Fairbanks - Kenai - Denali - Haines
Trip Start
Jan 10, 2008
1
21
22
Trip End
Jul 30, 2008
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Haines,
Alaska,
United States
Friday, July 31, 2009
We left Fairbanks and headed south towards Anchorage and the Kenai Peninsula, passing by Mount McKinley on the way, as we knew we had reservations to return. Smoke from forest fires hung around us and shrouded the scenery as we passed through smaller mountain ranges. Much of the fire is started by lightening; it seemed to us that acres were burning. On the Kenai, we traveled with scores of campers and mobile homes and made our way to Soldotna, where we found a wonderful cabin outside of town, complete with its own BBQ. The salmon were running, and all the rivers and streams were full of fishermen in waders, many of whom were taking home 2-3 foot fish. The son of the owner of our dinner restaurant - the Bearclaw - caught 20 salmon that afternoon in the 2 ½ -3 foot range. A beautiful, lush fog shrouded the scenery, and Cook Inlet was wreathed in clouds and mist as we made our way back to our cabin.
On Tuesday, we reserved a room at Hooligan's in Soldatna and then headed down the peninsula to Homer, at the very tip. The coast road was cloudy and foggy again. We drove out onto a spit of land at the very end, where we had lunch at the Little Mermaid, a combination restaurant, B&B an bookstore. Wandering the aisles stacked with books, I came across a multi-volume translation of Plato's works by Benjamin Jowett, a famous scholar at Oxford. What scholar or dreamer brought all those volumes to the tip of an Alaskan peninsula? (He was satirized by his students: "My name is Benjamin Jowett. I'm the master of Baliol College. If it's knowledge, then I know it. If I don't, it isn't knowledge.")
In Kenai, we visited a Russian Orthodox Church, dating from the 1890's, complete with retired Orthodox priest in full regalia as keeper. He was charming and earnest, and the little church with the onion dome seemed quaint and fragile in its seaside setting, making us wonder about the future. Kenai also provided us with a solution to our automotive problems. The right rear taillight went out, and the excellent manager at Carquest found a replacement unit, which we had thought quite difficult, and helped John install it. With new wiper blades as well, we went our way feeling much safer and grateful to an excellent salesman. We had dinner at the local Italian/Mexican restaurant, recommended to us by our Carquest friend. This family restaurant is strongly supported by the local community because of its history. The mother had kidney failure and was on dialysis. Her young daughter gave one of her kidneys to her mother as soon as she reached the age of consent.
Wednesday, we drove to Seward - at the tip of the Kenai Peninsula - to see this major freight port. A certain amount of time was spent poking around the wharves and looking at boats, and John got a great picture of a sea-going trawler. We were surprised, however, to see a Holland-American cruise liner in this little port, especially knowing that the passengers were probably locked out of the ship and wandering around in the rain and mist. We headed north, stopping on the way to provision for Mount McKinley. We found our log cabin hide-away sitting beside a sparkling stream just south of McKinely Park and on Thursday took a 3-hour hike on the Three Lake Trail. Climbing up above the lakes and trekking along paths that crossed the ridges, we could see mountains all around us. We scrambled down to the first lake and found a beaver lodge on the edge that measured 15 feet across. No beaver in sight, but pristine mountain air and water and unspoiled beauty - and a chance to stretch and use some muscles, after sitting in the Jeep. On the way back to our log cabin, we checked out the Visitor Center in Mount McKinley/Denali to see where we go tomorrow to get our bus. Private vehicles are not allowed in the Park beyond a few miles, and all visitors have to take organized tours. We're spending 13 hours on a bus to see Denali Park and the mountain itself. We also saw a film from the 1920's of the early opening of the park before it was declared a "national monument" and the work of the people who made it possible. The building of the road was its own story, and the old-fashioned equipment and outfits of the early workers a trip back in time.
July 24 - 30
Standing in line at 7:30am at the McKinley Visitors Center to board our bus, we represented several foreign countries - even Uruguay - and every region, shade and hue of the US. The bus itself was a classic school bus - somehow recycled - with a woman driver who would also be our guide. We came to appreciate her more and more as the hours rolled by. She was extremely knowledgeable and enthusiastic about every animal and rock formation we saw. And she had one of her best days ever - we saw more animals than we could have hoped for. It started with a lynx, not 10 miles from the visitor center. Then we saw our first grizzly high on a mountain ridge; he turned the corner and was gone. Next a mother grizzly with a sleeping cub, tenderly protective, on a hillside. We learned the drill to shout "STOP" whenever we saw anything that might be an animal. A lone caribou with a heavy rack of velvet antlers was standing stock-still in an upland meadow, trying to avoid the botflies that get into their noses and lay eggs there. Two female moose cows grazed contentedly on the shoulder of a hill. One mother grizzly with two cubs - one honey-colored and the other darker brown - munched berries by the side of the road, with our bus stopped not five feet from her. The cubs were swatting and tumbling over and under each other, playing like any young creatures and having a grand time, while Mom kept a watchful, if somewhat berry-stained eye on them. We saw male and female caribou, both sexes carrying large, heavy racks of antlers that seemed impossble to hold up. Other caribou were wandering on the road as we made our way towards the turn-around point at Kantishna, 85 miles inside the park. There were beaver lodges on our way, and trumpeter swans and snowshoe rabbits. We finally approached Denali (Mt. McKinley) itself; it was, unfortunately clouded over, so we couldn't see the summit. But looking across Wonder Lake to the foot of the McKinley Range gave us some sense of the awe and majesty of these mountains. It also made us grateful to the far-seeing park pioneers who recognized the worth of this mountain range to the country and made sure it remained in the public sphere and open to visitors from any corner of the earth.
On Saturday the 25th, we left our Denali hotel and took the road not-traveled: 13 miles straight across mountain ranges on a gravel road to rejoin the road to Haines Junction. We drove 135 miles through uplands plains surrounded by mountains, glaciers and kettles (the ponds formed in the permafrost as the glaciers recede). We met very few cars and a few campers or trailers parked in the pristine landscape and came out the other side on the road to Haines Junction, where we had reservations at the gourmet Raven Restaurant. On the way, we came upon a biker in the road standing stock-still and couldn't figure it out until we the bear he was waiting for to cross. In Alaska, we learned, bikers are sometimes called "mobile snacks." The Raven was even better than advertised. It's still a puzzle why it's in an out-of-the-way small town, but its reputation is well-deserved. We ate duck breast on hand-made pasta with fresh herbs and rare lamb shishkabab and understood why diners come from miles and reserve well in advance.
From Haines Junction on the 26th, we drove to Haines itself - the top of the Inside Passage. On the west coast of Canada, the Inside Passage is part of Alaska that extends southwards and was part of the original purchase of Alaska from Russia in the middle of the 19th century. We had our first views of the ocean waterways from the top of the hill where our motel lay and walked down to the large freight harbor to get the lay of the land and find the one restaurant in town where we would have all our meals while there. Then we drove out to the Lake Chikut (?) forest preserve to see the local natural sights and on our way found a small crowd standing on rocks next to a tumbling mountain stream. Curious, we climbed the rocks, too, and saw a medium-sized grizzly in the water, swatting salmon out of the stream with his (her?) paws and tearing them into bite-sized strips. The lake is the spawning ground for salmon returning upstream and a virtual buffet for a bear with agile paws. We stayed in Haines on the 27th as well, so John could do some work (someone has to) and Carol could see the local museums. The AAA-rated motel was a small haven for motorcyclists, so we met several of them, one couple having traveled on one bike from Tampa FL - and you think we're crazy? We stayed in Haines on the 27th, so John could get some work done and we could repack and organize for the Inside Passage.
Comments
yowza!!
C and J,
Are you getting tired yet??? Any good wine in Alaska?? The adventure continues and continued good luck and safe travels to you both!
The blog is wonderful!
XRandi