Alaska Ferry in Progress

We have wi-fi on the Alaska ferry! Mental. And it's free!

We're half-way through our journey from Juneau to Bellingham (Washington), and Chris is covered with mysterious welts and what we thought were bug bites. He's itching like a mad thing, and we're flummoxed as to the cause. Hopefully it will clear up soon because we're running out of hydrocortisone cream. He's currently distracting himself with a Snickers bar. Any excuse!

In the meantime, we're enjoying the gorgeous scenery. Plus we've had wee reunions with several travellers we've encountered elsewhere in Alaska. It's a small world!

Juneau what?

So the one thing we just had to do in Juneau was Tracy Arm - a nearby waterway with spectacular scenery and wildlife. We arranged a trip down the Arm and hauled ourselves out of bed at 6:30 am.


We joined 40-odd other adventurous types aboard the "Adventure Bound" in search of animals and glacial activity. Despite breaking down for a half-hour or so we eventually nosed towards the glacier though heavy pack ice and onlooking harbour seals. It took a while, but eventually we got near enough to Sawyer glacier to hear it cracking and splitting. Everyone was transfixed as the huge wall of blue ice creaked and groaned. Eventually a pinnacle of the glacier's face tumbled into the fjord with an almighty crash closely followed by the surrounding wall. The seals looked on unimpressed.


After an hour or so watching the glacier, we nosed our way back out towards home past the lazy seals and eventually into open water again. On our way back home we trailed a humpback whale, watching him play around for a while before he disappeared. We got back home and collapsed in a heap. On our third and final day here, we stocked up for the three-day journey back to Washington and watched a few movies. Instead of getting an early night and getting up at 3 am we just stayed up until it was time to leave. We're so rock 'n' roll.

Get back to you when we're back in Seattle.

To the Capital!

Not many people (and certainly very few people outside of the United States) know that the capital of Alaska is not Anchorage, but Juneau. Well, now you know.


Juneau is an odd place to have a capital city. It's inaccessible by road from the rest of the country. It's also inaccessible by road from the rest of the world. There are no roads that go there. The only way you can get your car there is by taking the ferry. You can also fly there too, but the airport ain't really that big. It's also odd because the governor whose official residence is in this tiny little place is running for vice president of the United States, but I think that's a matter for a much more serious blog.


Sarah Palin's official house.
We got here via the ferry from Whittier (which we were very happy to leave behind thank you). It's small, dirty and a little menacing. The people we met there were nice enough, but it has the look of a small port town with not much going for it. I caught myself thinking that it will be a lot nicer once (or maybe if) the cruise ship companies do a bit of development here which is a shame because it will lose its local feel, but then it will also be a good thing because it will (hopefully) lose its local feel. We stayed in the only hotel in town who return phonecalls, June's B&B which was a little expensive, but much better than the rough and tumble(down) Anchor Inn.


On the ferry we didn't really get to look out for much wildlife - although even if we had, our trip through the gulf of Alaska was pretty rough and rainy and foggy so we wouldn't really have seen much even if we had been looking. We slept for most of the trip both from the steady rocking motion of the boat and the lack of much else to do. At one point, when we were in the middle of the gulf, I spotted a bird circling the boat which didn't really look much like a gull. It came a little closer and I was able to make out the distinctive hood and spotty belly of a peregrine falcon. I can only surmise that the poor thing had built a nest on the ferry and was more than a little surprised to find itself miles out to sea! Conversely it's also possible that the enterprising bird was quite happy to travel from one end of the Alaskan coastline to the other, terrorising rodent populations from Ketchikan to the Aleutian chain and everywhere in between.

So we arrived in Juneau at 3:15am - an uncivilised hour to arrive anywhere in my opinion. Luckily we'd arranged with a hotel to pick us up (which they dutifully did) and we were finally installed in our room by 4:15am. We had 3 days to explore the city of Juneau and so we had to get moving!

Anchorage

We returned to Anchorage knowing that we just had to arrange our passage to Whittier (a mere 60 miles) and then we could relax for the rest of our time here.


What we failed to realise is that despite the distance being a mere 60 miles, NO ONE IN ANCHORAGE WANTS TO GO THERE!!! It seems that they are all aware of the little ditty about about Whittier (HINT: It involves rhyming slang)*. There's also the matter of a slightly crazy one-way single track road/rail tunnel. Essentially, it's only open for a half hour in each direction before they close it for 15 minutes so traffic can clear and then they open it up the other way. Of course this is all interrupted if a train wants to pass and they charge everyone at least $12 each for the privilege!

So after about a day-and-a-half's worth of searching, phoning, pleading, frustration and increasing desperation (as well as at least half a dozen unanswered answering machine messages), we finally managed to find someone brave/stupid enough to go to Whittier. Unfortunately our bus trip and accommodation are costing us over $225. It's a racket, I'm telling you.

Anyway, at least we got a good brekkie from the Middle Way Cafe. We split a big, fat breakfast burrito and the daddy of all smoothies (strawberry, banana, apple and blueberry - yum!) and Trace got to play with a big, fluffy husky who'd plunked him/herself down in the middle of the floor (apparently (s)hes a regular - the husky, not Trace).


Yes, this dog IS alive.
So here we are now, waiting for our bus in the lobby of a swanky hotel, being regarded suspiciously by people paying over $200 per night to stay here. I'm sure we shouldn't technically be leeching their internet for free, but meh. I doubt they'll miss the bandwidth.

*If you still can't work it out, it basically says that nothing could be less pleasant than a day in Whittier.

There's no place like Homer

This is not a cat called Homer. Read on and all will be revealed...


After a little messing about with buses we made it to Homer. We'd heard that Homer was a quaint little seaside community and a good pace to hang out for a few days. Just what the doctor ordered! We checked in to Homer hostel (despite the fact that there was no one there!) and set off to explore. After a while we'd pretty much covered the whole of Homer town and found ourselves some dinner at a small cafe. The owner was about to shut up shop for the season and only had a few things left, but luckily it was enough to make a couple of grilled cheese sandwiches with pickles and coleslaw and coffee (for me).

The next morning we went by the local farmer's market - although we were a little late so there wasn't much there. We did stop for a while and listen to a local xylophone group. On the way back into town we stopped by the local animal shelter on a whim to see if there was anything we could help with. The woman was delighted that we'd showed up because her Saturday cat helper had not been able to make it. As you can imagine, we jumped at the chance to help out. Although cleaning out cat enclosures isn't high on my list of 'most pleasant jobs ever', we did get to hang out with a bunch of cats for a couple of days - which is something I've been missing.


There are two rooms of cats at the Homer animal shelter. One room contains a dozen or so older cats who are all pretty content to live alongside each other. It also has three or four cats who are either too bad tempered or too shy to deal with the others. The other room is full of younger cats and kittens and a fairly exasperated-looking mother cat.


We had a couple of days to look after cats, watch Pineapple Express (very funny movie) and make food in the hostel kitchen - all in all a great few days.

Seward bound

Seward is a little place on the south coast of the Kenai peninsula. It's a cruise ship stop and as such is usually inundated with tourists, but seeing as it's coming to the end of the season, there weren't many people around. Seward is a little coastal community with a few things going for it: its amazing sealife centre, and its proximity to the stunning glaciers and wildlife of the Kenai Fjords National Park.


We first stopped at our hostel and got ourselves set. We were staying in the Moby Dick hostel - which was the only hostel in the middle of town. After checking in we realised we were the only people in our building and we had the whole place to ourselves! This meant we didn't have the usual hostel problems of having to fight for kitchen space or clean up other people's dishes and pans. We found the nearby(ish) supermarket and managed to have a home-cooked meal for once.

Seward's sealife centre helps rehabilitate sick and injured local animals as well as engage in research and conservation. We found it an enchanting place - very well run and incredibly informative. We also were thrilled with some close interaction with a giant Pacific octopus, various seabirds (including two types of puffin!) and a HUGE Steller sea lion. Outside we even spotted a couple of (wild) Bald eagles. Wonderful!


The next day we got ourselves onboard a tour boat going out to the National Park. It was touch and go whether we'd manage to get out to the glacier because the seas had been rough that week, but luckily they'd subsided enough that the trip wouldn't be too arduous. We all piled on board and all set off for Aialik glacier. On the trip we spotted sea otters, seals, some Dall's porpoises as well as a couple of humpback whales; but the real star of the show was the glacier itself.


As we approached, we were all awed by its sheer immensity. It's literally a mile-wide wall of ice rising from the waters of the fjord. The captain turned off the boat's engines and we could hear the glacier as it cracked and split. Every now and again, small pieces of ice tumbled off the top of the sheer terminal face of the glacier and tumbled hundreds of feet into the water below but even these small pieces made a tremendous splash. It was only after seeing a few of these that we heard the guide mention that these 'small' pieces were probably the size of a sofa. Suddenly we all became aware of a deep cracking and we knew something was up. Smaller pieces were falling all around one section of the glacier's face and suddenly one huge protrusion gave itself up to the waters of the fjord as stunned tourists (and some rather bored looking harbour seals) looked on. I think everyone (except the seals) knew they'd witnessed something they'd remember for years to come.


On the way back we went by the Chiswell islands and spotted some seabirds and sea lions and managed to find a couple of humpback whales - but by this time we were short on time and had to head back. On the way we managed to tempt some Dall's porpoises into riding our bow wave. All in all, a magical day and certainly one of the highlights (of many) of our Alaska trip.

Fairbanks

Before moving on from our Denali experience, I want to note a wee resident of our camping ground that Iff forgot to mention in his blog post. This little guy had the head of a squirrel, an absolutely rotund body, and then a flattened furry tail. He resembled a very fat marmot, but because we were unsure of his identity we could only call him a pygmy beaver. We saw more of the same rodent over our two camping days, but we especially enjoyed watching this particular one run around the camping area.

While still in Denali, we managed to get hold of a USA host list for Servas. We joined Servas early this year but hadn't yet managed to stay with anyone. We were happy to find a good number of hosts in Alaska, including some in Fairbanks. We only had a couple days' notice to give, but I sent an email to Miriam and Roger Dunbar just before we went camping. When we got back from camping, we were delighted to find a positive reply from the Dunbars. We spoke on the phone, and all was set!

As Chris mentioned already, we got the train from Denali to Fairbanks. It was an eventful journey with sightings of moose as well as a group of 7 Dall sheep quite close to the train. The sheep were on a very steep cliff side, and as a few of them climbed up and down there were gasps throughout the train when rocks slid from underneath their hooves. We were all worried about these sheep! I was also anxious about our upcoming Servas stay, how we should act and how we'd get along with our hosts. More than anything, I was anxious not to become an inconvenience to them.

Our train was an hour late in arriving, and Miriam had very kindly offered to pick us up from the train station. As we pulled into the station, we saw a couple standing by their parked car, waiting to pick people up. We thought they might be the Dunbars, so we hurried off the train and rushed over towards were that couple had been. As we started in that direction, though, an elderly man asked us if we were from England. Close! He turned out to be Bill, Miriam's lovely father. He led us to the station, where Miriam was waiting.

We then proceeded to have an absolutely amazing time with Miriam, Roger, and Bill. We stayed in their lovely home for two nights and really enjoyed talking with them each evening. They were so welcoming; we felt right at home. They shared their gorgeous food, their own garden-grown produce, their time, and their wonderfully liberal views with us. We even got to make over their incredibly beautiful cat. These people are awesome, and we didn't want to leave at the end of our stay there!

We managed to see a little bit of Fairbanks in our one full day there. We walked into the downtown area to get a bus to the suburb of North Pole. It's terribly touristy and tacky, sure, but we had to visit the Santa Claus house there and pick up a few gifts. Done! We hung out with the reindeer and ducks behind the house until it was time to get the bus back into downtown Fairbanks. Then we went to the University of Alaska's Museum of the North for a few hours. It's an amazing museum full of interesting historical stuff and art. We loved it but found ourselves a bit supersaturated after three hours! From there we visited a cool bookshop and sampled some Hot Licks ice cream (very nice). We decided to walk the couple miles back to the Dunbars' house, taking our time and visiting the Creamer field on the way.

After a very cool evening chatting with Miriam, Roger, and Bill - as well as sampling Roger's wonderful stir fry and Miriam's addictive chocolate chip cookies - we were determined to see some northern lights. The night sky was so clear with stars twinkling like crazy; it was beautiful. It was also very cold outside, so we kept going out to the front yard for brief looks at the sky in case anything was happening. Finally at nearly 1am, Chris noticed a faint whitish-green arc of light spanning all the sky we could see like a rainbow. As we watched, the arc got thicker and stronger in colour, and then it blew our minds to see bands of colour streak up and down from the arc in places. We didn't see the strong green and red colours that are iconic of the northern lights; perhaps we needed to be far away from city lights to see those. But we were absolutely thrilled to see that light in the night sky; seeing it move around like a living thing was icing on the cake.

We went to sleep with big smiles on our faces and were very sorry to leave the Dunbars' home the next morning. Roger very kindly gave us a lift to the bus station in his wicked Prius. Time for our next slice of Alaska: the Kenai Peninsula...

Fun in Denali

Although not a typical Alaskan pastime, there are a few opportunities for rafting in the Denali area. Although the river isn't particularly challenging – with only grade 2-3 rapids this time of year – the water is glacial run-off and as such is a point or two above freezing. It's so cold that you have to wear a dry suit to keep you from getting hypothermia! Sounds like my idea of fun! It was quite a good trip with a good bunch of people along for the ride (including the Australians from the previous post) and although no one fell in, we were invited to dive in for a swim – an offer which only I took up. After a minute or so in the water I could see why as I couldn't feel my unprotected hands any more...


Having made it back to our hotel in one piece I had to take a minute or two in a nice warm shower to defrost, but then we were back out on the tourist trail to check out Denali National Park's sled dogs. During the winter months, when snow blankets the entire area, the Park's road becomes impassable. Therefore the rangers patrol the park using dog teams and sleds to make sure that no one's hunting, camping or messing about in the park who shouldn't be. During the summer months the dogs are housed in kennels and visitors get to play with them and watch a quick demo of how a dog team works. Trace was in heaven because she got to make over loads of gorgeous huskies and of course the huskies don't mind a bit of attention either. After a quick once around a gravel track pulled by a carefully selected 5-dog team, the ranger explained what each of the positions in a team did and what dogs are suitable for each. One of the dogs decided to embarrass himself and started digging around in the gravel and showering his handler with stone chips, got himself tangled up in the harness and generally made a nuisance of himself.

We'd been unsuccessful in our Northern Lights viewing, so instead of heading off to Fairbanks like originally planned we arrived at a slightly harebrained scheme to camp in the park and try to see them in the middle of pristine wilderness instead. We made a quick mental checklist – rent camping equipment, buy food, get permit to camp in park, buy bus ticket for park, etc. Our spur-of-the-moment decision struck a chord with a few people and they really pulled through for us. The camping rental place let us keep our tent and gear for two days for the price of only one and the folks in the park's wilderness access center (or WAC for short) were incredibly helpful. We managed to get ourselves to the WAC the next morning fully equipped, provisioned and ready for wilderness exploration!


We missed out on a night at the highly coveted Wonder Lake campground by a matter of minutes but we did manage to grab the consolation prize of a spot at Igloo Creek – which is a good way inside the park and right next to an area closed to hikers due to wolf activity. We were also told by various park people that a few lynx had been spotted in the vicinity of the campground too so we may get to see one of the elusive felines. Our trip out to Igloo Creek was fairly uneventful – although we did get to see a couple of bull moose(s?) on the way. As our bus trundled off down the dusty gravel track, leaving us by the side of the road near our campground we were suddenly on our own and no longer top of the food chain!

We set up camp and decided to go off for a little exploration. We took a little look up nearby Igloo Mountain where we got some lovely views and a close look at some snowshoe hare and a stroll through nearby woods (Igloo Woods perhaps?) where we got to see evidence of recent human habitation (loads of scattered detritus left to rust) and even more recent lynx habitation (disembodied hare's feet). As we settled into our tent, the rain started and we realised that the Northern Lights viewing would be off again tonight... Apart from the constant drumming of the rain and the bitter cold, the night was thankfully uneventful.

The next day we caught our final bus around the park. The clouds had all lifted and we were left with a stunning view of Denali's peaks – even better that two days previously. We also managed to spot much of the same wildlife including foxes, wolves and bears (oh my!) as well as a group of 8 ptarmigans gathered by the roadside! As we left the park for the final time we realised that we'd not managed to spotted a lynx or the Northern Lights but we weren't in any way disappointed. Denali had been very generous in what it had offered us and we very grateful for that.

The next morning (after another failed NL attempt – it was getting beyond a joke at this point...) we headed down to Horseshoe Lake where we heard there were beavers. Horseshoe Lake is a quick 20 minute hike down from the Visitor Center (and right next to the train station) so we could have a quick look for the little aquatic rodents before we caught our train to Fairbanks. Unfortunately it wasn't to be for us and the beavers stayed well and truly at home – although we did see a few trees that they'd been munching on. So we trudge back up the hill, ate a quick lunch and jumped on board the train, headed for the end of the rails in Fairbanks.

Anchorage to Kantishna

Anchorage has loads of really lovely flowers in it. Just wanted to mention that!

We got up at the ungodly hour of 6am in order to get to our Denali train on time. This is a legendary train ride, so we were really excited. It went through the lovely territory between Anchorage and Denali National Park very slowly. Plus I was really tired from waking up so early. Those are my excuses for falling asleep on the train, just long enough to miss the beaver that Chris managed to spot from the train window. I woke up to him yelling, "I saw a beaver! I saw a beaver!" Wide awake and insanely jealous, I couldn't catch a glimpse of the little guy. Hmph! Good for Iff, though.

We spent some time up in an observation dome to check out the scenery, and it was from up there that we noticed how long the train was. In addition to the 5 or 6 normal Alaska Railroad cars, there were 11 (Chris counted) private tour cars for cruise passengers. It was mental! We would later find ourselves often among herds of cruise passengers. Iff reckoned that Florida is empty with all those cruisers up here!

We got off the train and got our shuttle bus to the lodging we'd booked ahead, in the company of a cool Australian family. We were happy to get one of the economy cabins supposedly coveted by backpackers. It's cheap! Woo-hoo! That's pretty rare in Alaska. It's lovely in the Denali park and surrounds. We're delighted to be here.

The next morning, we got up bright and early (again!) for our Kantishna Experience, a narrated tour of the park. This is the longest tour possible and includes lunch and a commentary by a naturalist, so we couldn't resist. Matt was our lovely driver/naturalist (and comedian), and we had such an excellent day. It was supposed to rain, but we had sun all day. It was stunning. And we had what Matt called a double grand slam; we got to see the park's big five animals as well as Denali mountain itself. Denali is the highest mountain in North America and is only visible 30% of the time. We were very lucky to see it. But even better than that was the wildlife we managed to spot:

• 6 moose (including one huge bull at the very end of the day and close up too!)
  
• 1 ptarmigan
  
• 12 grizzlies (including some cubs)
  
• 12 Dall sheep
  
• 1 fox
  
• 1 wolf
  
• 8 caribou
  
• 2 golden eagles
  
• 1 harrier on the hunt
  
• 4 snowshoe hare
  
• various squirrels and rodents

We were especially thrilled by how huge and shiny most of the grizzlies were; Matt said this was due to them bulking up for the winter. The last two moose were thrilling too because they were so close to the bus. When we were parked to watch the huge bull moose at the very end, Matt had to yell at some tourists who had gotten out of their cars and were far too close to the moose when he moved forward. It's rutting season, and the male moose can be very aggressive. Luckily this moose didn't charge anyone, although some of us on the bus were hoping for a good show!

Part of our day included a wee tour of Kantishna, an old gold rush town in the centre of the park. There are still some bits of land within the park that are privately owned, including some tourist lodges. A lovely park ranger named Jamie joined us to give that part of the tour, and we really enjoyed it. The highlight was a visit to Fannie Quigley's old house. She was a pioneer woman the size of H who kicked some major frontier butt. She was a miner, trapper, hunter, baker, gardener, roadhouse hostess, potato beer brewer, and legendary cusser. She's a legend in these parts, and how I'd love to have met her.

We also were touched by a time on the bus when we all donated our uneaten food and extra drinks for a good cause. On another tour bus, one of the passengers sadly died of a heart attack. The other passengers were delayed for three hours while the paramedics and police did their work. Those who wanted to finish their tour hadn't been prepared to be out so late, so another bus driver gave us the word that our stuff would be much appreciated. Chris and I were at the front of the bus and got to see the many bags come forward with whatever people could spare. It was lovely to see everyone helping out like that. Later we found out that the Australian family staying at our same lodge was on that bus; they decided not to continue with their tour after the poor man died.

That somber moment aside, it was a magical day. We are so happy to be here. The park is full of gorgeous autumnal colours and animals fattened up in preparation for the winter soon to arrive. The rangers we've talked to have been so helpful and friendly. We're here late enough for the mosquitoes to be gone, and the weather is uncommonly warm (so we're told by the locals). Also, it's time for the northern lights, although we haven't managed to see them yet. We'll try to be outside at 1am tonight for our chance!

Whales and Blue Ice

We had a wonderful day outdoors.

Not far from Anchorage is Beluga Point, a pull-off of the highway from where belugas can sometimes be seen playing and/or looking for salmon. We got there and took about 20 minutes before we ventured out of the car; it was so windy, we worried that the car would blow away once we got out! We could see people outside fighting not to get knocked down by the wind. But eventually we heard a woman telling someone else how she'd seen belugas coming our way. We immediately put on jackets and hats and went to talk to her.

This woman is a local and had been trying for three years to see the belugas. Her friends kept seeing them, but she never could get a glimpse. It just happened that on this day, coming back from an unsuccessful fishing trip, she and her family happened to spot a big pod of belugas heading towards Beluga Point. This family followed the whales, stopping at various points along the highway, for an hour until they wound up at the Point. From where our cars were parked, we walked with her down closer to the water to have a good look. It was freezing cold and so windy I had to keep bracing myself not to fall over, but we were determined to see those whales!

We waited for a while but couldn't see them. The woman thought they might have been swept along by the strong current too far out for us to see them, but she kept hoping we'd get to see them like she had earlier. We all got so cold and it had been a while since she'd last seem then, so we gave up and headed back towards the cars. Before we got there, Chris felt inspired to go back one more time. We didn't manage to see any that time either.

On our way back to the cars once again, we saw a group of people in the distance, looking into the water. We realised that the woman we'd been talking to was among them, and as we were asking each other whether we should head over there, the woman spotted us and gestured for us to join them. We ran over there, so worried that the whales would leave before we got there. Luckily they hadn't. We joined the others to see dozens of belugas arching out of the water, usually only showing their backs but sometimes giving us a flash of head or tail. We couldn't believe how many there were and how long they stuck around in this place perfect for viewing them. We saw some that were bright white and others that were still grey. At least one had a tiny baby swimming alongside, arching out of the water in unison with its parent. We watched them for quite some time, leaving only after it seemed like they'd moved on. We were thrilled.

From there, we went to the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Centre, a place for rehabilitation, the breeding of certain animals for release into the wild, and also a permanent home for some animals unable to go back into the wild. We got to see moose, elk, musk oxen, brown bears, black bears, reindeer, a porcupine, a bald eagle, sitka deer, and bison. It was so cold and wet there, but the animals didn't seem to mind. We were happy to see that such a nice home is available for them.


Our next stop was Byron Glacier. We got completely soaked walking a mile to get to it, but it was worth it. The glacier has the most gorgeous blue bits in it.


We've been really pleased with our time in Anchorage and surrounds. Tomorrow we're headed north to Denali. We hope to get as far as North Pole!