Alaska

It all started with a conversation on the dock last fall.  "I sure would love to visit Alaska", a statement uttered many times over the years when talking about travel.  Ok, enough talk, we are going to do this, next summer,  and so it began.   We both have traveled up and down the eastern seaboard, everywhere from Key West Fla., to Boothbay Harbor Maine, and west across the Mississippi into Arkansas. This would be the longest in both miles, and days we have done as of yet.

The first order of business was to consult a travel agent, again, something we had never done before.
We decided to go with Your Travel Agent out of Spartanburg SC.  We discussed with our agent Libby, what we would like to see in Alaska. Denali was a must! We also wanted to see glaciers, as much wildlife as possible and ride the Alaskan Railroad.  We were limited as far as the certain days we would be able to travel, thus due to the time of year, we did not get to see the Northern Lights, (They are known as 'Aurora borealis' in the north and 'Aurora australis' in the south.).  Every thing else on our to see list was accomplished.

Descending into Fairbanks AK.

We arrived in Fairbanks around 7:00pm, I was surprised @ how small the airport was.

Inside Fairbanks Airport

We were met at the airport by our guides Devon, and Ben who would be with us for the next four days on the land portion of our trip, before we get on the cruiseship.  We were taken to our lodge by motor coach, unloaded and settled, we went for a late dinner and a beer at the adjoining restaurant. 

Early up the next morning, we went to one of the oldest goldmines in Alaska.

 Gold Dredge #8 operated between 1928 and 1959 and played an essential role in mining and the economy of the Tanana Valley.  This was a grand tour with a lot of history.  Nothing hokey about this, like the ones near home.  After a very informative tour, we did pan for gold and was successful.  They appraise your find on site.  Lisa's hall around $19.50, mine just barley over $20.00.

After leaving the dredge, we went into downtown Fairbanks for lunch and to explore a little around town.  While here we found a couple of geocaches.  The town seemed very blue collar, but leaning toward a progressive downtown, with beautiful statues.

Downtown Fairbanks AK

After lunch we went to the Fairbanks Cultural Museum and welcome center.  The had some really nice displays there.   We ended our day at a old dairy that has been turned over to the state of Alaska and is now a wildlife refuge and a great birding area.

While @ the dairy we saw a Northern Goose hawk, which was a first for us.  We also saw Sandhill Cranes, and Barn swallows.   We returned to the lodge for a early dinner and a early bedtime, as we would be leaving for Denali National Park and Preserve the next morning.  Yay!!!!!

On July 6th, we boarded the Alaskan Railroad bound for Denali.  The train car was beautiful and COMFORTABLE.  Huge windows and a glass roof allowed for phenomenal views.  The seats were more like comfy lounge chairs with charging ports for your electronics.  The car also had a dinning room downstairs and well as a full service bar.  We rode through some of the most beautiful scenery.  I made a Gopro video of this train ride, which I will share at the end of this post.

Travel EDC

All aboard!

Waiting on breakfast

Our friends we met in Alaska, Mimi and Dom. We would enjoy their company throughout our journey.  They are from California.

Denali National Park and Preserve.  On arrival, we had about a hour or so wait before our Naturalist led tour through the park.  We went into the visitors center and enjoyed the beautiful displays and read about the history of the park, and we also got our coveted stamp in our National Park Passport.

4000+ miles later, finally arrived..

Our first National Park Passport stamp, woot.

The infamous Bear at the visitor center

Indeed thanks.

Denali is six million acres of wild land, bisected by one road.

  We had the choice of two different Naturalist tours, 30 miles or 60 miles into the interior.  We decided on the 60 mile journey.  One can only go into the interior this far by park run bus tours.

Park tour bus

Once we boarded the bus, we quickly began to miss the comforts of the train.  Our excitement however overshadowed what ever discomfort we had.  We were provided with a box lunch, as we would be on this tour for around nine hours.

Lunch box.

And so it began, I took a least a hundred photos, but none will adequately  express the beauty or the enormity of Denali Park.   We saw beautiful mountain ranges, Grizzly Bears for afar, many Caribou, Golden Eagles, braided rivers, and wide open spaces.  I have never seen such beauty, and it made me feel small.  We had three opportunities to see Denali / Mt. McKinley's Peak, but due to cloud cover we never got a glimpse at the peak.

Not far in.

These large rocks are Glacial Erratics

Large braided river bed

Caribou

Gypsies

I love this silhouette of a Caribou.

Look close, some of those clouds behind the mountain range are actually the lower range of Denali.

We are at the 60 mile point, our turn around, and also our best chance at seeing the peak of Denali, it wasn't to be.  Our guild told us the mountain was at this point still 60+ miles away.  This photo and the one above it does not begin to convey how large that mountain is.

Here is a zoomed in and cropped shot of what we could see of the base of Denali.

Our first grizzly sitting.  Guide said about two miles away.  We could see it well with our binoculars, not so well with camera.

Our 2nd Grizzly sighting, this one was a lot closer.

Caribou on a dry river bed.

After nine hours on the bus, and all the beauty we could tolerate, we retired to our room at Denali Village.  A privately owned area about a mile from the park.  The restaurant there had excellent baked lobster mac & cheese.

 

After a good meal, and a good sleep we were up early the morning of the 7th making our way to Anchorage AK then to Seward AK where we would board our cruise ship.

Inside the port

Seward Port from our ship radiance of the Seas. We enjoyed watching Bald Eagles from the deck prior to departing.

We spent our first full day on the ship at Sea.  Today would be the day we would get to see the Hubbard Glacier!!   After breakfast we attended a Naturalist presentation about the glacier.  We were told the ice on the face of the glacier is approx. 450 yrs. old.  The glacier originates in the Yukon and is approx. 75 miles long.  The face of the glacier is 350 foot tall!

About 1:45pm, be entered the Bay of Enchantment, and got our first view of the glacier as our ships Captain began maneuvering our ship for the best possible view.

Entering the Bay of Enchantment

 Hubbard Glacier

Growlers

Calving

After the Hubbard Glacier,  we had a series of Ports of call throughout the Alaska Passage. Juneau, Skagway, Icy Straights (our favorite) and Ketchikan AK.  We flew home from Vancouver BC, with a connector in Minneapolis MN.

Jeneau Alaska:

                                                                                 

Skagway AK

This photo below, is at the Skagway Port.  Ship Captains paint the rock wall across from the port with their name as well as the name of the boat they captain the first time in port.  The rock is massive, and this photo just shows a portion of it.

 

Icy Strait AK:

Ketchikan AK