More Denali memories
The Eielson visitors center at mile 66 of the Denali road. Eielson pioneered the use of commercial aviation in Alaska.
An arctic ground squirrel. Another animal that turns white in the winter.
Vault toilets at the rest stop.
Areas are periodically closed to hikers. Often it’s due to a kill site where bears are actively feeding. Sometimes it’s just to let vegetation grow unimpeded.
A remote cabin used by mushers and dog teams when they patrol the park during the long winter months.
Yes – animals have right of way on the road.
Our view from the bus.
An arctic hare living right next to our campsite.
A family of ptarmigans.
Checking back out of the restricted road area.
The Denali sled dog kennel is right inside the park entrance.
Each dog has it’s own log cabin. But they seem to like the roof of the cabin better than the inside.
The dogs get lots of attention and loving.
Focus.
It’s a dogs life…
The routes they use to patrol the park.
The dogs love to run!
And they’re off!
Back already
All dogs love to dig, even sled dogs during a demonstration.
Running back ‘home.’
Views of the mountain.
The tip of Denali!
But if not…
One of the main reasons to visit Denali was to see Alaskan wildlife in their natural habitats. Denali National Park and Preserve is very lightly maintained so as to be as natural as possible. Mostly that means the rangers prevent poaching and occasionally close areas to any human traffic to keep it as wild as they can.
Access to the backcountry in Denali is carefully controlled. Only a certain number of vehicles are allowed each day. Campground stays at Teklanika require a minimum of a 3 day stay with no driving allowed during your stay. This cuts down on vehicle traffic on the road.
The dirt roads in Denali are best driven just after the road grader has smoothed out the ever-present washboard sections.
A Golden Eagle flying by the bus
A caribou taking a rest break.
Dahl sheep climbing along the steep cliffside.
More caribou
The road stretches off into the distance
A herd of caribou
We were told Denali creates it’s own weather. Since rain was forecast for our entire stay, but it was dry the whole time, we are believers.
Wonder lake.
A glimpse of Denali
A moose.
The animals don’t seem to mind the bus.
And, of course, the grizzly bear. We were surprised at how brown bears are really more blond. They start out black as yearling cubs and then turn brown and then blond. Of course, black bears come in all sorts of colors including white. It’s the shape of the head and the hump on the back that really distinguishes between black and brown bears.
Willow Ptarmigan
Unusual plant…
Each year Polychrome pass, so named because of all the colors from the rich minerals, settles a bit. The dark line under the road is last years road surface, now about 15-20 feet below this years road surface. Our driver said that he is always one earthquake away from losing his job. We think his job is the least of his worries. Given that there is an earthquake somewhere in Alaska about every 15 minutes…
Sure footed.
Fascinating to think that they shed these antlers each year and then grown them back the next year. Both male and female caribou have antlers although the females tend to shed them a little later than the males.
The combination of the fireweed along the road, the mountains and the clouds makes for dramatic scenes.
A very blond brown bear
Rangers tag animals with tracking collars to better understand their range and feeding habits.
But if not…
When we started planning our trip to Alaska, Denali was at the top of the list of must-do’s. So much so, that it was the only place where we made a reservation. And we made that reservation in January since we were told that the camping farthest into the park fill up that far in advance. So we picked a random set of dates in the middle of July, made reservations for Teklanika campground and figured the rest of the details would work out.
In Denali, there are 2 sets of buses, tour and shuttle. We opted for the shuttle. Everything we had read was right on target – the shuttle drivers were just as knowledgeable about wildlife and the ride was fantastic.
The Alaska State Bird, the Willow Ptarmigan. It turns completely white in the winter.
Road construction is everywhere.
The arctic hare – it also turns completely white in the winter. A pattern?
Our Denali adventure was made all the better by sharing it with great friends Phil and Kathy.
Dirt roads = grime and dust everywhere.
Learning all about Wolverines at the nightly ranger talk.
The Park road originated as a route for prospectors to reach their gold mine claims. Today it’s mostly used by buses. After riding the length of it, it’s easy to understand why private cars are rarely allowed. The drop-offs are too steep and high, the road too narrow and shoulders are mostly nonexistent.
We made it!
Wonder Lake
Some of the dropoffs were both spectacular and scary!
Lots of caribou during the bus ride.
Sitting by the fire in the evening.
Another ranger talk – about native languages throughout Alaska.
We got to meet a Denali sled dog, Vista. The sled dogs in Denali are bred as freight dogs – throughout the winter, rangers use dog sleds to patrol for poachers and to haul lots of material to various parts of the park for later maintenance projects. Vista was a friendly pooch who loved to be petted.
Turns out that the Denali sled dogs are most comfortable between -10 and +10 degrees temperature. Great for Denali. Not so great for the lower 48 climate.
A summer sled for exercising and training the dogs.
Fireweed. We learned that fireweed blooms from the bottom up. When it reaches the top, summer is over and winter is about to set in!
The top of Denali from the Denali south overlook along the highway.
But if not…
Our friends Phil and Kathy flew all the way from Annapolis MD to Alaska to spend time with us. Great friends!
They flew in at midnight, with plenty of daylight still left. After spending a very short night in the Cabelas parking lot (thanks for welcoming RV’s, Cabelas!) we headed north toward Denali where we had reservations to camp at Teklanika for several days.
First stop was Eklutna State Park, where we learned that the recent wildfires and ongoing dry weather resulted in a campfire ban.
Much of our camping in Alaska has been at state recreation areas, They are state maintained campgrounds, usually dry camping with no water or electricity. But we’re comfortable with that and the price is right!
Bear awareness is necessarily a major theme in all the campgrounds, actually all of Alaska.
Lots of hiking trails to choose from. Some steep, some scenic, all amazing.
The lush green grass at the lakeside was a real surprise. Eklutna Lake is one of the main water sources for Anchorage.
Yes – the water was very cold!
Cold enough that signs are posted describing the effect of cold water and how to stay safe.
More bear safety education!
Road construction is a formal season in Alaska. Given the short season and the small number of highways, it seems that most of them are under construction all the time.
Warning sign or philosophy?
A bear is a bear is a … Â But learning the difference can be a life saver. Turns out different types have different behaviors and those behaviors should be handled differently to stay safe.
One of the unique things about Alaska is that the road side parks and rest areas are all valid overnight camping spots. The Alaska Veterans Memorial was adjacent to a campground that was closed due to a beetle infestation that killed a lot of trees and made the area unsafe. But the campground hosts simply treated the rest area as their campground and welcomed us warmly.
We think this one is called Devils Club. Both of these plants are bad for humans. Seems like most of the wild plants with red berries should generally be avoided. But even the bad plants and the ‘weeds’ are beautiful. They do have strange names, though: Fireweed, Devils Club, Skunk Cabbage,…
Our real treat for the night came when a mama moose (surely busting that old mythical moose concept once and for all. Maybe all those moose crossing warning signs are real.) brought her calf into the parking lot and wandered around for about a half hour posing for pictures. Then she returned the next morning just to show us it was real.
Our first glimpse of Denali was just a slice of the mountain. It’s distinguishable from all the other mountains by the total whiteness of the snowcap. We were told that summer conditions on Denali are the same as winter conditions on Everest! So the climbing difficulty comes as much from the cold as the altitude.
But if not…
After a great time in Homer, we headed back up the west side of the Kenai Peninsula toward Anchorage. The Sterling Highway was all smoky due to the numerous wildfires in the area. One, the Swan Lake fire, was burning in an area that hadn’t burned for something like 80 years, so the brush (read fuel for wildfire) was pretty dense. It ended up burning just over 100,000 acres but never really threatened any populated areas, which says a lot about how sparsely populated Alaska is.
The fire was pretty close to the road as we drove!
Since there are so many lakes and rivers, water was easily accessible. A large pump was set up with pipes running up the road for the trucks to refill.
Hope AK is billed as one of the best preserved gold rush towns. If it’s well preserved, that means there never was much town to begin with! But there was an interesting collection of old log buildings and gold mining equipment. Life in a gold mining camp was harsh, indeed.
Artifact or …?
The mud flats when the tide was out are very impressive. The guidebooks include warnings to not venture out onto the mud. Some of it is like quicksand and people have sunk into the mud, unable to be rescued before the tide returns.
 
The colors and vistas never cease to amaze!
 Bald eagles everywhere.
We boondocked here just to soak in the view.
 
  
We camped at Williwaw, a state forest campground, and rode our bikes along the Blue Ice trail to the Portage Glacier visitor center. We saw a t-shirt that showed a bicyclist pedaling hard to get away from a large bear. The caption was “Meals on Wheels.” Since bears can run 30 mph, we opted to carry bear spray and make a lot of noise as we rode.
The Portage glacier is somewhere out in the mist and clouds
Weather on the Kenai seems to be cool all the time! Although we did have one hot day – July 4th. So the old jokes about summer being scheduled on the 4th of July might be true.
They grow very large up here!
One of the surprises up here was our mistaken notion that glacier fed creeks would be crystal clear. Not so. As glaciers move up and down the valleys, they grind up the rock into a fine flour-like silt. The melting glaciers then carry the silt down into the streams turning them a light gray color. The silt is so fine that it never really settles out,
Every campsite seemed to be surrounded either by snow capped mountain vistas or amazing water views.
 
Hiking through the wildflowers in the Chugach.
Note the bear spray. Always at hand!
  
 
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Our view of the Turnagain arm while we plan the next couple of days.
The Turnagain Arm has a 25-30 foot tidal range and has the largest Bore tide in the world. A bore tide is one that has so much tidal range spread over such a small area that it can create a wave with the incoming tide. The Turnagain Arm tidal bore is so large it can be surfed!
 
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Next to the Anchorage airport is the worlds largest floatplane base. Planes landing, taking off and taxiing around the lake at all hours!
The last photo was taken at midnight. There are lights along the edge of the lake – runway lights – but they aren’t needed in the summer!
But if not…
At the southern end of the Kenai peninsula is a small town called Homer, Alaska, that claims to be the halibut fishing capital of the world. We aren’t sure about the truth of that claim, but there is a lot of fishing!
We camped on the Homer Spit, a 5 mile long jetty/sandbar/spit reinforced by rock walls on each side. The tip of the spit is filled with fishing boats, campgrounds and restaurants. At the base of the spit is a small city campground that’s nice and quiet and within walking distance of the town. That was our choice and we thoroughly enjoyed our time.
The end of Home spit has several clusters of small businesses built on stilts over the water. We had been warned that the spit gets crowded on the 4th of July and could get a bit noisy.
We’ve been told to use a large hook if you want to catch a large fish. Wonder what size fish this 13 foot tall fishhook might catch?
We’ve learned the difference between Lupine and Fireweed. Homer had beautiful stands of Lupine growing along the edge of the walking path on the edge of the spit.
We tend to visit local libraries wherever we travel. They are great spots to get good wifi.
The Homer farmers market is every Wed and Sat. The usual collection of food, crafts and vendors.
Alaska flower pots…
They even had a chef demonstration each day at the market.
One of the original (we think) buildings from the old days in Homer.
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Each afternoon, the land breeze would come in strong and the kite surfers would come out in force.
We were invited to lunch with a local couple we met at church. They live just outside town and both work in a local elementary school. The view from their amazing home included 3 glaciers across the inlet.
Coal washed up on the rocky beach daily. And, yes, it burns quite nicely!
The kite surfers came out when the wind was strong and the tide was high. But when the tide was out and the wind gentle, the horseback riders came out.
Exercising while traveling is always a challenge. Enter TRX!
A bunch of folks from the campground got together for an impromptu potluck cookout to celebrate the 4th of July. Lots of great dishes and even better camaraderie.
The Homer July 4th parade was part small town parade, part political campaigning, and mostly a spectacle!
One of the kite surfers opted for the dry land version. Most amazing was his dog that chased him all the way down the Spit and back.
We spent a week in Homer and loved every bit of it!
But if not…
After leaving Seward, we drove across the Kenai Peninsula, headed toward Homer. About halfway were the twin cities of Soldotna and Kenai (the city).
We’ve seen these signs many times in many places. But this is the first place we actually experienced the meaning behind the sign.
The Kenai river is a beautiful place filled with fly fishing, rafters and kayakers. The brochure from the visitors center calls it “the playground of Alaska.” We could certainly see why.
The first signs of smoke or haze off in the distance.
We were told that just a day or so before we drove through, the road was closed and traffic had to detour off on a gravel spur. The fire crews had set a fire break about 4 miles from the road but the fire jumped across it. Fortunately another break set about 2 miles from the road held. The area is mostly wilderness and hasn’t burned since 1947. We talked to one of the fire crew and she told us they plan to let it burn itself out. All they are doing is protecting the gas line and the few structures in the wilderness area. When we went through, the fire was up to about 70,000 acres.
Not your normal highway sign. The locals say that moose are more of a concern than bears. They are typically more aggressive and are described as “dumb.” We don’t think so. Locals told us that moose tend to hang around populated areas when they have babies. The prevailing theory is that the moose know that bears avoid populated areas but really like to attack baby moose. The moose have figured out it they can keep their young safe from bear by hanging around people. Seems pretty smart to us!
This fish walk (just a boardwalk along the river) had warning signs all over it. An aggressive momma moose had charged a couple people that morning.
Most of the riverfront in town is private property. A couple of these fish walks have been built to provide fishing access.
Road construction is everywhere. We found out that being a flagger is a fairly common summer job. You too can stand in the dust or rain, fighting off a swarm of mosquitos for $50/hour plus benefits.
Another uniquely Alaskan road sign.
We watched this group load up several inflatables getting ready to head off into the fog. With the very limited visibility, we were hoping they had several GPS receivers.
At anything except high tide, it’s impossible to launch boats at the ramp since the angle of the ramp is too shallow. There’s a contractor with several large trailers that will launch your boat for you for $55/round trip.
From the top of the bluff looking down on the blanket of cloud over the Cook Inlet.
After all the construction and rebuilding, it’s finally time to repair the lines.
But if not…
These shots are from the return trip from the Northwestern Glacier. The focus on the way back seemed to be all the types of birds there are to see. (Paul & Pam, take note)
This rock is one of the prime nesting areas for several kinds of puffins and a few other species. They nest in May, hatch in June and are gone by the end of July. There were thousands of birds nesting and flying around, but apparently there are none at all in August, just a bare rock. During June, however, they call it the Beehive, because the swarms of birds are so thick.
Let’s see, a partial list (poor memory) of what we saw included: Auklet, a rhinoceros Auklet (apparently very hard to find), murre, glaucaus winged gulls, tufted puffin, horned puffin, guillemots, terns, kittiwakes, and who knows what else. (clicking on a picture should make it larger and easier to see)
The sea lions were also thick on the various rocks and ledges.
The murres were doing their best penguin impersonation.
Dall’s porpoise frolicking along.
A WWII bunker that was manned by a coast watcher to ensure enemy subs didn’t sneak into the harbor. Talk about remote duty!!
A view or our campsite from the waterside.
Then one morning we got a real treat. A peregrine falcon flew in and landed right in front of our campsite. Apparently they live inland but come to the coast during nesting season to feast on the eggs and fledglings.
Salmon for breakfast!
Then a bald eagle decided to take up the role of scavenger. He liked the look of the falcons breakfast and decided to help himself.
After having his breakfast stolen, the falcon flew off.
On the way out of Seward, there is yet another glacier, the Exit glacier, that was just a short hike away from the road.
Note the bear siting the day before we were hiking. We were disappointed, however, that they didn’t list mosquitos as a form of wildlife. We certainly saw tons of them!
But if not…
There were several options for taking a day cruise out to see a glacier. We opted for the longest cruise to the farthest glacier, the Northwestern Glacier. (named, oddly enough, by researchers from Northwestern University) Depending on which source you read, there are between 100,000 and 300,000 glaciers in Alaska. We’ve seen several, but one of our goals for the summer was to get up close to one, and the cruise seemed a good way to do that.
Our first view…
Each glacier is a small piece of a very large ice field up in the mountains. This one is part of the Harding ice field, about 300 square miles of snow and ice that has spawned over 40 glaciers. Each glacier is a river of ice being pushed out of the ice field and down the slope of the mountain. With over 400 inches of snow falling each year on the icefield, it’s no wonder that the snow packs into ice and then forces its way down the mountain.
A bergy bit floating by the ship
Maneuvering through the bits and pieces that had broken off the face of the glacier.
Probably the most impressive thing about a glacier calving is the sound. It cracks and roars like thunder, then echoes across the water.
This small bit of ice (at least it looked small) cascaded down the mountain about a mile before falling into the water. And the bit was large enough that it was a continuous avalanche of ice for that entire mile.
Bundled up in front of the glacier – yes, it was very cold out on deck.
The dark spots all over the ice were seals. Apparently they lay on top of the ice for two reasons: first to warm themselves since they can lay in the sun, even though they are laying on ice. Second, to escape from the orcas who like the taste of seal meat for lunch.
Another glacier we saw on the way back to Seward.
But if not…
Seward was a great stop for us, so there are a lot of pictures. We took an all-day boat tour out to the Northwestern Glacier and back. We opted for the longest tour available since everyone told us the key to seeing lots of wildlife was spending time on the water. They were right!!
This set of photos is from the trip out to the glacier.
The otters were always cute and fun to watch.
Besides the otters and whales, we saw stellar sea lions, seals, orcas and dalls porpoise.
The whales, of course, were a highlight. We saw several including a mom and calf.
And then the momma decided to show off and swim right at the boat before diving.
More whales…
Puffins!! This was the closest one in the water. Most of the ones we saw were flying or sitting in their nesting grounds.
One of the most impressive things was how the seals barked and the seal lions growled, mostly at each other, but sometimes at the approaching boat.
Then we had the grand finale – a whale decided this would be a great time to jump out of the water doing massive tail slap – several times!!
But if not…
