Alaska
A quick trip to Anchorage to explore the vast wilderness.
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Welcome to Anchorage
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Day 1 - Travel to Anchorage
We spent the whole day flying - but still had time to explore Flattop Mountain.
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Alec had plenty of time to read about Pokemon.
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We take a break for lunch in Seattle.
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See, there are Polar Bears in Alaska.
(these are the only ones we saw)
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Another 'Welcome to Alaska' picture.
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Alec's first moose sighting.
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View from the top of the trail at Flattop mountain.
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There are some Dall Sheep out there - but they're just specs.
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A nice view of Todd & Anchorage.
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Looking out across Anchorage.
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Another view of Anchorage.
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A nice family portrait.
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Another...
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...and another...
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...one last one for good measure.
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Day 2 - Glacier Cruise
A quick stop in downtown Anchorage and then we set out toward Whittier for a Glacier Cruise. We started counting waterfalls, but there were soon too many to keep track of - and we saw just about as many glaciers. Our cruise took us close to two large glaciers - we saw (heard) it calve and saw a raft of sea otters.
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Alec & Seymore in front of the Anchorage welcome center.
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Alec at the Air Crossroads of the World.
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Alec & Dad found a bear in downtown Anchorage.
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The Anchorage Visitor's Information Center.
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A nice little waterfall at the McHuch Creek trailhead.
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Information about the stops along Turnagain Arm.
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The McHugh Creek trailhead entrance.
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A nice view of Beluga Point.
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The Alaska railroad's coming round the corner.
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And there she goes...
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Alec and Dad at Beluga Point.
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Alec exploring amongst the rocks.
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More pictures of Alec at Beluga Point.
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The road and railway along Turnagain Arm.
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Looking out over the Arm.
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Another photo of Al & Dad.
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Al's on the wrong side of the tracks.
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Back North along the Arm.
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Informational sign about the Alaskan Gold Rush.
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Informational sign about Stampeeders and the Arm.
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Dall sheep along the roadside.
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There were quite a few of them hanging out.
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Bird Point Trailhead (obviously)
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Jennie's checking out glaciers with the binoculars.
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Waiting our turn for the tunnel at Whittier.
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The only way in & the only way out (by road that is)
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The port town of Whittier - everyone lives in the one highrise building.
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On our glacier cruise.
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Jennie liked the crab cakes.
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We made Alec take a bite.
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"They taste like fish sticks"
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This glacier is about 1,000 feet tall.
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It's about 100 feet up to the horizontal black line.
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Another boat of tourists like us.
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Another 1,000 foot glacier.
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Licking glacier ice.
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It's COLD!
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A raft of sea otters.
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A view from inside the Whittier tunnel - it's one way & over railway tracks.
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Fly fishing on Bird Creek.
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Day 3 - Drive to Denali
We had a full day to drive 250 miles to Denali Park - we must have taken the long way because it took us all day. However, we took side tours to an old gold mine, Hatcher's Pass and the Iditarod Headquarters. Mt McKinley was elusive, hidden behind the clouds in the morning, but we saw the South peak on our way back.
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The view from Todd & Stacy's back deck in Eagle River, AK.
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Nice round boulders on the side of the river.
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Alec running down the trail at Hatcher's Pass.
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Here's where we spent the night...
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A room with a view.
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Day 4 - Bus Tour through Denali Park
We spent 13 hours on a bus riding through Denali - it was a long day, but we saw a lot of scenery and animals. We saw all of the Big 5 - Moose, Bear, Caribou, Dall Sheep and even a Gray Wolf, plus a few others.
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Alec's ready to go (notice all the rental RV's in the background).
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Our first wildlife sighting in the park - two little moose calves were eating fireweed at the side of the road.
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Mom stayed back in the brush.
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There's a bear in this photo - see if you can spot it.
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(not a bear)
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These ones are a little easier to spot.
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A few caribou.
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Look, a bear - wait, that's just a rock.
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A 'dirty' glaicier - a glacier full of sediment.
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A family picture in front of the polychromatic mountains.
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Fireweed - the first plant to grow back after a fire.
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A nice picture of a braided river - the river is always changing course.
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A marmot sitting on the rocks.
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The clouds broke to see Denali's North peak.
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Alaskan Cotton.
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Panning for gold at Kantishna
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A view down the side of the cliff - good thing our bus driver was sober.
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Another fascinating fact about fireweed - it blooms from the bottom up.
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One of many swashed mosquitos.
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We finally see both peaks - they're hidden behind the clouds 80% of the time.
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Sunset at Denali - 10:30pm (finally)
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Wal-Mike's - an Alaskan original.
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One of the roadside moose that almost totalled our rental car.
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Day 5 - Explore Anchorage
We spent our last few hours in Alaska wandering around downtown Anchorage. We got some souveniers and visited the statehood monument. We also went to check out the salmon hatchery and watched the salmon trying to swim upstream.
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There aren't any salmon here.
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Oh, they're on the other side of the water fall.
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The level's just high enough that they can't jump over - but it doesn't stop them from trying.
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The Alaskan Berry Farm.
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Home at last & delerioius - technically day 6
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