Not an expedition: Alaska Trip report...

[Martinjmpr]

Okay, I've teased you guys long enough! Here's a report from my recent 2 1/2 week trip to Alaska.

The trip was about a year in the making. Wife has wanted to go there for years (for one thing, she's a fly fisher, and Alaska is like mecca for flyfishermen.) We'd discussed it, talked about budget, what we'd like to do, etc.

Of course, being an ExPo type, I naturally wanted to drive the Alaska Highway and tour on our own, but 3 things prevented that:

1. Time. Driving to AK would take a minimum of 5 days (and that would really be pushing it, a week would be more reasonable) and driving back would take as long, so we'd exhaust 2 weeks of leave just getting to and from Alaska;

2. Cost. My preferred method would have been to drive the Alaska Highway to Fairbanks, then proceed to tour Alaska, then drive back via Haines/Skagway and the Alaska Ferry to Bellingham, WA, and then to drive back to CO. But factoring in about 7,000 miles of highway driving and assuming ~18mpg (probably optimistic on some stretches of road) would equal roughly 388 gallons of gas used.

At $3/gallon that would work out to about $1200 just for gas, and as I later found out, $3 is probably a ridiculously low estimate for gas prices in most of the areas I'd be going (in Anchorage, cheapest we saw was $3.33.) I have no idea how much gas is in Canada but I'm going to guess it's more expensive
than most places in the US outside of Alaska.) So realistically, I'd have been looking at clost to $2000 just in gasoline, to say nothing of food, lodging, and any repairs that might have to be made in 7,000 miles. On top of all that, taking the ferry from Haines to Bellingham would have run another $2k for the
wife and I and our vehicle (roughly $900 for the two of us and about $1100 for our vehicle);

3. The wife: God love her, but she doesn't like long car trips. That's just the way she is. And I'm sure you've all heard the saying "if momma ain't happy, ain't nobody happy." This was supposed to be her dream vacation and making her miserable for a week didn't seem to be a great way to start it off.

So, we started looking at alternatives, including flying up and renting a vehicle, etc. After we crunched numbers and looked at what we wanted to do, we (grudgingly) acknowledged that it made sense for us to book a "package tour" through a cruise line (Holland America), so that's what we did. We booked a "Cruise-Tour" that included 7 days on the ship and 7 days off. The cruise departed from Vancouver, BC and went up the inside passage to Ketchikan, Juneau, and Skagway, before ending in Seward.

I'd been to Alaska twice before, once in 1983 and once in 2001, both times with the military, and both times for only two weeks, where I spent the majority of my time on-base. So the idea behind this trip was that we wanted to see as much as we could, with the idea that we could decide what we liked and come back to see that in more detail later.

The cruise was, well, a cruise. I'd never done a cruise before, and I can't say I was all that fond of it. All that stuff of being herded around in a large group was too much like being in the Army for me, I guess. Still, it was nice to have our own room in a floating hotel and to wake up in a different place
each day. The downtown tourist traps were a waste of time but we did have fun on our excursions, especially in Skagway where we rode the White Pass railroad to the top of the pass and a little beyond (to Fraser, BC) and then rode bicycles (!) all the way back down into Skagway.

We saw this Orca in the waters off of Juneau:

Here's a pair of them:

Looking into Skagway from the White Pass railway:

Our trip back down:

To be fair, being on the cruise ship did get us the opportunity to see a lot of Glacier Bay National Park, one of the least accessible parks in the US (the only access is by small aircraft or ship.) We spent a full day at Glacier Bay and even got to see a large chunk of the glacier "calve" into the water.


Glacier Bay:

...To be continued...

 

[Martinjmpr]

Part 2

It was after we docked for the last time at Seward that our real adventure began. We were bused to Anchorage for the night, and the next day we were taken to the airport to fly to Prudhoe Bay, on Alaska's North Coast. Prudhoe Bay was surreal. From the warm sunshine of Anchorage, we ended up in a cold (about 35f), windy, drizzly overcast. The area around Prudhoe is flat, featureless, and of course it's a huge oil camp.

Approaching our landing at Prudhoe Bay:

In fact, it's not really set up for tourism at all, we're sort of "intruders" up there. They put up with us (at a hefty cost, of course) but it's always obvious that the business of Prudhoe Bay is oil, and that's it. There were a few other hardy adventurers up there, on motorcycles, but most of the folks who were there were there to work (two weeks on/two weeks off for most of them.) 12 hour shifts and no days off until they leave.

Weird vehicles called "Rolligons" have extremely low pressure "tires" to protect the fragile tundra:

I told Liz that in many ways it resembled the military camps I'd been to in Afghanistan, Kuwait, and the Former Yugoslavia, right down to the pre-fab dining halls and abundant (if not exactly high-quality) cuisine.

After a night at the Arctic Caribou Inn, we left the next morning for the first day of our bus trip down the Dalton Highway. This was really the best part of the trip and the part I'd been looking forward to the most. The road starts off at the oil camp and then takes off to the south, across the barren arctic tundra. It's an otherworldly place, and the cold, drizzly, overcast weather made it seem even harder to believe it was early July!

After about 50 - 60 miles, the road starts to ascend into the Brooks Range, and the terrain becomes more interesting. We stopped at a lake for a cold box lunch, while we spent our spare time swatting at the mosquitos that clouded around us. The scenery was spectacular by that time, though, as we were surrounded by snowcapped mountains and green, mossy tundra. The rivers were all jade green from glacial runoff. A couple of hours later, we started ascending Atigun Pass, which crosses the Northern Continental Divide and passes close to both Gates of the Arctic National Park, one of Alaska's extremely remote parks, and the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. By the time we descended the steep slopes of the pass, the weather was starting to clear up and the vegetation was getting taller. Finally, on the South side of Atigun Pass, we passed by the Northernmost Spruce Tree on the highway, which even had a little placard.

Approaching Atigun Pass:

View from Atigun Pass looking back to the North:

Unfortunately, the tree was dead, but it was still the northernmost tree on the road! We continued along, crossing the Koyokuk river several times, before crossing into a thick boreal forest and winding up at Coldfoot, which bills itself as the Northernmost truck stop in the world.

Besides the truck stop, there was a cool interagency visitor center at Coldfoot. We went there to get some information on the area and took a walk on the several miles of trails around it. We were very pleasantly surprised to find blueberries growing everywhere. Liz started picking them and then I said "you know what's going to happen, right? You're going to look up and see a bear standing there with his hands on his hips saying 'Do I come to your house and take food out of your refrigerator?'"

Liz picking blueberries:

(To be continued.)

 

[teotwaki]

Very nice! I've been on a similar cruise and planned my own excursions at each of the places we docked. I was so excited about the terrain I saw that I went back to Alaska the next year to go climbing.

PS: it looks the blueberry picture is proof that your dear Liz was a happy "camper" :sombrero:

 

[Martinjmpr]

Part 3

After a surprisingly good (but still very expensive) meal at the Coldfoot truck stop, we went to bed in our very spartan room at the "Slate Creek Inn." Incidentally, for travelers intending to pass through, the cost for one of these dorm-style rooms is $199 per night. Several of the motorcyclists we saw decided to pitch tents instead, I think they paid about $25 for that privilege although I'm pretty sure it included a (much needed) shower as well.

Motorcycle campers at Coldfoot:

Next day, we woke up to the sound of what we thought were howling wolves right outside the hotel, but it turned out to be a yard full of half-wolf sled dogs howling for their breakfast.

We continued down the Dalton, stopping at the Arctic Circle for pictures. As we descended the southern slope of the Brooks Range the vegetation thickened, although it was still mostly made up of these rather ugly black spruce trees (we called them "pipe cleaner trees" because even the tallest trees had very stubby branches.) Of course, the pipeline was our constant companion along the way.

Pipe cleaner trees on the Dalton Highway:

View of the Tundra from Finger Rock:

Bridge across the Yukon River:

At a tourist trap/general store South of the Yukon. Would make an interesting "Expo Rig."

Almost 500 miles South of Prudhoe Bay, we finally hit our first stretch of nice pavement, just outside of Fairbanks, where we were put up in a nice hotel for the night.

Early next day, we were transported to the train station where we boarded the famed Alaska Railroad.

The cars were 'glass topped' and offered a spectacular view.

First views of Denali, on an unusually clear day:

To be continued...

 

[Martinjmpr]

Part 4

By noon we'd reached Denali, where we disembarked for one of the National Park Service's "Wilderness" tours (except for a few rare exceptions, this is the only way you can get into Denali on a motorized vehicle.) The tour started at 1:30 PM and we didn't return to our hotel until nearly 9pm, but we saw some of the incredible scenery that Denali has to offer. We were also treated to some (apparently very rare) cloudless views of Mt. McKinley itself (which is normally shrouded in clouds and the whole park is often overcast.)

Along the way we saw caribou, porcupines, Dall sheep, and - best of all - nearly a half dozen grizzly bears. By the time we got back to the hotel, we were exhausted but had gotten a great tour of this fantastic park.

Grizzly

Liz and I had booked an ATV tour the next day. While the scenery we rode through was nice, it was, of course, outside the park and not as spectacular as what you see inside. Still it was a fun way to spend a couple of hours and Liz loved it.

After lunch we re-boarded the train for the last leg of our trip to Anchorage. Along the way we were again treated to great views of Mt. McKinley, as well as wildlife (moose and black bears.)

We arrived in Anchorage late on Friday and went back to the same hotel we'd been in only 5 days before.

The next morning, our Holland America tour ended, and most of the other people we'd been with went to the airport for their flights home. But Liz and I had decided to spend a few more days touring on our own. Liz met with someone she'd been corresponding with who is with a women's running club in Anchorage. She took Liz on a nice, 4 mile run through Anchorage while I went and picked up our rental car.

After we got the car, we checked out of the hotel and drove around, touring Anchorage's Earthquake Park and then drove down Turnagain Arm past Girdwood to the Alaska Wildlife Rescue Park. It was a cold, rainy, overcast day (apparently very typical Alaska weather) but we enjoyed watching the rescued animals as well as seeing the gorgeous views around the Turnagain Arm, which included a number of both "hanging" and "Tidewater" glaciers.

"Rescued" grizzly

Musk Ox, the only ones we saw:

That night, after checking into a B&B in Anchorage, we took a walk through the Ship Creek park. The weather had cleared up by this time and it was a beautiful time to be out (of course, being summer it was just as light at 9pm as it was a 4pm.)

To be continued...

 

[ttora4runner]

Nice report, can't want to see the rest. :victory:


Alaska is on my must do list and has been for a number of years.

 

[bucketosudz]

Great Stuff there!!!! :wings:

Wished I could even get my wife remotely interested in Alaska....(sigh)

 

[Willman]

Keep it coming!

I so want to explore that area someday!

:drool:

 

[Backwoods Rambler]

It really looks like you made the most of your trip. Thanks for sharing.

 

[Martinjmpr]

Part 5

Sunday morning, we made a stop at Anchorage's open-air market to get souveier Ulu's (the curved knives used by some of Alaska's natives) and then took off again down the Turnagain arm, this time destined for the Kenai Peninsula.

Turnagain Arm. This water is probably less than 10' deep.

We went all the way across the peninsula to the towns of Soldatna and Kenai, stopping at an old Russian Orthodox church (that is still active):

We also climbed a rope ladder down to the beach to look across the Cook Inlet:

Beach along Cook Inlet near Kenai. Fishing huts are used by local natives:

This very strange looking house overlooked the beach near a town park:

Mount Redoubt, an active volcation 9,000' high that was erupting as recently as last year:

We then returned back into the peninsula, stopping at Cooper Landing, our destination for the night. We'd booked a room at a B&B there that turned out to be, by far, the nicest place we stayed in Alaska (also the chepest, interestingly enough.) We had booked a day of flyfishing with a guide, and by pure coincidence, our guide was across the street from the B&B. We enjoyed a dinner in Cooper Landing and sat out by the fire shooting the breeze with the B&B's owner and some other guests. The scenery was gorgeous and the setting could not have been more perfect.

Notice how it looks like the middle of the day? Liz is holding her hands up like that to show that it is 9, as in, 9pm!

Even these metal bears enjoyed the campfire!

To be continued...

 

[Martinjmpr]

Part 6 (and last)

Early next morning, we got up, packed up, and ate before going to meet our fishing guide. By 7:00 we were in the boat, floating down the fast, cold Kenai river.

Although we were between "peak" seasons, I still managed to pull out two huge (by CO standards) Rainbows and one very large (even by Alaska standards!) Sockeye Salmon. We kept the Sockeye as a gift to our guide and released the trout.

This Rainbow was one of the smallest fish we caught that day! Also, notice the color of the river - it really is that color!

The river was gorgeous, very green (like all rivers in Alaska, apparently) and a lot of fun to fish in. Bald eagles clustered in the treetops to the point where we stopped looking at them, they were so common to see. By the time we came out of the water around 3pm, we'd had a great day of fishing, probably the best I've ever had.

But we weren't done. We picked up our car at the outfitter's store and headed back towards Anchorage. Along the way, we saw the turnoff for Whittier and Portage Glacier, and since our plane didn't leave until a little after midnight, we said "what the heck?" and went down that way.

Liz had said there were only two things on her "list" that she hadn't yet done in Alaska: See a polar bear, and stand on a glacier (we'd seen a lot of glaciers but hadn't gotten close to them.) As we drove towards Portage Glacier, we could see the gate was closed to get to the small boat that takes people out there - but we then saw a hiking trail to Byron Glacier. After a short (.8) mile hike, we got to the foot of the glacier, and Liz went out to stand on it while I took her picture.

On the Byron Glacier Trail:

After we bushwhacked through some trees we saw this sign:

Finally, we noticed it was getting late, we still had to get back to Anchorage (about 40 miles), turn in the rental car, and, if we had time, eat dinner, so we left.

We got onto the plane, exhausted, just before midnight. Fortunately, it was a nonstop flight, direct to Denver, and we landed just after 7am.

 

[Rot Box]

Great report! Thanks for sharing :coffeedrink:

Looks like a lot of fun and I must say I am quite envious :sombrero: