25-09 Valdez Alaska

25-2009

Anchorage to Valdez Alaska

Campground: Boardwalk Rv Park, Glennallen AK. $20, Full hookups. Very basic, just a place to park for the night.

Campground: Bayside Rv Park, Valdez AK. $31 for a pull thru site, Full hookups w/cable Tv. Many Rv parks in Valdez, most within the city limits. Could have gotten a cheaper spot, but decided to splurge.

A couple of notes before leaving Anchorage. The highways in and around Anchorage are very rutted. What I mean is, that they have depressions just like the old wagon trains would have made, only on asphalt. Hard to see, but you sure can feel it. The first time I experienced the ruts, it felt like I was driving on glass as my wheels kept drifting to the depressions in the roadway. Very uncomfortable feeling.

Mosquitoes. I’ve heard from many folks that the mosquitoes would eat one alive and to use lots of repellent. One of the visitor center guys asked me if I’d been eaten alive yet. I said no and he proceeded to pull up his pants leg and showed me all the mosquito bites he has. Guess I’ve been fortunate in that I haven’t had any really bad experiences with the little vermin and haven’t come across any of the horrid horse flies that apparently take chunks of flesh when they bite you. Each persons experiences are different of course. I do use insect repellant if I’m going to be outdoors for long periods. Of course I’m keeping pretty covered up as well and haven’t put on my shorts even though many days they would be more comfortable. The extra coverage of keeping full length pants on does help and I don’t have to put on as much bug spray.

Leaving Anchorage.

I’m leaving my temporary home in Anchorage and heading out on hwy 1, The Glenn Hwy heading towards my next destination Valdez. I have become addicted to travel, to the point that while in Anchorage for 8 days, my last couple of days I was eager to get back on the road with my camper. The Glenn Hwy is a bit rough, having many perma frost dips along the way forcing me to go slower than I normally would go, even for me. 55 tops, with 50 being the speed most of these perma frost dips can be taken without dislodging everything in the camper.

I hadn’t seen any wild life along hwy 1 and just as I was thinking, wouldn’t it be nice to see a moose, I glanced over towards a pristine pond edged in a narrow band of green grass and black spruce trees behind it all. The moose was huge, just standing there at the edge of the pond. Probably trying to cool off. The last couple of days I’ve actually started to run my a/c in the camper. Today it got up to 90 while driving down the road. The campsite I stayed at overnight for $20 had signs everywhere, “absolutely no electric heaters”. Not a problem, I had the A/C running most of the evening.

As I left Glennallen AK, which is a cross roads town with all the basic services. Keep in mind, these “town“ with maybe a half a dozen buildings are usually 60 to 100 miles apart. So stopping to get gas etc are essential to make it to the next stop. I headed on down hwy 4, Richardson Hwy. Now my Mile Post book said the road descended and were they right. All except for an 8% grade, the other 75 miles was a constant gradual descent. Easy on the gas, that is until I take the return trip back uphill all the way. Only one road in and one road out of Valdez. The road was pretty bumpy as well from perma frost, but there was only one section of construction along the hwy.

Even with the smog and mist from the forest fires (there are 70 currently active fires in the state) the scenery continues to become more dynamic. From primordial forests and flat wet lands the scenery suddenly changes into mountain ranges as I continue to descend along the Richardson hwy. The mountain ranges with their numerous glaciers look so massive, at times, the closer I get to them, they completely block out my view of the sky. Even with them shrouded in mist from the forest fires, they occasionally peak out and I’m almost blown away by the size and number of mountains as I get closer to Valdez.

I’m able to see the Trans Alaskan Pipeline as well on my left side, gleaming in the diffused sunlight, between trees and the many lakes. Amazing to be going down a steep hill, looking over and seeing a lake along the side of a mountain range where it levels off just enough to have created a lake. I thought about starting to count the lakes as I passed each one by, but I’m not sure I learned how to count that high. And speaking of water, the Copper River and many tributaries follow along the same path as the hwy. A huge raging river, filled with acres of fallen trees being swept down to sea, many getting stuck on the vast shallow rock expanses of glacial debris along the rivers path. Everything seems to be bigger and more expansive up here.

Finally crossing over Thompson Pass and descending down into Valdez after numerous stops along the way, I pulled into the Bayside Rv park, right on the edge of New Valdez. You may remember back in 1964 when the earthquake hit, Valdez was the closest big town near the epicenter. It destroyed the Old town and swept away the shipping docks. They ended up moving the town a few miles west to safer ground, where I’m at today.

I’ve fallen in love with this seaside town the minute I entered it. I’ve heard from other travelers that there’s nothing here, just a small fishing port and that’s it. The big thing I’ve learned on this trip is to go find out for yourself. This is my kind of town. The Rv park where I’m staying is within walking distance of the harbor, less than a block away. I can ride my bike anywhere in town. The roads are wide and the traffic is light. We are literally at the end of the road. They even have some bike paths. I’ve already been out on my bike 4 times today.

Valdese, population: 3843.

Ta, dah…. I finally took a glacier tour here in Valdez. If you make it to Alaska there are many glacier tours one could take out of Whittier, Seward, Valdez and a number of other places. The timing was right and it was a perfect day for a tour so I took the Stan Stephens Glacier and Wildlife cruise. They have 6 hr and 9 ½ hour tours and I decided to go all the way and take the 9 ½ hour tour which included two fiords leading to the Columbia Glacier and the Mears Glacier.

I know my friend Linda Hill from work who will be taking a similar tour in a couple more weeks will really enjoy it. My tour was on a double hulled ship which was smooth as butter on the water. Right off the bat I met a couple named Doug and Peggy who know Ed and Sandy (Desert Trails campers) from Spokane Wash. Small world.

We all thought there’d be some down time during the 9+ hour tour, but we were kept busy the entire time viewing wildlife, scenery and the two main glaciers. Oh and the lunch and later on they served clam chowder as a snack. What a deal. I was exhausted running from one side of the boat to the other and back to get as many good shots as possible.

I won’t bore you with a blow by blow description of the tour. Just know that it was great to see all of the wildlife. It was almost as if it was timed perfectly throughout the tour. I guess seeing the hump back whales was the most exciting. The sea otters were the cutest. Eagles fly overhead every once and a while. Wish I could have gotten a good shot of the puffins, but they fly off as soon as the boat got close to them. Though if they eat too much, they have trouble taking off.

And the views of the glaciers up close was as expected, awesome. We only saw one small section calving off the edge of the glacier, but just sitting there with the engines turned off, listening to the creaking, groaning and popping sounds of the ice, then if you were lucky, seeing some ice calve off was pretty darn cool. Occasionally seeing small avalanches of ice and snow billowing off of the glacier, creating puffs of snow clouds. Just one of those experiences in life that has to be seen to appreciate it fully.

That’s it for today, I’m sending out this report and celebrating my B-Day, though I don’t know why. I’ve reached that age where everyone assumes you’re a senior citizen… the face does not lie. But I will tell you, I feel young inside and my spirit has soared just by being on this adventure. So all in all, it’s a good day.

24-2009 Anchorage Alaska

Anchorage Alaska

Kenai Peninsula

Seward

I thought I’d start out by giving a brief description of costs for the past couple of months, for those who may be considering a journey to Alaska. The month of May was spent in Idaho, Montana and Alberta. The Month Of June was spent in Alberta, British Columbia, Yukon and Alaska.

May: Camping, monthly: $538.15, Daily: $17.94. Diesel Fuel: $353.46 Misc. Expenses: $887.93 (purchased a small generator)

June: Camping, Monthly: $686.26, Daily: $22.88. Diesel Fuel: $860.95 Misc. Expenses: $491.58

As you can see the diesel fuel and Misc. expenses can jump wildly. Fuel was expected to be high, especially with traveling much further distances while in Canada and along the Alaskan highway. The high Misc expense in May was due to my purchase of a small generator as I thought I would need it…. As it turns out, I didn’t… Oh well, I have additional backup power now. Campground prices in Canada are very consistent and around the $28c price range. U.S. prices fluctuate wildly and can be anywhere from a low of $18 to a high of $38+.

Touring: I decided to tour today and drove approx. 150 miles south to the Kenai Peninsula to the coastal town of Seward. It was a long day, but enjoyable. The drive started by going through Anchorage, south along the Cook Inlet. The road hugs the edge of the mountain ranges and the Cook Inlet. I must admit the enormity of the mountain ranges, many covered in glaciers like the Spencer Glacier and the Sargent and Harding Icefields was almost too much to take in. Each mountain range was bordered by the most beautiful lakes and marshes which the roadway traveled along. These mountains are once again heavily covered in thick green carpets of dark green spruce trees and grasses and making for an enormous Alpine setting to travel through.

There was some road construction which slowed me down and once again covered my truck in a light tan colored spray of mud and sand. I will have to wash it tomorrow. Or, I could try and fit in and look like a local. Seward is a small town that has some great tour boats that go the Kenai Fjords and such. I should note that I decided not to take the tours (usually all day tours) as I will be taking the ferry from Skagway to Prince Rupert later in the month and should see much along the inner passage in southern Alaska.

I just toured the town and decided to spend my time hiking up to the Exit Glacier. It’s just outside of Seward. Took the mile of easy hiking trails to the glacier and got lots of pictures of course. On the way down, I met up with a 78 year man and his wife (who was much younger). They had both been volunteers here 10 years earlier. Said they saw many changes in the glacier, one being that it is now much smaller. As I continued my way back towards the parking lot, there was a bit of commotion. A park ranger told me two black bears had just been spotted in the woods next to the trail. Since I wasn’t sure which direction to take and wanting to go back to the main entrance, I asked if he would accompany me part way down. As we started walking down the path we heard a rustling of leaves and branches. The Ranger and I looked over at the same time. And there they were, a Mama brown bear and her fairly large cub not more than 10 feet from where the Ranger and I were standing on the walkway.

I quickly joined a group of about 10 other hikers and a park volunteer standing at the paths intersection. The Ranger stayed near the bears, as the bears began wondering in the opposite direction away from us. One of the park personnel called on a walkie talkie and asked for backup. The volunteer casually asked a woman if she was able to get her shots of the bear. The paths were starting to get very congested with people coming down from the glacier and many more heading up towards it. I didn’t hear any of the Rangers or staff telling folks to stay out of the area. Families with kids and all didn‘t have a clue. It just appeared to be a very unsafe situation to me especially since both brown bears were in a heavily wooded area between two of the main trails

that eventually converged on each other. Meaning the bears would have to cross over one of the paths to get out of the area.

I continued on back to the main entrance and just shook my head that most everyone was so casual about being so close to two wild bears. Passing numerous groups heading towards the glacier and the two bears, none having been warned about the bears in the area.

Well, it was exciting and I’m glad I was able to get out of the area safely. Imagine, being 10 feet from a bear. Wonder what happened after I left the area. This may be a warning to others, that no one tells you what’s up ahead.

Comment: Alaskans appear to love their coffee and ice-cream. They tell me that Alaskans eat more ice-cream than any other state in the union. I see a lot of coffee drive throughs which also sell ice-cream. And they are second in the consumption of Spam. Hawaii being the first. Who Knew.

Comment: I’ve had some of the worst meals in Alaska, probably due to my choosing incorrectly on the menu. While in Seward I ate at The Apollo Restaurant. (Frommers food award) I ordered one of the first things on the menu, “A Taste of Alaska”. It contained salmon, haddock, scallop and prawn. All were fried, which should have been a clue. The salmon and haddock were so small, smaller than a pencil in width and about an inch in length. Heavily battered as well. It was like eating a poorly prepared appetizer at a fairly high price I might add. I’m sure the rest of their menu items were better, unfortunately, I made a really bad decision on that one.

A few thoughts on Anchorage. Anchorage is a nice size city. Of course I always have a problem with parking meters, so I’m not thrilled about having to use them. At least they have a few parking garages which make paying a bit easier. July is the city’s best month to enjoy the area as the weather is usually warm 65 - 70 and sunny. I timed it perfectly. Don’t ask me how. During the summer, the city plants and puts out hundreds if not thousands of hanging flower baskets. Very colorful and welcoming. I’m told that after the flowers come down in the fall they encourage downtown buildings and homes in the area to decorate with white lights and use them all winter long. Nice idea. Temps in the winter are usually around 20 degrees. Locals say if you travel 30 minutes outside of Anchorage, you’ll be in Alaska. Sourdough refers to Alaskans, since after one arrives here, they are sour after 2 years and out of dough. There are over 2,000 moose who call Anchorage home. They can be seen in and around the numerous wooded areas around town and can often be found wondering the streets later in the evening and early morning. Population approx. 277,000 which is 42% of Alaska’s state population.

4th of July. I drove about 40 miles out of town to a small community called Girdwood. They have the Girdwood Forest Festival over the 4th weekend. Lots of local Alaskan entertainment, craft booths and food. I missed the small parade, waiting in line to get a parking spot on the other end of town. Enjoyable to wonder the booths, get a bison burger and listen to a couple local groups. The first one played some really cool jazz. The next group that I liked played down home folk music. Nice to see families, the usual hippies who seem to come out of the woodwork for these events, tie dyed shirts and all, always adding that cool factor to any event. Home spun good fun. As I left in the afternoon, I picked up the music being played live on 88.9. Glad I left at that time. The group playing couldn’t remember the words to the songs and during breaks between the music, one could here their conversation quite clearly. The young lead singer, saying, gee I forgot the notes and couldn’t remember all the lyrics. No kidding. Kind of interesting to be listen in on what should have been private moments, coming across the air waves.

I’ll be in Anchorage for one more day then heading to Valdez Alaska. Still in awe that I’m doing this trip.

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23-09 Denali to Anchorage Alaska

Denali, Alaska

Mount McKinley

Anchorage Alaska

Campground: Black Spruce Travel Camp. Ft Richardson AK. First night, $13 elect only. 6 nights @ $16 a night Water and Elec. They also have full hookups but none were available for me at the time I got here. Available to Military, Retired Military and DoD Civilians.

Lots of additional photo's at: My Denali Pictures

I left my recent home of Fairbanks this morning. Rising along Route 3, leaving the flat valley that Fairbanks and the Chena River reside in. At one point, the views out over the mountain ranges give me the feeling of truly being on top of the world, as the landscape appears to be curved on the horizon. Everything is covered in heavy vegetation, surprising considering the very short growing season up here.

I pass by Skinny Dick’s, deciding not to stop in, after all it’s only 9:00 in the morning. I’m just about to cross over the Yukon River, when the Alaskan Train catches my eye. I’m able to pull over and get a few shots of the tour train as it passes by. It travels between Fairbanks to Denali to Anchorage. I was sorry to see the train cars almost completely empty, though the train conductor tooted his horn and waved at me along with a couple passengers out on the small deck between cars. Even the sky cars had no passengers in them.

Now I’m not expecting to see Mount McKinley while here. Even one of the workers at the visitors center said I have a 30% chance of seeing it. He hadn’t seen it yet and he‘s been here for over a month. The Native Athabascan’s call it Denali “the High One“, so I’ll refer to this awesome 20,320 ft mountain as Denali and not Mt McKinley. It continues to grow at one meter per year.

You will be able to see a new show on Denali as a part of a new PBS special series this fall called America’s Best Idea. Look for it in Sept. Denali was the first park specifically created to preserve wildlife. Not a bad idea, since my last report indicated that the Musk Oxen were eliminated in Alaska due to over killing and we all know about the fate of the vast bison herds. Creating Denali has helped to preserve the Dall Sheep. I’d say 6 million acres should do the trick.

On my second day in Denali, I took the 8 hour shuttle bus tour. It’s a lot cheaper than the commercial tour buses and the shuttle bus driver doesn’t have to give a continuing tour speech. Most of the ride is over dirt roads leading to my destination of the Eielson Visitor Center. There’s only one more drop off about another hours drive to the end of the road in the park. I like 70% of the visitors was not able to see Denali Mt itself, as it was a very overcast day, with occasional short showers. But talk about seeing wildlife. The bus driver/guide, wasn’t overly optimistic that we would see all that much. The first couple of hours on the ride, we were able to see Caribou far off in the distance as well as a brief glimpse of the Dall Sheep high up on a grassy mountain side. Then we stopped and saw a most awesome sight. We saw a couple of white wolves chasing a single caribou along the slopes of a lower mountain range. The caribou easily running ahead. The wolves low to the ground, chasing after the caribou, occasionally weaving back and forth. To see all this live action played out in front of us was just amazing. A Short while later, the mother wolf, as stark white as can be, herded her four dark brown cubs along for the chase. They were all too slow for the fast moving caribou, who finally stopped far ahead of them up on the green hillside. The caribou continued to graze now that it was far enough away for safety, as the wolves gradually went back down towards their den near the rivers edge.

About 4 hours into the trip, someone shouted stop, bear at 3 o’clock. That’s how we know which direction to look. Wow! Not more than about 40 yards away were two blond grizzly bears. The whole bus was beyond excitement. Loud chatter, opening of windows and clicking of cameras one after the other. The bears oblivious to all of our excitement as they chomped on berries and foraged on new growth brush in the area. I’m sure I took at least 50 shots myself. (later when I downloaded my shots for the day, I had taken 380 pictures)

After reaching the visitor center deep in the heart of Denali we got out and searched in earnest through the dark clouds and little downpour for a glimpse of Mt McKinley. But it was not to be. Still, the immensity of the park, mountains that seemed to go on forever, glaciers, deep valleys between each mountain range and wildlife easily made up for not seeing the Big One. I was mesmerized by the colors on the sides of the mountains, many different shades of green, copper, rust and golden coloring of the liken, mosses, grasses and small micro organisms that cover this high tundra region.

On our long drive back, with windows and bus covered in tan speckled mud and dust we saw everything from golden eagles, many more caribou as well as high on a mountain range covered in various shades of green were dozens of pure white Dall Sheep. Even our two blond grizzlies were still in the same area we had left them on our way in. Seeing caribou cooling off on snow packs as well as a way to get away from the mosquitoes was a real treat. Caribou really show up easily when standing or lying down on a snow pack. Our bus driver even pointed out all the willow trees stripped bare by a huge population of hares. Rabbits gone wild. As he pointed out, this cycle of high hare population also means that all their predators will increase in size, wolves, coyotes, even eagles. So exciting to see raw nature in a this untamed wilderness habitat. Even the chipper ground squirrels popping up between their underground dens on the sides of the roadway watching us as much as we were watching them.

Heading out the following morning down hwy 3 toward Anchorage (they basically have Hwy’s 1,2,3, and 4) , I can’t help but stop at almost every scenic pull-out. The sky is turning blue and the enormous mountain ranges are looming around every turn of the road. I’m following the eastern side of Denali for over 175 miles. Listening to Patsy Cline singing “ I’m Movin Along” on my MP3 player, as the weather continued to clear up, I start to see glimpses of what I think is Denali. Finally after stopping at a couple of Denali viewing stops, there it is! I was able to see the Big One on my last day in the area. It’s easily 75 miles from the closest viewing area along hwy 3, but it still appears magnificent from this vantage point. Gives me goose bumps at having viewed Denali. You can’t get much closer to viewing God’s spender than this.

Notes: While on the tour bus through Denali, a family was visiting from Anchorage. The husband mentioned while eating an orange, that during the recent Volcano eruption that they had to suspend all air traffic in and out of Anchorage where his family lived. Apparently this went on for a couple of weeks as ash from the volcano descended throughout the region. Looking at his orange, he told us how they really missed all the fresh fruit and vegetables during that time, as all perishable arrived in Alaska via FedEx.

Here in Anchorage I stopped in a local restaurant called The Lucky Wishbone. It’s been in operation since the 50’s specializing in pan fried chicken. I happened to sit at a U shaped counter with about 6 seats. Within minutes the rest of the seats were filled with members of an extended family that I later learned was 65 members strong. Had a most wonderful chat with the members of this family, the two seated opposite me were in fact the owners of Lucky’s. The Husband now probably in his 70’s was doting over his wife who was now very close to being an invalid, as he helped her gently with her drink and food. Becky sat next to me and introduce everyone including her soon to be 13 year daughter. As I left, Becky came running after me and caught me in the parking lot to see if I had anyone in the area to check up on me. I said no and she told me where she worked and if I needed anything to stop on by. She works in the local hospital. She said she felt so bad I was on my own and would have invited me over to a barbeque but unfortunately they were going out of town for the week. Now that’s true Alaskan hospitality for you.

US 1, the Glenn Highway dumps right into the heart of Anchorage forcing all the traffic in and around the area to descend on the city.

Fort Richardson where I’m staying is 6 miles outside of Anchorage. A military man doing laundry the same time as I was, told me there are 6 black bear that live on base. Imagine. This is wilderness living next to us. He also gave some great advice as to what to see in the area. There is so much, I don’t know what I’ll be able to take in, but I’ll try.

22-2009 Last few days in Fairbanks Alaska

22-2009

Fairbanks

As a full timer, the simplest things can make me happy. It rained out for 24 hours and today, the sun came out, the air is fresh and crisp and I feel wonderful. After a quick breakfast I headed out to Chena Hot Springs about 60 miles east of Fairbanks. Talk about a drive into the wilderness. 60 miles of heavy wooded countryside filled with marsh land, lakes, numerous tributaries of the Chena River and remote cabins and homes tucked away down dirt and sometimes very soggy roads. The road dead ends at Chena Hot Springs.

Side note: There are very few roads throughout Alaska. If you look on a map, you’ll see that well over half to 2/3’s of the state has no roads at all. Guess that’s why they have so many float planes.

I noticed a big Lincoln continental behind me and it finally passed by. Well, it passed and passed and passed by me. It was the biggest stretch limo I’ve ever seen. Way out here in the middle of no where. Shortly after that, a huge Chinook helicopter came buzzing by. When I got to Chena Hot Springs I found out it was carrying a General most likely from the Army base in Fairbanks. The staff at the resort said there were military surrounding the grounds as well. Now I didn’t see any others that were that important in the area and there were only a half a dozen of us in the hot springs, so I’m unable to report on what he was doing out here.

The hot springs were well worth the trip out here. I stayed in the natural hot springs outside, though they do have additional swimming pools and hot tubs inside. I would not recommend the resorts dining room. Food was not well prepared and a waste of money. However, while I was having lunch there, a gal pointed out the window at a moose that was drinking from one of the springs ponds. I of course jumped up, ran outside with camera in hand and got a couple great shots of a young moose buck. His rack just beginning to grow into a nice sized set of antlers.

My last day in Fairbanks, I still can’t believe I made it this far up north. Just amazing to me that I’ve been able to do this. I took a leisurely tour of the Pioneer Village, considering most of the buildings and shops weren’t open when I got here around 9:30. I was hoping the Presidential Warren G Harding train car would be something worth seeing. Unfortunately, the car was not open and looking inside as well as the outside, it appears to be in pretty bad shape. The interior was mostly gutted to the bare walls. I did enjoy seeing all the original log cabins from the Fairbanks area. Amazing that there are still so many more around town. Really gives Fairbanks that frontier feeling mixed in among all the newer buildings in town.

Since I had plenty of time, I went back to the University of Alaska Fairbanks to their Large Animal Research Station where they have Musk Oxen, Caribou, Wood Caribou and Reindeer. The Musk Oxen had become extinct in the late 1800’s in Alaska due to over hunting as well as in Europe and Scandinavia. The only remaining location where Musk Oxen remained, was in Greenland. Greenland helped repopulate Alaska, Canada as well as areas in Scandinavia and Europe. The Musk Oxen are the last descendants of the dinosaur era. They can only survive in this cold environment. They were first brought to Nunivak Island where they continued to repopulate before being reintroduced throughout Alaska. Quite an experience to see these unique animals back in their original habitat.

Also learned that the caribou run in very large herds of as many as 120,000 in one herd. That’s a lot of caribou ay. Where as the musk oxen usually are in groups of 20-30. The musk oxen do have predators after them and they defend themselves by forming a tight circle facing outward, with the weaker oxen in the center as well as the young. With their horns, they are able to defeat most predators. The caribou don’t really use their antlers to defend themselves and can run for long distances to get away from their predators. Ok, that’s your history lesson for today.

I’m off to get some pizza at Pizza Hut.

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