Some orcas racing our boat

Today was another early call in that we needed to be at the pier by 7:30a. The morning dawned rather foggy and a bit of mist. Our catamaran cruise left at 8a for our 6 hour excursion. We chose to sit inside because it was quite cool with the overcast skies. The captain was quite skilled at finding the local wildlife. We began at Eagles Rock where we sighted 2 bald eagles. Then, another point we saw some seals. But even more exciting, we saw some humpback whales. They were quite shy and wouldn’t give us a tail shot. The captain was quite informative about the wildlife and explained that each whale’s tail is as unique as our fingerprints. We saw whales several times through the cruise. It seemed we saw 2-3 different types. At one point, we had some orcas racing us at the bow of the boat. (On further inspection of my pics, maybe they were Dall’s porpoises – hard to say). They gave us a great photo op at Three Hole Point, but I kept having trouble getting the glacier in the background.

Aialik Glacier from a distance to show the scope

We continued up to Aialik Glacier where we spent a good 20 minutes listening to the ice and seeing a few calving of the ice. It has a face of 300 to 400 feet. At one point most of the surrounding water had a lot of ice bergs. In the distance we could see harbor seals laying on the icebergs. It is just amazing to see the amount of ice and to hear it crackling/melting. As we left the glacier, the crew provided us with caesar chicken wraps and lemonade. The boat also offered complimentary coffee and hot tea along with a little snack bar with items for purchase. Motoring along we saw families of otters and several jellyfish. On our way back, we ran into some rougher seas. The gal that we booked the tour with had explained that the seas get rougher as the day progresses, so the early tour is often the more calm. That may be true, but for us – the sun came out about 11:30a and the warmth made outside viewing much more pleasant. On our way back, the captain took us to areas that were just filled with birds. He said in a few weeks they would all be gone, headed south for the winter. The crew also

after some time at Aialik Glacier

baked some chocolate chip cookies for us. The smell was fantastic and they were tasty too. I would strongly recommend Kenai Fjords and their catamaran cruises. You could tell they had the pleasure of their guests in mind and made every effort to make sure the trip was a good one with photo ops at every turn. Don’t even consider taking this tour without a camera.
After the tour, we were determined to check out the Alaska Sea Life Center in downtown Seward. Admission is $20 per adult, $15 per student. Seniors with AARP got a break to $12. This aquarium offers several kid-friendly hands-on exhibits. You’ll see a 2000+ pound Steller sea lion gliding past an underwater viewing window and puffins diving in a carefully crafted naturalistic habitat. It was very educational on Alaskan marine life.

underwater viewing of Stellar sea lion

We did a little shopping on our way out of Seward – it was time to head back to Anchorage for our flight and hopefully catch the bore tide. The bore tide is a rush of seawater that returns to a shallow and narrowing inlet from a broad bay often creating a wave. Our bus driver, Brian was quite an authority on it and had recommended we see this phenomenon. We had hoped to catch the Bore Tide on Turnagain Arm, but didn’t see any signs of it. Guess I’ll have to try again next time.
We arrived back to Anchorage with plenty of time before our flight. So we grabbed some dinner. Our Frontier flight left at 10:55p – a red-eye to Denver. We were all so exhausted, we slept on the flight. Upon arrival into Denver at 6a, we had some breakfast while we killed our 4 hour layover. It is great that Denver International has free wifi and ‘charging stations’, where you can plug in your various electronics. We spent the time going through our photos. We finally got back to Kansas City about 1:30p. Although we were exhausted, we all agreed it was an amazing trip. We saw all the animals we’d hoped to see and it had only rained on us one evening in Fairbanks. The fall colors were amazing. Our timing had turned out perfect.

our Cosmos' group

Our last day of the tour saw us rising early for the drive back to Anchorage. We were a tired bunch after all the excitement of the previous day. The morning was cool and clear, which afforded us multiple views of Mt McKinley on our journey. We stopped at a Alaskan war veteran memorial and took a group photo with the majestic Denali behind us. Midmorning, we stopped in Wasilla. Not to see Sarah Palin, but to tour the Iditarod headquarters.

Iditarod Trail race headquarters in Wasilla, AK

The closest we got to Palin was when Ryan, our tour guide, points to a lake and says, “She lives on that lake somewhere”. The Iditarod Headquarters had a dog team all harnessed up and we saw three new born puppies.
We arrived back into Anchorage about 1p. There were a good portion of us catching a cruise, some of us chose to rent a car for our exploration. We rented a midsize car with Dollar and headed toward Seward. Just south of Turnagain Arm is the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center. The cost is $10 for adults and $7.50 for children and seniors (max $30 per vehicle). It is organized such that you drive your car through it, but are

Who would expect a brown bear to look so cuddly?

welcomed to get out and look more closely. We saw a lot of the same animals we saw running wild in Denali, but this way we were assured of seeing them. It also included some musk oxen along with some black bears and brown bears.
We continued on our journey toward Seward. Again, the scenery is just amazing! The secret to Dall sheep – look for some white specks up high on the mountain. Alaska truly is a destination for nature lovers. Just short of Seward, we

At the edge of Exit Glacier

took a jaunt over to the Exit Glacier. This is one of the few glaciers you can easily hike right up to it. It’s over a mile on a moderately strenuous trail that brings you to the edge. And it does get colder when you are right next to it!
We made it to our hotel, Best Western Edgewater, which is right downtown on the waterfront. The rooms were nice and the lobby sported a player grand piano. Hard to believe I was too tired to sit down and tickle the ivories. The front desk recommended the Christo’s Palace about 1 1/2 blocks away, which we chose to walk to so we wouldn’t have to worry with finding a park. The menu was quite varied from seafood and steak to pizza. A little pricey, but we figured it’s downtown Seward. As it turned out, our waitress engaged us in conversation before we left and found out she would be part of the crew on our boat tour the next morning. So we bid her goodbye until the morning.

view from Meadow View trail

Today we were sure to start with a good breakfast at the Summit restaurant. Then we caught the shuttle up to the Denali Visitor’s Center. We arrived just in time for a video presentation. Afterwards, we decided we need to see more of the park and went for a hike. With many trails to choose from, we chose the Meadow View trail so that we didn’t have to backtrack. Again, the hike took us about 1 1/2 hours and we caught a shuttle into Glitter Gulch, the locals name for the touristy area at the entrance. We didn’t have much time for shopping as we had to get back to our hotel for a tour in the afternoon. They have quite a free shuttle network. Being the end of the season with not as many people, the driver’s were easy going dropping/picking people up as needed – but we still didn’t want to test that theory

view of the Denali tundra

too much.

Our Tundra Wilderness tour of Denali Park started at 2:30p, when our driver Caroline picked us up in a tour bus from our hotel. She made one more stop at the Princess Lodge for some more travelers, then we were off on our

some moose in Denali

adventure. The bus goes over 50 miles into the park with our certified driver-naturalist. The tour typically lasts 7-8 hours. I think our bus was just lucky – we were definitely the longest that day. First we saw 3 moose not long after we set

this red fox walked right by the bus

out. It just got better and better. We saw Dall sheep, a red fox, 5 bears, a golden eagle, caribou, an adorable arctic ground squirrel and countless snowshoe hare. Mt McKinley, also known as Mt Denali, put in a nice appearance for us. Just a few clouds – but that just added to the grace. Our sighting added us to the 30% club – they say only 30% of people get to see Mt McKinley. I was most impressed with their efforts to be eco-friendly. The box lunch that they provided – they had us breakdown the leftovers/trash – so as to recycle. They are quite intent on protecting this wonderful national treasure. On the return trip out, we saw an amazingly large moon. They also treated us with a small Denali souvenir book. We got back to our hotel about 11p and were thoroughly drained. But considering the clear skies, we requested a Northern Lights wake-up call. Sure enough – about 2:30a, we got the call. The front desk guy had seen a small strip at 2a – then a larger display at 2:20a, so he went in to call us. But alas, it was gone by the time we made it out. That is the only thing we didn’t see. Talk about an amazing day!

the majestic Mt McKinley

Grizzly mama and her 2 cubs dug for roots about 20 ft from the bus

 

artic ground squirrel saying hello

in the dome car

This Wednesday there weren’t a lot of travelers, so we were able to sit in the domed car as much as we wanted. The train had a snack bar for simple snacks. The dining car was quite elegant. There were some amazing views. Having spent the 11 hours on the bus to Fairbanks, I have to say train travel is more appreciated because you can get up and walk around at will. We saw some dall sheep along our route. It is about a 4 hour ride.

We arrived into Denali and were transferred to our hotel, the McKinley Village located about 6 miles from the park entrance. The rooms were very nice and arranged in several buildings along a river. 4 of us chose to hike the Triple Lakes trail from the hotel. It was a nice hike, even if a bit hilly. We were again treated to some amazing views from the top of the hill. With the fall colors, it was quite impressive. We were interested to find the ground outside of the trail was quite spongy, due to the permafrost. To the first lake, it turned out to be a total of  one and a half hour hike. The rest of the evening was at our leisure. After a nice dinner at the hotel’s Summit restaurant, we were content to call it a day.

1st of the Triple Lakes

Otto, the bear at the Museum of the North

The museum offers 2 shows (additional $5 cost): Aurora and Winter. Each lasts about 26 minutes and starts on the hour alternating.

We got back and went 3 blocks over to grab some lunch at the Fudge Pot. They were well organized and the sandwiches included a lot of meat.

Our afternoon included more details on Fairbanks as we headed to our excursion on the riverboat. The Binkley’s run the “Rivers of the North” with a huge gift shop. We were on the Discovery II – one deck less than the Discovery III. I was very impressed with how well scripted the whole excursion was. Once we got underway, they had a bush pilot take off and land right next to the boat. Next we were treated to a conversation and demonstration of a dog kennel that trains sled dogs. We continued to where the Chena River meets the Tanena River. After turning around, we headed back up and stopped at a duplicated Athabascan village called Chena Village. They explained most aspects of life as an Athabascan. They had four reindeer and many pelts of important animals to their way of life.  A lot of their artifacts were museum quality. We also were able to interact and pet the sled dogs. On our final leg back to the pier, they offered us a taste of their brand of salmon that they had made into a dip (with cream cheese). Yum. All and all I would strongly recommend this excursion. There were again a lot of bugs while we visited the village.

Discovery III paddleboat

All of us chose to take in the Salmon Bake. It was well done and the food was great. The salmon seemed to have  a delicious honey glaze. The cod & halibut were fried and tasty too. Luckily, the sun was out – so we chose to eat outside on their picnic tables.

Since it was relatively clear – we’re really hoping to see the Northern Lights. (My fingers are crossed)

We continued on the Glen Highway. Stopped for a view of Matanuska glacier, this one was advancing on a valley.

Glacier in the valley

Alaskan pipeline

We saw quite amazing scenery as we made our way north. The few goats we saw were so far up the mountain, they were little specks. We also made a stop to see the Alaskan pipeline up close and personal.

Late afternoon we took a stop at the historical site of Rika’s Roadhouse. The site included some historical buildings and old paraphanalia. Being the end of the season, they had a lot of discounts in the gift shop.

Although it was quite overcast most of the day, it didn’t actually start raining on us until we were about 1 hour outside of Fairbanks. We were so thrilled to finally see our travel end for the day. Our hotel is the Bridgewater right downtown – great location, moderate hotel, BBQ & Pasta restaurants on either side.

After the long day of travels, we were ready to turn in early.

We arrived at Portage lake and took the Ptarmigan boat over to see the glaciers. The main one terminating at the lake is Portage Glacier. Their was a calving while we were there and it created a bit of a wave. Our cruise started at 10:30a for about an hour. Looking and hearing about the glacier was fascinating. By the time we were headed back to the dock, there were a lot more icebergs in the water. As expected, there were an abundance of gnat/flies that kept bugging us while outside.

We got back to Anchorage about 1p and headed over to the Market again. After booking our Seward cruise for after the tour, we grabbed a quick bite of Salmon quesadillas. We utilized the free shuttle to the Native Heritage Museum. Again, we were treated to a friendly, talkative driver. Regular admission was $24.95 pp, seniors were $21.50 or so. You could also get a combo ticket with the Alaska Museum downtown for $26 pp. They have an outdoor exhibit of the different native people of Alaska. I was quite impressed how most structures had a person that explained about that tribe’s culture. Very informative. They have a “gathering area” inside, which often has an educational/informative program going. We enjoyed the dancers – a program at the local high school that teaches some students the native dances of various areas. Since there weren’t that many of us, the shuttle driver kindly dropped us off relatively close to our hotel instead of the “scheduled stops”.

Since the weather was still so nice, we walked down to Simon & Siefert’s for dinner. They have a nice view of the bay. The food was good, if a little on the pricey side. Afterwards, we went a little beyond and picked up the nice walking trail and headed back to our hotel.

Portage Glacier

We flew on Frontier with a connection in Denver. They do charge $15 for the first checked bag, but I’m happy to report they still have complimentary sodas. The TVs in the seatbacks are nice. While you do have to pay to watch anything for the short flights (ie. to Denver), the international flights include free channels because over foreign air space they haven’t any signal. The first run movies were $8. I would also like to compliment Frontier on keeping us readily informed about delays, etc. We had a 1.5 hour scheduled layover. About 1 hour prior to the flight, they announced a mechanical issue that would delay our flight almost an hour. About 10 minutes later, they informed us they were changing the equipment and that we would be leaving on time. I was impressed how they repeatedly made announcements about the return to the original schedule.

You definitely want to have a window seat on the flight to Anchorage. As you start getting close to Alaska, the view is tremendous. I have a few pics out of the window.

On the way

more on the way

The Ramada Inn provides a free shuttle from the airport. The driver was very friendly and talked a lot about life in Alaska. The property is relatively close to the main tourist areas….two blocks from the market (kinda like a farmer’s market with a lot more ‘other’ goods), about 3 blocks from a park – that was having live music (festival like). I would classify the hotel more moderate. They do offer frigerators/microwaves/coffee makers in the room along with free wifi. The complimentary continental breakfast includes a belgium waffle maker.

We chose the highly recommended Glacier Brewhaus for our first dinner in Anchorage. It was a nice casual place with a large fireplace in the center. We enjoyed our Salmon and fish & chips. Their (chocolate covered) peanut butter pie was delicious and quite rich.