Blog Entry #7 From Wrangell-St. Elias to the Kenai Peninsula

Greetings friends and family,

Here we sit in Teklanika River campground at Mile 29 on the Park Road in Denali National Park. Our time here will be another great adventure to share. But as this is a blog in arrears, here are the highlights since our last posting. We are in love with Alaska, in case it isn’t obvious. I’m thinking I will need a tee-shirt that says … “Don’t Ask About My Alaskan Vacation Unless You Have All Day”.This is a most special place on this planet and we hope that someday you, too, will discover its wonders. It is certainly a trip of discoveries.



Highlights:

 Anchorage: While no doubt there are many fine things to do and discover in this city (including we hear some wonderful hiking) our schedule just didn’t give us wiggle room. One of our mantras has had to be … ‘we cannot do it all’. In our one day, we did visit the very wonderful “Alaska Native Heritage Center” -- opened cooperatively by all the native tribes in Alaska -- both to introduce the 6 major cultures to the rest of the world and to create a place to preserve these cultures (especially for their urban young people). Watching the high school students demonstrate dances and act as interpreters in the recreated ‘village’ was inspiring.

 Turnagain Arm: This 50 mile stretch of road from Anchorage to the Kenai has to be one of the more breathtaking drives of our trip. The sheer magnificence of water and rugged snowcapped mountains was spectacular. Midway along the “Arm” one can view a ‘Bore Tide’ and we planned our trip so we could witness this phenomenon. Anchorage has huge tides … and these tides rush into the shallow Arm and if you hit it right … all of a sudden you see this 6 foot wall of water coming toward you. It does not last long but while it is happening you question what you are seeing.

 Salmon: What I knew about salmon before this trip included this: when wild Alaskan salmon was on sale at our local supermarket, I considered us very lucky. Many of you know that Tom and I have been reading Michener’s Alaska together. There is a section on the salmon and everything we read in the novel has been confirmed by what we have learned here. I fell in love with the salmon.

The unbelievable life cycle of this fish, deserves a bit of time in this blog. If a Sockeye (Red) Salmon successfully makes it back to its natal lake or stream bed, it has survived unbelievable odds -- not to mention changing its whole physiology from fresh to salt and then salt to fresh!!! We have now seen salmon caught in nets, at a hatchery (not a really pretty sight), leaping out of the lake right beyond the hooks of a fly fisherman, resting in a pool before leaping (full-body) right out of the water up a large set of rapids, and lastly being caught by a Grizzly. It is an awesome biological tale.

It was pouring rain here but fun to see the salmon leaping!

Note: 1.Fishing Wheels are used by Alaskan Natives and citizens of rural Alaska for subsistence fishing (there is also subsistence hunting for game) that is allowed each year.

2. Fishing Walks with ladders to allow fishermen to get in the water, preserve salmon habitat on the stream beds and still allow sport and subsistence fishing.

 Harbors and boats: Both SE Alaska and the Kenai provided us with many, many hours of harbor walking. As you can see, many Alaskan harbors are very beautiful and some boats are equally beautiful while some are not. Had lots of fun with the names … two categories: women and other.

 Homer and the Kenai: We loved the beaches; watching people clamming; being in a campsite so close to high tide that I worried we might have to rename our camper “The Sea Turtle”; amazed by the utterly amazing turquoise blue of the Kenai River and Lake Kenai; and really appreciated 2 full days of sunshine.

 Flora Update: Will let the photos speak … in this order: lupine, fireweed, cow parsnip and what I called ‘the stump garden’.

 Fauna Update: It continues to be a thrill to see these wonderful wild animals in their own habitat just living their lives as they would if we weren’t peeking.

o We were all by ourselves on a pullout in the Kenai, there I was watching 5 Common Loons (not so common to me) paddle and dive. Tom looked out suddenly and said … ‘what is that?’ Well, there was mama moose and baby moose swimming across the lake. Photo here, but we sure wished for our friend Darryl’s camera skills. Baby kept right up with mama and they were not just dawdling … in fact, at first I thought baby was riding on mama’s back.

Believe me we wish these images were larger ... but enjoy the sense of it all

o The Sea Otter right in front of our camper during that Homer high tide … turning somersaults for about 20 minutes just for us.

o A juvenile and mature bald eagle on the beach at Homer

o Two beautiful Trumpeter Swans who appeared to have choreographed their graceful movements in the water with one seeming to ‘follow’ the other.

That’s it for now … thinking of all of you with special thoughts to our kids!  A shout out to my sister Amy for a quick recovery from knee surgery! 

Until we post again,

JP and Tom

Blog Entry #6 The Yukon (very briefly), Valdez and mostly Wrangell-St. Elias National Park & Preserve

Dear Family and Friends,

I told a friend in an email recently that it is hard not to feel a wee bit of guilt on this trip. Just a way to say … ‘I wish you were here’! More in our next entry as to where we are perched right now, as I write .. just say it involves surf, snowcapped mountains and sunshine.

I know that many of you have been sweltering and we wish you cool. It seems so odd but Tom and I often have on four layers! While AKans say that it does get hot here (80s – 90s briefly), I think many of you can honestly respond … pfft.

A few of you have asked about our camper and how it is working. Perfectly!!! I have christened her ‘Turtle’ and it is great to have our home with us at all times. We have gone to some wonderful ‘ends of the road’ . Loose sand and very steep downs with very steep turns at the end are just about the only thing that Tom won’t attempt -- glad he is the driver!

And now the highlights since we last were in touch.

 The Yukon: We were briefly in the Yukon in order to reenter AK from our SE ferry hop, though we will spend considerable time there on our way back home. The welcome sign said “Larger Than Life” and that became the catch phrase of the day. Each ‘large’ sight (huge Million Dollar Falls – tremendous emerald green water cascading down its channel and Lake Kluane (Yukon’s largest lake) looking like the ocean, was greeted by a glance at each other and a nod. The Yukon branding group got the tag line right. And that phrase also captured the potholes and frost heaves of that part of the Alcan -- receiving regular ‘uh ohs’ from both of us.

 Valdez: Frommer’s said “go to Valdez for the drive” (the Richardson Hwy) but unhappily we were heavily in rain and low clouds. That said, we did manage to boondock right below The Worthington Glacier and it was gorgeous even in the clouds, do laundry, have showers and enjoy the museums Valdez had to offer. It was more than sobering to think about the oil spill from the Exxon Valdez, oh so many years ago, still seeming to have an effect on the environment and then think of the Gulf.

 Museums: Just a quick note to let you know that we have seen some outstanding small museums, sometimes in the most unexpected places (Burwash, YK?) and are amazed at the energy local citizens put into keeping their natural and human history alive! We can’t mention them all, but museum visiting is an important part of our travels and we have loved the discoveries from each one of them.

 Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve (McCarthy & Kennecott). If I told you we took nearly 300 photos in 2 days, it might tell you something about this incredible adventure. When Tom was just daydreaming about this trip, one of his co-workers said you must see the Wrangell Mountains – you must. Now this is easier said than done.

This, our largest NP (the size of Connecticut or 6 Yellowstones) is accessible only by two very challenging roads. The McCarthy road is infamous for taking 5 hours to travel sixty miles and then there is the bridge! It was described as a wooden, 60 year old railway trestle, one lane, and spanning a canyon 200 feet high. At that moment I was reading an AK mystery novel that told of a very tough cop crawling across same bridge (in winter) to avoid his fear of heights. Since I could relate, I told Tom I didn’t think I could drive across it, and I knew I couldn’t crawl across it! So began the very best birthday one could have and I considered it my gift for this year and several years to come!!

o On Thursday morning July 8th, at 9AM we flew out on Wrangell Air to McCarthy (a 30 minute flight) with a darling Swiss couple. Karin and I laughed nervously that we hoped the pilot had grey hair, and when he taxied up to us, he did! Besides grey hair, Don also had 30 years of bush piloting experience. The day was Colorado blue sky and everyone, in those magical two days, told us these were the first good days of the summer. A bit like Denali, only a few get lucky enough to see Mt. Blackburn. The flight was smooth and ended all too quickly. At five o’clock on the 9th, we repeated this flight and in the photos below you will see glaciers, mountains and the braided Copper River with a wing strut or two to prove authenticity.

o McCarthy is a tiny ‘ghost’ town that still survives, even unbelievably over the winter. It was founded to serve the giant copper mine of Kennecott, just 5 miles down the road. It is tiny but the few photos below will show its charm and uniqueness … the residents’ photos were from the 4th of July and were strung up all over town (what a wonderful way to ‘show off’). It now mostly serves tourists, wilderness guides and of course, the citizens of McCarthy.

o The Kennecott Copper Mine buildings are now owned by the NPS and are being restored for a peek into a time lost to most of the world. In the lower 48, the mine would have been dismantled and recycled but it is just too difficult to do that here. The mine was abandoned without a backward glance in 1938 when the quality of the ore diminished.

Some buildings will be restored, some left to fall down and some bought up to ‘restored decay’ (just enough to be able to safely visit). The ruins are stunning in their setting and the tale is stunning, too. In many ways, one wonders what one will do ‘to make a buck’ and I think the answer is just about anything. They built a 250 mile railroad through unbelievable wilderness in 1910 finishing in 1912, to pull out the copper from this incredibly productive mine; perched buildings on precipices; and created a civilized town for the managers. The workers? It was brutal … both the mining and the milling … but unlike the fish canneries, miners and millers did earn money and thus did not owe everything to the company store in the end. At least that was something (I guess). The tour, given by the St. Elias Alpine Guides, was fantastic … we got to start on the 14th floor of the mill and over unbelievably steep stairs, follow the path of the ore.

o The Kennecott Glacier Lodge was formerly a group of apartments for the mine. It burned down in 1987 and it was rebuilt adding rooms until you have the photo below. It was our first night out of “Turtle” and we enjoyed the wonderful family style meal (with two more Swiss families … those Swiss do like to travel!), the birthday cake and wine and the endless long night looking over the glacier from the veranda.

o And the adventure of all? Hiking the Root Glacier with a wonderful guide (environmental biologist about to take on a PhD program at Colorado State (!) who is also a mountaineer and ice climber. Keely was doing ‘lite’ guiding that day. Even tying on the crampons was a thrill. Just one more note -- you have to walk differently on crampons (duh!) and so we were instructed on the uphill technique. Halfway across our hike, Keely, said ‘I’m turning it up a notch with the downhill technique’. And that is how we ended up at the bottom of the waterfall … steep downhill ice walking. It was so worth it! Other images … the different crunch sounds of the crampons on the varieties of ice on the glacier, and the bluer than blue water of the ‘moulins’ … glacier water –filled features. It was simply the most amazingly wonderful day.

And so, the adventure continues. We miss you and cannot believe we have been out for 52 days. It is flying by. Special love to our kids in Truckee and Monument and to all of you following our adventures.

Until next time,

JP and Tom

Blog Entry #5 Mostly Juneau and Haines

Dear friends and family,

Here we sit in our camper in Valdez, AK and I will make only a couple of comments on the weather. Today we finally cried ‘uncle’ and bought our very own rain pants. And one more thing … I have altered expectations to say that a day without rain is a very good day … and only high clouds a very, very good day.

Considering that Juneau was a bit ago, I will need to read my journal to remember what I want to share. We have been out 43 days now, and, gulp … things are blurring just a bit. Thank goodness for both the journal and photos. This is a blog in arrears.

And still more highlights:

• Mendenhall Glacier: Arriving off the ferry from Sitka at the still very light 9:00 PM, we first checked out the lake in front of our site at the Mendenhall Glacier National Forest Service Campground. And as you will see, we had our own personal icebergs (and cubes). Hiking the West side of the glacier was easy, moderate and difficult depending on the section of trail … but the views were only spectacular. Reminding you all of the basic physics of light absorption that explains why glacial ice is blue (the ice absorbs all the spectrum of light except blue) … but why it is this absolutely otherworldly blue is, for me, not explained by physics.

• Juneau: Absolutely loved walking the neighborhoods of Juneau (the only state capital that cannot be reached by road). When you walk up (and I mean up) eight blocks you have reached the end of Juneau. Its streets are laced with stairways linking the streets and joining the neighbors. Some folks have their front doors opening off these staircases. And as you can see from one example below, they love to garden. Although grown-up in some ways, Juneau is also very homey and accessible. The Governor’s Mansion is in a regular neighborhood with a bungalow across the street. Space in ‘historic’ Juneau is at a premium. My quest for the world’s best ginger cookie may have been achieved at the Paradise Café. If I can convert her recipe (that she was kind of enough to share) using 4#s of grated fresh ginger, than I will be able to share with all of you.

• No death by water adventures in Juneau

• Meeting folks: just as we were leaving the campground, we met an Alaskan (Eskimo-Athabascan) documentary film-maker. We do not get reliable enough internet to watch his entire film about a radio station in remote Alaska but watched the trailer and it looked great – check out www.nfb.ca (national film board of Canada) and search for CBQM. His website is www.mackdelta.com I can’t wait to watch it when we get home.

• Saved the best ferry ride for last: While I wish the photos would do it justice, the 4 hour sunny ride from Juneau to Haines on the Malaspina MV was absolutely glorious. My book was unread as I watched one glacier or incredible waterfall after the other appear in the truly rugged Chilkat Mountain Range. The mountains rose 8,000 ft. right from the ocean! And, a bit regretfully, from now on we will have to leave the driving to us.

• Haines : We will remember our campground owner hosting a campground crabfeed-potluck; a sunset at the “end of the road” with grizzly bear (no photo); watching a Dept. of Fisheries young man sitting on a dock in the middle of the river, net catching salmon coming through a break in a weir. They are tracking the returning salmon coming back to spawn (you could say that AK still has a ‘salmon economy’!!); having a gift shop owner ask the best question as he was getting to know us “now what do you know the most about?”

• Another water adventure: Ok, I know what you are thinking. Still a float down a river in the Bald Eagle Preserve when it is possible that you have to get out and push the raft over the shallows, sounded pretty safe to me. And it was. Special moments of that adventure were having a young guide on the bus who had grown up in Haines giving us his perspective of the community; seeing 24 Bald Eagles including a juvenile captured in a photo below (4000 return mid-winter for a late salmon run in February); and learning about braided rivers and the incredible amount of silt coming off the glacier changing the channels from hour to hour (hence the potential to get stuck). Deserving more than a semi-colon was our river guide Aurita … a very special young woman who has just finished her Army tour as a talented linguist serving just recently in Afghanistan. We know that there is much to learn about her and from her but I will leave you with this … at one point, she threw out her arms, encompassing the mountains, the water and the eagles and said – “and this is my office!” She takes nothing in life for granted.

And so dear friends and family … another entry. We will catch up with you again soon. Please take good care and let us know how you are.

As always a special sign to our girls, their guys and our four legged friends.

Until we check in again,

JP and Tom