Hatcher Pass (08-06-14)

We made a short overnight stop in Anchorage again on our way north.  Aside from a leisurely brunch with Tony and Marguerite, we spent a stressful day dealing with eyeglasses.  I had had a tough two days- a splitting headache that wouldn't quit, and then I dropped both my new camera and my glasses.  The camera survived fine, the glasses didn't. 

There are numerous scratches in my field of vision. I thought I was so smart, bringing Paul’s spare glasses, just in case ( he being the driver and all), but I figured the chances of my breaking my glasses was slim, so I didn't bring my spares.  Mistake! 

So, off to Costco we went.  They were awesome, but can’t get me new glasses for two weeks.  So, off to Lenscrafter, who could get me glasses in an hour, at more than twice the price of Costco, but if I want anti-reflective, which I do, its a special order and takes 10 days. Apparently anti-reflective is not available anywhere in the state of Alaska. 

Ugh.  Back to Costco. Since we don’t plan to be in Anchorage for 2 weeks, the woman offered to hold the glasses when they arrive until I tell them where to ship them.  Awesome!  Love Costco customer service!

We were now free to leave  Anchorage, and we zigged over to Hatcher Pass, a scenic road that passes by Independence Mine, a historic landmark.

This is one of those wonderful scenic drives that everyone says to make sure you drive on a clear day.  We didn't have time to wait.

Only the first few miles are paved-It soon turns into a windy dirt road that we wouldn't have wanted to tow our trailer on.

The weather actually did eventually clear somewhat and the views were pretty spectacular.  We took the guided tour of Independence mine, which does not include a trip into the actual mine itself. Independence was a mine that operated during the 1930s and 1940s. In it’s heyday, 200 workers lived and worked in this small village.

After World War II, the price of gold was controlled by the government and the extraction costs were too high to keep the mine open.  Eventually the land and buildings were sold to the state of Alaska.

I always wanted to see what gold looks like when its embedded in quartz, just so when Paul and I are hiking in gold laden areas we know what to look for!

Many of the side roads in Alaska have numerous places to pull off and spend the night. We found a good one on Hatcher Pass and had a creek side campsite all to ourselves.






While sitting around the campfire for the last few days, we've been putting together our “exit strategy” for Alaska.  Many of the campgrounds close at the end of August, when the weather here starts to change. It’s hard to believe the summer is almost over!

Anchorage- A Fly By Visit (07-27-14)

It would be nice if Alaska was laid out so we could visit it in a nice neat loop, but that isn’t the case.  We didn’t have time to visit the west side of the Kenai Peninsula before our visit to Denali, so we came back south through Anchorage after Denali.

We had called our friend Tony and made arrangements to get together. The weather cooperated so we headed to Flattop mountain to hike to the top, where there are stunning views of the surrounding area.

Part way up the hill, we moved into the clouds.  If you look carefully you can Paul and Tony in this picture.

The last part of this 4 mile round trip trail is rock scrambling.

A couple of hours later we, along with about 50 other people, had made it to the top.  This is one of the most popular trails in Alaska.

After giving Tony a hard time about the lack of view- is Anchorage really there if we can’t see it?- the clouds parted long enough for us to see why people climb this mountain.  Beautiful!

The view didn't last long- by the time we were headed down, we couldn't see more than about 50 feet ahead.  Still, it was a perfect day for a hike- great temperature and no rain!

We made it down the mountain in time to get to the roof of Tony’s office building to see the Thunderbirds perform during the Arctic Thunder Air Show.
Once the show was over, we headed out to dinner to replace all the calories we had used up!






After another night at our favorite Cabela’s parking spot, we hit the road early for the Kenai Peninsula.

Seward, AK (07-08-14)

Seward is located on the Kenai Peninsula, a couple of hours south of Anchorage.  We just had a couple of days to explore this area so  we had to make decisions on what we wanted to see.








One of the debates I have had is whether I want to go on a sled dog tour.  I have mixed emotions about it, but I decided that sled dogs are definitely a part of Alaska that is unique, and I have loosely followed the Iditarod race over the years, so I am interested in it.


The Iditarod is an annual race that runs from (near) Anchorage to Nome, some 1000 miles away. It takes about 9 days of travel to run the course, and that’s for the winner.  The non-winners take longer. It’s an exhausting, sleep depriving race.  No one is allowed to help the musher with the dogs, so they each have to care for the sled, themselves and all the dogs’ needs.

Each musher starts with 16 dogs, but many are dropped off along the way, for a variety of reasons. All dogs are examined by a vet at each checkpoint for any health issues that may have developed and some dogs just don’t like long distance running.

  In 2013, at age 53, Mitch Seavey was the oldest person to win the Iditarod, and his son Dallas is the youngest ever to win- in 2012 he won at age 25.  He won again in 2014.
 
 



 
 
 
The Seaveys use these summer sled dog tours to both condition and socialize their dogs. Since there is no snow here, the dogs pull a sled that has wheels on it.
 
 
 
 






 

Our guide talked about the history of the races, mushing in general and the dogs themselves. I would have sworn that Alaskan Husky was a breed of dog, but as it turns out, Siberian Husky is a breed, but Alaskan sled dogs are mutts. They are bred to run. Any dog that doesn't love to run is not bred for these races. I think Paul and I got a little queasy at the thought only breeding dogs that want to spend all day running and nothing more.

One of the most famous dog sled trips, known as the Great Race of Mercy, took place in 1925 when an outbreak of diphtheria took place in Nome. It was winter, and no planes had ever flown that trip in the winter, so to get the needed serum there, 20 teams of mushers and over 100 dogs relayed the serum to Nome, each driving about 100 miles.
 

Once the history lesson was done, we moved on to the dog yard.  As soon as we walked into the yard, the noise level intensified as the dogs all began shouting "pick me! Pick me!"

 
 




 
 
16 dogs were harnessed and away we went on our two mile trek. Of course, I expected to hear the word "mush" from the musher, but it turns out thats a myth. They actually say things like "alright" or “hike”  to get the dogs moving. The dogs definitely understood the commands from the musher, even when they were told to turn right, or go straight etc.
 
 
 




 
 
 

After our short trip, they brought us over to meet the latest puppies.  They were cute, but neither of us held one- we just watched as they were passed around.

I’m glad we did it, but now I can definitely file it under “been there, done that”.

It seems I can’t get enough of the wildlife adventures here in Alaska. Paul and I bought a coupon book before coming up here- its called the Alaska Tourbook-and its full of 2 for 1 offers. 

One of the excursions we were interested in is in Seward.  Its a wildlife boat tour, but the 2 for 1 deal is only good on their evening cruise.  Since it stays light forever up here, that’s not a big deal. I particularly wanted to take this cruise because I know that a few days ago, they saw killer whales along the way,  and seeing killer whales is still on my bucket list.





As we pulled away from the harbor, we enjoyed the All You Can Eat prime rib/baked salmon buffet.  It was excellent.








It was a beautiful night, and we were using our new binoculars to check out the eagles and Steller sea lions along the shore, but I was just thinking that we weren’t going to see anything of real interest when the National Park ranger on board called out that there were humpback whales off in the distance. 

The captain was able to approach closer so we could get a good look at them, and soon, something really awesome happened.  We had heard about a phenomenon called Bubble Net Feeding, but it is rare to actually see it.

Bubble net feeding is when a pod of humpback whales work cooperatively to capture fish.  They make a big circle under water, blowing out bubbles as they swim in a circle. The fish think that the bubbles are a net, so they stay in the middle.

The whales tighten the circle and work their way closer to the surface. You can tell where they will surface because the seagulls have figured out how this works and they are waiting for the whales.

The whales shoot straight up out of the water with their mouths wide open, gobbling up the fish.








This pod is just learning this behavior- transient whales have been teaching them how to do this, and both the captain and the park ranger had only seen this phenomenon twice before.

We watched them do it several times before they had had their fill.  The boat was pretty rocky and the sun was shining so it was hard to get good shots of it.

So, even though we didn't see killer whales, the trip was certainly worth taking!

Having moved on from Seward, we are now sitting in Anchorage.  For the first time since we left California, the camper is off the truck.  That’s because Dozer and I are sitting in Anchorage but Paul is in California.  He flew out Thursday morning at 1 AM to attend his nephew’s wedding on Saturday. I’m not fond of driving the truck, but it’s a lot easier for me if the camper isn't on it.





Dozer and I have been very busy since Paul left.  We've done a bunch of cleaning and laundry…..and shopping.

I spent a whole day talking to my friends who are professional photographers, getting their opinion on cameras.  I really like my camera for the most part, but it has some limitations.
  As an example, with no view finder, I had no idea whether the whales I was shooting were actually in the frame or not.  Same with the eagles.  I have to guess, and hope my aim is accurate. The LCD screen is pretty much impossible to see in broad daylight. (see what a good job I am doing of justifying this purchase??). And my pictures of mountains!  Really- they are so washed out because I can’t put a filter on this camera!

 OK, enough justifying.  The reality is, when originally I bought this camera, I almost bought a DSLR for the above reasons, but I ended up with my very nice Panasonic Lumix DMC ZS20 digital camera.

After a lot of discussion with my friends (thanks Carol and Wayne!!) I ordered a new camera. My Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ200 arrives on Monday and I am really looking forward to testing it out!  It isn't really a DSLR, because to get a decent DSLR, I was looking at an investment of about $1400 and I just don’t take enough time playing with pictures to warrant that expense. 

Driving from McCarthy to Seward (07-05-14)

After leaving McCarthy Road, we headed towards Anchorage with the intention of driving down the Kenai peninsula to Seward for July 4th.   We've gotten into a loose habit of several days of leisurely travel followed by a few days of staying put in one area.  We knew it would take a few days to get to Seward- we never just drive- we are always exploring along the way.

Our first stop was an outdoor museum in the very small town of Chickaloon.  Someone puts a lot of effort into this place.  With coal mining equipment and restored buildings, it tells the story about the boom and bust of this area. In 1916, when the U.S. Navy found out there was coal here, they paid to have 25 buildings and pieces of machinery built that were necessary for the coal to be extracted and shipped to be used to power their fleet of vessels.  The town prospered. 

Six months after the last building was finished and operational, the Navy decided the coal wasn’t of sufficient quality, and shut down operations.  The town went bust. That happened a lot back then- whether the boom was coal, silver, or gold related, towns came and went it seems, in the blink of an eye.  The town still exists- population: 236

Our next stop was Anchorage, supposedly for a quick shopping stop before heading to Seward.  We had decided we need a better pair of binoculars so we spent the morning looking. It was here that we started hearing stories about the craziness in Seward. We discovered that Seward is the place to be for the 4th, and that in fact, people were paying $20 a night to park in someone’s driveway due to the lack of room.  Oops. We have no reservations.

And that’s how we ended up spending two nights in a Cabela’s parking lot.  It was actually our first time spending the night in a store parking lot.  The first night almost scared us off, with our neighbors partying and playing football in the parking lot until midnight.  But then, it was the 4th of July! The second night was much quieter.

We could have driven downtown for the fireworks (if you know Paul, you know he loves fireworks!!). But the fireworks are done at midnight, and this is what the sky looked like at 1145 PM.  Um, the sun was pretty much still out.  The locals say they have the best fireworks you've ever heard. Hmmm. We decided it wasn't worth braving the crowds.

The next day we did buy some binoculars (not from Cabela’s though). We found a store with an employee who really knew his stuff so we bought a pair of  cheap  inexpensive reasonably priced excellent quality binoculars.  Waterproof, drop proof, lifetime guarantee- Zeiss.

We also decided that if we could get a reservation in Seward for the following 3 days, we would go, and if we couldn't, it was fate, and we’d skip it altogether.  The following day was Sunday, so our chances were better. The first place I called said “no problem” so off we went.

The drive took us around Turnagain Arm (an inlet). This area is home to 20 some odd glaciers.  Amazing, and beautiful.

There are plenty of informative turn-outs and even a visitor center on this stretch of road.  This turn-out describes Beluga whales, which are common in this area, and how to spot them in the water.

There’s a side trip to the small town of Whittier that we decided not to take.  We would have gone through a very unique tunnel to get there.  Instead of spending millions to build a second tunnel, cars and trains take turns driving through the Whittier tunnel, and travel is one directional, so everyone has to have some patience.  It would have been fun, but maybe some other time. Paul consoled himself with pretending to be a train in the tunnel that we did go through.

This area is also known for it’s bore tide- where the tide comes in on a wave.  The height of this tidal bore varies, but it can be 6 feet tall. The day we sat and waited for it (actually on the way back to Anchorage from Seward) it was a no- show.  Maybe some other time.

Our last stop before getting to Seward was the small town of Hope, Alaska. Hope’s boom to bust story is due to the gold rush.  Gold was discovered here in 1888 and Hope became one of the largest towns in Alaska.  Once the gold played out, most people left.  The town population now is 132 or so.

This is yet another town that has done a great job refurbishing old buildings so the town’s history can be remembered and shared. 

Not every place that we explore is “Awesome” but each little place has something to teach and helps me to better piece together the history of the places we visit.