Annabel, Pat & Mollie: North to Alaska

Whittier – Aug 14 to 15

On the way to Whittier, we stopped at Girdwood and rode the tram to the top of the mountain. Then we visited the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center, where there is a drive through habitat section. Mollie especially enjoyed the elk, caribou, and moose. We also enjoyed watching the young bear cubs play in the water. The cubs are orphaned and rescued. Then we drove through a 2 mile long tunnel to get to Whittier.  What a strange little community.  Whittier was built by the military as a secret installation during WWII and later converted to a town. There is not a lot of flatland to build on, so most of the townsfolk live in one of the old government buildings that has been remodeled. A similar building sits empty and derelict with broken windows. The town mostly seems to be oriented around the marina, fishing, cruise ships, tourism, and the ferry. We had a picnic and spent the night in a creekside municipal campground. Next day, as we were leaving on the ferry Kennecott, we could see an immense glacial ice field that had been above our campground, the field that also feeds the Portage Glacier several miles behind Whittier

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Anchorage Aug 12 2007

Driving down busy C street in the middle of downtown Anchorage, we saw a Mon and baby moose! They were browsing in trees and bushes in a wooded park area right next to the road! Photo of Mom on C Street is in the August photo album!

Denali - 2

Well, our backcountry camping went pretty well.  We were at Teklanika Campground for 3 nights, in Mon 8-6, out Thur 8-9.   This was a really nice wilderness campground about 30 miles inside the park. The first night we went on a short bus trip deeper into the park, to Polychrome Pass around the 56 mile marker.  Saw lots of animals.  The second day, we went all the way back into the park, over 90 miles back to Kantishna.  We saw a wonderful moose really close to the road eating grasses from the bottom of a pond.  We saw caribou, Dall sheep, and bears.  And Arctic Ground Squirrel, Snowshoe Hare, Pika, Ptarmigan, and some golden eagles. We counted 88 Dall sheep (there were probably more) in several groups. All together, we saw 8 bears!!!  This is the time of year when caribou are moving in small groups to join up into a large herd for migration to their winter grounds.  We saw many small groups, and individual caribou.  The day we were leaving, there was a caribou that got on the road in front of us and led the parade of vehicles for a quarter mile or so!  Speaking of caribou, before we left the park, we drove back in as far as they let you drive, to Savage River, and saw a caribou up really close then, too!  What a treat!  We do come to see the animals, maybe more than the scenery.  Though the scenery is spectacular!  We saw The Mountain, Denali.  Or Mount McKinley, by its official Government name.  It is incredible!!  There are pix.  It was extra special in the pink light of sunset.  Or what passes for sunset around 11 pm.  They say the mountain is only visible about a third of the time.  The day we left, we tried all day to see it, and finally saw it about 10:30 or 11 at night!

 

Favorite Baseball Cap

SledNeck

Denali - 1

First few hours we were here we saw: 3 moose, a caribou, several ptarmigan, and lots of bunnies.  Mollie’s favorites seem to be the bunnies – we like the moose more!  And we also saw the mountain!  They say Denali is only visible about a third of the time.  A little overcast but we could see that huge snow-covered bulk looming over all the other mountains.  Day 2 and we saw 2 more moose.  Dinner at the Salmon Bake.  Soup at Bud’s Subs (a really good winter squash bisque).  This afternoon we went on an ATV ride out in the bush just outside the park.  Fun riding through the hills and creeks and overlooking the mountains from out in the woods.  Readers will recognize the area from Jon Krakauer’s book Into the Wild, off Stampede Rd, outside of a little town called Healy.  Tomorrow, Mon Aug 6th  we go to Teklanika Campground that is the farthest you can drive into the park, 29 miles.  The shuttle busses go on to the full 95 miles.  So we’ll be without cell coverage, electricity, etc until late Wed pm when we get back.

Seward

Spent 3 nights at Seward at the city’s beachside RV park. Went on a Wildlife & Glacier cruise on Resurrection Bay and Kenai Fjords Nat’l Pk. Saw 2 pods of Orcas, a Humpback whale, sea otters, seals, sea lions, eagles, puffins, lots of other birds. We also went on a tour to the Mitch Seavey Iditarod Kennels where he trains and conditions sled dogs. He won the race in 04.  We got to see one week and five week old puppies. Part of the adult dogs’ summer training involves carting tourists out along the trails. We loved seeing the dogs work. Met a musher named Jacobs from Belgium who is planning his first Iditarod this spring, first Sat in March 08. Good doggie fun.

Anchorage

We saw several moose in Anchorage! A mom & baby and 3 other big ones. Off a trail near the airport. First we’ve seen this trip. Ate good vegetarian food at Alladin (Middle Eastern Restaurant) and Natural Pantry, gro & deli. Had a little work done on the Rialta- oil chg etc. Anchorage will be our base as we come and go to other places. We usually stay at Creekwood Inn & RVs here on the Seward Highway.  They have WiFi, too!

Brooks Lodge, Katmai Nat’l Pk July 28-29, 2007

We were at the airport at 6:30 am to fly to Brooks Lodge, Katmai Nat’l Park. And what a trip! We only spent one night but it was a really fantastic time! We left Anchorage Sat. morning at 7 a.m. and just got back tonight, Sun., at 9:30. We flew to King Salmon in a regular plane and then on to Katmai National Park in a float plane. We spent the two days walking miles to bear-viewing platforms near Brooks Falls where we watched a total of 55 bears fishing for salmon and arguing over their catches. The most fun part was watching the mamas trying to teach their cubs to fish. It was one of the most exciting and fun things we have ever done. We will go back there for three days in Sept. when it will be more relaxed. The bears will be at a platform closer to lodge then (they were at the Brooks Falls farther away in July) and we will be able to spread out our bear looking over the three days. We are both exhausted and have sore legs but both agree that it was one of those times in life where something works out to be much, much better than advertised, which as you know, doesn't happen often. Pat will get the pictures posted to our blog as soon as she recovers I am sure. We got some really amazing ones. -- AKS

Haines Sat July 21

Oceanside Campground is at a marina, our view is the ocean, Lynn Canal, and snowcapped mountains from our window. Saw 2 seals right here at the campground shore. Fewer cruise ships here. Which makes it more of a regular town and less of a touristy place. We went looking for bears, didn’t see any, but did see more seals, and eagles fighting over fish. Drove out to Chilcoot Lake area and the Chilcoot
River (a salmon spawning river), where we saw seals on a sandbar at the mouth of the river, including a couple of babies. And we drove out to Chilcat State Park, where you are looking up at glaciers across the bay. Haines is the first town we’ve come to that you can get to by road, and it is where we will take the Haines Highway north into Canada to meet the Alaska Highway and head for Anchorage.

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