POST RIDE 9, Kenai Fjords Cruise

Another day lazing out on the water; this time our boat was out of Seward.  It was a  much smaller and faster boat.  So, it was a little more prone to causing motion sickness.  But, we were mostly fine with some uneasy moments, especially Ellen.  It was to forget about that with all the spectacular scenery and wonderful sea life.  The boat followed a humpback whale or two for a little while.  We caught some glimpses of its back and tail, and of course the occasional plume.  The sea lions were all barking as we passed an island rookery.  I think I spied 3 pups.  We also passed a few steep rocky islands swarming with nesting birds, cormorans, common murres, tufted puffins, horned puffins, and others. 

Next we got up close and personal with the Aialik Glacier.  It is HUGE!  We watched some small calving and sat there for a good while.  A bunch of harbor seals were using the sea ice floating around the glacier to stay out of reach of orca.  It was quite a sight. 

The cruise made one last stop beforeter returning to port.  We stopped at Fox Island.  It received its name because fur traders had set up an arctic fox farm on the island after otter populations had been hunted to low numbers.  Anyway, we stopped there for a great buffet of all you can eat salmon and prime rib.  The prime rib was prepared quite well, but I concentrated on the salmon.  After all, we are in Alaska.

POST RIDE 8, Ferry to Whittier

Wow, wow, WOW!  This was the most amazing boat ride I have ever taken.  The sound is so incredibly gorgeous from the water.  Lush green mountains interspersed with some snow capped peaks peeking out from further back, a sadly quickly receding but still thrilling tidal glacier, dozens of cute sea otters, jelly fish, orca . . . Just AMAZING!!

Next came a drive through two miles of tunnel over train tracks under a mountain.  Then a beautiful drive to Seward.

POST RIDE 7, The Ride Into Valdez

The sun came out and dried up all the rain, and the itsy bitsy spider went up the spout again.  Well, the clouds were gone and we got treated to fantastic views of the mostly extinct (one is still active), snow covered, volcanic peaks of Wrangle St Elias National Park.  These beauties dominated the skyline for most of our day.  We stopped in the National Park to amble along the only groomed trail in this park and preserve.  The most interesting fact I learned in the well done exhibit center is that during some winter storms, many birds get stranded and die on the rocky peaks in Alaska and the otherwise herbivore pikas will scavenge their brains for much needed nutrients.

Our next stop was Worthington Glacier State Park.  We got to walk up right near and alongside this giant flowing ice formation.  The amount of water flowing off this thing was incredibly impressive as well as the shear size of the ice.

After the glacier we entered the Thompson Valley and were privy to some more spectacular vistas and at one stop, I enjoyed a nice sprint down to a lower vantage point into a canyon.  We continued into the Keystone Canyon in the car.  We made stops at the majestic Bridal Veil and Horsetail Falls and spotted a black bear strolling along the forest edge enjoying a feast of soap berries.

Finally, we rolled into Valdez.  It a spectacularly beautiful city or at least it is nestled within some amazing scenery.  The mountains go right up to the sea at the Prince William Sound.  We took a walk along the harbor and witnessed some fish sorting and cleaning.  The seagulls were having a ball waiting for the discards.  Then, we sampled the local salmon and halibut at Mike's Palace on the recommendation of our B&B host.  Twas quite delectable.

After gorging ourselves on fish, we headed to the salmon hatchery and were floored by the shear numbers.  I've always heard how phenomenal a salmon run is, but I never imagined this.  The river mouth was literally filled with salmon leaping over each other to try and fight their way upstream.  It was just one mass of wriggling, flopping, shimmery fish.  The two sea lions we saw were having quite some fun with this smorgasbord and the awaiting sea gulls were more than happy to pick up their scraps.

POST RIDE 5 + 6, Denali 3 & Denali Highway

Well, our luck couldn't last with the weather.  It was cloudy with a little bit of rain for most of the day.  So, we saw no more than a corner of Denali Mountain peaking out behind the clouds all day.  Also, we got a surprise when we showed up for our camper bus.  Igloo Campground was closed; a grizzly bear and her cubs had torn apart an empty tent the day before.  So, there went our planned hike up Cathedral Mountain.  We got switched to Sanctuary Campground.  After setting our tent up, we took the bus further in to Eielson Visitor Center.  On the way in we spotted tons of caribou,  a blonde grizzly bear with a dark cub, and a lady moose. The Eielson Alpine Trail was good, but much of the mountains were veiled in clouds.  The clouds just got thicker as the day progressed.  We caught the first bus back, spotting more caribou and other wildlife. 

The next day, we took a leisurely morning before catching the first camper bus out of the park, 10:30am.  We took the Denali Highway towards Valdez.  The clouds had not left us behind.  So, while we enjoyed the mountain vistas along this mostly dirt road, we had trouble photographing any of it through the rain and gray.  We did have our first sightings of the big volcano peaks of Wrangle St. Elias National Park.  Our day was topped off by a small hike to some disappointing mud volcanos near our camp, but it was redeemed by a whole  heavenly delicious patch of cloudberries.  These really are nirvana if it were reduced into composite berry form.

POST RIDE 4, Denali 2

It was another grandiose day.  After a nice simple breakfast, we checked out some gift shops and gathered a little more info for our backcountry trek tomorrow.  Then, we headed out to the furthest spot one can drive a private vehicle, Savage River.  Along the way, we got our first views of Denali Peak.  It is amazing how much prominence has.  We took the Savage River Alpine Trail out of the campground and headed toward the river valley.  It was an invigorating climb with plenty of fantastic panoramic views of the surrounding ridges.  We topped it off with a 2 mile jaunt down the Savage River valley for views of the canyon.  And, lastly, we wandered out the short Mountain Vista trail behind our campsite for a lovely picnic dinner by the stream shore.

POST RIDE 3, Denali 1

Steve made us a delicious send off breakfast with homemade bacon, homemade sourdough bread, and eggs.  We thanked our hosts profusely, and hit the road for Denali National Park.  It was a cloudy, but still pretty ride out to the park.  The central mountain, Denali itself, did remain hidden to us though.  After arranging for our bus tickets and camping reservations we set out for some entrance area hikes.  We combined the Horseshoe Lakes Loop, Taiga Trail, and the Mt Healy Trail for a scenic stroll.  The best bit was the Mt Healy Trail plus a little beyond it to the peak.  We got some great views of several ridges, but still no mountain formerly known as McKinley.
We finished off our first day with a delectable meal at 49th State of halibut fish & chips, halibut burger, a smoky marzen, and a mosaic ale.  Twas a great end to our first Denali day.