JUNE 26TH 2008
ALASKA.
A thousand WOWS’ describes this amazing state.
The Yukon, North West Territories and Alaska are described as wilderness, Alaska is called the last frontier I do believe it is the last state in the US to be homesteaded, in the 1920’s when Oklahoma became a dust bowl “Okie’s”, as they were called, came to Alaska under a government scheme, to homestead, thereby cultivating some of this wilderness.
For me the wilderness of this whole area is truly magnificent there are hundreds of miles of tundra, forest, mountains, glaciers, rivers and creeks some of which I bet have never seen a human, there are of course flowers, birds and animals everywhere, To see all this wild life is just awesome, I thought if I saw 1 bear I would be ecstatic, now I have lots count of how many!!!! The flora here grows very quickly in the long 24 hour sunshine; I think some of the largest vegetables in the world have been grown in this state. It is just magnificent so read on, I hope I can do it justice … ……..
Our first drive into Alaska was lovely, mountains, forests and snow peaks, we stopped off in Tok, - everyone that drives into Alaska comes through Tok usually as we did twice - 2nd time going out! We stopped at the visitors centre to collect brochures and had our lunch, then pushed on to Fairbanks, we drove into very large road works with very little to no signs, (remember we have lost our navigator this is our first big town,) On the diversion signs instead of putting towns or direction like North, South, East or West, which Americans are fond of doing, the signs that were there just had street namesL For tourists and strangers this definitely is not a good practice, Les used the GPS and followed that east, by the time we got sorted out away form the road works we had missed Fairbanks altogether L just done a complete bypass L well neither of us felt like going back, we were both a bit fed up so we just pushed on. I am sorry really because I wanted to go to Barrow the most northern town in the US; I also think in the world not to sure about that, does anyone know? In Barrow there is a very good chance of seeing Polar Bears; you have to stay in a hotel, not allowed to camp in case you get eaten! Apparently Polar Bears walk down the street looking for food in the early spring; they are very hungry at that time. Like all the bears they have to eat as much as they can before winter comes back! Any way I missed that trip silly me.
Also I need a supermarket I am very low on fresh food.
We went into a small town called Nenana looking for a grocers shop there was one but it did not have much of what I needed only fresh oranges so I got those! We found a nice park for the night free and just at the side of the river.
The village of Nenana is at the confluence of the Nenana and Tanana Rivers, the name was given by the native people who have lived on this land for generations and means “ a good place to camp between rivers” it was a good place for us. With its close proximity to the Alaska Railway and Tanana River which flows into the Yukon, what appeared to be a sleepy little town is in fact a bustling riverboat and railroad terminal, 2 barge lines are based here these handle all the freight bound for the many outlying villages.
Nenana is also famous for its Ice Classic; Since 1917, in late February, a 26 foot tall five legged black and white tripod is set in the ice of the Tanana river, tickets are sold throughout Alaska, (Les and I got one each) In April a cable is attached to the tripod from a clock on shore, when the ice moves and the tripod moves approximately 100 feet the cable then trips a mechanism which in turn stops a clock. So if your guess at the day, the hour and the minute is correct you get a split of the pot, which in recent years has been well over $300,000. This event announces spring’s arrival and a party I am told! So fingers crossed I get a share!
A further piece of local history. In January 1925 there was a possibility of a diphtheria epidemic in Nome which is on the North West coast of Alaska at the Bering Sea. Serum was rushed by rail to Nenana and from there was taken overland by dog slay, A relay of musher’s travelled in high winds and -60F temperatures. Today a 1,000 mile Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race commemorates this lifesaving run.
We stayed later in the morning so we could have a good look around and a long chat with the guy in tourist information. This was a great night stop; there is also a very pretty log church with native paintings inside.
JUNE 28TH 2008
DENALI PARK
Encompassing both the north and south flanks of the Alaska Mountain Range Denali Park is an immense subarctic wilderness centred on Mount McKinley North America’s highest mountain, this looks so impressive because it rises 18,000feet from the elevation of 2,000 feet we were very lucky; this mountain spends a lot of its time hidden by cloud but we had some very good views, once seen it is unmistakable, rising, covered in snow, way above its neighbours.
Denali is an almost perfect eco system which has not changed for 1,000’s of years, the park was enlarged to enable the animals to stay with in its bounds, therefore protected, there is only 1 small community that is allowed to hunt within the park, this they have been doing for generations, the community was cut off from the outside world therefore without their hunting they would not survive, it is now reached by air. So Denali lives and dies within its own boundaries just as it has done since time began. It was founded in the beginning to protect the Dall sheep which were being killed in huge numbers to feed the “Stampeders” during the gold rush.
Vehicles are only allowed a short distance into the park, the best way to visit is by shuttle bus or a tour bus depending on how long you have and what you want to see, we took 2 tour busses and 2 shuttle busses over 3 days this worked out very well we were able to see a lot.
We took the free shuttle to Savage River (which is as far as visitors can drive) at the river we did a short hike, we met a Marmot which is bigger then a ground squirrel it was just playing around and let us watch and take photos for ages before it disappeared done a crack in the rock, it always amazes me how these little creatures slide down the smallest cracks. Further along the we were able to watch a Ptarmigan sitting on at least 5 chicks, there were also a number of Ptarmigan with their young running around, these birds turn pure white in the winter so they are not such easy prey in the snow. On that trip we also saw some Caribou and Dall sheep. We then took the next shuttle back to the car park and had lunch followed by a further shuttle to dog kennels, this was such an interesting visit, Denali has its own dog sled team that tours the park in the winter, delivering goods and generally checking that every thing is ok, also some hikers/campers are allowed in the winter months so they are checked on by the dogs as well. We toured the kennels where the dogs live most of them were standing on top of their houses. There were also 3 babies, a small museum, we had a demonstration by a ranger of how the dogs work this showed just how much they love working, once the sled came out the dogs went wild to get going, the ranger also told quite a history of working dogs in Alaska, they are still used for hunting and delivering, snowmobiles are taking over these everyday tasks, I guess racing will always be around, when you look at the map of Alaska there are very few roads, most of which are closed in summer!
We hiked back to the car park through the woods we did not meet a Moose I am very happy to say, apparently they are very unpredictable and will stomp you to death! Each tour guide we had said they are more frightened of a Moose then a Bear.
I think the main reason people come in droves to Denali Park is to get a view of Mount McKinley, the second highest peak in the US, the scenery and the wild life.
To get the best and most out of our visit we took 2 trips the first to the new Eielson Visitors centre which is built into the tundra slopes with the roof serving as an observation deck, providing an opportunity for viewing, wild life, the outstanding tundra landscape and on good clear days Mount McKinley. When we were there the weather was awful rain and cloudy so no view of the mountain, but we had had an earlier view, the wild life was all hiding from the rain while the mist shrouded the landscape. However I did see the most beautiful quilt I think I have ever seen! In the visitors centre at the far end on a very large wall is a magnificent picture of the 4 seasons in Denali, the picture is so lovely you feel the need to get closer as I drew closer I could see several ladies with their noses nearly touching the picture, I then realised that this was infact a quilt, it is stunning! The fabric is hand dyed, hand painted, hand painted using fabric dye, hand and machine quilting, which I think covers just about everything one could do on a quilt! This amazing picture all achieved by a local artist, by her name I think she is Native American, they had no information on the quilt or the artist and seemed unable to answer questions, I must have picked a bad day.
And 2 very small sections:-
This is truly exquisite art work!!
We were very disappointed not to be able to have a hike here at this centre, but the rain was very steady and heavy this would have been quite a problem sitting in wet things for 4 hours on the ride back.
The following day our tour, which was narrated, took us to the very end of the road Kantishna once a gold mining town is at the end of the 90 mile park road, here we met with a ranger for a walk and a talk about the area we had a visit to an old cabin, lived in by a lady who had spent her life in the north prospecting and keeping road houses, she had built this house with her 2nd husband and lived here until she died, when they took her to Anchorage to be buried, I think that was awful she should have been laid to rest in her wilderness! This was also the only place where the mosquitoes were thick, very thick, our tour guide provided everyone with a hat net, I have my own, this is a mosquito net that just goes over your hat or just over your head, is big enough to cover your neck and tuck into your jacket, there were 1000’s of the little beasties all around each person head, they were horrid and even followed us back into the bus, I think we have been a little early for the mossie’s. We were told they were this bad in the north and although we have had some this is the only time we have been swarmed with them.
Over these 2 days our wild life sightings have been great, Moose, Grizzly Bears, Caribou, Dall Sheep, Fox, Marmot and Snowshoe Hare, Eagles
We watched a Bull Moose for ages in a large lake/pond dipping his whole head in to drink and eat water vegetation, we also saw a Cow Moose with her baby that was very exciting. We also watched a Grizzly (they are by the way blond here in Denali because they live mostly on vegetation and roots) digging for roots he was, of course, a long way off but with the binoculars easy to watch, he dug and dug pulling and pushing eventually getting a good length of root which he sat with and was eating when we left.
We also got 3 or 4 good sightings of Mount McKinley.
I went out for my tea and had Fish and Chips, Halibut it was very good !!
JULY 1ST 2008
We are leaving Denali after 3 nights on our little bit of free gravel, Les went a head of me as he had a few jobs to do, just as I was getting ready to go a couple of workmen came along and measured up something in the scrub and banged a post in with a little pink flag on the top, then a couple more guys came along in a different vehicle with a sign in the back. They seemed to have trouble making a hole in the ground just where the little flag was, so after a bit they left leaving the sign on the ground it read “No Overnight Parking” phew we had had 3 good night and were leaving!
I followed Les to fill up with water and loo dump; whilst we were doing this another RV came in and the chap asked had we been on that bit of waste gravel as they had just put a sign up, we were glad our little stay was over, but this guy had only arrived the night before so was looking for a new spot, we told him of one we had spotted a little further along the road with no signsJ
Tonight we are stopping in the small old railroad town of Talkeetna this is where miners, prospectors and adventurers used to live, it is at the junction of the broad Talkeetna, Susitna and Chulitna Rivers, the word means 'where the rivers join'. The town was built along the rivers and the railroad track. Today this old town has evolved into a place where mountain climbers prepare for their trips to climb Mount McKinley and others.
This has kept this wonderful old place alive, my guide book says that in Talkeetna there is an old original road house still in operation which is what I wanted to see, we have seen lots of road house sights and ruins; a couple preserved but closed, they seemed to play such a large part in the development of the north I thought it would be good to see one open and maybe have a meal. The town was a great surprise. Talkteen has retained much of its Alaskan flavour, log cabins and geriatric clapboard shop fronts line the streets, there is a self guided tour of the oldest buildings each with a notice telling who lived there, who built the house and what method was used, also what the building was used for, this was interesting, most buildings had been built late 1890’s early 1900’s. The road house was open we had a good look around lots of old memorabilia, but the food was mountain size, plates were huge and full, this always puts me off, but what we did find was a pub selling good beer with live music. We decided to have a quick tea and go out for the evening J It was great the band was very - good mum on the old Joanna, her son on guitar and ukulele, with another guy on Bass and a nutty drummer who did not smile, they were playing good old “Eastend Songs” the singers had American accentsJ amazing we had a couple or three drinks and enjoyed the music and the fun great night out.
July 2nd 2008
We go to Anchorage and meet up with some members of our Silkroute Club. Charlie and Martha, there followed an evening and 2 of the craziest days of the trip.
Charlie and Martha are lovely and made us so very welcome, Charlie had a huge UniMog/ UniCat brand new. It is beautiful, Charlie is a GP and drives this truck to work can you imagine, your doctor turning up in one of these things, Martha is “Yokon Yupiit Bering Sea Eskimo” they have 3 beautiful daughters and live overlooking the bay
We leave them the next morning and will meet up at a camp site on the Kenai Peninsula
The drive down was awesome, mountains to left river and trees to the right, it took us an age to reach the campsite. We did find a very good shop on the way, only had a look as we had already shopped; We also met up on the camp site with a couple from New Zealand we had met on the boat we had a nice visit with them and a long chat about were we had been and where we were going! All that travel stuffJ
It was very late by the time Charlie and Martha arrived and the campsite was full, well it was full when we got there our friends from NZ had the last spot (it is bank holiday weekend) But, we found a little hole for all of us and it was free!!
On July 4th they took us clam digging we did not find any, but I did get to see one - I have never seen a clam, this of course was on the beach. Les egged me on to follow Charlie onto the beach, which I did and of course got stuck!!! Charlie pulled me out. I then nearly ran out of diesel because the gauge on my spare tank has failed, Charlie siphoned some from his tank. Phew! Then we drove countless miles to find a night camp ending up at the bottom of a gravel pit! We were going to Martha’s sisters for July 4th feast, after the party we moved to a better campsite. The party was great I had some of the best fish I have ever tasted. The people were wonderful we were made so welcome. Great!
Oh! I forgot I was also stopped once again by the police this time for going too slow and not yielding. I seriously struggled with this one and still do. We are on a very narrow 2 lane road much like we have at home, very twisty blind corners, very up and down blind summits, it’s a Bank Holiday weekend so traffic is very thick AND there are warning notices very regularly to say “Be careful MOOSE on the road.” 117 killed last year.
I was doing 50 m.p.h. in 55 m.p.h zone. This cop said I had 7 cars behind me and I am only allowed 5 and the side of the road was a drop, no shoulder. I could not believe my ears BUT I was very good and only said sorry I did not know it is against the law to have more then 5 cars behind you!!!!! Can you imagine going to Scarborough Bank Holiday Monday counting the cars behind you, apart from that how the hell do you get back into the line of traffic? I could really go on about this one…….
July 5th 2008
We leave Charlie and Martha, we will visit them again as my reversing camera monitor has packed up, I have ordered a new one which will be delivered to their house and Charlie will fix it for me.
We are now driving down to Homer. The journey is wonderful, there is still a very big Russian influence here. We stopped at a Russian Orthodox Church for our morning coffee, the Church was closed but very pretty as Russian Churches usually are, the view over the bay was amazing with hundreds of people digging for clams.
We met Gail, Brian, Hook and their Uncle from Hawaii they have invited us to a party next Tuesday, unsure if we will go.
In my guide book I had found a Russian Village, Nikolaevsk. In 1968 with 640 acres and only tents for shelter Nikolaevsk’s 5 founding families carved this small community with the financial support and help of the Tolstoy Foundation of New York, the village roots date back to the early 1900’s when Old Believers sought a place to worship openly in the way of the Old Rite Russian Orthodox, their journey took them first to China then South America, Oregon and finally Alaska. In addition to the school there is a post office the beautiful Church of St Nicholas and this wonderful Russian Café named “Samovar” selling authentic Russian food, sounded good, so we went to find it. This turned out to be the craziest lunch we have had but very enjoyable. When we got there the café was open but no one was in. Whilst we were looking a Russian lady came hurrying over, her name is Nina, she rushed past saying 'come in, come in' - we kind of hovered. Nina came running out of the back room she had just rushed into with a very hot pan, very panicked and shouting someone’s name, she tipped what ever was in the pan on the ground just around the corner, then back into the shop saying 'come in, come in' many times whilst fastening the door back, I went in, then blink the kitchen was on fire! I mean really on fire, I laughed like you doJ she told me off! I said 'get some water'. I am jumping on this fire with plastic shoes (crocs) - not a good idea!! She starts waving a fire extinguisher at me saying This! This! But she did not know how to use the thing. Jocelyn all that fire training was not a waste of time!!!! I put the fire out.
Well Nina was so excited she hugged me kissed me by this time Les has arrived and another couple, 'she saved my life' she kept saying, getting more and more excited - of course we have no photo’s. What had happened? What ever was on the bottom of the pan was red hot and melting, dropped onto the carpet, when Nina opened the door and tied it back what do we have? Heat! Air! Fuel! Whoosh a fire.
It took ages to simmer her down to make our lunch, every time she looked at me she said 'she saved my life, she saved my life' everything she said twice, it was hilarious
THIS IS OUR CRAZY LUNCH NINA IN THE MIDDLE!!!!
We did manage to get our lunch which was very Russian, delicious and entertaining Nina was just so excited we had to keep reminding her we were waiting for our meal. A young man had arrived and was cleaning up the remains of the fire.
We shared our table with the other couple, before we could eat our sweet or have our tea we had to get dressed up in Russian traditional gear for photos, with Nina dressing us up at a huge rate if knots and taking pictures of everyone with everyone’s camera we were all in hysterics by this time, I did refuse to wear a head scarf makes one look a hundred and ten! :-) So I got the lovely pink headdress that Nina had had on, I did try and buy one for “The lovely Alex” but that was the only one so she then tried to sell me a blue one more hysterics whilst I explained there is only pink in Alex’s world. Once things calmed down a little, when we were settling the bill Nina realised just above the fire there is a statue of St Nicholas, off she went again with the excitement St Nicholas had helped me put the fire out, she kissed him, she kissed me and so it went on againJ
This is a real little piece of Russia in the middle of the US, Nina has only been in the US 10 years she came from very eastern Russia where she was an Electrical Engineer, since she has lived here she has helped raise the cash and to build the lovely little Church. She has also married her very Russian husband Dennis Fefelov.
A truly enjoyable experience one I will never forget. All things must come to an end we left this wonderful and fascinating lady finishing to finish our journey to Homer where we were able to park at the very edge of the sea.
July 6th 2008
We walk around the headland here, hoping to be able to pick up a tour boat, in my guide book it says there is a ferry but we do not seem to be able to sort that out, the walk is nice lots of sea birds I am hoping for Puffin!
We find a trip going to Seldovia which takes in Bird Island and a general drive around the bay looking at sea mammals and birds with a narrator
I did get to see Horned Puffins - lots of them and very good views; we also saw Sea Otter, Harbour Seal, Loons, Cormorant’s and large selection of sea birds. Looking through the binoculars made me feel even more sick then normal! However I had a good time and enjoyed seeing the wild life. I had decided to have lunch in Seldovia, Les had got a pack up! The recommended restaurant was full, there was a large party in front of me, also very slow, another couple asked if we could share a table as this might speed things along, this I did it made for a very enjoyable lunch time, we all had the same “Daily Special” deep fried Salmon and chips (no tea bread and butter or mushy peas) All the people going out as we were waiting said the food was good and well worth the wait, they were not wrong, delicious, I had tea with the tea bag going in first, Lunch was a long time but very enjoyable. I then went for a walk around the town.
Seldovia goes back to a time when fishing was the mainstay of the region and was the busiest seaport on the Kenai Peninsula supporting a population of some 2,000 people working on fishing boats and in the town’s canneries. The 1964 earthquake destroyed most of the industry and today fewer then 300 residents live in Seldovia. Fishing sill plays a large part in the town’s economy along with tourism some annual festivals the biggest being July 4th when 1000’s flock to this town, all giving a good financial boost.
It is a very pretty town some of the buildings have been lovingly restored, there are a lot of artists selling their work and living here, there were lots of flowers and memorabilia in yards on top and hanging on walls.
We watched the fishermen cleaning and gutting their catch. The fish, mostly Halibut, are huge! We spoke to a couple of guys at their cleaning table, as a family they had chartered a boat, 6 of them - all guys, have a jolly good day, share the catch, get it fast frozen and they have enough fish for all year!
I wish I could get these pictures to go side by side!!!!!!!!!!!!!
End of another awesome day!
From Homer we went to Seward. On the drive there a Moose and her baby crossed the road.
Gail and Bryan who we had met at the Russian Church were on their way back from Seward so they met up with us in a lay-by, at the side of a lake very pretty spot. Les made tea and we had a little visit, we were again invited to the party on Tuesday, I am thinking I may go. I am not very well today my chest is not good, see how I am tomorrow.
We go to see the Exit Glacier it was given its name by explorers crossing the Harding ice field who found the glacier a suitable way to exit the ice field and the mountain. Now only 3 miles long it is believed the river of ice once reached all the way to Seward!
I found this really interesting as we were able to walk to the glacier’s alluvial plain – a flat expanse of pulverized silt and gravel cut through by braids of grey meltwater, we were then able to take a steep climb to an overlook at the side of the glacier on this hike you could see very clearly the scrapings on the rock where the glacier had pushed its way down and so make this u shaped valley, the trail back to the visitor centre and car park took us down a nature trail through cottonwood forest, alder thickets and old glacier moraines. It was very clear to see that the further from the ice we were the land became more vegetated – the result of having had more time to recover from its glacier scouring.
Seward itself is so very scenic flanked by rugged mountains and sparkling Resurrection Bay it serves as the gateway to Kenai Fjords National Park, we had decided not to take a boat from here but to see the “Alaska Sealife Centre” we were able to park right next to the sea, wonderful, I enjoyed a great walk around the very nice town with a number of amazing buildings and murals on each gable end depicting the history of the town.
Sealife Centre is fantastic (same as Scarborough different fish!) The most interesting for me was to be able follow the life of the Salmon with pictures and explanations, do you know they change completely when then come back into fresh water, colour and shape even their mouth and teeth (it may just be the jaw) change, when they are in fresh water again they do not feed, by the time they get to their spawning ground they are nearly dead once they have laid their eggs fertilised and covered over with pebbles, they die! Apparently the river stinks with all these 1000’s of dead fish; their nutrients keep the river bed healthy for their babies, the circle of life.
It is Tuesday 8th July Les is trying to sort his home life out. So I leave him to go to a party!! We will met up again at Charlie
My hair needs washing and my colour needs doing, afternoon tea time I park in a nice lay-by at the side of the river by this time I have a tank full of nice hot water, I make the tea colour my hair have a shower and get ready to party!!!!
They live in Soldotna from the guide book “at the junction of the Sterling and Kenai Spur Hwys this would just be another ugly, over commercialized roadside service centre, save for one fact a river runs through it and is filled to bursting with the biggest salmon on the planet, the largest sport-caught king salmon was reeled here in 1985 weighing in at 97.2lb”
My friends live out in the forest but very near the river, Hook who is Gail’s brother came to meet me. The party was for Hooks birthday I found out when I got there. There were around 30 of their family and friends I feel so honoured and privileged to be so welcomed into the heart of people’s homes like this.
The party was lovely lots of very interesting people to chat to and the food was gorgeous, fresh caught fish, fabulous ribs, some Japanese dishes, AND homemade baked beans!!!! To name but a few of the dishes, people kept asking had I tasted this and that, I ate loads. Then a whole array of delicious sweets just to die for arrived on the table - all home made.
It was not a late party and when some people had gone home Gail took me to see the new house they are building, very big, very beautiful, with amazing views.
I parked the night in their yard, to me it’s a gardenJ in the middle of a forest so quiet and peaceful it was lovely. There were 2 other trucks stopping over, 1 was a huge 40-footer, the couple have sold up and live in their truck full time, it was lovely, plenty of room. We all went in together, when they came in mine they had to form an orderly queue coming in 2 at a timeJJ, the other truck was medium size also very nice with lots of room.
I was invited to breakfast next morning I had “grits” I’m not sure about that spelling, I had them with salt, pepper and butter on I really liked them.
I learnt loads about fishing at this time of year it is all hand catching fish, when I was there I think the “reds” were running after that come the Kings, as residents they are allowed to catch a certain number each family, but they are not allowed to sell them, so they get them smoked, speed frozen, and they can their own, I didn’t really understand that but it is what we called bottling exactly the same. I was pleased to find that out because a lot of people have talked about canning their own fish. So after an amazing and interesting 24 hours I said good bye to my new friends and headed towards Anchorage to meet up with Les…………………………………..
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