Alaska - Land and Cruise June 25th to July 8th 2015
Thursday 06/25/15 travel to Fairbanks
The first fight was on time and I made it to the gate in O’Hare before my parents and uncle. Our flight to Fairbanks left about an hour late. We arrived at 8pm which felt like midnight. We were picked up at the Airport and transferred to the hotel - Fairbanks Princess Riverside Lodge which was only about an eight minute ride. Fairbanks smelled like campfire because there were wildfires and it was also cloudy because of the smoke.
Friday, 06/26/15 Fairbanks
We started with a welcome banquet breakfast and met the 27 people we will traveling with. Stephanie is our tour guide for the land portion of the trip. After breakfast we set out for our first excursion with the group. Stephanie said that the sternwheeler riverboat ride we were going on is the best in North America. It was a quick bus ride to the Chena River where we boarded the boat. It was overcast and smokey because of the forest fires. As we went down the river we passed all kinds of houses and then the rain started. We spent most of the ride on the top deck even though we were getting a little wet. On the way down the river we stopped and saw dogs pull a man on a four wheeler with no engine. We traveled down to the Tanana River and turned around. We were let off at the village to experience how the native Alaskans lived. There were houses and layouts mimicking how things used to be. The salmon smokehouses were really stinky. I got two mosquito bites, they were everywhere. On the way back up the river we stayed on the second floor of the boat. We were given salmon and cream cheese on crackers. Mom didn’t try it. Uncle D and I were not fans, but dad liked it. The last thing we saw on the boat was a sea plane take off and land on the river right next to the boat.
When we got off the boat we went to a stew lunch. We had an amazing walnut salad, veggies, bread, stew and ice tea. Then we ran to the 40 below room to experience how it feel up here in the winter. It wasn’t as bad as I thought however we were only in there for less than a minute.
Then we were off to the gold dredge by bus and took a train past Gold Dredge 8. They made the ride informative. We had a few stops to learn about how they used to mine by hand and underground. That was followed by more modern corporation mining practices and we made it to the dredge. We only saw it from the train and then exited the train to do some gold mining of our own. Mom was the first one to finish, but then she spilled her bottle. Uncle D and Dad both mined $18 worth of gold and I found $19. All three of us had a piece of jewelry made. Then we hopped back on the train to learn about the pipeline. I was able to touch it and we saw how they keep it clean with “dumb pigs”. After the long day we headed back to the hotel and then headed to our wine pairing dinner with the group. The only thing I didn't like was the wasabi halibut. The dessert was an amazing banana foster.
Saturday, 06/27/15 Fairbanks
We were up too early again and had to have our bags outside the room at 6:30. We had a breakfast buffet at the hotel and wasted some time till we boarded the bus to Denali. It was raining again as we set out on our 3 hour ride on the George Parks highway. We could not see much with the fog and rain. In total we covered (121 miles). About an hour in we stopped at Nenana. There was not much to do or see for 20 minutes. As we traveled closer to the hotel the fog lifted a little and we could see more of the mountains. When we arrived we took a group photo overlooking the beautiful mountains. We then ran across the street to do some shopping and had lunch at Subway.
Next it was time for our McKinley Glacier Landing by Airplane tour. The shuttle was late due to construction. Upon arriving we were given glaciers boots to put over our shoes. They didn't have spikes, but were wide and had deep tread. Sharon and Mike were also doing the flight, but they were in the second plane. The name of our plane was Jaws. We took off an Soared over mountains, glaciers and rivers. We saw Mt. McKinley and took lots of pictures. We landed on Ruth’s glacier. We got out and were surprised at the consistency of the snow/ice. It was just like a snow cone. Mom built a small snowman and then we had a mini snowball fight. The temperature was not bad, but a little cool cause we were in the shade. After 25 minutes on the glacier we took off down hill. On the way back we saw one waterfall and at least three rainbows. It was a great experience. We were able to see so much from the flight.
After arriving back at the hotel we headed to the Music of Denali Dinner Theater. We ate family style then watched their play about the legend of the first expedition to the summit of Mt. McKinley in a musical comedy. They wanted us to clapping and singing along, which wasn't happening. During one act they need a volunteer and three women refused, so I did it. I was Fany and had to run away from a bear only to have my husband slam the door in my face and say “No woman can come in here with a bear behind.” We headed right to bed after. The Denali Princess Wilderness Lodge was really nice with beautiful scenery. They had shopping on site and across the street, but no real hiking paths. Falling asleep and staying asleep when it's so light out has been weird. I woke up once at 2am and it still looked like dusk.
Sunday, 06/28/15 Denali Nat'l Park We woke up and headed to a buffet breakfast. Then we set out on the Tundra Wilderness Tour with our group. Denali
National Park is a United States National Park that is home to Mt.
McKinley, North America's highest mountain, known to the native Athabascan Indians as Denali. The park protects the wilderness that contains grizzly bears, caribou, moose, wolves, and many other animals. The tour left from the hotel and we traveled deep into the park. Along the way we learned about the history, culture and wildlife of Denali National Park. It was neat how they are preserving this untouched wilderness and wildlife. Not to long into the ride we saw a moose then we saw carabao. We were extremely lucky and were able to see My. McKinley for a while. On a long stretch of road we saw a bus stopped and they pointed out a grizzly bear. We had to use binoculars to see him and zoom in with the camera. As we were all taking pictures of the bear, a carabao came strolling up the road towards us. We then saw more carabao and a falcon. At the furthest stop I took a panoramic photo of the beautiful mountains, however the clouds had dropped and we could no longer see Mt. McKinley. We then stopped at the Toklat River (mile 53) another braided river. At this stop we had the chance to lift antlers and see just how heavy they were. I also walked down to the river and felt the glacier water. On the way back we saw a golden eagle flying, ground squirrels and ptarmigan birds. The tour was about 8 hours. It rained a little only at the end, then cleared up before dinner. Mom was excited for crab legs! We each ordered the crab legs. They were delicious. As we ate it started pouring which was cool to see the rain falling on only parts of the mountains. It kinda looked like shadows dance across them. We all left dinner stuffed and headed to our Husky Homestead Tour. We took a bus to the Iditarod Champion, Jeff King’s ranch. When we left the bus we were given a cuddly puppy and took pictures. Then we learned what goes into creating a winning team, how he trains and breeds his dogs. It was funny how they name the litters of puppies as themes like types of cheese, currency, Friends characters, whinny the pooh characters and so on. Jeff was really funny during his presentation and clearly explained everything we needed to know about the Iditarod. Mom loved his jokes.
Monday, 06/29/15 Denali to McKinley
We had the buffet breakfast again then tried to shop before we got on the bus to our next hotel. The travel time from Denali to McKinley was about 2 1/2 hours (112 miles) with construction. We saw a moose and two calves cross the road. A moose having twins is rare so it was a privilege to see. The weather was really good so we took the hour shuttle to Talkeetna. It's a small little hippy town. Mom was able to purchase a northern lights DVD so she was happy. We had missed lunch so Uncle D and I went and checked out the West Rib, it was on Diners Drive Ins and Dives for their cheese burger. We didn't see one so we ended up going across the street and splitting fish and chips. I tried the Denali brewing companies Purple Haze, it was a fruity wheat beer. Then we headed to the banks of the Susitna River to try and see the mountain. We could not see it, but we were able to see where the Talkeetna River and the Chulitna River meets the Susitna. We headed back and stopped at the rangers station. This is where everyone who wants to climb the mountain has to register. There were 1,090 registered and 58% of those who tried this year completed the climb. Things were starting to close, however we made it to the historical museum and walked through three buildings on the history of the city. When we arrived back at the hotel we went to eat dinner at the Mt. McKinley Princess Wilderness Lodge's Mountain View Restaurant. It was not the best dinner. They ran out of scallops and cheesecake. Mom and Uncle D tried the crab again and it was a lot smaller than the night before. Dad and I had 12 oz New York strip stakes which were good. After dinner it was sprinkling so we headed back to the room for the night.
Tuesday, 06/30/15 Talkeetna
We had Breakfast at the Mountain View Restaurant. The food was in large proportions, way too big to eat. We then headed back to the town of Talkeetna for our Devil's Canyon Adventure. The set up was a little inconvenient since all excursions were an hour away and an hour back to the hotel. We took another bus to the boat launch and set out on our adventure. We saw the strength and beauty of what happens when the ice thaws and makes it's way down the river taking trees with it. As we traveled through the remote wilderness up the Susitna River we stopped at a bald eagle nest and one was sitting right above it. While there, one of our three engines broke and we had to do our nature walk first. They took us to a wilderness site to see an authentic trapper's cabin and had us touch raw furs. The Naturalists told us about the wildflowers and plants that grow in abundance along the river.
During the trip we traveled 130 miles round trip down the Susitna River through Denali State Park and into the rarely visited National Wild River Park of Devil's Gorge. We saw beaver activity but didn't any animals. We saw a few fresh water rivers that flow into the Susitna. It was cool to see the clear water mix into the silty river. This is where we saw a few salmon swimming up stream. The views of the Alaska Range were amazing. At the furthest point in our journey we made it to Devil's Gorge. This was Class V whitewater. We each took pictures as we bounced around the Rapids. Then we headed back down river. The captain did some fast turns, but the best was the final u turn to get back to the dock.
Then the rain started again, but we went back to the ranger station to see the 17 minute movie on the mountain and its climbers. We did a little shopping and went back to the hotel for happy hour with Stephanie. Then we ate prime rib dinner which was good but too much food. I made Uncle D walk one of the trails. It ended up being a lot more hilly then I thought. There were some nice look out points but it was so cloudy you couldn't even see the closer mountains.
We traveled 130 miles round trip down the Susitna River through Denali State Park and into the rarely visited National Wild River Park of Devil's Gorge. We saw beaver activity but didn't any animals. We saw a few fresh water rivers that flow into the Susitna. It was cool to see the clear water mix into the silty river. This is where we saw a few salmon swimming up stream. The views of the Alaska Range were amazing. Our tour was a little over five-hour.
Wed, 07/01/15 Talkeetna
We had breakfast then went to see the 45 minute panoramic video of the northern lights. Then we had to kill some time before the shuttle to the train station. It would have been nice if the weather was better. We couldn't see much cause of the clouds and rain the past two days at the hotel. The train ride was kinda cool. The car had glass windows for a 180 degree view. As we pulled out I saw a moose. We passed the town of Wassila which was very populated. Then we started to see more mountains. The weather was not the best, but there were some peaks of sun. Travel time from Talkeetna to Whittier was approximately 5 hours (174 miles). We stopped in Anchorage to let Stephanie off and guest service hosts on. The train stopped to let us see some doll sheep and we also saw more bald eagles. We were the first off our train car and made it easily on the boat. We unpacked our suitcases and did the muster drill. Then it was time for dinner as we set sail. I had more prime rib, which was served in a normal serving size.
Thursday, 07/02/15 Hubbard Glacier, Alaska
We finally were able to sleep in today and then met my parents for breakfast. Mom and I went to the cruise shopping sale and purchased some shirts. Then mom dad and I played some bingo. Dad was one number away from winning $300. We then spent money to have crab legs for lunch. It was a waste, but mom was happy. Then we walked around the ship till we arrived at Hubbard Glacier. The boat was rocking and we had to go slow so our scenic cruise overlooking Hubbard Glacier was late. It was cool to watch the big 6 mile long glacier come into view. We stayed outside on floor 7 as we arrived and as the boat was turned parallel to the face of the glacier. It was amazing to see the giant icebergs in the water. We were lucky the hear and witness parts of the glacier crack and fall into the sea. The pictures do not capture the glaciers size. the captain
held the boat next to it for a half hour then spun it around so the
other side of the ship could see. At that point we went back to my parents room to chill on their balcony. It was awesome to experience the beauty of the different shades of blue in the ice.
Then it was time to get ready for our first formal night. We changed an had our picture taken, multiple times. It was the captains champagne toast so we had a few drinks and mom helped fill the champagne fountain while we stood in line for dinner. Dinner was ok, the service was a little slow. We left dinner and were able to meet up with the people from our tour group. Uncle D and I went to get some popcorn. It was really cold so we decided to see how the Motown City theater show was. It was not all that good, so we headed to bed.
Fri, 07/03/15 Glacier Bay National Park, Alaska (scenic Cruising)
We were able to sleep in again. Uncle D and I went to sit down breakfast and the service was extremely slow again, but delicious. I had banana nut pancakes. We went back to deck 7 to watch as we came into Glacier Bay. Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve is a United States National Park and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. We spotted a killer whale and two other whales the we think were humpbacks. There were a ton of little duck like birds that would dive deep in the water. It was cold and mostly cloudy. Then we headed to meet up with my parents at their room. We saw an otter and then went to the back of the boat where the sun was shining and it was hot with no breeze. We decided to grab a quick lunch before we arrived at Margerie Glacier. This one was smaller then Hubbard, but pretty to see the mountains behind it. We saw a huge calving where the ice broke away and fell into the sea. The noise was so loud and quiet at the same time. The boat then traveled down past John Hopkins Glacier, Lamplugh Glacier and Reid Glacier as we when out of the inlets back into Glacier Bay. We sat and watched from mom and dads room.
Sat, 07/04/15 Skagway, Alaska
We had a quick breakfast and the disembarked the ship where we hopped on a small van for our Yukon adventure into Canada. The weather was chilly however it warmed up as the day went on. We were told that it was normally rainy and we were lucky it was only overcast. We had a narrated drive through historic downtown Skagway to the White Pass. We drive up the Klondike Highway which parallels the White Pass & Yukon Route railroad. Along the way our guide Kara, explained all about the landscape and wildlife in the area. There were dramatic changes in landscape from lush rainforest to granite then we even saw a desert. There was a ton of mountains and lakes that we passed and we stopped at a few photo stops. The lakes were very still and we saw nice reflections of the mountains. Our first long stop was at the Yukon Suspension Bridge. We were the first tour group there for the day, so it was crowd free. This bridge spans across the Tutshi River. We all walked across the bridge and read about the area and history. We then went on to see the world's smallest desert and Emerald Lake.
Then we ate at Caribou Crossing Trading Post. After we ate we went to see the husky puppies. This group was only 3 weeks old. Then Uncle D and I toured the Yukon's most extensive Wildlife Museum with stuffed animals from the past and present. There were bison, grizzly bears, moose, wooly mammoth and the world's largest mounted polar bear.
On the return trip we stopped in the Native town of Carcross. There was not a lot to see there. The tour ended in downtown Skagway, where we did some shopping then went back to the ship. We dressed for dinner and didn't have to wait forever to be seated. Then we watched out the balcony and back of the ship as we left port. It is so wild how your perspective is out of sink with the grandeur of the mountains. I have had popcorn every night and tonight we actually saw an Alaskan “sunset”. The nights have been becoming longer as we travel south.
Sun, 07/05/15 Juneau, Alaska
Today was the best day we have had for weather and excursions. The weather was sunny and warm for this time of year. Everyone kept saving how lucky we were to have such good weathers, we kind of thought they were joking. We started the day with whale watching. We were on a boat with about 12 other people. We first saw six harbor sea lions then we went to see the whales. It was incredibly awesome! We saw whales in New Zealand, but they were not as active as these. We were told we saw at least two sets of mother and calf. The moms were teaching the babies to breach. They jumped over and over out of the water. They said this was the most active they have seen them lately. It was fun to watch. These whales mate and give birth in Hawaii without food and swim back to Alaska to eat and fatten up.
Our next adventure was a trip to the airport for a helicopter ride landing on Herbert Glacier. On the way we saw multiple bald eagles. When we arrived we were fitted with snow boots and put in a line based on weight. I was the first to board the helicopter as the blades were spinning. Mom and I sat in front. There were seven of us including the helicopters pilot. It was really cool. The helicopter could get close to mountains, but the size of things is really distorted. We learned that first hand when we landed and saw the erratic (rocks on the glacier). We flew past Mendenhall Glacier from far out. Then flew around Herbert’s Glacier before landing gently on it. We had to wait a few minutes to let the copter cool down and till the blades stopped spinning. Then we all jumped out on to complete different terrain then the glacier we landed on by plane, it was ice. Gripping/ruff ice that was easy to walk on. Unlike the snow at Ruth Glacier the ice was lumpy with rivers of water running through as well as deep crevasse (some filled with bright blue water). It was fun to go exploring and see all the different shades of blue in the ice and snow. We spent about 25 minutes on the glacier. I could have spent the whole day there. On the way back we banked hard to the right to avoid hitting a flying bald eagle. Both flights we only 15 minutes. There was a lot less site seeing on this tour.
Our two excursions were not enough so we took the Mount Roberts tramway right from the dock up to the top of the mountain. At the top they had an injured bald eagle that we saw from less than three feet away, Lady Baltimore. There were trails to go higher on the mountain. We did not have time to go all the way to the top. They had a little nature center that we walked through then headed back down the tramway and back on the ship. We had a formal dinner then saw the magic show with a magician that thought he was a comedian. To wrap the night up we saw the real comedian, Scott Wilder. He had a bunch of good punchlines.
Monday, 07/06/15 Ketchikan, Alaska
We docked in Ketchikan around 10am. The day started out warm and the high was over 80 and full sunshine. We were still in the Tongass rainforest, the second largest in the world. We did a little shopping then We left on our excursion by motorcoach. We followed the coastline to George Inlet Lodge, as we passed a cannery, lots of bald eagles, some totem poles and a few waterfalls. We passed by the grocery store that had made national new because a young black bear had walked in and started eating the produce. When we arrived we boarded the smaller of the two boats in the George Inlet waterway. We then went on a seven-mile journey passed the George Inlet Cannery formerly owned by Libby. The naturalist told us about the way they used to catch salmon. Mr. Libby had to protect his fish traps from the local “pirates" because his traps were catching 100% of the fish, stealing the their livelihood. They would steal some of his fish then sell it back to him the next day. We stopped to see a bald eagle’s nest and a 2,000-foot waterfalls. We also saw the site of an abandoned gold mine. We made it to the cove of hundreds of Dungeness crab where one woman was volunteered to pull up the pot. Kate, the naturalist, pulled out a male and female and explained their anatomy. We each held a crab for a photo, even mom. Then we set them free and Kate reset the pot. There was one bald eagle in the area, it was captain Gill’s girlfriend. He tossed out a frozen fish next to the boat and we saw the giant bird fly in and grab the fish. I did not know that the most common way a bald eagles dies is from drowning. Their feathers are not water resistant. The other way they typically die is because usually three babies are born and only one survives by kicking the others babies out of the nest. After learning all this we headed back to the George Inlet lodge for a crab feast. We had a salad, all-you-can eat Dungeness crab, one baby red potato and cheesecake smothered in Alaska blueberries.
When we arrived back in downtown Ketchikan we did more shopping, saw the totem pole that is in the USA passport, and walked to the old red light district. We watched the boat pull away from the dock and went to the top deck to watch for wildlife. We didn’t see anything. During dinner we were by the window and saw the bright red sunset. All of us went to see the comedian again, but he wasn't as funny as the first night. We tried to see the stars, but the sky was not clear.
Tue, 07/07/15
We woke up to fog for our day at sea. We had crossed over a time zone during the night so clocks moved ahead an hour. Mom and dad did a galley tour and Uncle D and I went to breakfast. We went to see the onboard naturalist presentation on bears. He explained the three different type of bears, how to tell the difference, where they are from and their population sizes. Then we saw the videos that Princess created with actual video taken on our trip. Dad purchased the 6 DVD set. We saw one seal from my parents room and one whale out of the back. The last dinner was ok. Uncle D finally had his Baked Alaska and they did a parade with fake flaming Baked Alaska. We missed the killer whales, but it didn't sound like we missed much cause they were far away from the boat.
We then met up with our land group and chatted about the sea portion of the trip. The ship offered a star gazing party by the splash pool. It was not easy to see what they were pointing out. They were just using an app to point out the constellations for us. Then we sailed into Canada overnight.
Wednesday, 07/08/15 Vancouver, B.C. Canada
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