2024 Alaska National Parks Trip
2024 Alaska National Parks
July 4-5
We take off from Cincinnati for the long flight to Seattle, then to Juneau, then to Gustavus. Gustavus is the gateway to Glacier Bay National Park. Because of the timing of flights, we arrive in Juneau around midnight and do not take off for Gustavus until 4 pm. So, after a very restful stay at Grandma’s Feather Bed, yep that is a hotel, we spend half a day exploring Juneau. Our first stop is Glacier Botanical Gardens. This lovely garden takes the natural beauty of a mountain forest and adds upside down trees filled with flowers and sprinkles flowers in other places. It was a great first stop and the view from the top of the hill was marvelous. Our guide was a student from the University of Cincinnati who is spending the summer in Alaska. Small world. Then we walked around Juneau downtown. Juneau is the capital of Alaska and has 30,000 permanent residents. So, the downtown wasn’t very big. It is clearly set up to cater to the cruise ships and 4 were in port while we visited. It has a lovely waterfront park and historic downtown.
July 5-6
Glacier Bay National Park
We arrived at the park early enough to walk around the lodge trails and get an idea of what the park has to offer. We are a 30-minute drive from the nearest town and have no transportation, so it is good to know what the park has to offer. The lodge sits right on the bay with an amazing view of the water and mountains. After a nice dinner and ranger talk on the wildlife, we called it a night as our next day starts very early.
We board the National Park boat for a full day tour of Glacier Bay National Park. There are no roads in the park, so all travel is on the water. The lodge is on the south end of the park, and we headed north to the most northern part of the park to see as much wildlife as we can and to see three glaciers up close. It was a remarkable day! We saw so many sea otters, stellar sea lions and humpback whales! The sea life was very active. The whales are all eating so we mostly saw spouts, tails, and an occasional breech. On land we saw a black bear, a coastal brown bear, and several mountain goats. We also saw many gulls, black legged kittiwakes, cormorants, pigeon guillemots, tufted puffins, and horned puffins. The puffins were what excited us as we haven’t ever seen one in all our travels. They are as cute as their pictures! As for the glaciers, they are as awesome as others that we have seen. The ice is so blue! The park has 1045 glaciers. Only 2 are still advancing and we saw both. They are in the most northern region. The largest is the Johns Hopkins. We got remarkably close to it and felt tiny next to the huge ice flow that was 250 feet high at the waters edge. As we sat nearby in a bay filled with small icebergs, we watched more calve off the ice sheet and hit the water with a thunderous boom. What an amazing start to our trip to 8 national parks in The Great Land, Alaska!
Afterward we hiked a couple of short trails near the lodge. We were told that they covered all the types of landscapes that occurs in the park. This is the second largest temperate rain forest in the world, and it does not disappoint! I’m not sure I’ve ever seen moss growing so profusely anywhere else. And, the plants, leaves and flowers were huge! It truly is beautiful!
July 7
Today we kayaked Bartlett Cove at Glacier. We were joined by seals, sea lions and numerous whales that spent the entire day filling up on fish. We watched cheeky se lions steal fish as people in a boat were trying to catch them. The folks in the boat got the message that this wasn’t a good place to fish right now and moved on. We saw blue herons, oyster catchers, gulls and eagles also catching the abundant fish in the bay. The sky was blue, which is rare up here, and the bay was full of fish, so it was an active place. I’m thankful that we were able to witness all the activity today. The whales were the only ones that our guides took special attention to keep us a distance from the diving giants. A number of the whales dove high out of the water but one totally jumped out and landed with a very loud crash. The bay was so quiet that we could hear not only the splash and crash of whales but could hear them breath! These giants come here each summer to feast and put on weight to carry them through the winter when they migrate south to give birth. What a special treat to be able to spend time in their home as they feasted and played in the bay. After a morning of kayaking, we ate with our new friends and got to know each other a bit better. Then we headed to the tiny airport in Gustavus to fly to Anchorage via Juno. This airport is so small that you wait outside once you have checked in for your departure, and you wait outside for your luggage when you arrive. In Juno we must have been tired. This is a very small airport with three gates. A flight boarded for Seattle, and we thought it was still boarding. Instead, we heard our names being called as last ones on the plane. Oh well. It was a long day by the time we arrived at Anchorage, but we arrived at the hotel safe and sound.
July 8
We are up very early to catch our Uber ride to a small airport where we boarded a Lake Charles Air flight. We were in a 6-seat prop plane captained by a very capable young woman. She flew us below the clouds between two glacier capped mountain ranges to Lake Charles. What a beautiful flight! Between the mountains ran a wide river that eventually became a huge lake which will be our home for the next few days. We flew into our first gravel runway which was no problem for our pilot. Once we arrived at the Farm Lodge, we were greeted by a young man who told us about our itinerary, our room, and when meals would be. He loaded us on a 4-seat float plane and told us we were going on the fire and ice tour all day. Our pilot was a friendly guy, and the only other passenger was a family friend of his who was visiting. We flew all over the park. The west side is tundra dotted by emerald-colored lakes. It was a beautiful morning, so he suggested we take advantage of the weather and fly around the glacier capped mountains (the ice part) and the two active volcanoes (the fire part). Readout volcano is about 10,000 feet high and is still sending up smoke. It last erupted in 2012. It has erupted about 5 times in recent history and has lost it’s top and has a huge bolder covering the hole. If that thing blows it will be frightening. Mt. Iliama is next to it and almost as high. It hasn’t blown for a long time, so it is covered with a beautiful glacier. We landed on Twin Lakes, which is a special treat and only happens in good weather. It is where Dick Proenneke built his famous cabin that he wrote about, and PBS made a documentary. Dick made trails up the mountain which we hiked after touring the cabin and enjoying lunch on his beach with one of the most beautiful views in the world. The view from the top of the hill was spectacular. We had so much fun talking with our guide and his young friend from Great Britain who has been all over the world.
After returning we walked over to the Lake Clark Rangers Station and learned about hikes and the area. We walked past greenhouses and a large vegetable garden, a family camp and a large church. We are staying in the very nice A frame cabins and there is also a bed and breakfast area and a more dorm type sleeping facility that was being used for the camp. This is a big place for being so remote. The Farm Lodge serves family style meals promptly at 6 pm. It is a religious based facility, so we start all meals with a prayer of thanks. We met some of our fellow travelers and had a very nice meal. Then we chose what we wanted for breakfast and lunch tomorrow. They are very accommodating.
July 9
Breakfast was ready for us when we arrived, which was good as we had 15 minutes to eat before our float plane took us to Katmai National Park for a day with the bears. This time our plane held 6 people. After about a 90-minute flight we landed at Katmai. We watched a mandatory film and talk on how to coexist with bears. This area has the largest concentration of brown bears anywhere and July-September is their major feeding time as their primary source of food is the salmon that are swimming upstream to spawn. We walked about a mile and a half to the secure walkway where you can watch the bears. No bears crossed our path during the walk, which was ok with us. We spent the next few hours absolutely mesmerized by the bears. One of our favorites was a mamma with her two newborn cubs. The ranger said this was the first time the cubs came along to the river with mom. They climbed up and down a tree, quarreled and one even pushed the other off a rock they were using as a platform into the river and then jumped in after him/her. They floated down the river a ways until they could get over to the bank. Mom, who is one of the champion fishers didn’t seem concerned and kept fishing. She would stop and come over to them if they cried out enough and if another bear started getting close to them. She made it clear that no one was permitted near the cubs. We saw three other momma and yearling cub pairs. The moms would catch a fish and bring it over to the cub. She would eat part and give the rest to the cub. Near the waterfalls were three alpha bears. No other bears dared get close to them as they expertly pulled the jumping fish out of the water. The oldest bear sat at the bottom of the falls in swirling water. He was dubbed the “jacuzzi bear” by our fellow travelers. He barely moved but each time he put his snout in the water he came up with a fish. He was rather remarkable. These three bears would only eat part of the fish that each caught. When they had taken the skin and fat part for themselves, they dropped the fish in the water and the young bears down stream would catch the fish as it floated and eat it. The young bears pounced, stood up and jumped. They expended a lot of energy with little reward while the older bears waited patiently for the right fish to come by and grab it.
While all of this was happening, there were people fishing in an area downstream. It was interesting to watch the fisher people disperse each time a bear would come into their area to fish. Rules are that you have to stay 50 yards away from the bears for safety. They did.
After a wonderful day we went to the floatplane parking lot, got in our plane and took off for a nearby lake where we landed at a rocky beach and got out and had a picnic. It was a picnic with an incredible view. Then we flew over more of the volcano section including the valley of 10,000 smokes which is a huge lava flow from the 1800’s that has hardened into a huge sheet between a group of mountains. This volcano is still spewing sulfur smoke that is hot. We could feel the heat when we flew over it. We then flew close to the mountains and found caribou. Even though big horn sheep are in these mountains, we never found them. We did find hundreds of humongous waterfalls. They were not very wide but the multiple drops that one stream takes as it goes down the mountain were very large, and the falls were impressive. We got back in time for another delicious meal followed by some well-deserved rest.
July 10
We were up early to have breakfast before our boat trip on Lake Clark. The food at the Farm Lodge is quite good. This morning, they served us apple pancakes which were delicious. We rode in a small metal boat that had a cabin big enough for the captain and a tiny table with two bench seats. Half of the boat was open and had two folding chairs for us. The waves on the 42-mile-long lake were at about 4 feet. It felt like we were bouncing across the lake like it felt last summer on Lake Ontario. It was beautiful to ride on the turquoise lake near the shore and around islands. This is a very different view than we have had in the air. Dean and I were the only passengers, so the captain took us wherever we wanted to go. We looked for animals along the shore for Dean to photograph but found few. The boat stopped on several shores for us to walk along. We found footprints and scat from bears large and small, moose, beaver and wolf. We enjoyed the small rivers that fed the lake, one of which had a large beavers lodge. The glaciers and waterfalls that were formed from melting snow were spectacular. After arriving back at camp, we took off for a hike to a local pond and waterfall. There are brown bears in this area, so the camp armed us with bear spray and told us to talk a lot. The hike through the woods and slowly climbing to the pond and then to the waterfall was very pleasant. The two introverts used up all we wanted to say and Dean found some music downloaded on his phone. During the 5-mile hike we never saw a bear although there were many clues that the bears were close by and that there was a mom with cubs. We decided the bears didn’t like Abbey Road, no accounting for taste. One thing I enjoy when walking through the woods and nature is quiet meditation and taking in the environment where we are visiting. This was not that kind of walk, although walking to a soundtrack was nice. The pond was beautiful and quiet. Not many birds in this lush, green area. But the spring wildflowers are blooming, and this adds a pop of color as we walk. The waterfall was absolutely gushing water. We have been told that the spring was cold and late so snow that is typically melted by July hasn’t totally melted. The unmelted snow in the mountains highlights the crags and crevices and makes the mountains more beautiful. At the end of the path, we met a park ranger who asked if we saw any bears or an injured person. We hadn’t but he was going to walk the trail to check as there was a report of someone being injured. Hopefully, that wasn’t the case. Dinner was with a couple who are in Alaska for 45 days seeing the National Parks and some other sites. It is fun to learn from others who have been to places we haven’t been yet and hear of their adventures.
July 11
Breakfast this morning had few people. Most left for Katmai National Park at 7 am to try and miss the crowds. We left at 8 am when we went to try and miss the crowds and still had an hour wait to get to the upper platform. Since there were so many bears at the lower platform it was fine with us. But as the salmon run thicker, the crowds grow. So, we had breakfast with two you women who are visiting some of the parks in Alaska and finding the least expensive way of doing it. It was fun to talk with them.
Today is a travel day. First, we fly back to Anchorage. The pilot took us on a beautiful path over a huge glacier. He flew low and felt like we could almost touch the huge blue ice chunks.
We took a van from the airport to Seward. The young driver and guide had us stop to try and find beluga whales, mountain goats and see the beautiful scenery in an old gold mining area. We saw 1 whale, no goats, and had a nice walk on a walkway high above a whitewater river. We had the rest of the afternoon to explore Seward and rest.
July 12
Glacier day! Today we hike up a very steep trail to get onto the Exit Glacier at Kenai Fjords National Park. The Exit Glacier is the way that folks successfully exited the Harding Icefield when a group decided to try and successfully crossed the Icefield in the 1800’s. This park exists to protect the Harding Icefield which is the largest glacier fully inside the USA at 700 square miles and over 1100 sq miles including all the glaciers that come from it.
Our two young female guides were small, but each hauled 40 lb packs up the steep climb, across the glacier and back down. They were both so cheerful and fun and were full of information. It was a challenging day and a very exciting day. The various shades of blue that the ice showed based on how dense it was were spectacular! After we hiked up the mountain our job was to take everything out of our pack and put it on our bodies. We wore helmets and a harness just in case we would slip and fall into a crevice or hole. The harness required one to find a good rock to sit on while fishing your legs and body through the harness. The most challenging equipment was the crampons. These metal contraptions stretch over your hiking boot and have spikes coming out the bottom in all directions to hold onto the ice and keep you from sliding down the glacier. Once these devices were tightened and tied on, we were ready to go. Our group consisted of 8 people and 2 guides. One person dropped a hiking pole in a rushing stream, but it was successfully saved. Another dropped a phone after taking a picture and one guide dove for it and caught it while still wearing that heavy backpack. We are sure she hurt some part of her body in the valiant save, but she was very gracious about it. We have been on glaciers that are referred to here as ice sheets. The ice is covered with snow, so they are smooth, but you also don’t know where small holes or crevices are. The end glaciers are crumbly ice that is all frozen together. Small hills and valleys exist all over the glacier. The holes and crevices are easy to see. The ice is flowing downhill, so you are always walking up hill or down hill or sideways. You lift your feet up, and almost march flat footed so that your whole foot goes down in one move to clamp onto the ice. Up hill is pretty easy to lift your foot, crunch it in the ice and walk. Sideways requires a move called the crab walk where you side step your way across the glacier. Down hill requires you to point your toes downhill, don’t lean forward or back too far and pretend you are walking on a flat service so that you don’t start sliding down the hill. This was the most challenging as you feel like you are going to slide down the hill. It rained off and, on all day, and the climb back down the path had rocks filled with glacier silt which were slippery. The hiking poles were very useful! It was a great adventure, and we were glad when we all made it safely to the bottom of the hill and climbed into the van.
After this we had reservations at a highly recommended restaurant, the Flamingo Lounge. Problem was that it was it was 1.5 miles away and it was pouring rain. There were no cabs to be found so we trudged to the restaurant. It was a great place with very good food. And the people in the table to the right of us started up a conversation that was very jovial. We told them about our stops so far. When they left the folks on the left admitted to overhearing and wanted to know about our adventures. Through conversation we found out that they both have had long careers at Disney. He is a song writer and admitted to being the voice of Teddy Rubskin when we mentioned it and how much Jessie loved it. He recorded a little thing for her which was cute. It was quite the day, long, exciting and fun.
July 13
Today our plan is to hike to Lost Lake. We were told it was a 5–10-mile hike. Turns out it is 14 miles! We woke up and saw that it was pouring rain. Not exactly great weather to spend the day outside. We were hoping that they would cancel. They didn’t and a half hour before our tour the rain became the normal light rain. So, we walked to the tour facility, met our young guide who was excited to take us on a private hike. So, off we went and started our walk in an old growth forest totally covered in green mosses and other plants. There is one plant called the devils club that has leaves that look like very large maple tree leaves. Trouble is it also has large irritating and noxious spines on the stem and all over the back of leaves. In this forest the plant is huge, and leaves reached out to the path at eye level down to the ground. As we tried to avoid mud and water puddles, we also payed close attention to the huge plant. No need to catch thorns in our skin that will make us itch! Other than this the forest and meadows that we walked through are quiet and beautiful. We see evidence that we are following a black bear up the path. Never caught up with it, thank goodness, but we knew it was up there as it kept leaving its calling cards. The mountains were covered in snow that melted into streams and large, energetic waterfalls. They were beautiful. All over Alaska we have been reminded that the spring/summer wildflowers are in bloom. They are spectacular! It has been fun learning each plant’s name and learning about its use and dangers. Most are not dangerous but there is one common and beautiful plant called false hellebore that is very poisonous. We know it has to be eaten to be poisonous, but still don’t want to touch it. After 4.5 miles we stop for lunch in a forest as it is dryer under the trees than in the meadows. When lunch was finished, we decided to walk home as the rain was getting stronger and seemed to want to stay that way. We had a nice 9 mile walk, didn’t make it to the lake but the clouds were sinking over the mountains and into the valleys, so with the rain, it didn’t sound like something we wanted to do. We made it back to the hotel, had a rest, did some laundry and then had a lovely dinner. We met a young couple at the restaurant from Cincinnati and had a nice chat. Small world.
July 14
This morning, we woke up very early for a kayaking trip, both hoping it had been cancelled. Yesterday the seas were high and everything on the water was cancelled, so maybe it extended another day. Nope. When we arrived, we were told the trip was a go. It is a very foggy morning with light rain. We get on the boat, a total of 6 guests. There is our kayak guide, the boat captain and another man who gives us details on animals, plants and history. As we head out in the fog it is rather eerie, and we are told it is a two-hour drive to the fjord. The fog starts to lift as we leave the bay, about 30 minutes into the ride and the sea begins to have large swells. It reminds us of boating on the Great Lakes which is something we are used to. It is still rainy and very low cloud cover, but we see sea otters, horned and rhinoceros puffins, gulls, sea lions and multiple other birds. Then as we enter the bay where the fjord will come from, we see a couple of humpback whales feasting on the small fish, then we see orcas and dalls porpoises jumping all around our boat. The porpoises are so playful and make you laugh to watch them. The orcas, like the humpbacks are feasting. We see lots of fins and tails. We are thinking that a long boat ride would be great. After a little further ride we come to a beach in the fjord. Time to get off the boat. Our 4 hours of paddling is about to begin. We are left off on the beach, learn about our kayaks, safety and equipment and we take off. Also, there are now small patches of blue sky even though it is still raining lightly. We start paddling and, of course, are enjoying ourselves. Jen, our guide, is full of information and knows exactly where to take us to see wildlife, many waterfalls, and the Harding, small Harding and Surprise glaciers. The four hours went very fast and was very enjoyable. We paddled within ¼ mile of the Harding Glacier which felt like we were right under it. Finally, we paddled to a nearby beach and enjoyed lunch viewing the glaciers. The boat picked us up, loaded all the paddling equipment in less than 10 minutes and took off for town. One the way home we stopped to see seals, sea lions, mountain goats and more birds.
We made it back to Seward with about 15 minutes to pick up our luggage, change and head to the train. Turns out we have gold star service which means we sit in the front car, have upper totally glass car seats and have a sit-down dinner in the lower car. The trip from Seward to Anchorage is beautiful, running past mountains, lakes, waterfalls and the ocean. We even finally saw a moose swimming in a river.
July 15
Today we had an early flight on an 8-seat plane to Glenellen and then a 6-seat plane to McArthur Alaska. As we fly over the Kennicott area, we notice several large glaciers that end at what looks like thousands of dirt piles. Also, the rivers here are brown, no longer turquoise like other areas we have visited. Actually, the rivers have been brown since leaving Glenellen. A van was waiting for us, but half the town was at the airport waiting on the mail which had a lot of Amazon boxes. Our second plane was the ‘mail plane’ as it flies mail in twice a week. The second plane was really 3 planes, two had people for the lodge and one was filled with boxes and letters. We are staying at Kennicott Glacier Lodge in Wrangle-St. Elias National Park. This is the largest park at 13.2 million acres and is connected to Glacier Bay Park on the south and two Canadian national parks on the east which makes it the largest protected land mass in the world! Pretty awesome!
After we got situated in our room which is in a building that is surrounded by porch. We have a walking porch on one side and a porch with rocking chairs overlooking the glacier on the other side. The only place to eat is the lodge and the great thing is that it has very good food. After a very hearty lunch we walked around the old town a bit and discovered the mosquitoes here are voracious. Thank heavens for bug repellent. They were a bit annoying at the other parks, but this is the first one where they seem to be everywhere. The park offers a very interesting 2-hour tour into the old Kennecott copper mining town buildings where we learned about copper mining and the lives of the men who worked here. The main building is a 14-story post and beam constructed building where large copper ore rocks were systematically ground up and separated from limestone. We toured this building and climbed down all 14 flights of ladders and stairs. Red hard hats were required as there were many places to bump your head. After about 3 grinding processes the large pieces were now tiny pieces which were bagged in 70 lb size bags and shipped by train to the coast to be sent to Tacoma for smelting. It was very profitable for about 30 years and then closed in 1938 because there was no more ore. Now there is a Superfund Cleanup site in Oregon where the ore was shipped and smelted to clean up the mess from the smelting process.
July 16
The Kennicott Glacier flows down from Mt. Blackburn. It is unusual in a that most of what we can see from town is covered in rocks and silt. It is about 5 miles wide in front of town and looks like a wide expanse of dirt piles. In the late afternoon, when the sun shines at an angle ice glistens under the silt. We are told there is about 1500 feet of ice under the 1-4 feet of silt and the silt acts as a protection from the sun and warm weather to keep the ice frozen. Even with this help the glacier is receding. Today we hiked 2 miles to where the silt ended, and the Root Glacier ran into the Kennicott Glacier. We spent several hours walking on the Root acier. I’m glad we got to walk on a second glacier as this one was much different from the Glacier. This glacier is wedged between hills and has no crevices in the section we walked on. It is much flatter than the Root glacier and the surface has many divots and small hills. The surface looks like the top of focaccia bread, lumpy. It has more silt than the RootGlacier, and since it is black it warms up faster and makes little areas the size of a glass or bowl about 4-6 inches deep with black silt on the bottom and filled with blue water. There were large holes that looked like big bowls that had stripes which are healed crevices and often had pools of blue water called moulins. The blue pools of water were beautiful. We were told that sometime during the summer the pool will spring a leak and loose all its water in about 24 hours. Over the winter it will refreeze and seal with fresh snow and start again. We had lunch on the glacier again. This time the guide brought sleeping mats for us to sit on. No wet seat this time. When we were done it was a climb on rocky moraine to get up to the path, and then we had a nice walk back to town. The white glacier disappeared under silt and we were back to our typical view of this glacier, dirt hills. After a nice rest we once again had a large, delicious dinner on the porch featuring salmon. I think this is the only hiking vacation in recent memory where I gained weight even with the daily workouts!
July 17
Today is a day on the water. We have a ride on a very bumpy road to a river outfitter’s place on the river. After getting fitted for boots and neoprene jackets and getting our safety talk we and 10 other folks board two rafts and head down a very fast-moving river. Our guide sits in the center of the boat and rows to lead us to the best area of the river to ride. There are two rubber rafts, and each guide is a small, thin man. They gave passangers the chance to row. What we found out is it is strenuous and hard! There is a reason these guys are so thin. Mid morning we pull up to a shore and hike around a bit before continuing on. Our guide has a degree in geology and vulcanology. He is fountain of information. As with most guides, he is also a good storyteller. This river is relatively calm compared to the Colorado we floated in the Grand Canyon. It has a few class 3 rapids and a number of places where we get splashed. But it is a beautiful, sunny day so we dry quickly. Mid day the guides set out a nice lunch of make your own sandwiches, fruit and chips. We sat on camp stools by the river and enjoyed lunch with a beautiful view. We also had time to explore around the river. After more rafting through beautiful canyons, we made it to an area that had lots of rapids, but also a flat space near the river. That space is where the planes land and take off. Rocky and with small plants but a useable runway. We pealed off the river clothes and bagged them, then explored while the guides deflated the rafts. By the time that the first plane landed, we were ready to load all the equipment on it. There was room for 1 extra person. A second plane took 4 people. I was told that because I was the fittest that I got to crawl into the tiny seat in the back. Picture a full-grown person climbing over a seat into a tiny space in back. The seat was plenty wide but there was little leg room. Since I was the only one back there, I was able to sit sideways. The other three climbed in and buckled up, and the pilot took off. We had a beautiful view of the glaciers, the river and canyons that we had rafted, and Kennicott on our way back. After landing at the tiny McArthur Airport, a young woman loaded us into a van with a hole through the floor and drove us up the bumpy road to the lodge. On the way we stopped to let a young black bear finish off some berries before disappearing into the woods. There are may black bear around here. There are also some grizzlies who hunt young black bears and moose calves to eat. We are hoping this young bear makes it to adulthood. After cleaning up it was time to eat once again. Tonight, it was filet mignon!
July 18
This is our last day a Wrangles St. Elias NP. After a typical large and yummy breakfast, we headed up the Jumbo mine trail which is very steep for the first two miles and then a more moderate climb after that. Along the way we met up with about 10 young people. They are part of the Youth Conservation Core, and they were headed up to Jumbo mine to work on it. That is a tough walk to work! Also, along the trail we saw very nice cabins. Not sure how they managed to get the materials up to build the cabins, but they look nice and had a spectacular view. The flowers on the trail were in full bloom and pretty. There were even some butterflies enjoying the flowers. But there are so many flies and mosquitoes here and this trail had an abundance of them! Thank heavens for DEET. It smells but it keeps them at bay.
We enjoyed a nice lunch, our last meal here, and then road the bumpy road down to the airport for our flight to Denali National Park. A 6-seat propeller plane takes us to Glenellen and after refueling we take off again for Denali. As we fly the land starts getting very flat and thousands of lakes tiny to large appear. We have been told that Alaska has more lakes than Minnesota and it is easy to believe as one watches below. Dean and I are joined on the plane by a man and his 10-year-old grandson who are going to all the national parks. They only seem to spend 1-2 days at each park. They are visiting all 8 parks in 14 days, and this includes travel. The boy told us they had visited 60 parks already. I wonder how they will do America Samoa when there are only 2 flights a week to get to it. They might have to stay for several days. We arrive in Denali late afternoon and a driver takes us to the lodge. The driver turned off the main road and drove around many turns while climbing and climbing. Finally, we make it to the top of the hill and our lodge. The view is spectacular even though we can’t see Mount Denali. You have to be in the park a ways to be on the other side of hills that are obstructing the view. After settling in we have dinner in the main dining room that has huge round pillars and supports and is surrounded on 3 sides by windows to take in the view.
July 19
Our first day in Denali. After a relaxing morning with a long breakfast, we are picked up by our guide for a hike to Triple Lakes in Denali. We hike about 7 miles through forest, up and down hills and to each of the three lakes and return to our van. Denali gets about 16 inches of rain a year which is about ¼ of what the southern parks get. It is referred to as arid by our guide. The trails are very dry, fine dirt with some rocks and roots. This is much different from the wet and rocky trails we are used to. Many of the same wildflowers and berry bushes are here but they are smaller and have already peaked. This is due to the much warmer and dryer climate here. So, we only see a fraction of the flowers still blooming, but the berries are all ripening and looking very juicy. The bears will be happy. We saw a muskrat, small brown ground squirrels and evidence that beavers and moose had been by. On our way back to the van we found an area where the small willow trees had been pulled over the trail and pulled down in a path and eaten by the moose. It was very fresh so we knew the moose was close by, so we didn’t stick around so it could get back to dinner.
After our hike we were dropped off in the small business area in Denali and enjoyed a lovely dinner at a Serbian restaurant recommended by several people.
July 20
Today we are on a 6 hour nature drive through Denali NP. It is sunny and clear, and we keep seeing the great Mount Denali peaking through behind mountains. Finally, we get to a place where we see a lot of the mountain. It is beautiful! This is our third time in Alaska and the first time that the top of the mountain is not shrouded by clouds. They say we are part of the 30% club that actually gets to see the whole mountain. Our guide says it is more like 25% in the 19 years that he has been here. Percentage doesn’t matter, but the beauty of this highest mountain in North America is what we are enjoying. Denali is an arid inhospitable place to live. There aren’t many animals, and the park was made to protect the Dall Sheep. We saw many of those tenacious critters high on peaks enjoying whatever the green plants were that they were munching on. We also saw several grizzled bears, arctic ground squirrels, caribou and Willow Ptarmigan. And we surprised an eagle with a young ptarmigan in its mouth and it dropped it. The little bird went scurrying down the path, at least for now. The one animal we expected to see today was the moose and it once again eluded us. Our guide was funny and a good storyteller. He talked for hours as we rode down the 40 + miles of the road to the place where the road has washed away. Then, we turned around and started the drive back to the beginning of the park. Before we arrived, Denali had been closed for several days due to a wildfire that burned over 400 acres of hillside above town. Everyone lost electricity and much business was lost. The restaurant personnel tell us that business is still down. Hopefully, people are returning to this beautiful place with a short tourism window.
After the tour we were dropped off in town and enjoyed a good pizza. There was enough left over for breakfast. Can’t wait to smell the garlic in our small frig when we open it in the morning! We decided not to take the shuttle but walk up the high hill to our hotel since we spent most of the day sitting. It was a challenging climb but was the quickest way home. The hotel provides a shuttle service that travels a route hourly. As Dean says, it is useful but seldom on the same schedule as us. If we had wanted it tonight, we would have had to wait almost an hour for it to pick us up. So, walking got our heart rate up and got us home much sooner than the shuttle. I am grateful that we can climb a big hill when needed.
July 21
Another clear blue sky as we wake up, but the toilet won’t flush and there is no water in the spigot. We soon learn that the water drained from the water tank, and they are trying to fix it. Last night when we walked up the hill, we were surprised at the amount of water flowing down by our building. It was all our fresh water! We had left over pizza in the frig and a water bottle full of water so we each made a cup of coffee/tea. Slap on some extra deodorant and we headed out to do some hiking. Lots of folks were unhappy about the lack of water and we all decided not getting a shower for one day is truly a first world problem. Our shuttle dropped us off at Denali visitor center and after a quick discussion with a ranger we were off for a nice hike. It was a beautiful day to explore Horseshoe Lake and Overlook Trails. The mountains and trees reflected in the clear pools of water and the view from the overlook was spectacular. Since we had time, we thoroughly explored the visitor center and enjoyed the films that the park provides. The films are always well done and these two did not disappoint. Then, it was time to have lunch, enjoy the running water in the park and relax in this beautiful setting. The train station is very close to the visitor center so we relaxed as long as we could and then headed over to get on the train to Fairbanks. It is a gold star service again which means great views at the front of the train and dinner along the way. It was a three-hour trip to Fairbanks. The views were great, and we met a couple from California who gave us many ideas of places to visit and not visit.
July 22
We were at Wright Air bright and early to fly to Bettles, Alaska. The plane was a Cessna 208 which is the biggest propeller plane that we have flown in, 10 seats! The ground below us as we flew north looked a lot like the Midwest, rolling, green hills with rivers and lakes. There was only one road, and it ended at the Yukon River. As we got closer to the ground to land, we saw very similar vegetation as we saw in Denali, but everything is smaller. In particular, the trees are much smaller due to the short season. After landing one yet another gravel runway, but this one was long since the government built it for WW2 plane, we checked in to our comfortable rooms. We are 35 miles north of the Arctic Circle. Since we have been in the arctic numerous times, this isn’t unique, but it is the first time we have been in a national park north of the arctic circle. Our guide drove us around the small town and area. She also told us about the importance of grabbing one of the bear sprays just in case and putting on bug repellent and sunscreen. There are only 14 full time residents living here with more living here in the summer and again in the winter as guides. This tiny lodge operates mostly full all year round due to the summer and winter sport enthusiasts. After a nice lunch in the lodge, we rafted down the Koyukuk River to the historic town of old Bettles. We are in Gates of the Arctic National Park. It is a beautiful river with some canyons, lots of shoreline that the raging river has ravaged and some beach areas. It was quiet and serene. A wonderful afternoon even if it was 81 degrees in the arctic. After putting on a mosquito protection suit, we explored the old village with our guide, the gentleman who owns most of Bettles. Then, our rafts were folded up and we all loaded a small boat to ride back upstream to where we started. After a nice nap we had dinner with all the other travelers. We met folks who have done the trip that we are doing tomorrow and had fun getting to know each other. Tomorrow we will fly and hike areas of Gates of the Arctic and Kobuk Valley National Parks.
July 23
Kobuk Valley NP is 1.75 million acres known for sand dunes, herds of caribou that migrate through the park and the Kobuk River. Gates of the Arctic is the northern most national park and one of the last truly wild places left on earth. At 8.4 million acres it is the second largest national park and has no roads or trails. After a hearty breakfast, the only kind they know in Alaska, reindeer sausage anyone?, we walk out of the lodge to walk to our meeting place. One problem, there is a young, very skinny bear coming toward us. After it sees us, it comes toward the porch, so we all go inside, then it walks to the garbage cans which are totally enclosed and stands there a while. We walk outside and it comes toward us. Locals tell us to get inside. So, we wait and watch the bear walk down the road. The locals come and tell us it is ok to go to the main lodge. Seems that communications are good between the locals because when we arrive late, we are drilled about the bear. Once everything has calmed down, we head to the lake to board our float plane. Our pilot, Johanns, has been a pilot a long time and has flown in places all over the world. He takes us on a 8-hour flight over Gates of the Artic and Kobuk and we land in the Kobuk River. It is a gorgeous day with lots of sun and an afternoon high of 81. This is very warm for here, but not a record. Kobuk has lots of sand dunes, but we don’t get to climb on the sand dunes because the river has risen in this area. So, we hop out on the shore opposite the dunes, enjoy a little walking time and lunch. Then, we climb back in the plane and head to Walker Lake in Gates of the Arctic Park. After an hour flight seeing, we arrive at the lake. We walk, swim, fish and enjoy the lake. Then. We fly another hour through Gates of the Arctic Park to Bettles. When we arrive, it is time to go to the National Park ranger station. I find my two patches, but she won’t let me buy them until after the hour-long lecture about plant history and how soil samples tell us about the change in conditions and plants over 1000’s of years. It was interesting, and we were glad when we could get our patches and head for dinner. We had a nice time talking to a young couple who were starting their parks tours and decided to start with the hardest ones. Their thoughts were that if these were completed then they would continue over the years with the easy ones.
July 24
Our last day above the Arctic circle. After a good breakfast we visit the sled dogs. There are 20 dogs that make up the team. Two are old and they are trying to find them a good forever home. If not, they live out their retirement here. One gave birth to 7 pups several years ago who are now the next generation to pull the sleds in the winter. It is another warm day in the arctic, so we are enjoying a relaxing morning on the screened in porch (to keep the mosquitoes at bay) until our plane arrives to take us to Fairbanks. This little airstrip is pretty busy with three helicopters coming and going to conduct surveys and planes taking folks to other places and bringing new ones here.
The 10 seat Cesna that brought us up took us back to Fairbanks. Once we arrived at our hotel it was time to rest and do laundry before dinner. It is hot here, 83 and these places are not used to this heat. We have a little window unit that is working to try and cool the room. The challenge is that since the sun doesn’t go down until well after midnight, the evening cooling starts extremely late.
