Then, off for a kayak trip around the waterfront and across the channel! We saw starfish
hanging out waiting for the tide to come in! Next, off to Settlers park for a nature hike along a beautiful waterfall! More totem poles and a terrific salmon dinner! Very full day and back on the Taku Ferry to Petersburg!

Day 1/ Bellingham, Wa. To Ketchikan /July 8th

We are just about ready to start our adventure to Alaska! We had a rough start with the RV's
frigerator repair (unable to fix)! So we are off with a cooler for now! Presently, we are waiting to get on the Columbia Ferry for a 1 day 13 hours along the Inside Passage to Ketchikan! Our first stop!Check out their website to see a video of the trip at:f
FerryAlaska.com!

The Oregon Trail

We spent two days traveling to Bend, Oregon following the Oregon Trail.  Although, I  must say compared to a wagon the RV wins out every time!  We did see miles and miles of fields of potatoes, corn and other veggies and every style tractor along the way.  There has been a lot of irrigation along the plains since the pioneers traveled through this area! (Jim was in Gardener Heaven!!)  Believe is or not, we even camped at the Glen's Ferry State Park ( This is where the wagons crossed the Snake River ) which was conveniently located behind the largest winery in Idaho!  You guessed what we did after parking our RV...wine tasting!  We went with open minds and ready to taste the fruits of the vine at the Carmela Vineyard!  After sipping several reds and whites, I decided on a blended white called Adelita Winarita!  Got the hint:  Think The Rio!  They recommend serving it over ice with salt on the rim of your glass and a squeeze of lime and you have a winearita!!!  If it wasn't for the live band, beautiful weather and surroundings, the stop at Carmela Vineyard  could have been skipped! The campground was located in a beautiful location along the Snake River!  The next morning, we left Idaho and heading up and over the hills to Bend, Oregon. 

North to Alaska

Tomorrow July 1, 2011, we begin our adventure North to Alaska!  We have packed our Pleasureway and it is amazing how much "stuff" you can hide away in all those small compartments!  (Will we ever find all the stuff we packed!!!) We have taken shorter trips in the van, but nothing as far and as long as our proposed trip to Alaska! 

Jim  and I have been camping since our 20's...backpacking and car camping as our family grew!  We are now living the life of luxury in a conversion van! Let's hope the van keeps us dry, safe from wildlife and free of bugs!!!  Yes, we've heard all sorts of  stories about the bugs, bears, and rain in Alaska!  That's not holding us back...Alaska here we come!!!!!!!