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Posts tagged ‘Alaska’

Aug 21

Alaska, Days 6-10

I apologize for not posting in a few days.  Our days have been full, and the internet less than speedy and reliable, so updating the blog took a back seat.

In Skagway, we took the White Pass and Yukon Route Railroad to White Pass, briefly crossing into Canada before returning to Skagway.

 

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The next port of call was Sikta, where our good weather karma started to run out.  Our last day at sea met swells up to 18 feet, and winds up to 50 knots, as a large storm passed from west to east, as we went through in the opposite direction.  This same storm caused significant flooding in Sikta the day after we were there.

In the photo below from somewhere in the Gulf of Alaska, note the relationship between the horizon and the boat.  Our motion sickness patches worked great, though._DSC1017

 

One of the highlights of our trip so far was a stop at Happy Trails Kennels, home of Martin Buser, a four time Iditarod champion.  We loved the excitement of the dogs, playing with some 10-week-old puppies, and sitting in Martin and Kathy’s home talking about dog training philosophy.

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We next worked our way up to Talkeetna, where the good weather karma returned.  Denali is only visible about 30% of the time.  Many people come to Alaska and stay for days without seeing it.  Here are a couple of photos from Wednesday evening and Thursday morning.  These are from about 60 miles away.

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Tomorrow, we will probably be off the air for a couple of days in the Denali Backcountry.  More when we return.

Aug 16

Alaska, Day 5

Our day started inauspiciously with an unfortunately placed iceberg._DSC0513

Said iceberg was caught on a sandbar exactly in the middle of the entrance to Tracy Arm Fjord, blocking our entrance.  Unable to get into the fjord to see more icebergs, we proceeded onto Juneau.

In Juneau, we went whale watching with Gastineau Guiding Company, with Captain Jen and photographer Andy Davidson.  Captain Jen’s excitement about the whale activity was contagious.  She did a great job of positioning our boat for photography, and Andy did a great job of inspiring us with our photography.

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Here are some whale tails…

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After returning to shore, we went to Mendenhall Glacier, one of the more famous glaciers only a few miles from Juneau.  It’s about 13 miles long and ends in Mendenhall Lake.

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There are a few markers showing the historic locations of the edge of the ice.  This glacier has been retreating for centuries.  This marker is well over a mile from the current ice limit.

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More tomorrow, if connectivity allows.  Thanks for reading.

Aug 15

Alaska, Days 3-4

Our pilot from Alaska Seaplane Tours seemed a little concerned about how far we were from the plane as the black bear stared at us.

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So, we slowly returned to the plane.

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Then we noticed a second, smaller bear—perhaps we’d found a mother and son, with mom encouraging us to move along.

But let’s back up.  Day 3 was sailing Canada’s Inside Passage, before entering Alaska’s Inside Passage on day 4.  This morning, we docked in Ketchikan, Alaska’s fourth largest city, with almost 9,000 residents.

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The highlight of our day was a seaplane ride to Prince of Wales Island.  We flew in a de Havilland DHC-2 Beaver, built in 1957.  These are great planes for Alaska.  Here are more photos from the flight.

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We landed near the boats in this small cove.  The boats were waiting for some fishing to open nearby.

 

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You can see the small stream cutting through the rock beach.  Once we got close, we could see all the salmon thrashing their way upstream.  It was an amazing sight. The bears thought so, too, and they were hanging out there fishing.

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More, soon, I hope, depending on my internet availability.

Aug 13

Alaska Adventure, Day 2.1

I’m posting this aboard the Seven Seas Navigator, sailing north through the Inside Passage.  This is the post I wanted to publish earlier, but the internet wasn’t reliable enough.  If you’re seeing this, I managed to get it to work well enough to publish a few photos.

We left Vancouver yesterday evening, sailing under the Lions Gate bridge at the north end of Stanley Park.

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Every time I visit Vancouver, I’m fascinated by the seaplanes, and this trip is no exception.

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Seaplane flying over Lions Gate Bridge as we sail under.

 

The satellite internet isn’t as reliable as I hoped, so I may not be posting everyday, and my posts (like this one) may be short.

Aug 13

Alaska Adventure, Day 2

I’m posting this aboard the Seven Seas Navigator, sailing north through the Inside Passage. We left Vancouver yesterday evening, sailing under the Lions Gate bridge.

The satellite internet isn’t as reliable as I hoped, so this entry is short.  If I get a better connection, I’ll post some more photos.

Aug 12

Alaska Adventure, Day 1

The good news is that I’m now a member of Mountain Equipment Co-op!

The bad news is that I had an epic boot failure that necessitated the visit to MEC.  The soles on both boots (a few years old) came unglued…

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Fortunately, this happened on our first day in Vancouver, rather than after we were on the boat.  The ship leaves this afternoon, heading up the inside passage.  We’ll be on the ship for a week, ending in Seward.

It’s my third time in Vancouver, which is a beautiful city.  Yesterday, we borrowed some bikes and rode around Stanley Park.

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Totem Poles in Stanley Park

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Girl in a Wetsuit (reminiscent of Den Lille Havfrue in Copenhagen)

More tomorrow!

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