Day 50 Sunday July 24, 2011 To Petersburg

A last look at Homer on the Spit.

Some of those Sockeye salmon from the Kenai River

Marathon Mountain a July 4 race up and down! (4,900 feet)
Filling the fuel tanks at the Seaplane base Cabin used at Denali NP

Mud flats on the north side of Cook Inlet.

Travel day! That is, travel by air from Anchorage to Petersburg AK, if the weather is good. Some of those small airports nestled between the mountains of the Panhandle , are difficult to get into sometimes. Last time we made this trip (2002) the Alaska Airlines plane couldn’t land at Petersburg and we landed at Wrangell (20 miles south across the channel). That meant we either waited a day, flew to Juneau (on the north bound flight) and then flew back to Petersburg the next day, OR...pay a man to take us across in a boat with all the luggage to land on the south end of Mitkof Island which is 20 miles from the city of Petersburg, in the back of a PICK UP TRUCK. We did just that which included a walk across the tidal rocks that were exposed on the beach as we dragged our suitcases to the trucks. We did make it OK that time and it truly was an Alaskan experience.

The trip in to the ANC airport this day was uneventful and easy as we had downloaded the tickets ahead of time which meant we didn’t have to go through the lines to be checked in. As we were early, (always a good idea at airports), we had time to read, eat lunch and be ready when the gate call come. The flight stopped in Juneau for 30 minutes and then we proceeded to Petersburg further down the Panhandle.

This time, however the weather was with us as we landed on time although the clouds were low and it was soupy.

Scott and Julie Hursey, the “Heron “ boat owners”, met us at the airport, which they didn’t need to do, but it was so good to see these good friends one more time. Julie will be unable to make the trip as she is working both at the hospital (getting certified) and maintaining her long time part time job at the local radio station doing the morning NPR segment on KFSK in Petersburg. Scott is breaking in a new ship captain and he will be with us, as well as a new cook on this trip. We will miss Julie, but know we are in good hands. We did get our luggage and Jim picked up all the bags but missed one, so had to go back to get it, just before the airport closed for the day. (After the last commercial flight the airport closes for the evening.)

Petersburg is a town on the coast of Alaska on Mitkof Island, where fishing has been continuous for 2,000 years. It was through the forethought of one Norwegian, Peter Buschmann, that the city began. The fishing was near the ice coming from the LeConte Glacier nearby and used for packing and helped the city to grow. The ice is no longer used for that purpose. Today there are nearly 3,000 people living here and in the summer 1,800 (800 that move into Petersburg for the summer) are employed at the fish canneries , the main one being Icicle Foods out of Settle, WA.

Our stay is at the Scandia House overnight and in the morning we will get a shuttle to Scott’s boat, “The Heron”, for a 9:30 for departure on the seven night cruise on the Inland Passage. Here we will see Whales “bubble feeding”, as well as Sea Lions, Eagles, tidal zones, and many sea birds. Also we will do some kayaking, watch waterfalls and if possible take a side trip into the LeConte Fjord where the calving of the Le Conte Glacier is the most powerful of any on the Alaskan Coast (and one of the least visited). The food will be terrific and the host will be warm and welcoming. A later post will detail some of the trip day by day.

** LeConte Glacier has a face that is 200 feet high and 800 feet under the water. IT is about 20 miles length from top to bottom.

Back to Anchorage Day 49, From Kenai to Anchorage /Palmer

Day 49, Sat. July 23 2011. Driving from Kenai to Anchorage (Palmer)

1.Our camp site in Kenai at Beluga Lookout RV

2. A coal car in Homer that was used to haul coal to the docks for transport to the gold town of Hope , AK circa (1904)

3. A King Eider at the Sea Center in Seward. (rehab)

4. McCarthy River on the north side of Cook Inlet from the plane to Big Lake. Drains the tundra from the Alaska Range 400 mies north.

5. The cleaning station for salmon at the RV Park

6. Anchorage Airport in the summer (waiting for baggage)

7. Cow Parsnip...poisonous. Lots along the roadside.

8. Yellow Paintbrush, a cousin of the Indian Paintbrush.

We said goodbye to our friends that we made at the Beluga Lookout Campground and watched some of the early bird fishermen that had caught their salmon already at 8:00 AM. The trailer was readied and hitched up ready to go. The road down to Anchorage was familiar and we didn’t make a wrong turn like last time. The traffic on this Saturday was unbelievable heavier than some freeways. (its a two lane highway most of the way.) The cars and trucks ( few big trucks on Saturday) were coming by at about 20-30 a minute. I counted that three times and then multiplied that factor by the time we were on the road and came up with more than 30,000 vehicles that we passed before we got the trailer to it’s destination. Where were they going? “Anchorageites” (and others like them to get to the reason they came to Alaska. There is fishing. the water, mountains, lakes and streams and all the beauty that surrounds them every day. After work is finished get out of the way as “here we come”. That is what Alaska is about. The great outdoors and all that it embodies. On Turnagain Arm south of Anchorage we saw 4-6 wind surfers in the 3-40 mph wind having a great time. Some stream and rivers were already seeing the impact of the salmon runs.

We stopped a few times to both admire the scenery and to continue to watch for the big animals if we could see them. We did not see any today! At Potter Marsh near the end of the day’s journey we did see an Eagle in a tree, and some salmon in the stream. Lunch was on the road and then some gasoline at $3.89 in Anchorage. The stopping place was a cul ‘de sac where some friends had allowed us to park the trailer for 8 days while we take the trip to the Panhandle on the boat “the Heron” out of Petersburg.

We decided it was better to park the trailer a day ahead of the flight , than to try to do everything on the morning of the flight. So we are staying in a motel in Anchorage just a few miles from the airport. A private parking garage near the airport provides shuttle service to the door so that will help immensely.

So this posting is short but I will place some more pictures as the Wi Fi in the Hotel is very fast tomorrow we head for Petersburg the Scandinavian community on the south panhandle of Alaska. Peter Buschman founded the town in 1890 when he used the ice from LeConte Bay to pack the fish in the first cannery. Today the population has kept steady at about 3,000+ people and more than three canneries that occupy many of the town. We may get one more night of blogs out before we board the boat.

Day 46, July 22, 2011 The Road to Homer AK

Day 46, Friday July 22, 2011-- The road to Homer AK

1. Caribou on the Sterling Road

2. Grewingk Glacier in Harding Icefield

3. Mt. Iliamna On Cook Inlet

4. Some of the stores on the Homer Spit

5. Assumption of the BVM Russian Orth Ch. (Ninlichik)

6. HOmer Spit from the bluff above

7. Three Eagles in nest (Adult feeding chicks)

The trip to Homer had been looked forward to as it was the last part of the Alaska trip (minus the boat trip next week) that we had to see.When starting out on the local road before the Kenai River Bridge we saw some Caribou, seven Sandhill Cranes and a new birds,two Pelagic Jaegers. Jim thought they might be them but we had a difficult time making positive ID as we had never seen them before. We just got started again on the Sterling Highway when two Caribou were seen on the opposite side of the road we were driving, Jim did a ‘cheerio’ and we came up near them on the same side, The Caribou tolerated us for some time before they became nervous enough to move back into the woods. Great shots!

Some stopes along the side on the Cook Inlet side gave more great shots of those three outstanding mountains, Mt. Spurr (11,000), Mt. Redoubt (10,900) and Mt. Iliamna (10,000+). These three make up the northern horizon when looking across the Cook Inlet from the Kenai Peninsula. ( The towns of Kenai and Ninilchik and Anchor Point can see this view from their towns.)

As we arrived near Homer there was a huge turnout so we had the ability to see the entire Kachemak Bay and the Homer Spit. The day was clear and there were just a few clouds near the mountains but not obscuring their view. As we got down into town (It is a 1,000 foot vertical drop to sea level) there was an Eagle’s nest near the postoffice and quite visible to the view. We took pictures of it and the three eagles that were there (an adult and two young ones) and watched the mother feed the young ones some salmon.

Then it was down to the spit and do a reconnoitering run through and take some pictures of the huge wharf and marina that is there .A cruise ship was docked and many ships were in port . There were hundreds of trailers and rigs and more hundreds of cars.The pleasure water craft were innumerable. By then it was lunchtime and we had planned to eat at “Crabbys” downtown (old town) in a small, but fine food place where sea food (of course) was the order of the day. We ordered the halibut (fresh) basket and a salad, so filled ourselves with good food. ‘Crabbys’ is up for sale and it is a well known, medium priced establishment and the owner will listen to bids.

Then we went back to the Spit and headed for the Frosty Bear Ice Cream Parlor on the spit. Oh, Boy! Lots of flavors and homemade waffle cones. We did good!~ It was a fitting end to the day to Homer Nothing out of the ordinary, but we did get taste of that Homer Flavor. JIm had Rocky Road and Praline and Cream in a waffle cup.

We ended the day by taking the “high road” out of town and drove up east hill and got some great views one more time.The rest of the ride back included some more pictures of the mountains on the north side of the Inlet and we made it home as the fishermen in the campground were wrapping up a MOST SUCCESSFUL day on the river. There were salmon all over the cleaning table area.

Tomorrow we head back to Anchorage , park the trailer for eight days and take a flight to Petersburg for that 6 night Ocean trip on the six passenger “Heron” with Scott and Julie Hursey. Might not see ya for awhile, but we will be back in 10 days or so.

Seward and Laundry Day July 20 & 21, 2011

Mt. Redoubt across the Cook Inlet from Kenai. (10,000 feet +)

Typical Combat Fisherman when the Salmon run is on.

A view of Exit Glacier at Seward AK ---

A reflection on the road to Seward on the Highway

A campsite when the fishing for the day was over.

The Alaska Sea Life Center in Seward. A Magnificent Center

Cleaning fish on the campground provided cleaning station.

Below a young boy "touching" the sea creatures n the "hands on tank".

The two days included a trip to Seward from the Kenai campground (Beluga Lookout) and a visit to the Sea Science Center there. Thursday was laundry day so what can we say about that except that this was the neatest laundry we have ever been on. It had more than 20 big hanging green plants and a carpet, was clean and had lots of tables and chairs AND it had Wi-Fi. Besides, there were lots of washers and dryers. Impressive!

So here are some pictures from those experiences (not the laundry) and our campsite.

PIctures from Bear watch and Plane Flight (7-18-11)

1. Plane flight to Bear watching at Big River Lake

2. Beluga Whales in Cook Inlet on the return trip.

3. One of the bears at Big River Lke.

4. Sled dogs at MacClaren Lodge on the Denali Highway (Susie and Mike's)

5. Ber gets fish runs up hill away from other bigger bears.

Day 42, JUly 16, 2011 Riding the bus into Denali National Park and Preserve

Day 42,Sat July 16, 2011 Riding the bus into Denali .P. and reserve

1. The "Canyon" just outside Denali NP where the amenities are.

2. From a distance but it is a Grizzly Bear (Sow) and two yearlings

3.The road into the Park near Polychrome mountain.

4. The bus that took us into the Park.

5. The female Moose by the roadside. (No, they don't pose for you .

It was a good thing and perhaps an omen that we did see Denali in all it’s grandeur yesterday, because today it was behind the clouds. The morning started with rain that let up right after we were outside and ready to go to the Shuttle bus for the Park ride to the Eilson Center and back . Our bus was scheduled for 8:30 Am and everyone going into the Park must register to get on a bus or get a permit to ride in. It is 65 mies one way to the Eielson Center and takes about 3 1/2 hours to do on the required bus. All the way to the end of the road is 95 miles. It might be noted here that there are other busses that travel the park as the concession is owned by a major Corporation (Doyon) and they have a number of other alternatives to choose from . Ours was the “basic” package but gets you there and back without the frills. (All vehicles have to travel the same road.)

The object of the driver of the bus is to DRIVE the bus. The object of the 40 or so people on the bus is to see and ANNOUNCE the wildlife when they see it. The key word was “STOP!”. Then the driver (ours was Lee) will stop the bus and the person who sighted the animal can tell others where to look for the sighting. We use the military vision technique like a clock saying it is at “at 6:00 o'clock, or 9:00 O'clock”, etc.

Our first sighting some 30 miles out on the road was a female Moose just browsing. They eat grass so that’s where it was. It was rather close to the road (50 yards) and as the windows went down, all got a good view of it. It was well hidden in the spruce. (White).

Then came a number of Dall Sheep. These roam the highlands up the mountain slopes away from the bears that use the bottom of the floor . Not too good for picture taking , but some representative shots were taken. The sheep are usually along the high ridges and can hardy be seen. Then we began to see parts of the Caribou herd that lives in the Park in the summer. Some on ridges, some on the slopes.

By that time the windows had been cleaned three times from the mud splashing of the tires and road, as we approached the end of the journey onto the Park. It was time for lunch and we ate in the bus as it was a bit cold (42 F outside) ,and the tables in the Visitor Center at Eielson Center were already taken in the lunchroom. After lunch it was time to get a few pictures of the Marmots and ground squirrels and view the items in the Visitor Center. There was a quilt there which was given to the Park by a local woman, that was displayed on the wall. It was a five piece panel that depicted the entire life cycle of birds, animals, plants and seasons in the Park. It was excellent!

The sun tried valiantly to shine and did a few times , but not enough, for many of us. It was a very overcast day until the evening.

On the way back out of the park, we did see the Moose Mom and some caribou, and the Bear was moving more quickly, now, looking for better grasses to feed on. The berries are a few weeks away so they are not eating them. Again we saw a different group of Dall sheep high on a small mountain, and more caribou and the same bear who had moved considerable westward. A few miles from the end of the ride the front of the bus saw a Lynx, and that is seldom seen. So we did see “The Big Four” (Sheep, Bears, Caribou and Moose) so it was a successful day for the riders. The Park is a wonderful view of what life for the natural things can be and should be. Six million acres of the great out of doors.

Tomorrow we take the Denali Highway (gravel road for 138 miles) which has some great birding and a few mammals on it. That will bring us back to Anchorage via Glenallen.

Day 41, July 15, 2011 Denali National Park & Preserve

In Denali National Park and Preserve

I am going to let the pictures speak for themselves today as we are n Denali National Park and on the way in saw "The Big One" without a cloud . Tomorrow we will go into the Park on the Park bus and report back. (We did see one Moose on a short ride into the Park today.

1. Denali National Park and Preserve entrance. (JImmy Carter tripled the size of it in 1980)

2. Alaska's Cotton Grass (actually a flower)

3. Sunset on the mountains in anchorage at 11:00 PM

4. Larkspur (wild)

5. Savage Creek area . (Last mile you can drive a car into Park- 12 miles)

6. Moose in the Park at roadside. He was HUGE!

7. The entire range including Denali, from the Parks highway 90 miles away.

8. A good shot approaching the Park of Denali (20,320 feet)

More tomorrow after the ride in although it is scheduled to rain most of the day. One never knows.

Days 38,39,40 July 13, 14, 15, 2011 Anchorage.

1.. Potter Marsh in Anchorage

2. Ruth gets a Massage and adjustment

3. Wild Celery

Day 38-39-40- July 13, 14, 15 2011 At Anchorage

This will be brief as there has been few excursions away from the RV Park in the past three days. Oh, we got the vehicles washed, bought groceries, and did the laundry, but stayed close to home. We await the arrival of Ruth’s sister and brother in law Gerri and Andy, who come in tonight on the “red eye” from GR and Denver. Their plane was two hours circling the Denver Apt. due to storms.

But, we did get out yesterday to view both Potter Marsh and a Lagoon in downtown Anchorage called Westchester Lagoon. Although we are in summer and that period of time is when the mother’s are with the young and identification is difficult, we did ID some birds and saw a new one to add to the growing list of 170 birds species that we have seen. Potter Marsh is a large wetlands located on the south end of Anchorage on the road leading to Seward (Seward Highway!). Here the local bird support organizations and the city have built more than a mile of boardwalks into and around the north end of the Marsh, making access east and walkable as well as better for the birds and animals. Yes we did see salmon heading up one of the three streams that flow out of and make up this Marsh. One was in the 35040 # category. Ironically, the Alaska RR built a track along the exit of three streams that enter Turnagain Arm (the Ocean) there. This has helped maintain the Marsh as it limits the removal of the water to selected spots and allows chemicals to build up in the soil for plant growth for the animals and birds.

This is the time after the young have hatched and many have fledged already (flown) but a few were in the later stages of learning to fly, particularly the larger birds. An example were some Mew gulls that were still very fuzzy and mother was hovering around them constantly. We did see the Arctic Tern young ones flying to get their experience as they have 10,000 miles to go to return to the Antarctic region for the winter. The new bird was a Common Redpoll feeding in the willow trees at the edge of the Marsh. Sandhill Cranes, a Bald Eagle (lots of them around) Northern Harrier, many Lesser Yellowlegs, Red Necked Grebe, Spotted Sandpiper, and many Tree Swallows were among the ones we saw.

The Westchester Lagoon was not as active and by now it was noon so birds are down some anyway. Ruth did get some good pictures of Gadwalls and chicks of Mallards. This Lagoon is adjacent to the Knowles Trail a popular hiking skating, biking, running trail along the Cook Inlet. It runs through Earthquake Park (that’s another story!)

Later in the day we visited our good friend and house owner from the ’80’s, Ellie VandeVisse. She was delighted to have us stay for a while and invited us to an “all garden supper” meaning greens from the garden and a homegrown potato salad. The greens were steamed and there were at least 7 different greens from the garden. Ellie is a compost and nutrition expert (that is through plants and growing things) and has had a Composting business, teaches classes in environmental concerns and how to be the best gardener without invasive or destructive (fertilizers) techniques. We were able to share with her after supper as Ellie had just purchased a “Mac” computer and was open to Ruth giving her some instructions while she was there. They did that . Ellie is working on her second book in a series which will deal with animals and plants and how they cooperate with one another. Her first book “Ask Mother Nature” deals with her attempts to learn how plants and people can work together to get the best results in a garden. The book deals with a time I spent there in Palmer working on that very garden back in the 1980’s. Part of the residence we visited is a large birch grove that is a good quiet place to run on trails or walk in the woods.

Today we readied all for the 14 days of “whirlwind” tours we will have including tomorrow’s Denali trip (2 days) , an air flight to see bears , five days camping with the trailer on the Kenai Peninsula. (Homer, Anchor Point, Seward, etc) and then a six day boat cruise on the six passenger “Heron” out of Petersburg captained by the able pilots , Scott and Julie Hursey. Then we will see Whales, Sea Lions, Eagles, lots of birds, and do a little Halibut fishing and some kayaking. All this with Ruth’s sister and brother in law.

Sounds like a marvelous time. I may not be able to post after the boat trip begins so I gave you a heads up on that. Stay tuned, we will be back.