The next day we headed southeast on the Stewart-Cassiar Highway. Once again there was lots of road construction with frequent delays – quite slow. The road that was not under construction was generally OK. We got gas in Dease Lake. WOW – regular gas was $6.08/gallon – OUCH!! That is definitely our HIGH for the trip.
That night we stayed at another ‘nowhere’ RV park called Mountain View south of Dease Lake. It was a lovely spot with expanses of grass and a large pond. There had been moose in the pond earlier in the day, but we didn’t see any. The backdrop for the park was the Cassiar Mountains – something else.! And it had the fastest WiFi of the trip!!!
The next day we continued down the Cassiar and encountered more construction and more slowdowns. But before the day was done, we had seen 7 black bears along the road – that was a high for the trip. We drove the 40 miles off the Cassiar into the Stewart and Hyder area. On that road we were greeted with Hanging glaciers; and Bear Glacier that was calving into Bear Lake. We stayed at Bear River Campground in Stewart– really nice with lots of trees and all the amenities. The weather had cleared and was very nice while we were there – Yea!!!
The next day we took the drive through Stewart BC, into Hyder AK. These are both VERY SMALL communities with only a few businesses each. Many of the businesses have long ago closed. There is shipping of logs, so the port had quite a lot of floating logs waiting for the barges to come into the 90-mile long Portland Canal.
Hyder, AK is even smaller and dare I say ‘dumpier’ than Stewart. It has gravel streets and only a couple of operating businesses. The port is a pretty setting. Actually Hyder and Stewart are on the Portland Canal.
From Hyder we drove up to Fish Creek and on up the road 22 miles to Salmon Glacier. It was a wonderful trip with lots of steep cliffs, waterfalls, the Salmon River and the amazing Salmon Glacier. Some of the scenery just can’t be adequately explained – you have to be there. We enjoyed the one stop on the road where the actual boundary is between the US and Canada. On a 10-year cycle a crew cuts down a swath of trees and brush along the border. And at that point on the road is a permanent cone that shows Canada on one side and United States on the other.
We went to Fish Creek twice – this is where the Brown and Black bear come to eat salmon that are returning to Spawn. But this year the fish have been very slow to start their journey – we might have seen 20 fish total. And the bears just weren’t around. The rangers said that they have only had 5 bear sightings so far this year (as of July 24). And they questioned whether they would even have many returning salmon. Apparently every 4-5 years there is a very slow year. There were LOTS of disappointed people. Many come in caravans from the east coast and all across the country to see this sight. They were very disappointed. At our park the manager said they had reservations for the next 30 nights for caravans at the park.
There is no US port of entry at Hyder, AK, but there is a port of entry station when you return to Stewart BC. Basically they ask about firearms, where you are from, how long you will be in Canada – that’s about it.
And on July 25 we left Alaska for the last time this trip. We continued down the remaining 97 miles of the Cassiar Hiway and headed east on the Yellowhead Highway in British Columbia. We passed through the Hazelton area where there are several towns with authentic totem pole displays. We were finally back on good roads and we made much better time than we had the previous several days. And now it is on to Jasper, Lake Louise, Banff, Yellowstone, and Tetons.
This is definitely THE LIFE !!!! Ellen & Gordon
Monday, July 28, 2008
Haines, AK and ferrying to Skagway
We left Valdez, AK in the rain and had cloudy cool weather as we drove to Tok, AK. We stayed again at Sourdough RV Park, gassed up, and continued on knowing we would have very poor road – lots of frost heaves and slow construction areas. We went to Destruction Bay and that was quite a treat, out there in the middle of nowhere. We arrived late in the afternoon and the park owner invited us to join them for a barbeque beef dinner – he always prepares dinner on nights a caravan stays at the park. We happened to be lucky to be there at the same time and had a wonderful dinner for $12.99 – delicious baron of beef, elegant tossed salad, ‘smoked’ potato salad, and 8-hour cole slaw; plus a berry crunch for desert. And that wasn’t all – Loren (the owner) and another musician from the Yukon entertained us with guitar music and singing after dinner. Very special.
The road between Tok and the cutoff for the Cassiar Highway (next blog) was the worst of the trip so far. There were lots of frost heaves (not all were marked) and construction that stopped traffic for 20-30 minutes each. On one construction stretch our companions’ tow car got a flat tire from a sharp rock. Fortuntely he had a full-size spare and the fellows changed it quickly and we were on our way. He was able to get it repaired that night in Destruction Bay.
We drove through Haines Junction and then took the highway to Haines. It’s a beautiful drive, but unfortunately there were lots of clouds and most of the mountain views were obscured. Haines is on the water and is a cute little town. We explored and visited some of the gift shops and enjoyed watching some eagles at the harbor – they are so striking. We had great pizza in the Fireweed Restaurant before we boarded the 10PM ferry to Skagway. The trip took us just over an hour. By the time we got off the ferry with our RVs and got set up in Garden City RV Park in Skagway (along with several other rigs from the ferry), it was 12:15AM. We were glad we had made reservations.
Skagway is a very nice little town with lots of very nice shops. There are lovely flowers everywhere and easy walking anywhere you want to go. This is the origination of the White Pass Railroad (White Pass was the major pass people going to the Yukon gold rush had to cross after taking the boat to Skagway). Skagway is also a cruise ship port and there were two ships docked the day we were there. We were there on a Saturday – we were told that during the week there can be as many as 5 cruise ships in the harbor. We were glad we didn’t have to fight those crowds.
The next day we drove up the Skagway Highway and were disappointed that the entire length to White Pass was shrouded in clouds and/or very heavy fog and we weren’t able to see a thing. At the top of the pass is an area called Tormented Valley with beautiful little bodies of water and stunted trees as if in a fairyland, but there was so much fog, we could barely see it. Of course, once we were inland, the fog lifted and we were left with high clouds for the rest of the day’s drive. I guess that leaves us something to look forward to if we head to Alaska again!!
We spent the night at a small RV park out in the middle of nowhere on the Alaska Highway and left the next morning to begin our trip down the Stewart Cassiar Highway..That’s next time.
Happy Travels, Ellen & Gordon
The road between Tok and the cutoff for the Cassiar Highway (next blog) was the worst of the trip so far. There were lots of frost heaves (not all were marked) and construction that stopped traffic for 20-30 minutes each. On one construction stretch our companions’ tow car got a flat tire from a sharp rock. Fortuntely he had a full-size spare and the fellows changed it quickly and we were on our way. He was able to get it repaired that night in Destruction Bay.
We drove through Haines Junction and then took the highway to Haines. It’s a beautiful drive, but unfortunately there were lots of clouds and most of the mountain views were obscured. Haines is on the water and is a cute little town. We explored and visited some of the gift shops and enjoyed watching some eagles at the harbor – they are so striking. We had great pizza in the Fireweed Restaurant before we boarded the 10PM ferry to Skagway. The trip took us just over an hour. By the time we got off the ferry with our RVs and got set up in Garden City RV Park in Skagway (along with several other rigs from the ferry), it was 12:15AM. We were glad we had made reservations.
Skagway is a very nice little town with lots of very nice shops. There are lovely flowers everywhere and easy walking anywhere you want to go. This is the origination of the White Pass Railroad (White Pass was the major pass people going to the Yukon gold rush had to cross after taking the boat to Skagway). Skagway is also a cruise ship port and there were two ships docked the day we were there. We were there on a Saturday – we were told that during the week there can be as many as 5 cruise ships in the harbor. We were glad we didn’t have to fight those crowds.
The next day we drove up the Skagway Highway and were disappointed that the entire length to White Pass was shrouded in clouds and/or very heavy fog and we weren’t able to see a thing. At the top of the pass is an area called Tormented Valley with beautiful little bodies of water and stunted trees as if in a fairyland, but there was so much fog, we could barely see it. Of course, once we were inland, the fog lifted and we were left with high clouds for the rest of the day’s drive. I guess that leaves us something to look forward to if we head to Alaska again!!
We spent the night at a small RV park out in the middle of nowhere on the Alaska Highway and left the next morning to begin our trip down the Stewart Cassiar Highway..That’s next time.
Happy Travels, Ellen & Gordon
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Seward, Palmer, and Valdez, AK
The Kenai area, Seward, and Valdez are wonderful places – you can’t beat them for scenery and animals. The weather is another issue, but….there’s nothing we can do about that!
In Seward we stayed about 6 miles from town at the Stony Creek RV Park – and what a neat place it was. Our first evening we spent much of our time just outside the RVs watching a pair of adult eagles and their two young ones flying along the river and perching on the trees. The second night Gordie and I took a walk at 10PM (still very light here) and saw a number of folks along the river bank – to our amazement there was a mother grizzly and her 2-year old cub crossing the river and walking along the road on the other side. WOW. It doesn’t get better than that.
While in Seward we went to the Sealife Center – partially funded after the Exxon Valdez accident. There is lots of information on the spill, its affect on the sea life in the area, and the efforts at recovery.
We went on a 6-hour cruise that was wonderful - We saw and ‘heard’ the Holgate Glacier calving; saw puffins and lots of other seabirds, porpoises, and a couple of humpback whales.
We left Seward and drove through Anchorage (lots of fun, as they are doing lots of road construction on the highway through town) and on to Palmer just for the night. We walked around town a bit, but were glad we hadn’t planned to spend extra time there.
Then it was on to Valdez. We hadn’t planned to go to Valdez, but several folks we met along way said they really enjoyed their time here, so we did some rearranging and made time to spend 3 days. And we are very glad we did. The Glenn Highway from Palmer to Glenallen is often narrow and winding. They are doing construction along a 5-mile section and we had to wait half an hour. As we stood outside the RVs visiting, across the road trotted two moose. The flagger told Gordie that this stretch of highway is a heavily used moose crossing and many of them get killed each year (they are dumb and don’t know to avoid cars).
The scenery as we dropped from the mountains into Valdez was beautiful, even though there was a heavy cloud layer across the mountain tops. There are glaciers on all the mountains. We stopped at two huge and magnificent waterfalls (Bridal Veil Falls and Horsetail Falls) – interesting that they have the same names as those along the Columbia River near Portland.
Valdez is a cute fishing village that happens to also be the terminus for the 800 mile long Prudhoe Bay to Valdez oil pipeline. Because of the pipeline ending there, there are 18 enormous tanks to store the oil until the tankers haul it to the states. Our information was that 52 tankers a month come into Valdez on Prince William Sound to load oil on board.
We went on a cruise here as well (thanks to our Alaska 2-for-1 tour saver books, we went for half price) on a Stan Stephens cruise. We had a very different experience here and were very glad we decided to do another cruise. As we headed into Prince William Sound we were told about the oil storage facility and the tankers, as well as the new procedures and equipment put into play since the Exxon Valdez spill. We also watched fishermen setting their nets to collect the silver salmon that are now running. The fishing trawlers fill their holds and then save time and gas by unloading into larger vessels rather than going into the harbor to unload each time. Then when they are done for the day, the fish processing facility has their checks ready for them.
On this cruise we saw wonderful displays by Orcas and Humpbacks. We saw Seal Lions on a ‘haul out’ – a beach where they go to hang out, but not used for breeding or calving. We saw more puffins and otters. And eagles – as the captain would slowly cruise by the islands and mainland, you could look up in the trees and see the white heads of the eagles in the trees.
And we saw Columbia Glacier – different from most glaciers. You can’t see the glacier because as it moves toward the sound, it pushes off large ice bergs which get stuck on the bottom. So there are miles of icebergs in front of the glacier. Eventually they melt enough to float and melt into the sea while other humongous ice bergs take their places.
The next day we awoke to blue sky and sunshine – a chance to see the mountains that surround Valdez. We traveled a bit into the hills, walked along the small boat harbor, and in the evening we went to Solomon Fish Hatchery where we witnessed a brown bear stroll to the river, catch and eat 4-5 salmon, then stroll off. There were so many salmon that he had NO problem grabbing the fish. His bigger problem was with the seagulls that would yak at him and fly in close while he was trying to eat. So he would bat them away with his paw as if they were annoying children. It was wonderful to watch.
The next day it was back to weather as usual – drizzling and gloomy. But we had to do laundry and shop and do other domestic stuff, so we didn’t really mind.
And now it is on to Tok, then to Skagway. We’ll get back to you next time.
Ellen & Gordon Meade
In Seward we stayed about 6 miles from town at the Stony Creek RV Park – and what a neat place it was. Our first evening we spent much of our time just outside the RVs watching a pair of adult eagles and their two young ones flying along the river and perching on the trees. The second night Gordie and I took a walk at 10PM (still very light here) and saw a number of folks along the river bank – to our amazement there was a mother grizzly and her 2-year old cub crossing the river and walking along the road on the other side. WOW. It doesn’t get better than that.
While in Seward we went to the Sealife Center – partially funded after the Exxon Valdez accident. There is lots of information on the spill, its affect on the sea life in the area, and the efforts at recovery.
We went on a 6-hour cruise that was wonderful - We saw and ‘heard’ the Holgate Glacier calving; saw puffins and lots of other seabirds, porpoises, and a couple of humpback whales.
We left Seward and drove through Anchorage (lots of fun, as they are doing lots of road construction on the highway through town) and on to Palmer just for the night. We walked around town a bit, but were glad we hadn’t planned to spend extra time there.
Then it was on to Valdez. We hadn’t planned to go to Valdez, but several folks we met along way said they really enjoyed their time here, so we did some rearranging and made time to spend 3 days. And we are very glad we did. The Glenn Highway from Palmer to Glenallen is often narrow and winding. They are doing construction along a 5-mile section and we had to wait half an hour. As we stood outside the RVs visiting, across the road trotted two moose. The flagger told Gordie that this stretch of highway is a heavily used moose crossing and many of them get killed each year (they are dumb and don’t know to avoid cars).
The scenery as we dropped from the mountains into Valdez was beautiful, even though there was a heavy cloud layer across the mountain tops. There are glaciers on all the mountains. We stopped at two huge and magnificent waterfalls (Bridal Veil Falls and Horsetail Falls) – interesting that they have the same names as those along the Columbia River near Portland.
Valdez is a cute fishing village that happens to also be the terminus for the 800 mile long Prudhoe Bay to Valdez oil pipeline. Because of the pipeline ending there, there are 18 enormous tanks to store the oil until the tankers haul it to the states. Our information was that 52 tankers a month come into Valdez on Prince William Sound to load oil on board.
We went on a cruise here as well (thanks to our Alaska 2-for-1 tour saver books, we went for half price) on a Stan Stephens cruise. We had a very different experience here and were very glad we decided to do another cruise. As we headed into Prince William Sound we were told about the oil storage facility and the tankers, as well as the new procedures and equipment put into play since the Exxon Valdez spill. We also watched fishermen setting their nets to collect the silver salmon that are now running. The fishing trawlers fill their holds and then save time and gas by unloading into larger vessels rather than going into the harbor to unload each time. Then when they are done for the day, the fish processing facility has their checks ready for them.
On this cruise we saw wonderful displays by Orcas and Humpbacks. We saw Seal Lions on a ‘haul out’ – a beach where they go to hang out, but not used for breeding or calving. We saw more puffins and otters. And eagles – as the captain would slowly cruise by the islands and mainland, you could look up in the trees and see the white heads of the eagles in the trees.
And we saw Columbia Glacier – different from most glaciers. You can’t see the glacier because as it moves toward the sound, it pushes off large ice bergs which get stuck on the bottom. So there are miles of icebergs in front of the glacier. Eventually they melt enough to float and melt into the sea while other humongous ice bergs take their places.
The next day we awoke to blue sky and sunshine – a chance to see the mountains that surround Valdez. We traveled a bit into the hills, walked along the small boat harbor, and in the evening we went to Solomon Fish Hatchery where we witnessed a brown bear stroll to the river, catch and eat 4-5 salmon, then stroll off. There were so many salmon that he had NO problem grabbing the fish. His bigger problem was with the seagulls that would yak at him and fly in close while he was trying to eat. So he would bat them away with his paw as if they were annoying children. It was wonderful to watch.
The next day it was back to weather as usual – drizzling and gloomy. But we had to do laundry and shop and do other domestic stuff, so we didn’t really mind.
And now it is on to Tok, then to Skagway. We’ll get back to you next time.
Ellen & Gordon Meade
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Soldotna, Kenai, and Homer
We visited them all – Soldotna, Kenai, and Homer. It’s been wet a lot and cloudy the most of the time. Fortunately it hasn’t been cold – generally high 50s or low 60s.
We stayed in Soldotna at Edgewater RV Park – a good location right next to the Kenai River and within walking distance of the downtown area. And we could go to the fish walks and watch people fish along the bank. The fish walks have been installed to allow people to fish without damaging the river banks where the small fish need to hide and find food on their way to the ocean. We understand the big fish run starts next week. So though we did see some folks fishing, we didn’t see many fish being caught.
We spent a day driving 85 miles south of Soldotna to Homer, AK. At about the halfway point is Ninilchuk where Gordie and Rich signed up to go on a halibut fishing charter a couple of days later. We drove to the beach in Ninilchuk where there was a -5.3 tide and the beach was alive with people clamming. They were camped everywhere. There the licenses allowed folks to dig 62 clams a day – that’s a lot of clams.
Homer is a very neat town. There is a 4-mile long spit that is just wide enough for the road and businesses on each side. There were lots of cute shops, restaurants, lots of charter companies, and several campgrounds. The campgrounds were full, as there is a 3 month long halibut tournament there. Here right next to the road we saw an eagle on a post platform eating a salmon. We enjoyed watching several eagles during our time in the area.
We also drove to the town of Kenai and then up to the small town of Nikinski – the town is mostly there to support a storage facility for oil for the14 oil platforms that operate off the coast there in Cook Inlet. We also found a small brewery (a hobby gone wild) run by Frank Kissik and his wife. We tasted several beers and Frank gave us a tour of his very small facility. He doesn’t even bottle his beer yet, but he does sell kegs to local restaurants. We bought a ‘growler’ of beer to have with our dinner the next night. Have you ever heard of a ‘growler’??
The guys went on their charter at 4:30AM in the rain. It rained most of the day. They each caught their 2-halibut fish limit which the crew of the boat filleted. They brought the fish back to the RVs and we spent about an hour cutting and packaging it. We are very lucky that Diann and Rich borrowed an extra freezer for their RV to put it in. We had the halibut cheeks and some fillets that night for dinner – WOW; just delicious.
Then there was the day we went to Kenai Landing – an old cannery and fish processing warehouse where there are some shops (very few). We happened into the processing area and chatted with the Processing manager who kindly gave us a brief tour of the place. Diann asked him if there was any way we could buy some of the lovely salmon they had there. Well, amazingly enough he sold us two Coho and two Sockeye salmon (about 26 lbs total) for under $5 a pound. We felt like we’d won the lottery. So once again we took fish back to the RVs. These we cut into steaks and topped off that freezer. We are going to enjoy all this beautiful fish for quite a while.
Next we head to Seward and the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge.
That’s it for now! Ellen & Gordon Meade
We stayed in Soldotna at Edgewater RV Park – a good location right next to the Kenai River and within walking distance of the downtown area. And we could go to the fish walks and watch people fish along the bank. The fish walks have been installed to allow people to fish without damaging the river banks where the small fish need to hide and find food on their way to the ocean. We understand the big fish run starts next week. So though we did see some folks fishing, we didn’t see many fish being caught.
We spent a day driving 85 miles south of Soldotna to Homer, AK. At about the halfway point is Ninilchuk where Gordie and Rich signed up to go on a halibut fishing charter a couple of days later. We drove to the beach in Ninilchuk where there was a -5.3 tide and the beach was alive with people clamming. They were camped everywhere. There the licenses allowed folks to dig 62 clams a day – that’s a lot of clams.
Homer is a very neat town. There is a 4-mile long spit that is just wide enough for the road and businesses on each side. There were lots of cute shops, restaurants, lots of charter companies, and several campgrounds. The campgrounds were full, as there is a 3 month long halibut tournament there. Here right next to the road we saw an eagle on a post platform eating a salmon. We enjoyed watching several eagles during our time in the area.
We also drove to the town of Kenai and then up to the small town of Nikinski – the town is mostly there to support a storage facility for oil for the14 oil platforms that operate off the coast there in Cook Inlet. We also found a small brewery (a hobby gone wild) run by Frank Kissik and his wife. We tasted several beers and Frank gave us a tour of his very small facility. He doesn’t even bottle his beer yet, but he does sell kegs to local restaurants. We bought a ‘growler’ of beer to have with our dinner the next night. Have you ever heard of a ‘growler’??
The guys went on their charter at 4:30AM in the rain. It rained most of the day. They each caught their 2-halibut fish limit which the crew of the boat filleted. They brought the fish back to the RVs and we spent about an hour cutting and packaging it. We are very lucky that Diann and Rich borrowed an extra freezer for their RV to put it in. We had the halibut cheeks and some fillets that night for dinner – WOW; just delicious.
Then there was the day we went to Kenai Landing – an old cannery and fish processing warehouse where there are some shops (very few). We happened into the processing area and chatted with the Processing manager who kindly gave us a brief tour of the place. Diann asked him if there was any way we could buy some of the lovely salmon they had there. Well, amazingly enough he sold us two Coho and two Sockeye salmon (about 26 lbs total) for under $5 a pound. We felt like we’d won the lottery. So once again we took fish back to the RVs. These we cut into steaks and topped off that freezer. We are going to enjoy all this beautiful fish for quite a while.
Next we head to Seward and the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge.
That’s it for now! Ellen & Gordon Meade
Thursday, July 3, 2008
Anchorage and Girdwood, AK
We left Talkeetna and headed to Anchorage. It was overcast, but not raining during the trip. We stayed in Anchorage at Ship Creek RV Park. The park is long and skinny with rigs just as close together as possible. And once again we were right next to the railroad tracks. Fortunately there were only night trains at 11:05PM and about 6AM, because they blew their whistles and rocked our coaches as they went by.
We had relatively good weather there. In fact some friends of the Coys that live there said we were there during the warmest weather so far this year, and I’m not sure we got above 70 degrees. Within walking distance of the park was the Kluane River (flowing into Turnagain Arm) fishing bridge. People couldn’t fish from the bridge, but we could walk along the bridge and watch many folks standing in the river fishing. And we could watch the fish swim under the bridge as they started their trips upstream. There was also an Ulu factory very close by.
We went to the Anchorage Zoo – what a neat little zoo. The zoo takes in injured and abandoned animals from the area, so we saw Bald Eagles, Yaks, Dall Sheep, Musk Ox, Red Fox, a young pack of wolves, Moose, Polar Bears, Black and Brown bears, and even tigers. All the animals were cooperative about showing themselves. We also went to the Native American Cultural Center where there were examples of housing, habits, and crafts of each of the five Alaskan Indian Nations. Here they are called Nations instead of Tribes or Reservations.
We left Anchorage on a beautiful sunny day and headed toward Soldotna and the Kenai Peninsula. The scenery included mountains (the Kenai Range) and Turnagain Arm – This is a large arm of salt water off Cook Inlet.
About 27 miles south of Anchorage we drove into Girdwood (at the suggestion of that nice man at the Nenana Visitor’s Center a few days earlier). This is a small town that is a ski resort in winter, and a tourist attraction because of the tram in the summer. We first went to The Bakery and got the best cinnamon rolls so far!!! Then we took the tram to the top and saw beautiful views of glaciers, Turnagain Arm, Kenai Range, etc. Once again, there were flowers everywhere. There are hanging baskets and blooming gardens in every town, at every business – begonias, Fuchias, petunias, marigolds - just beautiful. And then it was back on the road to Soldotna.
That’s in the next installment.
Happy travels, Ellen & Gordon
We had relatively good weather there. In fact some friends of the Coys that live there said we were there during the warmest weather so far this year, and I’m not sure we got above 70 degrees. Within walking distance of the park was the Kluane River (flowing into Turnagain Arm) fishing bridge. People couldn’t fish from the bridge, but we could walk along the bridge and watch many folks standing in the river fishing. And we could watch the fish swim under the bridge as they started their trips upstream. There was also an Ulu factory very close by.
We went to the Anchorage Zoo – what a neat little zoo. The zoo takes in injured and abandoned animals from the area, so we saw Bald Eagles, Yaks, Dall Sheep, Musk Ox, Red Fox, a young pack of wolves, Moose, Polar Bears, Black and Brown bears, and even tigers. All the animals were cooperative about showing themselves. We also went to the Native American Cultural Center where there were examples of housing, habits, and crafts of each of the five Alaskan Indian Nations. Here they are called Nations instead of Tribes or Reservations.
We left Anchorage on a beautiful sunny day and headed toward Soldotna and the Kenai Peninsula. The scenery included mountains (the Kenai Range) and Turnagain Arm – This is a large arm of salt water off Cook Inlet.
About 27 miles south of Anchorage we drove into Girdwood (at the suggestion of that nice man at the Nenana Visitor’s Center a few days earlier). This is a small town that is a ski resort in winter, and a tourist attraction because of the tram in the summer. We first went to The Bakery and got the best cinnamon rolls so far!!! Then we took the tram to the top and saw beautiful views of glaciers, Turnagain Arm, Kenai Range, etc. Once again, there were flowers everywhere. There are hanging baskets and blooming gardens in every town, at every business – begonias, Fuchias, petunias, marigolds - just beautiful. And then it was back on the road to Soldotna.
That’s in the next installment.
Happy travels, Ellen & Gordon
Denali National Park and Talkeetna, AK
From Fairbanks we drove the 131 miles to Denali. On the way we stopped in the small town of Nenana which sits at the point where the Nenana River enters the Chena River. There was a wonderful elderly gentleman at the visitor center who gave us a list of places we HAD to see – most for free (you can’t beat that). We went to the Indian Cultural Museum where we learned of the annual Solstice boat race – an 800 mile race on the Chena River in old Indian style speedboats. We were there as they were expecting the remaining three boats (the race started with 18 boats the day before) to fly by on the second and final day of the race. But with an hour to wait, we decided to continue on toward Denali.
We arrived at Grizzly Bear Campground as the rain began – there was thunder and lightning and rain, rain, rain!! But the next morning we woke to a beautiful clear day (and lots of puddles). We had time to go to the large Denali Visitor Center and to visit the little town of Denali - hotels, gift shops, and eateries which are along the Nenana River. When we returned to the RVs that afternoon, it began raining again and rained until about 10AM the next day.
We were so lucky that two months ago we signed up for a 13-hour tour into Denali Nat’l Park for June 25. We awoke to a beautiful cloudless day and had a truly spectacular trip. Not only did we see Mt. McKinley in all its glory, we saw animals – moose, red fox, snowshoe hare, Grizzly bears (three times), Caribou, Dall sheep, geese with goslings, and even a golden eagle. And the mountain scenery was amazing. We rode in regular school buses and were provided a nice hot lunch at Kantishna before the return trip. Denali is different than most National Parks. It was begun to preserve Dall Sheep. It is now seven million acres and has only the one 91 mile road into the park that is available only to the tour buses and campers/hikers/photographers/etc with permits. There are no trails in the park – it is kept as pristine as possible. We were even told that while we were eating, we were to eat ON the bus, not at the rest areas. The only areas open to the general public are the visitor center area where there are some nature trails, and the first 15 miles of road into the park. After that it is by permit only. It truly was spectacular, and to have a clear sunny day – what more could we ask?
We left Denali National Park in a rain storm and headed south to Talkeetna. Our plan was to take a flight seeing tour by fixed wing plane – we wanted to get close to the mountain and also land on a glacier. But the weather didn’t cooperate and we were grounded. Instead we spent time in the lovely little artsy Talkeetna. What a great little place. One day we had fish sandwiches and local beer in a pub there – every place was highly decorated with flower baskets – so pretty. Our RV park backed up to the small railroad station where folks going between Fairbanks and Anchorage (with stops in Talkeetna and Denali) would come and go. Each time the train came in, there would be a line of tour buses (Princess, Celebrity, etc) waiting to load and unload folks. In Talkeetna the businesses said that they had buses full of people on a daily basis.
And from here it was on to Anchorage – that’s the next installment.
Traveling on, Ellen & Gordon
We arrived at Grizzly Bear Campground as the rain began – there was thunder and lightning and rain, rain, rain!! But the next morning we woke to a beautiful clear day (and lots of puddles). We had time to go to the large Denali Visitor Center and to visit the little town of Denali - hotels, gift shops, and eateries which are along the Nenana River. When we returned to the RVs that afternoon, it began raining again and rained until about 10AM the next day.
We were so lucky that two months ago we signed up for a 13-hour tour into Denali Nat’l Park for June 25. We awoke to a beautiful cloudless day and had a truly spectacular trip. Not only did we see Mt. McKinley in all its glory, we saw animals – moose, red fox, snowshoe hare, Grizzly bears (three times), Caribou, Dall sheep, geese with goslings, and even a golden eagle. And the mountain scenery was amazing. We rode in regular school buses and were provided a nice hot lunch at Kantishna before the return trip. Denali is different than most National Parks. It was begun to preserve Dall Sheep. It is now seven million acres and has only the one 91 mile road into the park that is available only to the tour buses and campers/hikers/photographers/etc with permits. There are no trails in the park – it is kept as pristine as possible. We were even told that while we were eating, we were to eat ON the bus, not at the rest areas. The only areas open to the general public are the visitor center area where there are some nature trails, and the first 15 miles of road into the park. After that it is by permit only. It truly was spectacular, and to have a clear sunny day – what more could we ask?
We left Denali National Park in a rain storm and headed south to Talkeetna. Our plan was to take a flight seeing tour by fixed wing plane – we wanted to get close to the mountain and also land on a glacier. But the weather didn’t cooperate and we were grounded. Instead we spent time in the lovely little artsy Talkeetna. What a great little place. One day we had fish sandwiches and local beer in a pub there – every place was highly decorated with flower baskets – so pretty. Our RV park backed up to the small railroad station where folks going between Fairbanks and Anchorage (with stops in Talkeetna and Denali) would come and go. Each time the train came in, there would be a line of tour buses (Princess, Celebrity, etc) waiting to load and unload folks. In Talkeetna the businesses said that they had buses full of people on a daily basis.
And from here it was on to Anchorage – that’s the next installment.
Traveling on, Ellen & Gordon
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