Photos of Glacier Bay

Here is one of the many views of the mountains that surround you as you cruise up Glacier Bay. Each one is even more spectacular then the next.










This is Magerie Glacier. You can see the glacier river that originates high in the mountains. The glacier moves forward 7 inches per day! We saw four sections of the glacier calve, or break off, into the bay. There was one that was spectacular break that sent a large plume of water high into the air and waves into the bay. In case you were wondering they do make a very loud cracking noise before breaking...you just can't figure out where exactly the break is going to happen.














Another rare photo of us! This was taken on the upper deck of the ship at the top of the bay. The Magerite Glacier would be to the left and the Grand Pacific Glacier to the right.










Before dinner we went out on deck to do some whale watching. Here three are spouting and if the photo was large enough you would be able to see the tail of the one on the left. There were about 4 pods of whales feeding last evening. What a grand sight.








It seems only fitting that on the longest day of the year afforded us with our first sunset. This is a very special place and my hope for each of you is that one day, you too, will be able to experience it.

I will close with a quote from the park ranger, Mary Lou: "When we come to understand the peace of nature we will be able to understand the nature of peace."

Namaste

Photos of Gulf of Alaska

This is the elegant Takleetna train station. It is a simple siding outside of town. Because there is only one set of tracks the town didn't want the railway servicing the cruise ship industry clogging things up. So they constructed this railroad siding. It comes complete with simple logs to sit on and port-a-pots to serve one's basic needs.






This is the beautiful Turnagain Arm that runs along the southern coast of Alaska from Anchorage. As you travel further east you are surrounded by the Talkeetna Mountains to the north and the Kenai Mountains of the Kenai Peninsula on the south.

As you travel east you come to the town of Portage. This industrious Alaskan is selling Jerky, probably reindeer, along the side to the road. There is a single lane tunnel running along the arm from Portage into Whittier. It alternates cars heading east, then cars heading west, followed by the train heading east and finally the train heading west.

This is the Hubbard Glacier, the first glacier that we encountered.

Once we boarded the Coral Princess in Whittier we set out to sea and were treated to this beautiful view of the Fairweather Mountains running east/west along the gulf. Looking at all the snow I wonder who named them "Fairweather?" Even scarier I wonder what the "Badweather" mountains look like?

Summer Solstice in Glacier Bay

So where did you spend the longest day of the year? We were cruising Glacier Bay and I must say that this will be hard to top in the upcoming years.

We awoke to very calm seas and spectacular scenery. There wee whales, sea lions and otters frolicking in the water. Two National Park Service rangers arrived by skiff from their home base in Bartlett Cove by the town of Gustavus. Comprised of 3.3 million acres of mountains, glaciers, forests and waterways Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve are a highlight of the Inside Passage and part of a 25 million acre World Heritage Site – one of the world’s largest protected natural areas, as designated by UNESCO.

We attended an excellent presentation by one of the ranger, Mary Lou. I think the most amazing fact we took away is that the Margerie Glacier is advancing at a rate of 7 feet per day. Someone calculated that in the span of one hour it advanced 3 inches…someone please check the math for us.

Ok, time for your history/geography lesson so pull out your map. Glacier Bay is the product of the Little Ice Age and reached its maximum extent by 1750. Some glaciers are retreating while others are advancing. The Little Ice Age came and went quickly by geological measures. By 1750 the glacier reached its maximum jutting out into Icy Straight. But when Capt. George Vancouver sailed here 45 years later, the glacier had melted back five miles into Glacier Bay – which it had gouged out.

When conservationist John Muir traveled here in 1879 the glacier had retreated 40 more miles up the bay since Vancouver’s visit. Muir captured the popular imagination about Alaska, attracting tourists to the bay,. Today you must travel 65 miles up the bay to view the tidewater glaciers. Polar regions respond to changes in climate at faster rates than temperate and equatorial regions.

We spent the day cruising the bay our ultimate destination being the Tarr Inlet and the Grand Pacific and Margerie Glaciers. The did see Margerie calve four times although only one of the was a dramatic spectacular sight send a great plume of water into the air. After spending a few hours in this area it was time for us to begin the return journey down to Icy Strait.

We passed Johns Hopkins Inlet and the Johns Hopkins Glacier. We were prohibited from entering the Hopkins Inlet because this is a restricted area where the seals go to birth their pups as it is a safe haven for them as the predatory whales will not come up this far. The Lamplugh Glacier was very colorful. About 10P we experienced our first “sunset” although it was really a colorful play of light on the clouds lingering over the mountains of Excursion Ridge and Pleasant Island.

We sailed Icy Strait heading east towards Point Couverden on the tip of the Chilkat Mountain Range Penninsula. Overnight we will cruise up the Lynn Canal, through the Chilkoot Inlet and arrive in the morning in Skagway located at the end of the Taiya Inlet. This will be out first port of call.

I took about 200 pictures and have to edit them for you tomorrow. I will get them posted ASAP.

June 20, 2010 Coral Princess

Our first night on board we heard a great trio from the Ukraine (violin, guitar and accordion…yes accordion) in the Crooner’s Bar. As is always the case Doug made fast friends with Referen (Ref), a bartender from the Phillipines. We also were introduced to the famous ship’s buffet. Not gaining weight will be a challenge.

We awoke this morning, on board the ship, in gently rolling seas. The small swells were hitting us broad side and caused us to wobble back and forth. This made for some interesting walking as we had not yet found our sea legs.

The first thing we had to do was attend a mandatory safety class to learn about emergency procedures. We headed to the breakfast buffet and tried not to over do it. We attempted to do some walking on the promenade (2.8 laps=1 mile) but it was too windy and cold. Doug decided to retreat back to the stateroom to do some work and play with his photographs. I found a nice sofa outside the Wheel House bar where I could watch the scenery and do some crocheting.
The ship is famous for its ice sculpture and carved fruits and vegetables. We saw an amazing demonstration by three of the decorative artists. What they produced were master pieces. Don’t be looking for these types of centerpieces from me any time soon. I attended a martini demonstration that Ref participated in and it was quite entertaining. Mid-afternoon Doug and I attended a wine tasting.

This evening was the first of two formal nights. When we signed up for the cruise we opted for any time dining as opposed to being assigned to one of two dinner seatings. We neglected to make a reservation in time for our formal dining room, the Bordeaux but were told that being seated between 8-8:30 wouldn’t be a problem. I guess we were all surprised when we went down at 8 and couldn’t even get off the elevator. So back to the buffet…shucks.

Returning to our cabin we went out on the balcony and were treated to an extreme view of the Fairweather Range. I didn’t want to go to bed because the dramatic scenery was changing by the minute. As the costal fog gently enfolded the mountains and the light began to fade it was time to say goodnight after a very good day.

Talkeetna to Whittier June 19, 2010

This morning we were transported from the Mt. McKinley Wilderness Lodge to the Talkeetna Railroad Station. The “station” is quite rustic as it consists of nothing more than a railroad siding and some logs to sit on. Quite primitive considering the posh accommodations at Mt McKinley. This time we boarded The Alaskan Railroad to our journey.


We headed south through the towns of Fish Lake, Sunshine, Montana ,Caswell and Kashwitna. We then arrived in Willow. Gold was discovered in this area in the late 1890’s and mining did well for 50 years. WWII basically shut down the gold mines in the state. After the war, with wages and expenses skyrocketing, mining was no longer economical. The Willow District mines have never recovered.

Willow as a town was dormant until the 1970’s. At that time Alaskans started talking about moving the capital from Juneau to a place closer to the major population centers of Anchorage and Fairbanks. In 1976 the citizens of Alaska voted for Willow as the site for the new capital. Many plans for a model capital community were developed and the land values in Willow escalated. After six years of feasibility studies it was determined that it would take in excess of 2 billion dollars to move the capital and in 1982 the votes killed the plan. Willow became the official starting point for the Iditarod sled dog race. Perhaps you know of Willow because it was the inspiration for the name of Sarah Palin’s first daughter.

We followed the Little Susitna River, or Little Su as it is called by the locals. This river is well known for its run of salmon. The king salmon run in May and June with the silver making their run in July and August.

We arrive in Wasilla which everyone knows is the home of Sarah Palin and no you can not see Russia from her back yard. We did see her childhood home a fairly nondescript beige ranch home with a green roof. Wasilla was named for Chief Wasillla, an Athabaskan Indian. It was established in 1917 at the intersection of the Knik-Willow trail and the Alaska Railroad and became a supply center for the Willow Creek gold district. Today Wisilla is an active community of about 8,471 residents. Between 1980 and 1982 the population nearly doubled and it was believed to be the fastest growing community in the nation.

The Matanuska Valley is our next destination. In the summer of 1935 about 200 financially strapped farm families, mostly from Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan arrived in the town of Palmer. They were to be colonists settling in the valley as part of a planned farm community project through the Federal Emergency Relief Administration, a New Deal agency. These farmers were offered an opportunity to farm on a homestead basis. Many of the homesteader families are still “Mat Valley” residents. Between Palmer and Wasilla, the fertile soil, 19 hours of sunlight and a three-month growing season combine to produce abundant crops. Each year at the Alaska State Fair, giant cabbages weighing over 80 pounds, huge radishes and other vegetables are displayed. The most reliable plants to grow are lettuce, potatoes, carrots, cabbages, peas and beets.

Knik Arm is the northern arm of Cook Inlet. Cook Inlet has one of the highest ties in the world sometimes reaching a maximum of 40 feet. The greatest tidal variation in North American is the Bay of Fundy between Nova Scotia and New Brunswick (Doug and I saw this on our Top of the World Motorcycle ride in 2002). Knik Arm is a faulted basin shaped by recent glaciations. The basin is actively filling with sediment from the numerous large, glacier rivers that drain into it. We enter Anchorage which I have already talked about is previous posts.

From Anchorage we follow Turnagain Arm…WOW is all I can say. They say a picture is worth a thousand words so check them out! The Turnagain Arm flow between the Talkeetna Mountai to the north and the Kenai Peninsula to the south. I believe Turnagain got its name because you were constantly turning you head this way to look at the Tulkeetnas and again to the south to the Kenai mountains. My neck needs a massage. The tracks take us to Girdwood once a small mining town and now home to the Alyeska Ski Resort. Mt. Alyeska is 4,000’ and the state’s largest ski resort.

Portage is named for the historic trail of portage route connecting the Gulf of Alaska to the Cook Inlet region. At this point we are only 10 miles from Whittier as the crow flies. The settlement of Portage was destroyed in the 1964 earthquake, when the ground subsided by as much as 12 feet. There are still remnants of the old buildings. The earthquake had a tremendous effect on the railroad. The ground sunk so far that the tracks were awash during high tides. As high tide receded the tracks would be cleared and the train would go through on a twice a day schedule. The ride from Portage is short and a good portion of it is spent in two tunnels. The first tunnel is a mile long and goes under Beglich Peak . The second is the Anton Anderson Memorial Tunnel. At 2.5 miles long, is the longest highway tunnel and the longest combined rail/highway tunnel in use in North America. It is designed to work at temperatures -40F and in winds up to 150 mph.

We emerge from the tunnel in Whittier where it is gray, rainy and cold, but behold there is our ship, the Coral Princess.

Once again that to Anita Williams and Linda Ewers for the historical information.

Talkeenta

Talkeetna is an Indian word meaning either "where the rivers meet" or "river of plenty." The Talkeetna and Chulitna Rivers flow into the Susitna River here. The Talkeenta River is a good example of a braided river.







The town, originally an Indian village, was settled in the early 1900's by prospectors and trappers working Peters Creek and Dutch Hills mining districts. This is still an active placer gold mining area and a few residents are miners or prospectors.

Nagly's Store was established in 1921 and has changed very little in that time. We had to take a bus about 45 miles to buy cigarettes. Given $20 for the bus ride the pack cost us $27.90.

Unfortunately I did not get a photo of the old Fairview Inn (located across the street) which was established in 1923. This is where President and Mrs. Harding stayed when they came to Alaska in 1923 to drive the golden spike. Hopefully it looked more inviting then than it does today. I do know that the Roadhouse was there at that time so it gives you a sense of the architecture.

Many visitors come to Talkeenta for the annual bluegrass festival in the summer. Each July, the unique Moose Dropping Festival contestants see how far they can throw a moose "nugget."

There is very little in the way of retail establishments in this remote area. One enterprising gentleman opened Wal-Mike. It sells everything that you do not need or want. Legend has it that the president of Wal-Mart visited here and became great friends with the owner. He did not object to the bastardization of the Wal-Mart name.

Talkeenta, population about 840, is the point from which most Mt. McKinley climbing and flight seeing expeditions depart. This is the old Talkeenta Air Service company opened by Mr. Sheldon. Today all climbers must visit the park headquarters and register 60 days prior to attempting to scale the summit.


My thanks to the Midnight Sun Express Ride Guide for the basic historical information.

Photos of Denali

OK, here we go. This was our first glimpse of the mountain. Because of its height it creates its own weather systems. It is buried beneath what I believe is called a lenticular cloud. You can barely make out the shaped of the north face.









Here we are a bit closer. Where we were it was very windy but you can appreciate the wind on the mountain by looking at the right side of the cloud. The mountain is becoming a bit clearer.








The clouds are slowly passing and more of the mountain becomes visible.












And here it is in all it's glory...the north face of Denali/Mt. McKinley. This is a dream come true!











Now this is amazing a second picture of Doug and me!