Seward ~Alaska Trip Day 36

Soon after leaving Exit Glacier, we saw a black bear near the road! A vehicle behind us went roaring past and scared it off into the underbrush, ruining our chance at observing the bear. Down the road we spent the night at a turnout beside the river, met Fahrah, and saw bear tracks in the sand. 

Arriving in Seward, we drove out to Lowell Point, via another road between mountain and sea. Then we stopped at the waterfront park playground and path before boarding our Kenai Fjords wildlife cruise catamaran.

At least 6 chunks of this glacier fell into the sea as we waited, watching

sea otters chillin' on their backs in the sunshine

For 6 hours we felt the sea breezes, watched humpback and finn whales blow & roll, listened to sea birds screech, heard the boom of a calving glacier, glided past floating sea otters & puffins, witnessing God's superb creation! (Oh, and we met Emma, the gal working in the galley, who is from Pratt!)

Back at the boat harbor we walked the docks spotting orange & clear jellyfish in the water and watching the charters weigh & fillet huge fish.

The girls and I visited the Alaska Sea Life Center until closing.

Fun touch tanks with starfish, sea urchins, and anemone.

"Then sings my soul, my Savior God, to Thee"...

This is the Alaska I imagined!

Denali National Park ~Alaska Trip Day 22

Our bus to Eileson Visitor Center left at 11 a.m. We had a fantastic driver. He gave us a lot of park information and told some humorous stories. If we weren't captivated by the scenery, his monologue entertained us well during the 8 hour roundtrip.

We stopped for almost any animal that was spotted; not talking, no body limbs hanging outside the windows. We took the same (only) road in that we traveled out, so we may have counted some animals twice, but per spotting it was 23 caribou, 16 bears, 5 moose, and 3 Dall sheep...a great day for wildlife even though Mt. McKinley did not come out.

Near the end of our bus tour, we hopped off at Savage Creek Campground amphitheater for a ranger program on wolverines. The next green bus we caught had room for us all except 1. It was 11p.m. until we all got back to the Wildlife Access Center, ate a quick bite, and found a turnout to spend the night.

Nenana and Denali ~Alaska Trip Day 21

Nenana, home of the Ice Classic, a tradition since 1917 when the black & white tripod sitting on the frozen Tanana river moves 100 feet to signify the water's thaw. It's a lottery for those who want to buy a ticket and guess the time of spring's arrival in interior Alaska.

Ice Classic Watch Tower and tripod

Behind me is the railroad bridge that was the final link on the Alaska Railroad.

There the golden spike was driven by President Harding in 1923

The altar cloth inside this 1905 Episcopal Church is a beaded bleached moosehide.

We wandered through the small town a bit, meeting a friendly airforce veteran. He had a lot of stories to tell about himself and the area. I think he is homeless and know he is carless as he hitchhikes to Fairbanks to fly to the vet hospital in Anchorage. Interesting characters in these parts of the country!

Railroad depot built in 1922

Back on the road again, we drive south toward Denali National park, stopping for beautiful vistas (and road construction) along the way.

We enter the national park, reserve our bus tour for tomorrow, and hop on the shuttle to Savage River.

moose! caribou! Wildlife is worth stopping for!

Mt. McKinley is on the left hidden by the thick clouds.

You can see one slope poking above the clouds, but blending because it is white with ice.

Savage River

The campgrounds were full in the park, so we drove out a few miles to a turnout beside Nenana Canyon. First we walked the path by Nenana River and went down to the raft access. Caroline cut her foot on the large rocks sticking out of the water and bled a frightening amount, but once cleaned & bandaged she soon healed.