Mike and Sue...: North to Alaska

We have just returned from a couple of weeks in Alaska. Our fun started in Vancouver BC where we "bumped" into our shipmates, Steve and Marsha and Janet and Joel, from Cambria, aboard the Celebrity Millennium.

Nice views were to be had from our room window seat and from the upper decks.

And with our friends from the sky lounge looking for whales with Milos, the ship naturalist.

After a day cruising up the inland passage, we arrived at Ketchikan where we rented bikes and rode to the Saxman totem park

Mike played his flute and we took a lovely walk in the woods.

In town we walked to the fish ladder, admiring the beautiful flowers before heading back to the ship.

The next day we cruised passed the Tongass National Forrest to Hoonah, an island on the Icy Straight Peninsular. It is the newest stop for the cruise ships and the most unspoiled. Bald eagles watched us dock after Mike and I ate breakfast on our favorite back deck.

There were remnants of the old cannery. Mike played his flute for a native store owner and she gave him a gift of natural salves.

We took a van down a road surrounded by beautiful scenery, but no wildlife.

The beach was good to explore as a humpback whale breached in front of us.

Then back to the ship for a burger !!!This ship was the same set up as the one we went around the Caribbean on last year. Even the same deck side burgers.

After lunch we explored the other end of the island.

There were interesting plants.

Its fun to dress up for dinner after a day out in nature

The next stop was Juneau, the capital of Alaska. We rode the tramway to the top of Mount Roberts.

The hike up to the snow level through alpine meadows of flowers was exhilarating.

Then, in the afternoon, our first sight of the Mendenhal glacier.

We donned our "foul weather " gear and paddled out in a canoe.

We paddled hard to land on the beach by the waterfall.

Then off to Skagway.

Janet and I did try out the hot tubs, inside and outside. They were not on the back deck as the ones Mike and I enjoyed 10 years ago, but they were good enough.

In Skagway we met up with Matt who drove us into the Yukon Territory. The scenery was spectacular and within the first few miles we came across a grizzly bear eating dandy lions on the side of the road.

We had lunch in Carcross

Emerald Lake

Who would have thought a desert here, full of beautiful flowers

A spectacular day ending with a waterfall.

Our room was on the 2nd deck, just above water level and at Skagway we were actually looking under the dock.

Compare it to the view here from the 11th floor. Everything below looks small. I loved seeing the icebergs, porpoises and whales from sea level but there was nothing like the sound of the icy water and glaciers calving from outside as we headed towards the Hubbard Glacier

The icebergs looked small from the 11th deck but were actually quite large

We approached the glacier at 8 am so we bundled up and drank hot chocolate with Baileys.

The colors and sounds were amazing as we watched several calvings for over an hour.

We were waiting for that piece at the end to break off. It was very active.

The first time Mike and I came to Alaska and saw the Collegiate glaciers it was sunny but I think its even more dramatic in the clouds...felt more like Alaska

Remember, we are 11 stories up.

Then we had to leave the glacier and head to breakfast on our favorite back deck, watching the glacier recede into the distance.

Out into the open ocean heading towards Seward and further into the midnight sun. This was taken at midnight from our room as we watched the pilot board our ship to lead us into our final destination

And our last breakfast on board at Seward

After disembarking we headed for the airport at Anchorage to rent a van. We head inland towards Denali, the first night stopping at Grace and Bills bed and breakfast in Talkeetna. We arrived in the small town just as Friday night music in the park was happening, lots of young families, happy children playing and good music. Many of them seem to be part of the kayaking, river tours and support for the mountain climbers in the area. It was a great vibe.

The next day we headed off towards Denali. We hiked up to a beaver dam in Denali State Park.

The great mountain is somewhere out there.

I rode a bear at the visitors center.

Then we arrived at Earthsong lodge where we will spend the next 3 days.

That night on the way to dinner a porcupine crossed the road in front of us.

The next morning we hiked along the Stampede River, 15 miles into Denali, as far as you can go in your own car.

Bear prints and moose prints in the muddy river bed

In the afternoon we rode the bus for the 7 hour tour along the road into the heart of Denali.

Of course, the rain began and the long distant views were elusive, but we did spot moose, bear, Big Horn sheep and Caribou. I loved the weather and for me it became not so much about the mountain, but about the environment and magical feeling.

Mike said "We walked on the hand of the great creator"

Are we having fun yet ???

Only 30 % of the people who visit Denali get to see the mountain because of the weather and it was not to be for us that day. Our driver had a cute way of showing us what the sight might have looked like on a different day. We enjoyed his company , especially after finding out that his dog mushing operation is just down the road from where we were staying. We had heard the dogs"singing" to each other. They say goodbye and greet their owners. Most of these mushers live in "dry" cabins with no running water as they don't want to deal with freezing pipes in the winter. Many work for the park service in the summer. They are happy with their outdoor lives.

The same bear was rooting at the side of the road and then....it began to snow !!!

Further down the road our driver need to clear the road of a small avalanche.

A good example of a braided river

The snow began to settle.

Most of the moose we saw were without antlers.

Some had babies, most nibbling the aspens by the side of the road.

The next day Courtney invited us to go and meet the dogs

This was Steve's picture of the lightness at midnight from their cabin.

Another hike, this time to Horseshoe Lake and another beaver dam.

In Healy, the nearest town where we went for dinner, we discovered the bus they used to film "Into The Wild" This is the true story of a young man who got lost in the wild, couldn't cross the swollen river and lived in a bus he found until he ate the wrong plant and died. Stampede Road, where we stayed was the road he walked down and the actual bus is out there. When they take out people to go mushing in the winter people like to visit the bus.