Anchored down in Anchorage

Start: Sunday, June 19 Start: Denali NP  through Friday, June 24, 2016 End: Anchorage, AK

We left Denali in the rain and it rained all day Sunday.  We stopped in a place on the Parks Highway called Trapper Creek for the day and Mike went out to Petersville to check out the prospecting.  Well, he tried but after 29.5 miles of awful road he turned back and headed home.  We did some laundry and left the next morning for Anchorage.

From Monday through Friday night we were at Elmendorf/Richardson Military Base just outside of Anchorage.  A beautiful spot among the trees and ferns and flowers with electric and water.  A great place to stay at while we explored the area.

Home base at Elmendorf Military FamCamp

Monday we drove from Trapper Creek and made a tourist stop in Talkeetna, a cute little town with lots of gift shops.  We got settled in Anchorage for the night and relaxed.

On Tuesday we scouted out the downtown area, had a couple of reindeer dogs (sausages made of reindeer meat) from a street vendor and checked out the Public Lands Office and the Visitors Center. We went to a used bookstore (Mike indulges me!) and picked up a few books before heading home for the evening.

On Tuesday we went to the Anchorage Zoo.  We saw the Alaskan wildlife looking none to happy; lots of owls and other birds as well as musk ox, lynx, fox, bears and moose and even a couple camels! I think they were on loan from another zoo.

sea otters at zoo

camels at the Anchorage zoo

lynx snarling at zoo

It was a beautiful clear day and we could see Denali's south peak way off in the distance.  The mountains surrounding Anchorage have lost the snow and tower over the city.

Wednesday we took a cruise out of Whittier to see glaciers.  We drove the Seward Highway south until the Anton Anderson Memorial Tunnel - 2 miles through solid rock - to get to Whittier.  The Seward Highway had postcard worthy views around every turn.  We got aboard a catamaran cruise ship with about 200 people. We started out about noon and were served a hot lunch as we headed out toward 26 glaciers in the Prince William Sound. 

glacier mountains reflected in the water

glacier water churned by the ship

waterfalls and icebergs

snow melt pouring into the sound

The views were breathtaking.  We could see from inside the cabin or out on the decks.  The ship got within 25 feet of one glacier where we could see otter and sea lions basking in the sun.  There were waterfalls and icebergs in the glacier feed waters.  A good trip for the day.  We finished in time to make the 6:00 pm tunnel (it's one way each half hour) and got to the city where we had great pizzas at the Moose's Tooth Cafe.

Thursday we were worn out and took in the Botanical Gardens in the morning.  Mike played a round of golf at the base course while I caught up on pictures and blog posts.  The flowers around the city and in the forests are a joy to photograph.  The colors are vibrant and the variety of blooms is unending.  I'll do a separate posts just on the pictures of plant life.


 

20,308 Feet

Thursday, June 16 through Saturday, June 18, 2016  Start: Fairbanks, AK  End: Denali National Park, AK

Denali from Eileson viewpoint

the road to Denali 

Mike at Eileson viewpoint with Deanli in the background

That's the height of the tallest mountain in North America, Denali.  We made reservations before we left Tok for Denali National Park.  We just looked to see what was available in the future and picked 3 nights and we lucked out!  We had beautiful weather for all 3 days, sunny with great views.

We stayed at Savage River Campground, 13 miles in on the Park Road.  We checked out the visitors center which is still having an identity crisis (Mt McKinley or Denali?) and it had some well-done wildlife exhibits.  Vehicles may only go to mile 15; the rest of the road (to 92 miles) is accessible only by bus or shuttle.  We stayed in a secluded spot in the campground and its really quiet.  The park makes a big deal about keeping things wild and they even monitor the noise level.

Savage River campground

Thursday we could see the top of Denali from the road to our campground, it was a beautiful clear day that got to almost 75 degrees! 

Friday we took one of the bus shuttles out to Eielson Viewpoint, at mile 69.  It was four hours out and back.  We got stupendous views of Denali, a rare experience since 60% of the time its covered in clouds.  We saw a grizzly bear and caribou on the way, not many animals about with the warmer weather.  The bus hugs the edge of the cliffs on the way making for a dizzying drive.  We stayed at Eielson to take a short walk in the tundra before re-boarding for the return.  

Saturday we struck out on our own.  In the morning we took a hike near the visitors center around Horseshoe Lake.  We saw a bull moose and a mother and baby moose, up close and personal!  

Bull moose near Beaver dam on Horseshoe Trail

mother and baby moose

Made my morning!  Then after lunch we struck out again and took the Savage River loop trail.  Mike discovered an ice flow over one of the hills and spotted caribou way up on the mountain side.  

Savage River

Savage River loop trail

Ice flo on Savage River loop trail

The wind was blowing pretty hard and we were rocked to sleep that night, tired but thrilled with the sights.

Denali had a different feel for a national park.  It's very environmentally conscious, almost to the point where you don't feel welcome.  It's definitely a place where you need to strike out on your own exploring and allowing time to soak in. We were so fortunate to have sunny days with good views, a good guide on our bus and the opportunity to hike on our own.  

We're on to Anchorage this week, heading south.

Fairbanks and the Alaskan Interior

We spent four days in Fairbanks exploring from Fort Wainwright Army military base located near downtown.  We'd arrived Sunday after leaving Chicken, Alaska and continuing up the Alaska highway.  We reached the end of the Alaska Highway at Delta Junction, 1,422 miles.

milesone at the end of the Alaska Highway

It was a rainy day and we checked into Ft Wainwright for our stay, enjoyed grocery shopping and the commissary and snagged treats at the food court.

Monday we woke up to sunshine and breezy weather.  We went to the Visitors Center which had some fantastic exhibits about living in Alaska in the cold - Arizona should have something like that for the heat! We then explored Pioneer Park that had a museum with lots and lots of early Alaska artifacts.

Linotype printing press

fur (wolf, lynx) parka

After that we went to the BLM, Department of Natural Resource and Fish and Game trying to find out where you could prospect - talk about bureaucracies !  The Fish and Game Department was helpful and had some pelts of various wild animals as well as stuffed versions of the large species found in the state.  The size of a moose, musk ox and bison are terrifying!


We wrapped up the day with a visit to the Creamer's Field Waterfowl Preserve and Nature Trails for a stroll through a boreal forest and wetlands.  We saw some of the sandhill cranes that winter over in Wilcox, Arizona.

Sandhill cranes in Fairbanks

iris in fields around preserve

boreal forest at preserve

Tuesday we went to the Ice Theatre downtown.  Fairbanks hosts the World Ice Carving Competition every March and this converted movie theatre has a short film and several of the sculptures on exhibit.  The MC is one of the sculptors and he’s won multiple 1^st, 2^nd and 4^th place prizes over the years.  It was a neat presentation where we got to walk among the sculptures in 20 degree coolers.

prospector ice sculpture

We went on from there to the Museum of the North at the University of Alaska.  There were lots of exhibits arranged by region with animals, native cultural items and history.  It was interesting but we both agreed the museums are getting repetitive.  It’s not that old a place, it wasn’t even a state when we were born!

First Nation weaving

table with elk legs

antler art piece

Today, Wednesday,  we moved to an electric hookup (yeah!) and I baked and cooked while Mike went to play golf.  I’m stocking up for the next leg of our trip.  

When he returned, we went to Chena Hot Springs for a long soak and then a Jacuzzi spell before heading over to the NORTH POLE!  Not the real one, but the town of North Pole, 13 miles outside of Fairbanks.  After damaging our wallets, we had a Mexican food fix and prepared to move on tomorrow. 

We’ll be three nights in Denali National Park and I don’t know what the reception will be like so I’ll catch up when we can.  It's 10:30 pm as I'm sitting here next to the screen door with bright light casting long shadows.