8/15/19
After
debating the night before at what hour we should hit the deck to make
our 8 AM flight from BWI, we settled on 3:15 AM, typical of this
household. Many ask why we subject ourselves to such torture, but
light traffic and an opportunity to arrive early in the day to spend
time with our friends, outweighs the inconvenience of no sleep. Haha.
Our one hour fifteen minute drive was, thankfully, uneventful and we
had time to figure out the new check in procedure at Southwest.
Pretty soon robots will be greeting us at the counter. After an
equally uneventful flight we caught the Airporter to Burlington by
the skin of our teeth(otherwise looking at another hour and a half
wait) and arrived in about 2 hours with Penne and Steve waiting for
us. Upon unloading our stuff at the house, we headed for some grub in
Burlington, and then relaxed and caught up on all the things we have
done since we last met.
8/16/19
Steve and I
headed out to a meeting with a neighbor, Dan, and a hydrologist,
Jenna, to assess how best to quickly drain the floodwater in a
defined parcel of land. Floods are inevitable, but the strategy is to
drain the water as quickly as possible. The focus was on obstructions
in a ditch on Dan's land that carries water to Puget Sound. We found
numerous choke points, and Jenna listened to Dan's suggestions on how
to handle the "spoils" that will result from the dredging
operation. It was an educational experience to say the least. That
evening Penne cooked a scrumptious dinner for us and her friend,
Billie, and Ryan's family.
8/17/19
Today we
attended the Northwest
Washington Fair, in Lynden, a Scandinavian settlement. It was
really cool with all kinds of livestock, rides, food and
demonstrations. We watched a "pole" race with horses, which
was very entertaining. There were 2 riders to a team, with one
sprinting down the course to round two poles and then the partner
taking turn once the first horse and rider crossed the finish line.
We also toured a barn housing draft horses, which weigh between 1700
and 1800 pounds. The majority came from Pennsylvania.
8/18/19
Our Alaska
adventure began today by catching the bus from Burlington to the dock
in Vancouver, BC. Ryan graciously took time out of his busy day to
get us to the McDonald's where we boarded the bus. A lot of busses go
through this McDonald's parking lot and is probably a significant
part of their business, as well as expense, since everyone uses the
bathrooms there. It looked like the food of choice was either coffee
or ice cream. After a 2 hour ride, we cleared customs and boarded the
ship thanking the Lord for Global
Entry. This ship looks huge with a capacity of 2200 passengers,
but I suppose there are bigger ones. Our route is up the inner
passage and after Steve and I couldn't remember the topic for
tomorrow's talk at 9 AM, Penne and Jackie declared us hopeless and
left us to our own devices. Had a great dinner, rockfish, made some
acquaintances, Pat and Steve and Ray and Kathy, toured around the
ship and headed to bed.
8/19/19
I saw a
bald eagle this morning sitting on a rock as we were passing some
islands. So far this cruise reminds of a river cruise due to the
proximity of land. The captain said that we should get some fantastic
views today, but right now it is time to head for breakfast and the
presentation of the land part of our tour once we reach Alaska. Steve
and I will probably pay attention. At least I will as he is always in
danger of falling asleep if he isn't moving. The land tour was
interesting, but the Iditarod
presentation was really good. While we did that, Penne and Jackie
attended a cooking class with Salmon as the main feature. The dogs
are amazing. According to the narrator the Alaskan
Husky breed had almost died out due to the advent of the snow
mobile, but the Iditarod race brought them back. They differ from the
classic Husky in that their coats are thinner and they are bred to
run, being able to do a hundred mile day with ease. After that we hit
the buffet for lunch. Awesome selection. We are now over open water.
Tomorrow we will be in Ketchikan.
8/20/19
Ketchikan
- woke up to rain, which is normal for this place. The guide said it
rains 300 days per year with over 13 feet of precipitation, not a
typo, and that the tide varies by 20 feet from low to high. We toured
a totem pole park, Potlatch
Park, and learned how totems are carved and what they represent.
I didn't realize the cost, but depending on the carver's skill and
years on the job, it costs anywhere from $2000 to $10,000 per linear
foot for a 40 foot cedar tree. We were also shown a house that the
indigenous people of the region once inhabited and the shed where the
totems are carved. These totems rot from the inside out, and when
they fall over, they either fasten them to a telephone pole or let
them lie. They can last about 100 years in their original
configuration and can get another 50 years out of them by tying them
to the support pole. After the tour we walked around the town, took
in the visitor center and headed back to the ship. Also saw some
salmon in the river that runs through the town, some dead and some
alive in the shallow pools that swirl near the bank. After dinner we
took in a really good show by Chris
Pendleton, who provided a combination of comedy and music. She is
a really accomplished violinist and was accompanied by her daughter,
who appeared to be about 10 to 12 years old. The kid was amazing.
Juneau
– there is no access to the capital of Alaska by road, only by boat
or sea plane. That might not be a bad idea for other capitals to
emulate as it would be easier to sequester policy makers until they
actually got a decision on a bill. Juneau has 47 miles of roadway, 7
in one direction and 40 in the other. Where we are docked there is a
gondola coming off a high ridge, which goes up to the top of Mt
Roberts, a former gold mine. Jackie says it is for watching bears. I
would imagine the residents use it to get from one elevation to the
next, like Johnstown’s inclined plane or Budapest’s funicular.
Juneau is nestled at the bottom of a cliff with the terrain behind it
almost vertical. After breakfast we took a tour of a salmon hatchery,
and later, Mendenhall glacier in the Tongas
National Forrest. After a 2 mile hike on Nugget Falls trail, we
got to view the falls up close and personal. The shore of the lake
was rocky, as one would expect, but there was a lot of areas that
were covered with crushed stone the consistency of flour. This is
called stone flour and is caused by the grinding of the rocks against
each other as the glacier moves forward. This stone flour is
suspended in water and gives it the grey color that can be seen in
these mountain streams. The glacier is receding rapidly, as are most
of the glaciers at lower elevations. There is only one glacier that
is expanding in Alaska, but I don’t remember the name. Didn’t see
any bears at this stop, but viewed many bald eagles from a distance.
I learned that bald eagles can dive at 75 mph, can cruise at 40 to 60
mph, can spot a fish at 1 mile, and are so tenacious that they have
been known to drown trying to bring a salmon to the surface.The
hatchery releases over 1 million salmon per year, wherein they return
there to spawn. Salmon are imprinted where they are born and return
to that same area, depending on the breed, after 1 to 5 years to
spawn. There are 28 hatcheries in Alaska with all but 4 being
operated by non profits. After dinner, attended a show with a lame
comedian and a good BB King group concert, then a show put on by the
Filipino crew on the ship.
8/22/19
Since
we stayed up until 11:30 last night, we slept in and took our group
tour of Skagway and the Klondike
Trail/White Pass. The mountains were a bit shrouded in fog, but the
scenery was as spectacular as you can get from a bus. Right out of
Skagway we took a tour of the Klondike
Gold Rush Graveyard situated on the side of a hill. Just as I was
wondering how the hell they dug graves in the rock, Jackie answered
my question. They dynamited a hole and buried the dead standing up.
Deciding to get dropped off by the bus in town on the way back, we
did some shopping and got stamps for our National Park Passport
books. Unbelievable as it may be, there was a sign at the desk
warning people not to stamp their international passport book with
the National Park stamps! They even told us that on the ship for
tomorrow’s tour of Glacier Bay. Skagway has a population of about
900 as compared to the gold rush days in 1897, ‘98 and’99 of
about 20,000. Can’t imagine that many people living here
permanently. There are 4 churches in town painted four different
colors – red, white, green and brown, the colors representing 4
different faiths. Most people, who pursued the gold, were illiterate.
So, if they were looking to attend a certain service, they were
directed to the church with the color that represented it – white
for Catholic, brown for Mormon, etc. This was the same for
businesses. If they needed a hardware store for example, they may be
directed to the brown building with the red awning and green
shutters. This is the most northern shipping and tourist port that
doesn’t freeze in the winter. The tour guide told us, though, one
year there was 70 feet of snow up in the mountains, and that the
Tlingits, who haul goods and supplies to the camps at $1 a pound,
have a feel for avalanches. That year none of them would carry goods
for any price, so the whites decided to do it themselves and lost 80
people to an avalanche.
8/23/19
We
are in Glacier Bay for the day. Deciding to skip the chaos of the
buffet, we opted for a sit-down breakfast in the restaurant. Met a
nice couple from Texas and as a bonus got to view harbor seals and
hump back whales off South
Marble Island through the window. Three park rangers boarded the
ship up a rope ladder while it was moving, though we didn’t get to
see that. They set up a display in the Crows Nest and one of them
went to the bridge to spot wild life. Here Penne and I were able to
get a stamp for our Park book. As we proceeded up the bay to Margerie
Glacier, the ranger spotted some mountain goats up on a cliff,
but since we were inside the ship, I never did get to see them. We
did see a brown bear, numerous sea otters, the aforementioned sea
lions and more whales. Also, saw some puffins. The bear was fishing
for salmon in one of the streams flowing from a glacier. By 1750 the
glacier reached its maximum size and began to retreat. By 1879 it had
retreated 45 miles inland leaving the 1000 foot deep- in places-
Glacier Bay, in its wake. The glacial ice is blue because it absorbs
all colors of the visible spectrum except blue. When the ice breaks
off and fractures, all colors of light are absorbed making the ice
appear white. On the way back out of Glacier Bay we viewed two more
glaciers, Lamplugh and Reid. All of these glaciers are known as
tidewater glaciers.
8/24/19
At
sea today. Nothing to report.
8/25/19
Woke
up to our destination in Seward, ate breakfast on the ship, and then
hung around waiting to disembark. Wildfires to the West left a heavy
scent of burning wood in the air and made the day appear to be hazy.
It didn’t look like it was going to be a great day for a tour.
Leaving the ship at around 10, we headed for a 40 foot long excursion
boat that held about 150 people. This was a tour around Kenai
Fjords to view wildlife. The weather was nice, other than the
smoke, which became less noticeable as we got out into the bay. Our
first sighting happened to be a pod of about 32 Orcas, which is
pretty rare. Some were only 50 yards from the boat at times, and we
got to view them for about a half hour to 45 minutes. The males are
distinguished by the size of their dorsal fins which looked to be
about 3 feet. After that we spotted sea lions, harbor seals, about 15
sea otters in a group, a fin whale, tufted and horned puffins,
cormorants, and black oyster catchers. We were told that not many
days were like this one, and it was an outstanding day for viewing
wildlife. Oyster catchers can dive to depths of 600 feet in pursuit
of their prey. We also saw tidewater glaciers, alpine glaciers and
valley glaciers. The Aialik Glacier is awesome and much bigger than
the one we saw at Glacier Bay.
8/26/19
Boarded busses headed for Anchorage; stopped at the Alaskan
Wildlife Conservation Center to view bears, moose, elk, caribou,
a porcupine, an eagle with one wing that had been there since 1999,
and musk ox. Brown bears are huge. I thought I was looking at the
body of a bear and it was just his head. Also, stopped to view
Portage Glacier on our way to the hotel; toured around Lake Hood with
more float planes than I’ve ever seen before. In fact it has more
float plane traffic than anywhere in the world. One in 56 Alaskan
residents have a pilot’s license, and the minimum age is 14. So, a
14 year old can fly a plane, but can’t get a driver’s license
until 16! This air strip was also crossed by car traffic. You stopped
at the stop sign at the intersection just like any other, looked
right and left for aircraft, and proceeded through if clear. Of
course the air craft had the right of way. We also learned that the
tide at Cook Inlet in Anchorage varied by 38 feet. Checked into the
Westmark hotel(service was pretty bad) and had dinner near the water.
8/27/19
Had to have the bags outside the hotel room door by 0600; went to
a Taste of Paris for breakfast. Caught the McKinley
Explorer to Anchorage. The cars had two levels, one for viewing
and one for dining. However, drinks and snacks were served in the
viewing car as well. The train was such a contrast to the bus, having
plenty of leg room, the ability to walk around, and a 110 volt socket
to power electronics. We did get a view of Denali on the way in, but
mostly it was shrouded in clouds. Weather was cool and cloudy with
temps in the 60’s. The trip was 8 hours long, and passed through
some areas that were burned out by the forest fires, but we only saw
one bald eagle and some dead salmon as we traveled through the
wilderness. However, we saw burned out cars and homes along the
track. It was weird seeing one home escape with no damage, and the
one beside it burned to a crisp. This line is also used as a flag
train, wherein anyone can flag down the train to be dropped off
anywhere between Seward and Fairbanks. All of the houses for year
round residents are built within walking distance of the tracks, so
they catch the train to go into Fairbanks or Anchorage to buy
supplies. It runs 4 days per week from May through September and then
the first week of the month over the winter. Rail grade crossing
gates are powered by solar panels. These people are incredibly hardy.
Having crossed many streams we learned that snow melt streams run
clear and glacier fed streams are cloudy due to the suspended stone
flour, and that salmon are able to use these streams to spawn
because the stone flour is so fine that it passes through their
gills. After we got to Denali, we disembarked the train, then hopped
on another bus for the short ride to our accommodations, which
consisted of a number of 10 unit buildings located along a river.
They are really nice. Bags to be out by 8 AM again tomorrow. On the
road again.
8/28/19
Today
we are touring Denali National Park, which required jumping out of
bed at 0415 to make a 0600 departure, not much different from our
flights out of BWI on Southwest. After picking up our pre ordered box
lunches, we boarded a modified school bus, which has coach seats and
video monitors for viewing the animals, and headed for the Park. The
weather was again overcast and colder than yesterday, but didn’t
look too promising for a look at Denali. This was to be an 8 hour, 90
mile trip in the Park. The road doesn’t make a loop, so the bus
must turn around and come back the other way, giving everyone an
opportunity to view both sides. Right off the bat we saw a bull moose
and watched it for a couple of minutes before it meandered away. We
were instructed to maintain silence when game was spotted so as not
to spook it. It seems that the animals are used to the bus and don’t
associate them with people because no one is allowed out when
viewing. For those who can’t get a good view, the guide uses a
handheld video camera and displays the scene on the monitors.
Throughout the day we saw one moose, a number of caribou, arctic
ground squirrels, dall sheep, magpies, and about 6 grizzly bears,
which were the highlight of the day. One pair of bears walked within
a couple of yards of the bus and weren’t bothered by it at all. The
guide said that if they heard anyone talking, they would have been
out of there like a shot. These bears weighed between 600 and 800
pounds and subsist mainly on vegetation like blue berries, which are
everywhere. One bear will eat 3 five gallon buckets of blueberries,
which are everywhere, in one day. Kodiak bears, coastal brown bears
and grizzlies are all the same bear. The size difference comes from
diet. So, there are only 3 species in North America, brown bear,
polar bear and black bear. Moose are born in May, weigh about 80
pounds, and must weigh 300 pounds by the end of September to survive
the winter. The most dangerous animal in the park is a female moose
with young. After the tour we took in a dinner/musical, good food,
but poor entertainment. Well, we are out of here again tomorrow
headed for Fairbanks.
8/29/19
McKinley
Chalet – left the property on a Denali shuttle bus to take in the
visitor center, get a stamp for our books, and attend a sled dog
demonstration. Denali is the only Park in the system to have its own
sled dog team. They are used to patrol the Park in winter and haul
supplies. In one case they hauled 10,000 pounds of new lumber(10
trips) to a town for a boardwalk and hauled the same amount back.
These dogs live to pull anything. The Denali
kennel
is pretty neat with houses, which they could jump on top of, for each
dog and a unique chain and swivel setup so they wouldn’t get
tangled up. There were three petting dogs where the public could get
right to them and others behind a rope enclosure, and you could pet
them too if they walked over to you. They love attention and petting.
They’re really docile, but when the musher was getting ready to
hook them to the “sled”, they went nuts. Pretty cool
demonstration. Saw another sled dog team at a rest stop that was
hauling passengers around a loop. Got to Fairbanks, around 6 PM, and
into the Westmark hotel where we also had dinner, which lasted until
8:15. Could use a day off, but tomorrow is another excursion.
8/30/19
It
was tough getting out of bed this morning, but the program for the
day proved to be worth it. First, we visited the Alyeska pipeline and
took a train ride around a gold mining operation, which used a
dredge. Much of the pipeline runs across land whose substrate is
permafrost, which can be anywhere from a few inches deep to 2000
feet. Click here
to find out how the engineers were able to build over permafrost. The
dredge was really interesting, but it is not a system that can be
used today because of environmental issues. Click here
for information on the Gold Dredge 8 outside of Fairbanks. Finally,
we took a river cruise along the Chena River, which is pretty docile.
Navigating rivers in Alaska is a challenge as the channels keep
changing. Most of the rivers are braided rivers, meaning the channel
can change hourly. Our trip up the Chena was on a paddle wheeler
which had a draft of only 39 inches. Here is a picture
of the boat
and some information on the tour. The native village was pretty cool.
Our guide gave us a tour of what life was like before and after the
white man came. As you can see from the video, presenters were hooked
to the speaker system of the boat and educated us about fish ladders,
dog sledding, etc. This was the best dog sled demonstration I saw on
the trip. Afterward we took in the village where we viewed a display
of two moose who had locked horns in a dual and drowned in the river.
Also, we walked over to the dog pen where a trainer was answering
questions. The dogs range in weight from 30 to 80 pounds, and their
weight has nothing to do with their positioning on the team. They run
races until they are about 9 or ten, and then train the younger dogs.
Their lifespan is about 18 years, but the kennel had one who was 22
years old and still running alongside the sled. The trainer said that
he would run out about 2 miles and then turn for home.
8/31/19
After
an awesome 2 weeks exploring Alaska with Penne & Steve, the
Alaska part of our travel has come to an end. We met some really nice
people and had a smooth flight from Fairbanks, which is an airport
with only 7 gates and draconian security. These guys clearly have
nothing else to occupy their time. The flight, at about 3 hours, was
uneventful. We bid our goodbyes to Penne and Steve and went to the
arrivals deck to meet Bruce and Jill. Chaos was the order of the day.
Traffic was incredible.
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