Flying to Alaska for a Wedding, Part 2

Last year we were able to go to Tok, Valdez, Palmer, Anchorage, Whittier, Homer, Wasilla, Denali, Fairbanks, North Pole, and Chicken, Alaska. This year, when Cris and Mitch went off for their honeymoon, we took the opportunity to go to Soldotna/Kenai, Seward, and Mt. McKinley.

Soldotna and Kenai are on the mouth of the famous Kenai River on the Kenai Peninsula, just slightly off the same road we took to Homer last year.  So we got to revisit the usual spectacular scenes of glaciated mountains glistening above the waters. Together with Homer and Cooper’s Landing (where we stopped for the best smoked salmon chowder I ever tasted), they are well-known fishing towns. But this year, the summer is colder, wetter, and darker. It was so windy I became paranoid that my brand new alpaca winter hat would be blown away. 

Even the snow-capped mountains seemed farther away and hidden by haze that the pictures were not as bright.  The saving grace was the quaint little Russian Orthodox Church in the Old Town of Kenai, built at the turn of the nineteenth century. We even found a set of wedding crowns we could wear! Bill also felt so good to find that, in Soldotna, an organization is doing better than Walmart at catering to the needs of the RV industry enthusiasts!  Fred Meyer, besides being a place to dry camp for the night, had complimentary dump and potable water stations!

Bill was very sensitive to my frustration that, instead of going back to Anchorage the next morning, he headed off to the other side of the peninsula, to the town of Seward, at the mouth of the Kenai Fjords National Park. I felt that Whittier (from where we took the Glacier Bay cruise last year) is prettier (it rhymes!) though smaller. It was already off-season so there was hardly any soul on the waterfront.  But the boats are all still moored on the marina and the shops were still open. A long pipe coming down from a strange huge equipment on the bay was still a mystery to us as we left.

 8 ½ miles west of the town lies the famous Exit Glacier (part of the huge Harding Ice Fields of 500 square miles), so named because it has been receding slowly since the earliest recorded terminus in 1815 (the recordings are so marked along the way), about 2 miles from the current one.  One can imagine the size of the glacier from the marshland it is creating at its foot. I welcomed the chance to finally walk on the glacial ridge just as Bill did at the Worthington Glacier in Valdez last year.  But it was so cold, like I was inside the freezer.  Quickly, I turned back after the photo op. 

Then the soggy weather changed and we got the chance to go for a view of Mt. McKinley which, at over 20,000 feet, is the highest peak in North America.  It is useful to point out that, although there are 650 higher peaks in the Himalayas and 44 in South America, you look at McKinley rising from a base of sea level and thus looks so ‘gi-normous’, as Bill’s granddaughter Cassie would say! Last year, the mountain was totally covered with clouds even as we took the Denali National Park bus to the best viewpoint inside. 

They say only 30% of those who go to see it, get to.  I am so proud to say that, this year, we finally did! 

It was an increasing spectacle as it loomed larger and larger from Anchorage to Talkeetna, a drive of about 134 miles.  There are three great viewing points: Denali South (Mile 135) and Talkeetna hill in the south and Denali North (Mile 163) and Wonder Lake (inside Denali National Park) in the north.  The headline photo is from Denali South and the photo here is from the Mt. McKinley View Lodge half a mile before Denali South which we accidentally found as we looked for food when I got hungry! 

One last note   The US Open was on while we were in Anchorage and I got to see enough of it except for those times we were out sightseeing which we, of course, timed during those matches when Nadal , my favorite, was not playing.  The men’s final was supposed to be on the day we left, at 12 noon (our flight was at 5:30 PM).  So with our bags packed and safe in the Cristine’s car, we holed up in the TGIF Sports Bar! Unluckily, the match was postponed to the following day because of rain. But we got to watch it in Monroe and Nadal is now the US Open Champ!

Next Stop: Monroe, Washington

Flying to Alaska for a Wedding, Part 1

After one summer month in Alaska last year (please see my last post in  April, Part 1, and my second post in May, Part 2, of this year), we thought we would not be coming back till maybe after five years because it is too costly to get here, whether by land, air or sea! But here we are again because, Cristine, Bill’s youngest, emboldened by our success, finally went to the Net where she met Mitch. On Sept. 6 they ventured on a first date (the same day we were at the Arctic Circle!). Exactly a year after, we are attending their wedding at the Upper Perennials section of the Alaska Botanical Garden!

That morning, low clouds hovered around Cristine’s home in Anchorage.  It was a very pretty sight but not good for a garden ceremony.  Lo and behold!  At around 2-3 PM, the time of their wedding, the sky cleared and smiled at all the pretty blooms around. The small happy party proceeded to have great steaks at the Lone Star SteakHouse.  Then the couple disappeared for their honeymoon at the Alaska Frontier B&B noted for the jacuzzi and sauna right inside the matrimonoial bedroom.

In over a year, from Alaska to Mexico, Yosemite to the Everglades, and the Smokies to Yellowstone, we had seen elk, deer, bear, alligators, python, mountain goats, dall sheep, wolves, etc. but had not seen a single moose!  There was one time in Northern British Columbia but we were not that familiar with our Nikkon SLR yet and he escaped! This time around though, they were right in Cristine’s lovely backyard (Cristine is an exceptinal plant lady) and our rented RV was parked there!  We were so happy!   

You can join a cruise ship through the Inside Passage to get here but not only does it cost a lot but you also lose your freedom to roam the last frontier. Driving your RV through the Alaska Highway allows you to go to more places but, with the cost of gas at $4.50 to a gallon in some parts, it is not only a very expensive way, but also the slowest!  Flying is costly but, since we are holders of Alaska Airlines loyalty cards, we got a companion certificate for just $99 or a little more than buy one get one free.

So we stored M’A ‘turn at Thunderbird Resort in Monroe, Washington and flew to Anchorage on Sept.3. But we had to figure out how to lower the cost of lodging (0 on a cruise or if you brought your RV).  All rooms for two were from $99/night and up plus more $ for a rental car. So we saw the beauty, and the logic, of renting an RV (many Europeans tour North America in RVs)!  Since it was almost off-season, the rates are from $79/night + mileage or, what we finally got, $89/night (unlimited mileage), for any size RV.  

 

We chose a small 22-foot Class C because it would 1) fit nicely in Cristine’s driveway, 2)have reasonable mpg, 3) be easy to maneuver even in city streets, and 4) be self-sufficient to take to places we were not able to go to the year before.  In short, as we have become accustomed to, we rented an apartment and a car all rolled into one.  It was a brilliant decision because when Cristine used it to make her finishing touches.  And when they went for their honeymoon, we also took off to see Soldotna/Kenai, Seward, and Talkeetna (Part 2). 

Next Stops: Soldotna/Kenai, Seward, and Talkeetna, Alaskao

Spending Summer in Alaska, Part 2-Denali National Park, Fairbanks, North Pole, and Chicken

We left Cristine, Bill's daughter, in Anchorage with a tinge of sadness in our hearts, knowing that another trip to Alaska will not happen again any time soon. But we were also eager to proceed to Denali National Park, one of the country’s most admired parks. It was established as the first national park to conserve wildlife in 1917.  Its dynamic glaciated landscape supports grizzly bears, caribou, wolves, Dall sheep and moose. And the park is home to North America’s highest peak, the awe-inspiring, 20,320 foot Mount McKinley. At 6 million acres, the park is larger than the State of Massachusetts.


On the way we passed through Wasilla (population: 7,000), the hometown of Sarah Palin.  The normal rumor-mongerers that we were,  we tried to drive around Lake Lucille to chance upon her home.  But we were not lucky.  So we went on to Talkeetna, on the southern end of Denali, where the view of Mt. McKinley was supposed to be best.  Unfortunately, the mountain was hiding from us under the heavy fog cover.  Now we understand that July is the best time to spend summer in Alaska! That night we camped at the nearby Denali State Park, reserving the next 2 at its big brother, Denali National.  

The only way to get to the heart of Denali National Park was to backpack or ride the park buses.  The next day we chose a bus that would take us to the nearest point to Mt. McKinley.  Our bus driver did a good job of spotting wildlife for us.  He stopped when a grizzly bear suddenly appeared roaming on the road right in front of us.  Later he spotted dall sheep grazing at a mountain side, a wolf nestled among the grass by the road, and caribous resting down the valley.  From many sides the majesty of the alpine tundra began to unfold before us. Little did we know that it was a prelude to our Arctic experience.

But when we reached Eielson, the heavy fog behind which Mt. McKinley had been hiding had not lifted at all.  We were denied the spectacle of the ‘High One’ of the 600-mile long Alaska Range.  We could, therefore, not buy any of the merchandise at the gift shop that glowingly said: ‘I am part of the 30% that saw Mt. McKinley’. And even if we stayed a few more nights, the forecast was that it would not clear so we decided to just visit the educational Murie Science Learning Center and the fascinating Iditarod sled dogs training facility on the park and leave for Fairbanks the following day.

Fairbanks is the largest city in the interior region of Alaska, and second largest in the state behind Anchorage. The population of the city is over 35,000 and is home to the University of Alaska Fairbanks, the oldest college in the state. The university was the most exciting place in the city.  From a viewpoint on campus, we finally got a glimpse of Mt. McKinley, albeit 100 miles away.  Then, I saw, for the first time, artichoke plants at the university’s beautiful nursery.  But the most exciting part in campus was chancing upon the large muskoxen at its Large Animals Research Station. 

We stopped by the Fairbanks Visitors Center to ask about how we can see the famed Aurora Borealis and a possible trip to the Arctic Circle.  They told us the northern lights will have a greater probability of being seen in about 5 days (it is visible in Yellowknife, Alaska 10 months in a year).  We also found out that the distance between Fairbanks and the Arctic Circle along Dalton Highway is about 400 miles roundtrip while between Dawson City and the Arctic Circle along Dempster Highway in the Yukon is about 500.  I guess we were not ready to take the big leap so instead we went to North Pole, Alaska the following day.

And there we became kids all over again.  The city and our campground were bedecked with everything Christmas:  Christmas décor hung from all the light posts on the streets, the campground entrance was guarded by  7 reindeer and 20-foot Santa.  Another big Santa with a sleigh was in front of a small park with real reindeer.  Then there was a huge Christmas store on the lot from which we sent Christmas cards to all our siblings, children, and grandkids postmarked North Pole, Alaska.  And, of course, I had my picture taken on Santa’s lap! Truly, there it was Christmas 365 days in a year! 

Finally, we decided to go back to the lower 48 on a different route (not the Alaska Highway) this time…through Chicken, Alaska and the Top of the World Highway to Dawson City in the Yukon.  The road to Chicken, Alaska is all gravel, a prelude to our next several days of travel.  The town’s summertime population is 32 (wintertime it’s 7).  We understand that the town got its name because the residents could not spell the ‘ptarmigan’.  The town is comprised of 2 campgrounds, one with gold-panning activities and the other with a country store.  We stayed at the former which is up the hill.  There we witnessed a spectacular sunset.  And the following day, we resumed our journey through the spectacular Top of the World Highway.

Next Stops:  Dawson City and the Arctic Circle in the post titled, ‘Venturing to the Arctic Circle’

Spending Summer in Alaska, Part 1-Valdez, Anchorage, Homer, and Whittier

And so from Mile 0 in Dawson Creek all the way to Mile 1422 in Delta Junction, we completed navigating the famed Alaska Highway in a week.  We reached Alaska from northern British Columbia on our first wedding anniversary (8/8/08) and our month there will always remain etched in our memories!  Let me tell you about how my dream of spending a lovely summer in Alaska came true!  We will cover Tok, Valdez, Anchorage, Homer, Whittier, Denali National Park, Fairbanks, North Pole, and the little town of Chicken, Alaska, in two parts.  

Tok was a waypoint.  We arrived late and quickly hooked Star to electricity and water, made our dinner, watched a movie, and called it a night --- that is, after getting a call from April, my youngest, about her musings over her future.  The next morning we woke up to a day completely covered with smog from the forest fires that were raging all around.  Quickly, we called Cristine, Bill’s youngest who makes Anchorage her home, and told her we would postpone our seeing her for a few days and go to southern Alaska first as the smog was supposed to have enveloped the north from Anchorage to Fairbanks.

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There were a few showers on the way to Valdez, Alaska; the air was damp and a lot of fog hovered around.  As we lost cell signals and our broadband communications, I commented to Bill, ‘Gosh, the glaciers are puny around here.  They are just tiny patches of white.’   But a few minutes later it changed.  All of a sudden, as Star negotiated a bend, a large white mountain appeared before us.  It was Worthington Glacier, the first glacier that I could walk to from the roadside!  Bill climbed it (I feigned ankle pain) and brought back a piece of the blue ice rock which we quickly deposited into our freezer!  I could have ended the trip right then out of sheer delight!

Valdez is a quaint little fishing town in a beautiful setting.  Low-lying clouds circled the town and the boats on the marina.  The longest boat ramp in the world reached far out into the waters, which seemed to be overcrowded with pink salmon that were spawning nearby.  Allison Park was a great nature camp on the water.  Budding fishermen lined the banks.  The hiking trails were filled with berry bushes that the bears had ravaged.  Bill and I were a little bit too late!  But, better the berries than us!

Up in the hills where the trails wound, we came across a section of the Alaska gas pipeline.  But the more special thing we saw were three young men who, in their flip-flops, were hauling a canoe, heavy with provisions and equipment, up the steep trail to camp up in the mountains.  It is definitely not about age!  But what a lifestyle!  If only we were a wee bit younger!

We debated going into the Wrangell-St. Elias National Park.  It would take a few more days and we wanted to go back to our planned route and see Cristine.  So, we missed the chance (again!) to see the highest point of the Canadian Rockies!  On the way back to Anchorage, we passed by the 27-mile long Matanuska  Glacier.   It was so unique because the ice had spilled down to the valleys in a long thinning winding white wave.  We tried to reach it but the way there were all through private ‘for a fee’ places.  We wondered why…or maybe we were just on the wrong side!

Anchorage was the neat town we expected it to be.  There was no hint of the cold winter that had just passed.    Kyle, Bill’s first-ever grandson arrived for a vacation with his mother (her birthday gift for him; he currently stays with his father in Hilo, Hawaii) and us.  After celebrating his birthday with a dinner in Anchorage, we took a trip to Homer, Alaska (the halibut fishing capital of the world) at the southwestern tip of the state.  It has a famous spit jutting out into the cold blue waters of the Bering Sea. 

There the two guys fished to their hearts’ content and we gave the fish they caught to the chef at the inn where we were staying.  That night we had a seafood feast!  The next day we went hunting for souvenirs and good eats at the quaint shops and restaurants in the colorful huts perched above the waters along the shore.  I even had my photo taken with the largest halibut (almost 200 pounds for one) caught in a derby that day.  And that second night we had a few drinks at the famous Salty Dawg Café on the spit and posted our Philippine peso 100 bill and Cristine’s  US $1 on its currency-covered ceilings and walls.

But Kyle had to leave to go back to work in Hawaii (he installs solar panels).  So only the three of us were able to go to the next adventure: a 4-hour Glacier Bay Cruise from Whittier, Alaska.  Whittier is a small town of about 200 (which doubles during summer) on the western edge of south central Alaska (Valdez was on the southeastern part).  Recently, a number of cruise lines have begun to use Whittier as a departure port for their Gulf of Alaska Cruises. Whittier is only 62 road miles southeast of Anchorage, separated from Alaska’s road system by a 2.5 mile long tunnel that is shared by alternating one-way auto and railroad traffic (quite an experience in itself).

The cruise took us to see 26 glaciers up close, some rising to 1,700 feet above sea level. We rode in a high speed catamaran with huge picture windows inside the two enclosed decks (there are extensive outside viewing areas too). The voyage included visits to Resurrection Bay and the College Fjords. We saw several types of glaciers: Alpine (hanging), Piedmont (on mountaintops) and Tidewater (on the water edge). We did not see any glaciers calving (when broken pieces of ice fall into the water and become icebergs) but we saw sea otters, seals, porpoises, sea lions and whales.  We were most surprised as we approached…Surprise Glacier, a very blue tidewater glacier many of whose pieces that had calved were floating on the icy waters around the vessel (shades of Titanic).  The highlight was when the crew served us glacial blue margaritas from the ice they harvested from an iceberg!

Next Stops:  Denali National Park, Fairbanks, North Pole, Chicken, in Alaska

   

Navigating the Alaska Highway, Part 2

Northern British Columbia had some very scenic spots that we chanced upon:  Muncho Lake, Tetsa River, Stony Mountain, Summit Lake, and Liard Hot Springs.  It was in this part of North America where  we saw the most number of wildlife by the road sides: a mother bear and her cub relaxing among the grass and wildflowers, a herd of bison lying on the ground with a huge one walking along the road beside our motorhome, and a moose hiding among the shrubs by the hot springs.  There were no mileposts on the first 1000 kilometers of the Alaska Highway but we started seeing them on the Yukon.   The Highway criss-crossed the British Columbia/Yukon border several times.  So we were primed when we reached Watson Lake, the first city on the Yukon part of the Highway. 

We went to see the Northern Lights Museum expecting to be educated about the Aurora Borealis at $10 each.  It turned out to be just a brief video of the lights recreated on the dome ceiling for effect.  It was not worth the time and money the 3 couples spent on the ‘show’.  But the memorable place in Watson Lake was Signpost Forest where we were the 67,000^th visitor to place a signpost.  Ours reads ‘Bill & Carol, Pittsburg, Ks/ Manila, Phil. 8PM, 8/8/08’ which we painted on a wooden board we purchased at a HomeBuilders’ Centre.  The paint was provided by the Visitor’s Information Centre where we also registered as Yukon Gold Passport holders, with the chance to win 5, 10, or 20 troy ounces of gold if we complete 10, 20, or 30 rubber stamps of tourist spots we visit on the Yukon!!!

Along the highway between Watson Lake and Whitehorse were rocky embankments (between Upper Liard and Rancheria along the Yukon part of the Highway) that were used by many to arrange rocks into letters to memorialize their passing through the Highway.  We arranged ours to symbolize BC (not British Columbia but Bill and Carol) alongside others.  We originally thought we could spell out our names but we found out how difficult the endeavor was and gave up with just the 2 letters!

At another bend we saw a large arrow sign which we followed and chanced upon Whirlpool Canyon, a river that made a whirlpool as it wound its way.  There we met a Canadian couple who also followed the arrow.  They were making their way from Calgary (just like us) going to Nunavut past the Arctic Circle hauling a small aluminum boat with an outboard motor to fish.  They dry camped often and they taught us about dumping gray water (washing dishes and showering) almost anywhere and drinking creek water, as long as we were sure there was no beaver contamination.  A small town we passed was called Toad River.  It featured a gas station, a restaurant, and a country store.  There was a place there dedicated to thousands of hats and Bill pinned his Taquan Air baseball cap which he got from a private charter company in Sitka, Alaska where he went for a fishing expedition with friends in 1999. At this part of the Highway, gas was at $4.50 per gallon!

Whitehorse is the biggest city in the Yukon.  The largest weather vane (in the Guiness Book of Records) in the world was there.  It was a DC3 plane!!!  Bill thought that it has to be a very strong wind (at least 10-15 knots) to move that plane. Smith House at Whitehorse’s LePage Park gave us 2 whitehorse pins to brag about, but so man y places, including the biggest fish ladder in the world, was already closed for the season.  So we didn’t see the salmons jumping out of the river to spawn!  We had to be satisfied with the SS Klondike, one of the biggest boats used for transporting gold to and from the Yukon River.  And the experience that topped it all?  We feasted on the world-renowned bowl of chili con carne at Tim Horton’s, the great Canadian coffee chain! Claudine (my second daughter) had gifted us with a Tim Horton’s gift card before we left Calgary…and they had it in Whitehorse!

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 The unfortunate thing was smoke fire from Whitehorse thru Haines Junction to Beaver Creek (50 fires around the Yukon since it had been so hot and dry that summer) stole all our beautiful scenes.  We could hardly see anything beyond the nose of Star! Burwash Landing was almost wiped out by a huge forest fire caused by humans camping (although lightning is the more common cause). 

Another unfortunate thing was the perennial damage caused by permafrost effects on the Alaska Highway, especially after Destruction Bay.  The cost of maintenance must be high.  There are always many road fissures and small ponds on the fields along its sides.  The highway had a roller coaster feel to it and evergreens in nearby fields could not grow any taller than a few feet.  Orange flags were everywhere, designating permafrost damaged areas.

And then there was White River, colored off-white due to volcanic ash from two successive (in geologic time) pyroclastic eruptions of Mount Churchill in the Wrangell Mountain Range.  The first eruption occurred in 1890 and the second in 1950. Thick layers of pumice-like ash over 340,000 square kilometers ( 211,276 square miles) severely disrupted food supply and caused the migration of people steadily southward.  The river is not recommended for boating; the ecology could not be restored.

So camping on the Kluane RV Park in Haines Junction was not what we expected.  At the junction we were supposed to be able to see a glimpse of glaciers in Juneau and also the highest mountain peak of Canada and the Canadian Rockies.  We didn’t, of course.  We also thought we found a great hiking trail near the campground but we returned to our motorhome right away after we found out that the mosquitoes were sooooo hungry!  What saved the day was the discovery of quonset huts that have been turned into churches that could sit 30 people.

 The next day we hurried to resume our trek to Alaska through Beaver Junction, Yukon and Delta Junction, Alaska which was the official end of the Alaska Highway!  The signpost at the Visitor Center reads:

This highway was constructed during World War II as a military supply route for interior Alaska Military and Airfields in 1942. 7 Army regiments and 42 Contractors and Public Roads Administrators working from Delta Junction South and Dawson Creek North completed it when they met at Soldiers' Summit at Kluane Lake Yukon Territory in November 1942. At the peak of construction, 77 Contractors employed 15,000 men and 11,000 pieces of road building equipment. The total construction cost for 1422 miles was $115,000,000.      

Next Stops:  Tok, Valdez, Anchorage, Homer, Seward, Fairbanks, and Chicken, all in Alaska