Occupy Alaska

Days 34 & 35 – June 29 & 30, 2015

Now to really occupy Alaska ... In a state that is more than twice the size of Texas, there are only three large cities. Fairbanks, Anchorage and Juneau. We spent some time in Fairbanks before settling into Denali for a week a while ago. We will soon spend some time in Anchorage with Megan. And Juneau … well that one, even though the capital of the state, will be more of a challenge. Planning that one for July 9.


     Between Denali and the end of the Kenai Peninsula at Homer Spit (going west then south) is where is found the most lush and fertile landscape. Only 5% of the entire state looks like this. Traveling literally alongside the road for hundreds of miles we delighted in profuse displays of lupin, fireweed, cow’s parsnip, mustard, prickly rose, dwarf dogwood, monkshood and more and more. (Yep, I got a book to ID the flowers.)

Visits along the Way

We made a few stops on the Parks Highway between Denali and Homer. Alaska Veterans Memorial is probably the most impressive such memorial we’ve seen in all our travels. About halfway between Fairbanks and Anchorage (by design.) Geocache alert. 

And a great view of the Alaska Range. This mountain is Mount Foraker. A glacier that lives in its summit is embraced by the surrounding minor peaks. 

Occupy the small villages

 Kenai and Michener

Tucked up in the western most corner of the Kenai Peninsula is the town of Kenai. It sits on the Cook Inlet. Now Captain Cook, who was the bravest of the brave, sailed up every inlet and every waterway he spied looking for the Northwest Passage. (He should try now … I hear the melting ice in the Arctic Ocean is opening that passage.) So there are numerous remembrances of his visit here.

But even more fascinating is the influence of the Russians. Until 1869, Russia had claimed all this land (OK … they didn’t even ask the Dena’ina, Aleuts, Athabascan, Tglinits, or the Inuits or the Eskimos). They sent officials and Russian Orthodox priests from Kiev who built little villages and established their churches. 

    In his book, Alaska, Michener spent many chapters on this remarkable venture. The interaction of the natives and the Russians makes for insightful reading ... and historical touring. We visited with the priest at the Church of the Holy Assumption. He was a most interesting fellow and full of history of both the area and his church. He verified its history as fictionalized by Michener. 





The pathway picture is to Cook Inlet from the church.  Kenai … worth the drive up the spur! And a challenge to those visiting this area … find Veronica’s! Loved those are profuse lilacs and wild white roses! And the coffee was good too. 

Not exactly remote

Girdwood is not exactly hidden. It is a spur off the highway and provides marvelous hikes and vistas and bountiful verdant display and a resort hotel. And a tram to the top of the ski lifts. This picture reveals the small town of Girdwood below as well as Turnagain Arm. Turnagain? Well, Captain Cook had to turn again as he found yet another dead end, no outlet, frustrating indeed, arm of Cook Inlet. We're discovering that the remote and secluded small villages found by leaving the main highways offer the genuineness of this improbable state.  Turn here! … is the mantra of this navigator. The Milepost doesn’t fail us when finding these spurs.

Talkeetna 

A spur off the Parks Highway drew us to this tiny village. Touristy yes, but the Roadhouse (a historical building turned eatery) had the best pasties filled with salmon or beef and onions. Both were delicious. For you geocachers … there is an easy geocache here.

Dan found another bear … not counting this one, we’ve seen 15 bears so far.

Denali

DENALI

Denali – Days 27 to 33 – June 22 to June 28, 2015

As much as human ingenuity can imagine and engineer … “The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and science.” Albert Einstein.

Our week in Fairbanks offered so many man made marvels fashioned from man’s scientific genius, along with all the fast food restaurants (which we avoided) and big box stores (Fred Meyer’s – part of Kroger) and gas stations (where we saved 50 cents a gallon with City Market card!).

     

One marvel we loved was the Fountainhead Antique Auto Museum … a staggering collection of pre-WWII automobiles. Here is a 1908 Roadster we traded in for our Coyote … and Vicki’s favorite 1913 Argo.

 Denali

     However as we headed south towards Denali, we breathed deeply again and began to relax. There is so much tension within all that modernity. Wildfires around this part of Alaska sent a smoky haze into Denali and the sun at 8:00 p.m. welcomed us as we settled into our campsite. This moose cow spotted us with a lack of concern and an easy consent.

  

Immersed in Denali … we hiked every day in different parts of the Park. Getting off the road and the touristy parts of the Park allowed us to see, hear, smell, touch and taste the natural world of Denali … unchanged for over 1,000 years. (Yes taste … bluebells taste like grass.)

A wild animal is a critter in a picture; a distinction is made when present … it becomes cherished in the heart. These are new places in our heart … A Grizzly and a Caribou in a standoff, two Dall Sheep in impossible places and a strange new breed of Caribou. Also sighted other moose, more bear, willow ptarmigans, arctic ground squirrels, red squirrels and more caribou. (That’s 13 bears this trip.)

Behind Vicki on the hiking picture, you cannot see Mt. McKinley/Denali. The fires are not close, but their smoke is everywhere. And far and wide is a vast and remote and mysterious landscape.

All of our world can be captured in photographs … but the sense of isolation, the expansiveness … pictures cannot grasp. There are thousands of people in Denali, yet the size of the place lends to the impression of seclusion.

Various Photos of our seven days in Denali

There are countless variations of terrain! With 6.2 million square miles of Denali National Park, there is only one road. It runs only 92 miles from the visitor center straight into the park northward, running parallel to the Alaska Range within the park. Cars are not allowed after the first 15 miles … unless you have a camping reservation … then only to Teklanika Campground at mile 29 (which we did). So to see more of the Park, you take one of the buses running deeper along that one road. We took it on two different days.

Notes on pictures:

Denali has sled dogs owned by Nat’l Park. They use them in the winter to patrol in the 80 inches of snow. The Black Spruce trees in the Horsetail Fern picture are not dead. They grow so close together that they stop nourishing the bottom branches so the top ones can reach to the sun. The last picture is the Grand Mountain.

Six Degrees of Separation

Six Degrees of Separation

The concept of six degrees of separation revealed itself in absolute reality on Saturday, June 27, 2015. As our bus excursion into the Park that day began at 7:30 a.m. and was to last 12 hours we introduced ourselves to those around us on the bus. For those reading this who know the name Jim and Katherine Wolff, you will chuckle to hear that we spent the day with their nephew and his wife. Bill is the son of Katherine’s sister Audrey. Bill and Kathy are from Wisconsin and are quite familiar with WP and OLW and we had great fun sharing memories of the Wolffs and their family. People are the ultimate experience.

Planning Ahead … a peek into the future.

Denali National Park and Reserve was quite an experience and we are so grateful we had so much time to relish it. From here, we head south to Anchorage stopping along the way, of course. The Kenai Peninsula is spread out south of Anchorage for us to explore … then back to Anchorage for the 4^th of July weekend with another of our favorite Armstrongs, Megan, stationed at the army base there. Guess what … on the 4^th of July you cannot find a place within 100 miles of Anchorage to park our rolling home. Thank goodness for Megan who has a place to put the Coyote at her home. 

The Inside Passage is next.  From here we drive three days to Haines to pick up a Ferry to travel to Juneau … spend a few days there … (there are no roads to Juneau, only plane and boat) … then ferry south again to Prince Rupert in Canada. Then 3,000 miles EAST … through Canada to Minnesota to hug two precious little boys – grandsons Duncan and Rowan.  Then south to Lexington Kentucky for a family reunion with Dan’s brother and sisters.  Footloose and fancy free!

So … stay tuned for more adventures on our Alaska trip.