Alaska: Day 4 - Journey to Seward and boarding the Ryndam

We're leaving Denali today, heading south to Seyward, approximately 270 miles long, translating, with rest stops, into a nine hour bus ride.. Our driver was  Dustin, a young man who grew up on an Iowa farm and is in his last year of mechanical engineering at a university in Utah.  Apparently, Holland and Princess cruise lines recruits promising young students, trains them to drive a bus and conduct these tours.  The results were surprisingly good. Dustin was obviously very competent, as well entertaining and enthusiastic.  The nine hour drive flew by, peppered with stories and jokes along the way.

One of our first rest stops was at the Veteran’s memorial, located in the Denali State Park at mile 147.1, between Anchorage and Fairbvanks.  It consists of five twenty-foot panels, representing the US Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines and Coast Guard, all of which have been an important part of Alaskan history.  I was attracted to it as my father served as an aeronautical engineer in the US Air Force in Alaska.  He had been stationed in Fairbanks to fly B36 bombers as part of the US Strategic Air Commad during the height of the cold war. 

I was only four years old at the time, and together with mom and my brother, we lived in San Antonio Texas while Dad was away for weeks at a time in Alaska. I was interested to learn there that high mountain search and rescue is conducted by a special branch of the armed forces that also does rescue operations in Afghanistan.

About four hours after we left Denali National Park, we passed through Willow, on the way to Seward.  Dustin, our driver, told us about Willow’s near claim to becoming the capital of Alaska.  Apparently, a debate arose in the 1970's as to where the ideal capital should be.  And so, in 1976, a state-wide vote was held, and Willow was successfully chosen. However, once a more thorough study was done, it was found that it would cost approximately four BILLION dollars to move the capital there.  A vote to approve funding was held in 1982 and was resoundingly defeated., and with it, Willow’s chances of becoming the state capital.

A few minutes after leaving Willow, we entered Houston .  Our guide mentioned that it was first created as a sawmill town.  And, like many other small towns in Alaska, it has its share of colourful characters. This year Houston made national new when the local mayor impersonated a police officer and "borrowed" a police car to drive and drove recklessly to Fairbanks with flashing patrol lights at high speeds so that "he could get there faster".  However, he made a mistake of leaving the dash cam on as he drove, which ended up on YouTube.  The resulting scandal made him an Internet celebrity, and led to his resignation in June this year.

Houston is also the only place in Alaska where you can buy fireworks year round.  Interesting, one of the biggest forest fires in Alaska was located in Houstan and apparently was caused by fireworks--->

About five hours after we left Denali, we reached Anchorage, but only passed through it.  While we did, as our driver and guide gave a few details about the city, and some howlers, just to keep us awake.  For example, we were earnestly told that Conico building is the tallest building in Anchorage, “although I’ve heard the library has more stories”.   Later, we passed by a big balloon covered tent of a building, that, it turned out, was an indoor driving range.  And we learned from our driver that Alaska has a strange rule concerning golf.  Up there, everyone has to wear two pairs of pants when they go golfing.  The reason has nothing to do with the cold, or bugs.  It’s just added protection in case they “get a hole in one”.  Hahahaha...

On leaving Anchorage, we entered a very scenic part of the tour, the 130 mile journey to Seward along the Alaskan coast. Just outside of Anchorage, we passed by a long marsh that extended beside the highway alongside the ocean on the right, until we started ascending into the mountains.  

Apparently, the route we were travelling was voted one of the most scenic drives in the US. I have to agree, some of the views we passed, especially alog the water's edge, was quite beautiful.

Along the way, we passed along glacial silt deposits that empty out into the bay.  The driver told us that the silt extends over a thousand feet deep.  The silt is actually dangerous as the thick mud-like substance can act like guicksand if one were to walk on it.  The fore-tide in this bay is the second largest in the world, second to the Bay of Fundy.  Baluga Point is populated by Beluga whales.  When the road was constructed, found artifacts from all five Native peoples in the region that have hunted belugas for centuries.

Next, we passed by Hope, one of the first towns created as a result of the Alaskan gold rush.  A pretty small town, that a few years ago,  had the first high school graduate in eight years.  We were also told that Hope has 100 historical buildings, “eighteen of them are outhouses”.  Now, that's a small town. 

<--Roads are constantly being maintained during the short spring and summer season

The road into Seward is apparently one of the most dangerous in Alaska for avalanches.   The coastal road reminded us of the Sea to Sky highway... high mountains extending from the side of the road, as we passed along.  “Avalanche Alley”  is an area that is particularly hazardous,  so much so that a walking path was constructed in parallel above the highway that, apparently, helps to block some avalanches from reaching the highway.  In the year 2000, avalanches came down on both ends of the highway, trapping several cars in between until they could finally be removed. 

We then entered the Chugach National Forest, one of the largest national forests in the United states, located about 145 miles from Seward.  Just past it the sign, we saw the effects of a recent avalanche that came down this year, breaking trees and taking out several guard rails. Passed along dead standing trees, and the site of Portage, a town that was totally destroyed in the earthquake.  Residents living there decided not to rebuild, and so abandoned it.  Dustin said that locals call the dead forest in the area, a ‘ghost forest’. He prefers, however, to call it “dog forest” because the trees ‘have no bark’.   Groan, another joke.

As we moved deeper into the  Turnagainarm inlet, the mountains became more spectacular.  Covered in snow, it was apparent that there is much more precipitation here than in the Denali National Forest.  There can be over 100 feet of snow each year on the tops of these mountains.  About an hour from Seward, the weather turned cold and wet.  Apparently, winds in this area can reach 214 mph. It might have been higher, however, when that wind record was made, the instrumentation measuring it at the time broke.

A rest stop near Portege Lake, introduced us to our first ice berg, floating in the inlet off Glacier Bay.   This one, which over two stories high,  broke off Portege Glacier a couple of weeks ago.   Dustin, our driver said that the ice was approximately 88 tons when it broke off the glacier.  When it did, the glacier broke off as a ‘shooter’, a submerged chunk of massive ice.   

If a glacier like this were ever to break off under a ship and rise up underneath it, these chunks of ice would cause major damage.

Minutes after our arrival, a huge piece of the glacier broke off, crashing into the water.  The result which happened just before I managed to get to the beach, is the iceberg in the photos here.

At last.  We've reached Seward and are boarding the Ryndam!   

We checked into a beautiful stateroom on the main deck, then spent the rest of the evening exploring this huge ship.

As part of our orientation, we had to attend a mandatory safety meeting – basically assembling outside on deck underneath our pre-assigned lifeboat.  It was a rather sobering moment as attendants wearing life vests demonstrated how to put them on while the announcer gave a briefing on what we would need to do in case of evacuation. I was happy to see that “women and children first” are still the order of the day – I’m still old-fashioned that way.  Romantic notions of Alaskan icebergs aside, I’ll be quite happy if we don’t have to test out those lifeboats while were here!

And so ends our land journey.  Tomorrow, we begin cruising into College Fjord and across Prince William Sound.

Alaska: Day 3 - Denali Park

The ride yesterday was a great introduction to what was awaiting us today.  After that long train trip yesterday, Hilary and I wondered whether we should bother with the organized bus tour we had purchased. After all, this one was eight hours long... and tomorrow, we have a NINE hour bus ride back from Denali to Seward, to greet the cruise ship,  In the end, we did. Our guide, Dana, was a natural history expert, but she had a wonderful way of being able to explan complex concepts in an entertaining manner.  Her commentary, together with the wonderful scenery, made our journey today one of the highlights of our trip. 

The tour extended past Savage Creek, where we cycled to yesterday, to Stony Overlook, approximately 65 miles into Denali National Park.  Denali is huge. Created in 1917, it covers over six million acres, about the size of New Hampshire. It is also very remote, a remarkable testemant to the foresight of the early pioneers of Alaska to set aside this vast wilderness as a park for future generations.

<--Taiga forest

Our tour took us through low-lying Taiga forest which means“the land of little sticks”, dominated by Alaska Sitka and Black spruce trees. This area rests in what is known as “discontinuous permafrost”, which limits the extent tree roots can extend into the soil, stunting the forest to look rather like Christmas trees, no more than ten or twelve feet tall.  Moose and occasional Grizzley bears frequent it, feeding on lush vegetation, berries, and, for grizzlys, smaller wildlife.

From there, the bus took us into what is known as the “transition forest” region, around 2500 feet in elevation, characterized by dwarf spruce and willow trees, together with arctic fox, snoeshoe hares, moose and lynx.  Growing conditions is possible for only three months out of the year, limiting the amount of animals that can be supported.  Our guide alluded to "webs of life", linkages to living entities that depend on each other. Forces, she said, act to change these "webs of life".  As we drove through Denali were given many examples where flora and fauna are in careful balance.

We arrived again at Savage Creek, the place where Hilary and I had reached the day before. Looking out over the valley below, one could clearly see how glaciers up here acted like bulldozers, picking up rocks incorporating them into ice, creating u-Shaped valleys, as opposed to v-shaped valleys created by rivers.

We continued on through through Kantiskna, a site of early gold mining until he park took over the claims when the park was expanded from two million acres to over six million.  

Here, we found several herds of Cariboo on the mountain slopes across the roadway.  Cariboo, we were told, have distinctive habits, with calving near the Sanctuary River a few miles farther down the road. Remarkably, Cariboo are born within days of each other, on or around May 10th. Talk about Mother’s Day!  Four out of five young Cariboo do not live past the age of one, falling prey to wolves and grizzlies.  Rutting season is around mile 53, near Toklat.  

<--About this time, I was wishing I had brought a better camera.

Hilary to the rescue!  Much better photo, don't you think?-->

We learned about a number of other animals which inhibit the region, Snowshoe hares, for example. They are born above ground, opposed to rabbits which bear young in burrows.  Snowshoe hares eat willow bark, growing rapidly in numbers when it is in abundance.  However, clever for willow trees, when bark is damaged it secretes a sap that is unpalatable to rabbits.  

<--Snowshoe hare

So, as they are eaten, more and more willow trees become unavailable for future food, even as rabbits are multiplying.  The effect is a seven year cycle, where rabbits grow in population until they cannot find food, then die away leaving survivors that eat less, and let the willow trees heal... a "web of life", our guide called it, that is  intertwined with lynx, which are primary predators of snowshoe hares.  And so, lynx populations follow a similar seven year cycle as the hare, both of which are dependent on willow trees.

Along the way, we passed by the Teklanika River area.  Teklanika simply means "glacial river", typically carrying a high amount of sediment, through channels of water criss-crossing back and forth along a wide valley. These rivers cannot sustain large fish as plankton, which are food for larvae, cannot grow due to the cloudy glacial sediment. No fish, and therefore, no grizzly bears are in this region.

<--Now, step back a bit more...that's it... OK, looks like a good photo.... Oops!!!

Farther along, we  passed by Igloo forest, where, now higher in elevation, trees are short and robust. rather like Christmas trees.  Mountain sheep can be seen in June, during , which are seen in June in lower elevations, however they move higher as the snow recedes. In August, as we were travelling through, it is possible to see wolves, coyotes and bighorn sheep in this region, as well as some of the 160 species of birds in  the park. Most of these birds are migratory, however, the Blackill Magpie stays year round.

Suddenly, someone shouted and  the bus stopped. A golden grizzly bear with two young black haired cubs were spotted on a mountain slope near us. As we watvched, they moved across the ravine, then traveled down, closer to us, eventually crossing the river and into dense bush within a few hundred yards of the bus. 

Yes, we really saw a grizzly. Did I say something about my little camera already???-->

We waited for over a half hour to see if they would emerge, but it was not to be. The bear was obviously aware of us and was not terribly interested in showing off her children. The guide said, however, that this was the most visible this bear had been all summer.

Shortly after the bus started down the highway again, we found three caribou on a ridge, then a few minutes, two more, closer, in the valley across from the bus, then.. a moose, walking among the tall grass in the distance.  Our guide spoke of golden eagles, which are predators to the arctic ground squirrel, their major food source. As the snow and ice disappears, it burrows out of sight, but until then they must live a nervous existence.

We found ourselves travelling along the Alaska Ridge of mountains, past Sable Mountain, a major habitat for grizzly.  Unlike coastal grizzlies, where salmon are plentiful, the major diet for these grizzlys tends to be berries, supplemented with wolf kills. Wolfs may take down a caribou, however, they are quickly displaced by grizzlies, who eat their fill, then move on, allowing the wolf to move back in to continue its dinner.

As Dana was telling this story, someone spotted another grizzly near Polychrome Mountain, with two cubs play-fighting together in the river below the bus. It was too far away from my camera, however, the bus had a high-quality videocamera that displayed, real-time, the cubs pawing at eachother and tumbling playfully.  Out here, in the vast wilderness, it was an unforgettable sight.

Along the side of the mountain, and just beyond Toklat Rest area, where we stopped for photos, is a breathtakingly high mountain ridge, along which we found three bighorn sheep, grazing on the side of the mountain. 

<--As we moved closer, the sheep came up the mountain to the roadside. 

Nearby, we saw a golden eagle flying overhead.  There is so much wildlife here!  What is remarkable is that we are not in a zoo or a fenced game reserve.  We’re visiting their home, carefully kept as free as possible from human disruption.

“Denali” is an Athabascan name meaning "the great one", or “the high one”, and is the name increasingly being used when referring to Mount McKinley, hidden to us in the clouds but towering over the park at 20,320 feet, the highest mountain in North America.  The history of it's original name, McKinley, is interesting.  William Dickey first discovered it while he traveled with two companions, sharing the same cabin. This proved to be a factor in why the mountain was named, because at the time an intense debate was taking place in Washington as to whether the US should go with a gold or silver standard for currency.  His two cabin mates favoured the silver standard. Dickey didn’t.  No dout they debated this for weeks, if not months during that ling winter they lived together.  This may have been one of the reasons Dickey later said he and his two cabin mates didn’t get along very well.  Perhaps, just to spite his fellow cabin mates, Dickey decided to name the mountain after William McKinley, who was nominated to be president and happened to favour the gold standard.  Dickey named the mountain after him. 


Finally, we reached Stony Overlook, a place where our guide hoped we would get a good glimpse of McKinley.  Alas, it was not to be; it was too overcast. Apparently there is only a 30% chance of seeing the mountain, so I guess we could not be too disappointed.

OK. everyone, this is where McKinley is supposed to be!! -->

The lurching drive back to our resort was rather sleepy, until we reached the precipice ledges opposite Polychrome mountain.  Our driver very carefully negotiated the narrow gravel road clinging to the edge of the mountain, joking that only a few buses have gone off the cliff in recent years. That kept us awake.  But even more so, at the sight of an artic fox, that trotted up the road until it passed directly under our bus window.  Minutes later, yet another caribou was found on a sunny slope just above us.

Our guide gave us another example of the many "webs of life" link plant and animal species in this park.  This one involved a mosquito, humans, blueberries and Mosquitos.  Blueberries she explained, are pollinated by the lowly mosquito.  And the mosquito lives on warm blooded animals, including us. Grizzlies here in Denali eat blueberries, which, unlike their cousins in fish-rich coastal regions, is a major food source for them. As Grizzlies move across the countryside, they leave bear dung.  Because bears eat blueberries, bear dung contains blueberry seeds. This helps them to spread across the countryside, and since blueberries enjoy acidic soil, it's a great fertilizer for them as well. So, the seeds grow into blueberries, mosquitoes pollinate them, and the web of life keeps them in balance. So, what happens if there are fewer mosquitoes?  There will be fewer blueberries, and this has a measurable effect on grizzly bears.  Since they can eat other things, it's not as devastating as when willow bark is in short supply and snowshoe hares die off. However, when there are fewer mosquitoes due to seasonal changes, the effect is significant.

Shortly afterward, we came across a group of artists, painting landscapes in the brilliant sunshine. 

<--What a wonderful location for an artist!

Along the way home, we found another golden eagle, almost impossible to photograph (with my little
camera, anyway), and, a few minutes later, the grizzly and her cubs that we encountered earlier this morning. She had crossed the road now, and was further away than when we saw her. We were pretty fortunate to see her so close.

Eight hours later, we arrived back at our resort, filled with an appreciation of this vast and beautiful national park.  Nothing, we learned, takes place here except nature. Man is not allowed to interfere here, so life goes on as it has for thousands of years. In parting, our guide told us that, if nothing else, she hoped she had been able to leave us with a sence of wonder, a sense of awe, and a desire to preserve this wilderness or

generations to come. I think she succeeded.

On returning, Hilary and I were anxious to do something active.  And so we headed off again, renting bikes to re-enter Denali Park for a last time, where we did a short evening hike to a nearby lake before a late dinner. 

By the time we returned, cycling along the Nenana River flowing past our resort, we were ready to face yet another long bus ride tomorrow... this tine to our cruise ship in Seward!

<--Hilary, looking out over the Nenana River. The Nenana flows from the Nenana Glacier, on the south side of the Alaska Range. At the park entrance, the river forms a narrow channel, making it a challenging course for white water river rafters and kayakers.

Sunset in Denali -->

Alaska: Day 2 - Train to Denali National Park

Our tour officially started with a 5:30 AM wakeup call to get our luggage out into the hallway.  Thankfully, Anchorage’s time zone is an hour behind Vancouver’s, so it was not quite as dreadful as it sounds,  By 7:00 AM, we were joined by a large group of fellow travellers assembled in the lobby, waiting to board busses down to the train station for an eight our ride to Denali Natiional Park.

A small engine on display just outside the train station. Thankfully, that's NOT the train we took!-->

We were accompanied by Linda, our tour guide on the train, who helped keep us awake by talking about places we passed through, like Wasilla, Sarah Palin's home town.  It’s hard to imagine this woman, whose photo we found plastered on posters and 2011 calendars (printed by her husband’s company)and found in tourist gift shops  across Alaska, started out by winning the race in 1996 to become mayor of this town of 26,000 people.  She won by 200 votes.   But, our guide told us, Wasilla has a reputation for people with egos that are larger than life. “People here say that you can see everything in Alaska here – glaciers, sledding, hiking.... so why should anyone really want to visit anywhere else?”.  To prove her point, she said, “just spell Wasilla backwards... you’ll se what I mean”.

Of course, if you visit there, you might want to avoid the Mug Shot Saloon, unless you are really brave.   “That’s where“, our guide explained “on Thursdays, you get mugged, Fridays you get shot, and Saturdays  is “ladies night”.









Along the way, we learned about Iditarod, a remarkable dog sled relay held every year in Alaska.  Created to honor dog sledders relaying across from Anchorage in south central Alaska to Nome on the western Bering Sea coast, each team of twelve to sixteen dogs and their musher must cover over 1150 miles in 10 to 17 days. Each team on their relay stretch travels approximately 53 miles to the next point.

The race commemorates the delivery of serum via dog sled in 1925 to help fight a diptheria epidemic. At that time, each dog team working in a relay with 20 mail carriers, travelled day and night in what became a national event.  One dog, “Togo”, the lead dog that has now entered the annals of Alaska folklore, traveled 300 miles.  In memory of this event, the race now has 20 checkpoints, requiring checkins with organizers and veterinarians.  Like the Tour de France (and in an event that can easily rank on that scale for endurance), there have been many notable heros since the race began in 1973. Susan Butcher, a pretty tough gal, became a four-time Iditarod champion, and the first to win four out of five successive years.  Once, she took her dogs to the top of Mount McKinley. The current champion is Lance Mackey, also a four-time champion is trying to make Alaskan history this year by winning five years in a row. 

There's lots of wildlife here. We passed by Sandhill cranes, an Osprey nest on a telephone pole with a mother tending its young, and later, Houston,  the sight of one forest fire in 1996 that became one of the largest in Alaska.  

The trees we saw up here were short, due to ‘discontinuous’ permafrost that prevents tree roots from extending very far, stunting growth.  These trees are called “Taiga” forest trees, due to their proximity in the "Taiga" region, also known as the boreal forest, characterized by coniferous forests. So, our guide said, in Alask we can truthfully say we saw “Taiga Woods”.

As the train moved through Alaska's rugged countryside, we took turns going downstairs to breakfast and later lunch in the coach dining room, meeting several couples who shared meals with us.  Carl and Beatrice, who live in Miami, had come from Cuba at the time Castro came to power in the early 1960's.  Like many other immigrants, they had thought, on arriving in Maimi, that they would be back home within six months.  Fifty miles away and fifty years later, they still feel how close Cuba is, but have never returned.  Florida is now their home, together with their children and grandchildren.

Our train finally pulled into the train station where busses waited to transport us to a rustic but comfortable resort on the edge of Denali National Forest.  

We checked in, then immediately set about renting bikes so that we could start exploring Denali. It was so good to stretch our legs!  

Our initial goal was simply to ride up one of the roads leading into the park.  We arrived at the park Visitor’s campus to find the place deserted.  It had closed at 6:30 PM, minutes after we had entered the park.  All was not lost, however.  A park ranger pointed us towards a free shuttle bus with bike racks that was leaving, with minutes to spare, for Savage Creek, about 15 miles into the park.  We piled our bikes on the rack and set off on an adventure.

As we traveled along, the driver pointed out sights along the way... a moose in the bush below... a caribou in the distance... the wild life is plentiful up here, and the countryside – truly spectacular. 

We arrived at Savage creek, where Brian, a young park ranger, met us at a check-in station.  Savage Creek is the last place where private vehicles are allowed to drive. Beyond this, only licensed drivers and bus operators are allowed to proceed. 

Savage Creek -->

The park, in fact, limits the total number of vehicles to just over 10,000 per year, which, in practical terms due to weather, covers a three month period from June to August.  Most of these vehicles are tour buses where tourists are carefully managed. Picture taking can only take place from inside the bus, and, while the bus stops frequently, passengers are only allowed

Our driver took us up the hill from Save Creek, where Hilary and I disembarked and rode downhill through the wide valley,back to  Visitor’s Campus.  


Along the way, we came across a van parked beside the road, where a small group were clustered around a high powered telescope.  “Come take a look!”, one of them called over to us.  We peered through the telescope to see a beautiful bull moose, the setting sun glancing off his massive antlers, in the field below the highway.   It was an extraordinary site. Here was a massive animal living securely in his home, unaware or at least unconcerned he was being watched from a distance. 


What a great start to our visit in Denali.  Riding home on our bikes, feeling the fresh cold air, we felt in touch with the forest, the animals living here, and something of this vast Alaskan wilderness.

Alaska: Day 1 - Anchorage

We’ve arrived!  Hilary and I checked into the Westport hotel in Anchorage in the early afternoon.  It’s cloudy here, but the sun is just starting to break out.   After sitting on the plane for two and a half hours, we were glad to find there was a small but serviceable gym on the 18^th floor. 

the view from our hotel in Anchorage--->

After that, we headed out for dinner at Simon and Seaforts, a well known restaurant in Anchorage, overlooking the water.  The halibut was excellent - you can depend on fresh seafood in Alaska.  

The best was yet to come, however, a walk that started out from the restaraunt, then down the hill to the Tony Knowles Coastal Trail, a paved route that, we soon discovered, extends over ten miles south towards Seward, a small town just outside of Anchorage, and the terminus of the Alaska Railroad.  

It became quickly apparent we would not be able to walk the entire distance after dinner. But the evening was so lovely, we headed back up the hill and found a bicycle rental shop still open.  Off we went, back down the hill, through a tunnel that traveled under the railroad, out onto the Coastal Trail.  

and past families with kids on bikes, gung-ho hikers with massive pack sacks (lord knows where they were going), retired folk out for an evening stroll, and absolutely gorgeous scenery.  

As the sun began to fall lower in the sky - evenings are long in Alaska this time of the year - we thought what a lovely way to start our holiday.

We're off to Alaska!

I'm busy packing into the wee hours of the morning for our flight to Anchorage, flying out of Vancouver at 9:00 am tomorrow morning.  Rebecca is staying with her aunt, Naomi is away to camp, and so it's just Hilary and I, together for the next ten days.  What a great way to embark on our 18th anniversary, celebrated less than two weeks ago! Neither of us have been to Alaska,  but we've heard Denali National Park, home of North America's highest peak, Mount McKinley, is spectacular. We're packing hiking boots and serious rain gear with us, though, as the forecast is not terribly promising.  After four days in a lodge touring the Denali, we're taking a Holland Lines cruise ship, the Ryndam, down the coast to Vancouver.  That's a first for us, too.  And, it will definitely be different from my cycling trip to Banff last June.  I've heard that the best thing to do on a cruise ship is to 'check your brain at the door' (and my bike, too)... then relax and have fun.  I guess I can live with that.

So here's my first entry to our upcoming summer holiday. Look for photos, stories, and goodness knows what else.  In the meantime, I've got to finish packing, head off to bed and pray I don't sleep through the alarm clock!  More, later....

- Stan