DESPERATELY SEEKING SALMON…

Alaska Scenery

We head down the Tok Cut off.  It’s a patchwork of good highway going bad – frost heaves, damaged pavement and some improved sections.  We keep an eye out for wildlife and see a couple of moose and a lot of spectacular Alaskan scenery.  Sixty-five miles outside of Tok, we turn up Nabesna Road and pull into the Hart D Ranch, a wonderful B&B lodge and RV park with a fine arts gallery.  Owner/ Bronze Sculptor Mary Francis De Hart greets us at the door.  Mary is a beautiful older woman with a quick smile and a sparkle in her eyes.   She gives us a quick tour of the immaculate facilities, gives us the 411 on the Wi-Fi and lets us know that she will be out in the back mowing if we need anything.  Since the place is empty we have our pick of spots.  We choose one that backs up to the forest.  All of the spaces have a picnic table and metal chimera style fire pits.  Colorful rainbow heart flags flutter from poles around the lodge.  Lots of Mosquitoes - but no problem – We have ThermaCELLs!

Trumpeter Swan

Nabesna Road is the Northern Entrance to the Wrangle-St. Elias National Park and one of the only two roads into the park.  This park is the largest National Park in the nation (Six times the size of Yellowstone!) and mostly undeveloped. Nabesna road is a mix of paved and unpaved but is a pretty easy drive. At 27 miles we check out the Kendesnii campground.  It’s a beautiful site at Twin Lake. It’s new with spaces for tents and smaller RVs and it’s FREE!  We chat with a couple of rangers and they inform us that the road may not be drivable in another few miles.  We continue on and sure enough the road is washed out at the 30-mile mark.  So we turn around and head back.  On the return trip we see some Trumpeter Swans and just enjoy the scenery.

The next morning we head back to the Tok Cut Off.  We stop at the Wrangle-St. Elias visitor center and watch a film about the area.  We also catch a Ranger talk about lichen.   It its informative and we now have a better appreciation for the importance of this fungus-algae complex.  Yep you could say, “we be liken the lichen.”  (Sorry bout that LOL)

Red Eagle Cabin

We continue on to the Red Eagle Lodge.  This is a quaint 1920’s Roadhouse establishment with upscale amenities.  Richard and Judy Dennis are wonderful hosts and we feel right at home. There are no specified RV spots but they provide electricity for RVs and places for tent campers. We find a level spot and run a power cord from the bathhouse over to Dimples.  They have a collection of original 100 year-old log cabins decorated to reflect the original period, but outfitted with high quality bedding and upscale amenities.  Some of the cabins have full baths and there is a beautiful bathhouse (for campers and the single room cabins) with a modern laundry facility. There is also lovely a glamper tent and they have plans to add a few more.  For guests who prefer arriving by small plane rather than road bound vehicles, there is a landing strip.  Richard’s own plane sits near the runway.  They use this for personal touring and flying to Anchorage to pick up supplies for the lodge.  Breakfast is offered for a minimal price of $5.00 so we opt to let Judy cook for us the next morning.  At 2:00 AM the power goes out in the entire area and stays off until after we leave.  No hot breakfast, but they heat water on their wood burning stove. Although it’s only instant coffee and yogurt, we enjoy great conversation with our hosts and a fascinating Aleut couple from Barrow (the northern most point in the state.) We are invited back for the 4^th of July if we can’t find a spot further down the road.  They are expecting a full house, but can always make room for Dimples. This lodge is a true gem.

Then we’re off down the Richardson highway with a brief stop for diesel in Glennallen.  We pass by the HAARP (High Frequency Active Auroral Research Program) facility and we catch glimpses of the Alaska Pipeline through the spruce trees.

Early Morning Catch

We end up on the Copper Center Loop and stop to inquire about space availability at the Klutina Salmon Charters located on the Klutina River. (The Klutina feeds into the Copper River - source of the world famous Copper River Salmon.) They have one space left.  It’s near the office and the Wi-Fi works great at our site.  This is a true fishing camp.  Sites are provided with electricity, a community water faucet to fill tanks and a dump station.  Most of the folks come here for the entire salmon season.   Just about everyone is fishing and we chat with a couple of anglers and learn about the techniques used to catch salmon.  The Red (AKA Sockeye) Salmon are currently running and they’re biting… actually they don’t feed while heading upstream and are caught by casting a hook perpendicular to the shore, the fish catch the line in their open mouths and the hook snags the mouth from the outside.  Since the fish swim near the shore there are lots-o-salmon ending up in the possession of the anglers. We’d like to stay longer and maybe try some salmon fishing, but they are booked solid over the holiday so we have to move on. But no problems… In anticipation of not being able to stay we left a message with the Wrangell View RV Park about availability and there is a message on our cell.  Looks like we have a place to park over the 4^th of July holiday (WHEW!)

Edgerton Hwy

Copper River Fish Wheel

So it’s off to the Edgerton Highway toward the town of Chitna. We don’t see a lot of wildlife, but there is a herd of Yak… WTF?  The Wrangell View RV Park is a tribal park with a self-service pay station, full hookups and no other amenities. The park is mostly gravel, but half of the spaces back up to the forest.  Since there is only one other unit parked here we pretty much have our choice of spots and our view out the back is lovely.  There is talk about a bear and her two cubs in the area, so we keep an eye out for her but she never shows while we are looking.  From here it’s a short drive into Chitna.  We check out the fish wheels along the river and chat with the owner of a fish wheel who comes all the way from Wasilla to fish the Copper River.  It looks like pretty easy fishing, letting the wheel do all of the work, but you still have to clean and process a lot of Salmon.  There is also dip net fishing along the river. 

We stop at the Hotel Chitna for hotdogs and burgers.  Only it’s a really tasty reindeer sausage and a Yak Burger (provided by the Yak farm we passed along the highway) that is also quite delicious.

Glad we don't have to drive on this!

For the forth of July it’s off to the towns of Kennicott and McCarthy.  The Edgerton Highway ends at the town of Chitna and the McCarthy Road begins with a narrow single lane cut in the rock and continues over the McCarthy Bridge. This is the only other entrance into the Wrangell & St. Elias National Park. The gravel road was built along the CR&NW (Copper River and North Western, or the local translation of the acronym: Can’t Run and Never Will) railway bed. We’ve heard horror stories about this road and many of the few businesses along this road offer tire repair.  So we start out slow and after a few miles we discover that the road has been recently graded and is actually in better condition that many of the main highways we’ve been on recently. The scenery is spectacular, alpine meadows dotted with wildflowers, pine forests, marshes and ponds with swans and beaver dens, and along the horizon; the Wrangell Mountains covered with snow. A bull moose darts across the road and we’re reminded that although the road is in good condition it’s prudent to keep our speed down.  After about 17 miles we come to the Kuskulana Bridge.  This 525 ft. long one lane bridge, originally built in 1910 crosses 238 feet above the river.  It’s a narrow 3-span steel railway bridge retrofitted with new wood decking and guardrails.  Before the bridge was rehabilitated in 1988 many of the bridge planks were missing and motorists could glimpse the river below through the planks. It’s not as scary as back then, but it’s still a thrill to cross the river here.  The road continues on up and over steep grades and at one point we see another bridge in the distance, this one looks really scary.  Fortunately it has been abandoned and we only look up and marvel, rather than cross the canyon on that rickety derelict.  After 58 miles of gravel adventure the road ends at the footbridge over the Kennicott River to McCarthy and Kennicott. Parking at the bridge costs $5 but we opt to park in the free spaces at the small visitor center about a half-mile away and walk to the bridge.

Kennecott

Once across the bridge we catch the shuttle to take us the five miles to the Kennecott National Historic Landmark.  We hope to take a mine tour, but it’s the forth of July and tours are cancelled due to the parade and festivities in nearby McCarthy.  After stopping at the visitor center and catching a short film about the history of the Kennecott mines we hike around the Concentration Mine buildings and walk around the town taking tons of photos.  We finish our tour of Kennicott with a really tasty elk sausage pizza from Tailor Made Pizzas that operates out of a converted bus and then head over to McCarthy. 

Serious Egg Tossers

The town of McCarthy is best described as quaint and vintage.  Most of the buildings are original, restored and maintained.  Generators provide electricity and there is no trash service so residents have to haul out their refuse. We stop first at the town museum and see artifacts left by the inhabitants when the mine closed.  Seems that, when the mine closed the workers and other residents were given 2 hours notice that the last train was leaving so they had to pack up whatever they could carry and everything else was left behind. In addition to the trappings of daily life, there is a display of handbills and memorabilia from early forth of July festivities.  There were cash prizes for events such as: The Fat Man Fifty Yard Dash, Women’s Nail Pounding and the ever-popular Egg Toss.  We head over to the main part of town to join in the festivities.  Modern times have added some different events like: a Slow Bicycle Race, Hula-Hoops and Paper Airplane Flying but the real crowd pleaser is the EGG TOSS.  There are some really skilled egg tossers and catchers in this town!  For a region inhabited by less that 30 folks in a thirty square mile area they really know how to put on a great 4^th of July celebration.

After the two plus hour drive back to Chitna, we stop for dinner at the Hotel Chitna.  This time we feast on Halibut St. Elias: fresh halibut in a cream sauce with artichoke hearts and sautéed Copper River Salmon.  Service again is excellent and the meal is a real gastronomical delight.

We decide to stay here a few more days. The weather is a combination of clouds, rain and sunshine, which is typical for Alaska Summers.  More time to watch the fishwheels and explore the area.  There is a free Wi-Fi spot in Chitna across the street from the hotel so we can check our email and do some more research about the area.  While we are surfing, a large bull moose wanders by.  Then one day we come across some folks cleaning salmon at their fish wheel. They tell us about a huge King Salmon that was caught in the wheel next to them that was probably over seventy pounds, when caught, the fish just jumped out of the basket and swam on up-stream to pass on it’s DNA for longevity.  They also surprise us by giving us some Red Salmon Fillets and a nice chunk of King. What a treat!  We are really thankful for a tasty dinner that night, and some for the freezer!

Yak Herd

The Edgerton Highway is dotted with ranches, farms and parks. So we spend a day along the road, stopping to take photos and just enjoying being here.  At the Circle F YakRanch, we see a sign “Yak Meat For Sale” and some folks standing around a large black and white yak by the pens.  We pull over, take a few photos of the yaks in the field and go see the man about some yak meat.  Robert Fithian greets us and introduces us to large really mellow bull yak named Drifter.  This yak seems to be content hanging out with people and being petted. Robert explains about the various breeds and his main products: meat, wool and breeding stock.  These huge beasts are surprisingly gentle.  So gentle, that Robert takes us into the field with the cows and calves so we can experience them up close and personal.  Some of the beasts are a bit standoffish, but others come up to be petted and follow us around and the calves are just too cute!  Robert tells us that yaks can be mean and dangerous if mistreated, but he obviously spends a lot of time with his herd, every one has a name. He points out each one and tells us a bit about each animal.  Temperaments are as important as the meat and wool.  He pulls off some of the soft wooly undercoat for us.  It is soft and has no odor, even when wet, unlike wool.  In fact there is very little odor here. Yaks don’t stink and neither do we after petting and mingling with the herd.  Since we enjoyed our yak burger at the Hotel Chitna, we inquire about some meat.  Robert’s wife, Barb gets us a price list and we decide on some yak burger and an assortment of steaks.  Barb also spins the wool and she shows us some of her knitting. These items are light and soft much like cashmere… (I am so jonesing for a Yak sweater!) Well enough yakin about yaks. (OH NO not another bad pun!) Heading back to our home base we stop at Liberty Falls for some more photo ops.

Liberty Falls

We like being off the beaten path, our little freezer is full of Copper River Salmon and Yak meat.  Most of the folks we meet here are Alaskans, only a few travelers like us. The roadhouses, fish camps and small towns have been fun and fascinating. The flip side is the Alaska pipeline and HAARP the spawns of modern technology and science.   We can’t wait to see what’s around the next curve…

THE ADVENTURES OF DAVE AND DIMPLES VOL 2.07

AND NOW FOR THE "OTHER" ALASKA...

The last ferry ride of this leg of our journey takes us to Haines, AK.  It’s beautiful cruising along the inside passage, we see humpback whales spouting off the bow of the Columbia, a perfect day for a cruise. 

crab feed

Haines Harbor

For three days our home in Haines is the Ocean Side RVPark.  We are right on the water with a wonderful view of the small boat harbor and within walking distance to downtown Haines.  They even have a Dungeness crab feed and potluck one evening.  Chris actually went down to the docks with one of the owners and another guest and helped clean 38 crabs for the feed. Now he can add cleaning crab in Haines Alaska to his ever-growing list-o-talents LOL.

After setting up we stroll over to the Lighthouse Restaurant.  We arrive just in time as they are expecting a busload of French tourists any minute.  We get our order of Halibut Fish and Chips and a Captain’s Platter of: shrimp, halibut, wings and fried mozzarella before the crowd arrives.  Although they are slammed, the service is friendly and the food perfectly prepared and delicious.  Portions are large and we again have leftovers for some tasty fish tacos the next day. 

That night there is a huge storm.  Thunder shaking and lightning flashing it’s pretty exciting, but we don’t know how exciting until the next day, when everyone in town is enthusiastically talking about the weather.  Seems lightening in Haines is rare, so rare that the locals have never seen lightening like this.  One man told us that his 18-year old daughter had never seen lightening at all, until last night. Had we know, we might have gone out and shot some photos, but standing outside near a line of metal RVs in a thunder storm just didn’t seem like a good idea.

Ft. Seward

Hammer Museum

Haines has a few attractions worth visiting.  Historic Fort Seward  has been converted to private residences and art galleries, but much of it is still intact and we can imagine a busy fort defending the Alaska Coast.  At Alaska Indian Arts, Inc. we stroll through the working artist galleries, chat with some of the artists and purchase a small print by Greg Horner  to mount on the wall above our media center. The Sheldon Museum and CulturalCenter has a wonderful collection representing the culture of the Chilkat Valley.  They combine historic relics from the Tlingit culture, with nineteenth and twentieth century displays. Well worth a stop.  We assume that’s it for history and culture, but Haines has one more museum offering:  The Hammer Museum!  From the outside it looks like one of those quirky roadside attractions with a giant hammer standing in the yard of a small wood frame house, but inside there are examples of just about every hammer you can imagine and some we never imagined. This is the world’s first museum dedicated to the history of humanity’s first tool.  With a couple of thousand different hammers on display (and thousands more in storage) this museum is quirky for sure, but it is also fascinating.  The hammers are well documented and there are two young docents willing to share lots of information about the tools.

We drive out to Chikoot Lake and hike a bit about the lake.  Mosquitos are rampant but the ThermaCELLs work perfectly! There is a salmon weir across the river and we watch the poor ranger wading in the water trying to count the few early arriving salmon in the area.

Haines Highway in Fog

After three days we head out on the Haines Highway.  We have read and heard that this is one of the most scenic highways in Alaska.  Unfortunately the road is shrouded in fog and we’ll just have to take their word on this.  Not a lot of wild life either, just a couple of picas and a trumpeter swans.



Crossing the Canadian border is a breeze for us. We hand over all

Welcome to Canada, eh...

documentation (vehicle registrations, drivers license, insurance cards and passport cards.) We answer a few questions about where we were going and if we have guns, ammo, tobacco, alcohol, beer, pets and if anyone is in the trailer, no questions about food and we are sent on our way with a smile. 

We arrive at the Kluane RV Kampground in Haines Junction for a one-night stop.  Parking is on dirt; they have full hookups, OK Wi-Fi, but no trash receptacles so we have to pack out our trash (weird.) 

The list of attractions in Haines Junction is very short.  There’s the village monument at the junction of the Haines and Alaska Highways is a 24-foot high sculpture with area wildlife depicted in close to life-size detail on a mountain.  It’s nick named “The Muffin” and belongs in the category of quirky roadside attractions that are just quirky. You can’t miss this one but there is another attraction that should be on the NOT TO MISS LIST!  The Da Ku “Our House” Culture Center features Champagne and Aishihik First Nations cultural exhibits and the Kluane National Park Reserve Visitor Center.  This is one of the finest visitor centers we have ever visited it’s World Class!  Tons of hi-tech interactive interpretive displays keep us busy and stimulated until the center closes.  The park is an empire of mountains and ice. Here in a vast international preserve, are most of the tallest peaks in North America and the largest ice fields outside the polar caps. Over half the land mass is permanently draped in snow and ice – the remainder fosters forests and tundra and stable populations of eagles, grizzlies and other species often at risk elsewhere. We’d like to stay and explore but Alaska is our goal this summer, so we will make it a point to return and visit this park in the future.

Along the ALCAN

World's largest Gold Pan

So we rise early the next morning armed with our 2013 edition of the Milepost and head out on the Alaska Highway towards Tok. The skies are hazy and we later learn that there are 115 active fires burning in Alaska and even the main road between Anchorage and Fairbanks was closed for one day due to heavy smoke.  The scenery should be breathtaking but much of the forests are brown and dry; decimated by the spruce beetle and clouded by heavy smoke. We make a brief stop at the Tachal Dahl Visitor Center,  and learn a bit about the Dahl sheep in the area. No Sheep here this time of year as they are all grazing on the other side of the mountain.  In the roadside attraction category we pass by the world’s largest gold pan in Burwash Landing.

Black Bear

Mama & Baby Moose

The road is everything we have ever heard about the ALCAN: rough frost heave sections marked by orange flags where we slow down, muddy sections, and some smooth sections where the road is recently repaired, you just never know what’s up ahead. It’s overcast and hazy with intermittent showers so we decide to push all the way to the border.   We keep our eyes peeled for Yukon wildlife.  A pair of trumpeter swans fly parallel to the highway at the same speed we’re going (40+mph) and land in a pond and we finally see a scruffy black bear just before the border.  A the U.S. border we drive through a big orange scanner (like the ones at the airport except it’s for vehicles) show the agent our passport cards answer a few questions about guns, pets and if anyone else is in the trailer and are welcomed back to the U.S. We then drive the 90 miles onto Tok and along the way we finally see our first moose. WOO HOO!

(BTW Tok is pronounced “Toke” the “e” is missing)

Everyone driving into Alaska has to pass through Tok.  For such an important crossroads we note that in peak season, the multiple RV parks are pretty empty and vacancy signs abound on the hotels.  There are multiple gas stations, one well-stocked grocery store and a few small businesses catering to locals and tourists.  They have a fancy visitor center that is a clearing-house for brochures about anything you can do in the state.  Talking with some of the locals they describe the town as a boom and bust town they also note that this year they are seeing more large RV’s so they hope that the next boom is on the way.  Like the rest of Alaska they are having a heat wave and for us the smoky air is a déjà vu from last summer.

In Tok we stay two nights at the Tok RV Village.  The spaces are all full service pull-through and they give us one free hour of Wi-Fi per day.  Since everything is within walking distance we leave Dave and Dimples hitched.

The Alaska Burger

Fast Eddies is the only restaurant in town and they don’t let that go to their heads.  Service is fast and friendly and the food is excellent.  They offer a great salad bar with lots to choose from and their other dishes are generous.  The seafood platter is fresh, crisp and delicious and the Alaskan Burger is just about one of the tastiest burgers ever.  It’s also so huge that one order can be shared.  We actually eat there twice it’s so good!

Alaskan Husky

All Clean!

 Tok is known for two things: dog mushing and car washing.  We catch a mushing demonstration by Howling Raven Kennels.  These canine athletes are amazing and we have a new appreciation for the sport.  Dave and Dimples also get a bath.  So now that everyone is all shiny and clean it’s time to head south where clear skies and no smoke are reported towards Valdez…


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THE ADVENTURES OF DAVE AND DIMPLES VOL 2.06

GLACIERS AT LAST… BUT MELTING FAST!

Mendenhall Glacier

Back onto the Ferry… headed to Juneau.  It’s smooth sailing, and we arrive in Juneau at the unconscionable hour of 4:45 AM.  It’s a short drive to the Mendenhall Lake Campground at the base of Mendenhall Glacier.  The gate is locked from 10:00PM until 7:00AM so we continue up the road a bit to the end where there is a large parking lot with a wonderful early morning view of the glacier.   Here we park, crawl into Dimples and sleep for a bit.  Once the gate is open we check in.  Our space is huge and private with full hook-ups.  Mosquitos are rampant but we can report that the ThermaCELLs really work so no worries. 

After setting up, we hike some of the trails around the campground.  The rain forest is lush and laced with small streams and ponds.  One pond sports a beaver den. No beavers in sight but in the surrounding area we see gnawed stumps of the trees that are now piled in the middle of the pond. Mendenhall Lake is stunning with icebergs and waterfalls. There are numerous trails in the area of the glacier and we take advantage over a few days to do a little hiking along the Steep Creek Trail, the Trail of Time and the Nugget Falls Trail.  Since Mendenhall is the most accessible glacier in the area, there are lots of tourists along these trails, and tour busses fill the parking lots. But this glacier may not be around for long, it has receded a total of 2.5 miles since the 1500’s and 1.75 of those miles since 1958.

Tracy's King Crab Shack

Downtown Juneau near the cruise ship dock feels like Disneyland.  Every day four to six humongous floating cities bring thousands of cruisers who pour into the streets and wander about with apparent sensory overload. We avoid this area although we did brave the crowds late one afternoon to stop by Tracy’s Crab Shack.  Tracy’s is a pair of food trailers parked right next to the dock.  All seating is alfresco, tables are shared, and it’s all served on disposable dinnerware.  Although the ambiance is low key the food is anything but.  This is the place for some of the best King Crab dishes in Juneau. Now King Crab, even in Alaska is not cheap. A three pound bucket of legs will set you back over $100, but the best deal is the combo that serves 1 to 2: a generous cup of award winning hearty crab bisque, four fluffy crab cakes with a vibrant dipping sauce and two huge perfectly steamed king crab legs for $32.00 add a couple of Alaska Ambers and the tip and we have a really outstanding meal for under fifty bucks. Considering the location we are surprised that many of the diners sharing our table are locals who dine here as often as once a week. They’ll fight the crowds for Tracy’s legs but usually on a four-cruise ship day. We also learn that Tracy’s was featured on the past season of Bravo’s Top Chef, pretty impressive for food trailers on the dock!

Aquarium

The Macaulay Fish Hatchery offers tours of their facility, a basic tour and an in depth behind the scenes tour.  Since this year’s crop of King fry were released a few days before our visit and the fish ladders sit empty, there’s not a lot going on behind the scenes so we take the basic tour we get a short talk about the facility and the processes while viewing empty tanks and nets being washed and dried. There is one freshwater indoor tank with some tiny Coho fry.  This hatchery is a private non-profit organization dedicated to enhancing the Juneau area fisheries. This is fish ranching not fish farming.  It is modern and clean and a much more sophisticated operation than the State and Federal hatcheries we visited last year in Oregon and Idaho.  Although they clip all of the fry and inject data pins in a large percentage much like the other hatcheries in the country, they have also developed a method using a small change in water temperature during specific times of development to create a slight difference in the thickness of the ear cartilage to identify their salmon.  They also have an aquarium with a 5,000-gallon saltwater tank multiple smaller tanks, a touch tank and a shop selling salmon products.

Totem

As the Capital of Alaska, Juneau is home to the Alaska StateMuseum.  The permanent collections boast a large assortment of Alaska Native Culture, Early Exploration, Russian America, American Political, Mining, Minerals and Maritime History artifacts. These are all interesting but it’s the special exhibits that really intrigue us especially Nicholas Galanin – Tlingit/Aleut Multi-Disciplinary Artist – State of Being Displaced.  This installation is visually exciting and intellectually stimulating.  

There is also the Juneau-Douglas City Museum.  Housed in the former Juneau Memorial Library Building are various exhibits relating to the local history arts and culture.  The main attraction is the original Montana Creek Fish Trap, a 500-700 year old basketry style fish trap and a replica based on measurements from the original.

On the recommendation of a local man that we met while having an afternoon beer at the Viking Bar, we drive across the bridge to Douglas to try out the fare at The Island Pub.  They serve a variety of pub food, but it’s their wood fired pizza that draws us.  Every year they hold a contest and folks create different combinations of fresh local toppings for their thin crust gourmet pizzas.  We order the 2013 winner: light cream garlic sauce, smoked salmon, capers, red onions and their special cheese blend. It’s like lox and bagels with a twist and goes really well with some Alaskan Ambers.

A day at the Beach

One thing we did not expect in Juneau is temperature in the high eighties.  They’re having a heat wave, so we do as they do and head for the beach.  On the way we stop at a road break and the pilot car driver is originally from So Cal close to where Chris grew up.  He invites us to meet him at the Viking Baron Saturday night for shots of tequila – lots of fun, but we have to get back to the campground by 10:00 when they lock the gate.   (Unfortunately we are late and have to park Dave outside the gate and walk in what’s up with this curfew???)

There is so much to do and see in and around Juneau.  Our biggest outing is an all day cruise of the Tracy Arm Fiord with Adventure Bound Alaska’s 65 foot “Captain Cook”. We cruise over the jade green inland sea dodging blue icebergs, our necks craning to see the tops of snow capped granite walls with waterfalls spilling into the ocean, and our lungs filled with the crisp iced air.  At the end of the fiord we park at the base of the Sawyer Glacier.  The captain turns off the motors and we sit in silence.  Suddenly, loud pops and cracks like fireworks, a few small splashes and BOOM a large block of ice violently crashes into the sea.  It is powerful and awe inspiring.  But there is a softer side here.  The icebergs at the base of the glacier serve as a nursery for Harbor Seals and everywhere we look are mother seals and their pups some a few days old.  On the return trip we see more icebergs, various sea birds, bald eagles and a good-sized black bear. 

Sawyer Glacier

Mom & Pup

Captain of the Berg

Black Bear

Well that about sums it up for Juneau… one more ferry ride on this leg of our journey will bring us to Haines… and then…

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