Gregg and I spent a week in Alaska (September 14-21, 2012) and had a wonderful time. The weather wasn't great but the sights and scenery were majestic!
Salmon Berry Tour
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Beluga Point on Turnagain Arm -
We saw Beluga Whales just before
we stopped here! |
Our first full day was spent on a sightseeing tour with Salmon Berry Tour Company. We were picked up at our hotel in Anchorage and headed south. We drove along the Turnagain Arm and kept an eye out for wildlife. Turnagain Arm is a body of water that is connected to Cook Inlet which is connected to the Gulf of Alaska. We spotted Bald Eagles, Trumpeter Swans, and the backs of Beluga Whales. Apparently, moose and mountain goats were staying out of the very gusty wind and rain.
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| Mt. Alyeska Tram House |
The first stop on the tour was Mt. Alyeska ski resort in Girdwood. This is the only ski resort in Alaska and home to the longest continuous black-diamond run in North America. Here we took a tram to the top of the mountain. There was still some snow from last winter - this area averages 643 inches a year.
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| On top of Mt. Alyeska |
After a yummy lunch of soup, bread, and a giant cinnamon roll we started toward the next destination - a glacier cruise. Along the way, we stopped at a lake to see to see our first glaciers in the distance. To our delight the glacier was blue! Our tour guide, Josh, explained that the glacier ice is so dense that it absorbs all light except that in the blue spectrum which is reflected back - thus blue ice. We also stopped at a stream where salmon were spawning. We didn't need the "Bear Alert" sign to know that bears had been in the area. The mostly eaten salmon on the banks of the stream made that perfectly clear.
Next stop - Portage Lake to take a boat cruise to see Portage Glacier... While driving to the lake the rain got heavier and the wind even stronger. The waves on the lake made it look like the ocean! It was no surprise when we were told that all cruises had been canceled for the rest of the day as well as the next day since gusts of 100 mph were predicted.
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| Male Moose - his antlers were huge! |
The tour left Portage Lake and drove to the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center. The Center is a 200-acre park that provides large, natural enclosures for animals and birds found in Alaska. Many of the animals are there because they are injured or orphaned. The best thing about the center was the ability to see the animals up close and get a few photos. The heavy rain didn't seem to bother them!
Musk Oxen are survivors of the ice age and were almost wiped out by over hunting. The Center helps with a breeding program and some herds are kept on ranches. There is an Alaska Native co-op, Qiviut, that knits the under fur of the musk ox into very expensive hats and scarves.
The center separates the elk into groups that include females and young with only one male. This is done to keep the males from fighting during rut. We were lucky to see the male bugling and some of the young nursing.
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| BIG Brown Bear |
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| Reindeer |
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| Wood Bison are bred at the Wildlife Center to be reintroduced into the wild. |
Seward
The next day started off cloudy and very windy. We were happy that it wasn't raining when we started our drive to Seward which is southeast of Anchorage. We once again drove along the Turnagain Arm on the Seward Highway. We stopped at Potter Marsh and saw a few ducks braving the high winds as well as a moose (too far away for a photo).
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| Potter Marsh |
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| We saw these swans along the road to Seward on the Kenai Peninsula |
When we arrived in Seward we went to the Alaska Sealife Center. I think one of the best exhibits at the Sealife Center was the sea bird room.
Seward is a small city on the Kenai Peninsula. We were lucky to stay in a hotel room looking out onto Resurrection Bay with views of the Sargent Icefield and the Kenai Mountains. There are many boats that leave from Seward for fishing trips as well as wildlife and fjords cruises.
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| View from our hotel & our first glimpse of blue sky! |
There was a break in the weather so we decided to take a hike to Exit Glacier in Kenai Fjords National Park. It started to rain during the hike but the chance to get within feet of a glacier was worth the soggy pants!
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| Words to live by! |
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| Exit Glacier in Kenai Fjords National Park |
Gregg wanted to touch the glacier but the area around it was unstable. Ropes kept us a few feet away from the blue ice.
Back to Anchorage along the Seward Highway
The next morning we awoke to partly sunny skies - for the first time since arriving in Alaska! We were excited to make the drive along the Seward Highway to see what we missed in the rain. We were not disappointed! We stopped several times to take photos of the beautiful scenery.
Since it was such a nice day we drove to Portage Lake hoping to catch a Portage Glacier Cruise. Unfortunately, the road was blocked off with a sign announcing the cruises were closed until MAY! I guess in Alaska mid-September is closer to winter than summer. We were able to get some great photos of Portage Glacier.
We then took a walk along the Blue Ice Trail and saw birds, beautiful views, a glacier feed stream, spawning salmon, moose poop, and blue ice.
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| Gregg on the Blue Ice Trail |
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| Blue Ice Trail |
We saw this little bird dive into the stream and "swim" around looking for food among the spawning salmon.
Anchorage
The real reason we made the trip to Alaska was for Gregg to attend meetings for the SAE Lightning Strike committee. I spent time shopping and sight seeing while Gregg was in meetings for 3 days. The highlight for me was visiting the Anchorage Museum. They have wonderful native Alaskan displays as well as exhibits that focus on mountain climbing and the history of Alaska.
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| This coat was made from walrus intestine and was used as a raincoat |
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| This coat was made from bird skins |
After Gregg finished with his meetings we took a drive along the Glen Highway, northeast of Anchorage. This road took us close to Wasilla - we saw a moose but not Russia (wink, wink).
We had a fantastic time in Alaska!
Musk Oxen are survivors of the ice age and were almost wiped out by over hunting. The Center helps with a breeding program and some herds are kept on ranches. There is an Alaska Native co-op, Qiviut, that knits the under fur of the musk ox into very expensive hats and scarves.
The center separates the elk into groups that include females and young with only one male. This is done to keep the males from fighting during rut. We were lucky to see the male bugling and some of the young nursing.
There was a break in the weather so we decided to take a hike to Exit Glacier in Kenai Fjords National Park. It started to rain during the hike but the chance to get within feet of a glacier was worth the soggy pants!
Gregg wanted to touch the glacier but the area around it was unstable. Ropes kept us a few feet away from the blue ice.
After a yummy lunch of soup, bread, and a giant cinnamon roll we started toward the next destination - a glacier cruise. Along the way, we stopped at a lake to see to see our first glaciers in the distance. To our delight the glacier was blue! Our tour guide, Josh, explained that the glacier ice is so dense that it absorbs all light except that in the blue spectrum which is reflected back - thus blue ice. We also stopped at a stream where salmon were spawning. We didn't need the "Bear Alert" sign to know that bears had been in the area. The mostly eaten salmon on the banks of the stream made that perfectly clear.
When we arrived in Seward we went to the Alaska Sealife Center. I think one of the best exhibits at the Sealife Center was the sea bird room. 
