Pictures

Click here for a few pictures from our trip.

The long return

A few thoughts about Alaska and our trip:

• Perhaps I'm the only person fascinated by maps, but I never quite get over how far we go on trips in such a relatively short time. It's around 3,200 miles from Anchorage to State College and we made that in 14 hours or so total. Sure, it was a fairly miserable 14 hours (sitting by fat old grumpy men sucks), but it's a fair trade to see such a beautiful natural area.
• Holy crap, I could never live in Alaska. The weather was pretty great while we were there. Highs in the 60s or 70s, regular rain and lots of day light. But as our boat captain said, they have four seasons there. June, July, August and winter. Considering I hate the cold of central PA, I want nothing to do with regular temps 10 to 20 below zero. As HIGHS. Plus, they get 4 hours or so of daylight, and the sun never goes very high in the sky. How people don't commit suicide, I'll never understand.
• I only saw true darkness once the entire trip. My mother-in-law accidentaly set her alarm to go off at 2:45 am one morning. My first thought, after 'what the hell is going on?' was 'Holy crap, darkness outside. Weird.' With enough curtains and blinds, I thought it was great.
  
• I'd never seen a fjord before. Wanted to in New Zealand, but it was a long detour. So we missed them. And according to our boat captain/guide, there are only a few places in the world where they occur. After seeing them, I gotta say that anybody who enjoys traveling and especially enjoys natural beauty has to search them out. Just striking how these mountains just rise strait up out of the water. And our boat got within 20 feet of some of them.
• I think our ship's captain may have been a little bold, but it was really worth it. I figured we'd stop at least a quarter mile back from the face of the glacier once I saw the ice field in front of it. As he said (paraphrasing) "Smarter, safer captains would probably stop here. But I always find that boring." So off we went. And thank goodness we did. Hearing those boulder-sized chunks of ice break off, then crash into the water was something I'll never forget. I'd guess we were no more than 100 yards from the face, but it was impossible to wrap my head around the scale. We could have been 50 yards, it could have been a several hundred. Nobody volunteered to stand next to it to provide any scale.
• Not to get all preachy, but we had really strange mixed feelings watching the glacial calving. It was awe inspiring to watch and we all kept hoping to see more while we were there. (We did see several small breaks, a few mini-avalanches and one big chunk crack.) But at the same time, we knew why it was happening. Temperatures are higher and many of the glaciers in Alaska are receding at a scary pace. Adding to it, we knew that flying all the way up there, then watching as the back of the boat spit out massive amounts of diesel exhaust the entire 9 hour boat ride wasn't exactly helping matters. In fact, it seemed really bad. So our trip was absolutely amazing and we saw things we never expected. But I couldn't really escape the nagging guilt that I was playing a role in what I saw just by being there. I don't regret going, but I will try to keep in mind that my actions impact the world more than I realize. Hopefully that will be a good lesson going forward.

Going, going, gone...

As promised...










While this was amazing to watch (and I have about 10 more photos of the whole process)... for me, this serves as a visual reminder of why we try to be aware of how our actions affect what's around us.

We've all made it home safe and sound. Time changes always seem to be more difficult when you come back home as compared to when you start your trip. While some of us are having trouble getting to sleep, others went to bed at 9:30. I'll try to sort through the 1,000+ pictures later and post a few more.

Iceburg, straight ahead!

Yesterday we took a 9 hour boat ride to see the Northwestern Glacier in the Kenai Fjords National Park. This definitely wasn't a boat ride for those with a weak stomach but we all managed to avoid feeding the fish and enjoyed the scenery and wildlife.

There were multiple glaciers but the biggest was the Northwestern. The boat got really close and as we approached we were going through what looked like a sheet of ice. I didn't want to say the 'T' word but I did have a sudden urge to stand at the bow of the boat with my arms open wide and say 'I'm flying Scott, I'm flying.' It turned out to be chuncks of ice, not a sheet of it. The highlight of the trip by far was watching huge chunks of ice fall from the glacier into the water. I guess this is called calving. I managed to take lots of pictures and we'll post some tomorrow.

For now, we have a long trip back and I'm sure sleeping on the plane won't be a problem.

A day for sights

I may be wrong, but I think we figured out where mapmakers came up with the term "scenic byway." Good lord, the entire drive from Anchorage to Seward was just one panorama after another. Mountains, bays, reflecting lakes, glaciers. Pretty much everything. Two and a half hours of awesome.

The highlight was Exit Glacier in Kennai Fjords National Park. Not that it's a huge glacier (pretty tiny, relatively) but we could get so close. Turns out, the area surrounding glaciers is several degrees cooler than everywhere else nearby. Who knew?

Tomorrow we're spending the day on the water with a 9 hour tour of the fjords. That word never gets old to type. Bummed we only have 2 more days, but it's been great. Now, I need more fresh seafood.

Success

It was sunny! Well, for part of the day yesterday. We actually caught a glimpse of the big mountain. It was just the top, but still impressive. Considering we were at least 60 miles away, it's hard to believe we could see anything. From what we heard, our experience is more normal than getting a clear shot of Denali. I'm just happy we got the glimpse.

After we left the park, we headed back to Anchorage, where we went to look for salmon heading upstream. We did see 4 or 5, but I think it's really early for that kind of thing. Those guys were huge. Maybe half as long as a baseball bat the circumference a little less than a dinner plate.

Today, we drive down to Seward. We'll stop to look around, then our last big adventure is tomorrow. A 9 hour boat tour around the Kenai Fjords, in search of wildlife and glaciers. Should be fun.

Sled dogs on gravel

Ah, weather. No control and nobody cares. It sounds like whining, and it is, but man do clouds suck. We were 30 miles from the tallest peak in North America and couldn't see a thing. Awesome. But we still got to see wolf puppies, a bear pooping and a demonstration on sled dogs. They did a short practice lap on gravel, then we got to pet them. Oh friendly doggies, you're always so cute.

We also saw the posted sunset and sunrise times for tonight and tomorrow. Sunset: 12:45 a.m. Sunrise at 3:45. I guess those clouds hanging around have a use. I don't need the sun coming in at 4 in the freaking morning.

We'll be attempting to load a few photos shortly. Hopefully they work. The size of this area is disconcerting. Just Denali National Park is the size of Massachusetts. We were there on an 8 hour bus ride and probably saw a tiny percentage of things. I'd want to go back, but don't really have the experience and equipment for backpacking.

The Grizzly Burger

I shall now be forever immortalized via photo on the wall of Rose's Cafe in Healy, Alaska. I tamed the mighty Grizzly Burger, a one pound burger topped with a fried egg, ham, two slices of cheese and tomato. Plus a side of fries. Honestly, it wasn't even hard. That part scares me.

We really didn't do or see much in our first day here. Drove 3-4 hours up from Anchorage to Denali, but it was covered in clouds the whole way and irregular rain. The highlight was the female moose at the salt lick in the back yard of our B&B.

Tomorrow, we've got a 7 a.m. bus ride into Denali National Park. Hopefully, the rain, clouds and wildlife stop disappointing us. I want to see the big mountain. What's the point of Alaska without mountains? Not even the cheesy Sarah Palin T-shirts could salve that pain.

No shoes...

We've arrived in Alaska! I think it would take more than a week for my body to adjust to all the daylight here. Even when we went to bed, the sun was shining as if it was 6am.

We brought a GPS this time to avoid those driver/navigator conflicts. I've determined that the GPS only adds one more 'person' to argue with.

We're heading up to Denali today after a night in Anchorage. Apparently it's a custom to remove your shoes upon entering a home. I thought that was only the Japanese. Maybe it's because we're so close to Asia...

Off again...

We really do try to keep our economy on the road to recovery, one travel experience after another. Save so we can retire before 70? Or for any future offspring to attend college? Those are problems for Future Scott and Future Elizabeth to worry about. We’re spending that housing tax rebate (if it ever freaking gets here, MR. IRS jerks) on a week of sun and...snow.




Tomorrow we board a plane for a week in the great white north. Next time, we’re going somewhere warm. Last year, we hit southern hemisphere winter, this year we go to the land of near-permanent snow.


However, we are both very excited. And to make things more interesting, we’re taking the mother-in-law! Yes, a week vacationing with my lovely wife and her mom. Because sometimes things just aren’t difficult enough, so you gotta add a challenge or two. Given the way we travel, I’m guessing the MIL will be in for the bigger challenge. Prepare for a week without much downtime, Char. Hope you don’t mind an 8 hour school bus ride!


I’ll try to update this as much as possible. The point of this blog isn’t to brag, just leave me with a record of our trips and hopefully other people don’t mind reading. A semi-public diary, basically. Yep, I’m a 12-year-old girl at heart

Alaska-bound

So our next big trip is to Alaska. I know what you're thinking... 'didn't they just go to New Zealand last year?' And yes, we did. Somehow I've talked Scott into another trip, although not quite as far.



Our plan is to fly into Anchorage and hit Denali and the Kenai Peninsula. It will be a lot to do in a week but I think it's manageable. We'll keep you posted!