Today Josh and Amy got married. We had beautiful weather and owners of Gatecreek Cabins went above and beyond to get the property flawless for the wedding. The grounds were beautiful, the wedding party looked great, and the weather was perfect. I don't think Josh and Amy could have asked for a more perfect wedding day.
The ceremony was short, but nice. The reception food was great. It didn't take long for everyone to scatter and get into more comfortable clothes. We had Amy's permission to do it though. :)
Here are the pics from the wedding.
Tomorrow we head back home. Our flight leaves at 6 am and we get home at 11 pm. It will be a long day.
Saturday, August 8, 2009
Friday, August 7, 2009
A beautiful flight over Denali
Today we finally got to take our flight over Denali. The weather cleared overnight. We still had some clouds and fog, but we were able to get above the clouds to see the peaks of the mountains.
The plane ride was so smooth. I didn't even realize we left the ground! I never got sick and we never experienced turbulence. Here are pictures from the plane ride but they cannot begin to capture the beauty of this ride. They also cannot capture the size of North America's largest mountain, Denali.
Most people in the lower 48 know this as Mt. McKinley. The native Alaskans named this mountain Denali long ago for "the high one". One American climber decided to name the mountain after McKinley to get publicity for his favorite presidential candidate. The official Alaskan name is Denali, but the US Board for Geographic Names keeps Mt. McKinley as the name to avoid confusion between the mountain and the national park.
Another interesting fact about Denali is that it is certainly the highest peak in North America while Mt. Everest is the highest mountain in the world relative to sea level. However, the rise of Denali is more than that of Everest. Denali sits only 2000 feet above sea level giving it a rise of 18,000 feet. Everest sits at 17,000 feet above sea level with a rise of 12,000 feet.
This flight is expensive, but for anyone considering a trip to Alaska - it is well worth the money! I would skip everything we did in the park and do this instead without a second thought. It was fantastic!
At the end of the day we headed to Trapper Creek for Josh and Amy's wedding.
The plane ride was so smooth. I didn't even realize we left the ground! I never got sick and we never experienced turbulence. Here are pictures from the plane ride but they cannot begin to capture the beauty of this ride. They also cannot capture the size of North America's largest mountain, Denali.
Most people in the lower 48 know this as Mt. McKinley. The native Alaskans named this mountain Denali long ago for "the high one". One American climber decided to name the mountain after McKinley to get publicity for his favorite presidential candidate. The official Alaskan name is Denali, but the US Board for Geographic Names keeps Mt. McKinley as the name to avoid confusion between the mountain and the national park.
Another interesting fact about Denali is that it is certainly the highest peak in North America while Mt. Everest is the highest mountain in the world relative to sea level. However, the rise of Denali is more than that of Everest. Denali sits only 2000 feet above sea level giving it a rise of 18,000 feet. Everest sits at 17,000 feet above sea level with a rise of 12,000 feet.
This flight is expensive, but for anyone considering a trip to Alaska - it is well worth the money! I would skip everything we did in the park and do this instead without a second thought. It was fantastic!
At the end of the day we headed to Trapper Creek for Josh and Amy's wedding.
Thursday, August 6, 2009
A gloomy day in AK
The last 2 days in AK have been dreary and gloomy. Yesterday we were scheduled to take a flight around Denali (Mt. McKinley). The weather was too bad so they rescheduled us for Friday.
Today we went to Denali National Park and Preserve. Again, the weather is gloomy, so the park wasn't fantastic. We rode a school bus from 9:30 to 5:00 with a few short breaks. We did see some wildlife, but it was too far away to take pictures. We could barely see them with our binoculars. We saw 3 grizzly bears and a cub, several Dall sheep, 2 moose and several caribou herds. We also saw 2 snowshoe hares (1 at our cabin). The wildlife was neat, but we thought it would be more abundant or closer. The weather made it uncomfortable to hike (since we are fair weather hikers anyway). It was colder than we thought it would be.
Overall, we were sort of disappointed with Denali National Park. We probably would have a different opinion if it was a nicer day, but the land is pretty barren. The harsh conditions there (extreme cold, little precipitation, and gale force winds) make it difficult for any vegetation to take hold in the higher elevations. From the pictures, you will see how barren it seems. This was not what we expected, so we were surprised. It was a very long drive to get here from Anchorage, too. So if we had it to do over, I think we would skip Denali and spend an extra day in Seward.
We are really hoping to take our flight tomorrow. We will be really sad if we came all the way to Alaska and didn't get to see Denali.
One quirky note - when we boarded our second bus, we noticed a family that was on our boat ride Tuesday. Then we noticed another family that was at the Sheraton with us during the fire alarm! It's a small world!
Wish us luck for our plane ride tomorrow. We are headed to the wedding tomorrow afternoon. I'm pretty sure there will not be internet access there, so I will get this updated on Monday probably. Have a great weekend!
Pictures of our gloomy day in Denali National Park and Preserve
Today we went to Denali National Park and Preserve. Again, the weather is gloomy, so the park wasn't fantastic. We rode a school bus from 9:30 to 5:00 with a few short breaks. We did see some wildlife, but it was too far away to take pictures. We could barely see them with our binoculars. We saw 3 grizzly bears and a cub, several Dall sheep, 2 moose and several caribou herds. We also saw 2 snowshoe hares (1 at our cabin). The wildlife was neat, but we thought it would be more abundant or closer. The weather made it uncomfortable to hike (since we are fair weather hikers anyway). It was colder than we thought it would be.
Overall, we were sort of disappointed with Denali National Park. We probably would have a different opinion if it was a nicer day, but the land is pretty barren. The harsh conditions there (extreme cold, little precipitation, and gale force winds) make it difficult for any vegetation to take hold in the higher elevations. From the pictures, you will see how barren it seems. This was not what we expected, so we were surprised. It was a very long drive to get here from Anchorage, too. So if we had it to do over, I think we would skip Denali and spend an extra day in Seward.
We are really hoping to take our flight tomorrow. We will be really sad if we came all the way to Alaska and didn't get to see Denali.
One quirky note - when we boarded our second bus, we noticed a family that was on our boat ride Tuesday. Then we noticed another family that was at the Sheraton with us during the fire alarm! It's a small world!
Wish us luck for our plane ride tomorrow. We are headed to the wedding tomorrow afternoon. I'm pretty sure there will not be internet access there, so I will get this updated on Monday probably. Have a great weekend!
Pictures of our gloomy day in Denali National Park and Preserve
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
Our Alaskan boat ride
**Update - I was able to get the pics downloaded. View our Whittier pics here.
Today we drove to Whittier, AK. This is a tiny little coastal town. It was only accessible by rail and boat until 2000. Now cars can go but you take the same tunnel the train does and drive on the train tracks! The tunnel was really cool. It is 2.7 miles long and very natural. The inside was mountain rock, not smooth concrete like most tunnels you go through. There is a picture of the tunnel here at wikipedia.
There is some interesting history about Whittier. It started as a military post before World War II because the US was afraid the Japanese would attack the US via Alaska. The military built the tunnel, a boat dock, and some housing. The military had grand plans for Whittier, but soon after this infrastructure was complete, they abandoned the town. There is not much there now except the old military buildings. 90% of the town's small population live in the old officer's housing which is one big building with condos. The ground floor is a grocery store and the 3rd floor has a medical clinic. In the winter, Whittier does not get any direct sunlight because it is wedged between mountains. The sun does not get high enough to get over the mountains. According to the forest ranger, Whittier gets about 30 feet of snow each year, and it doesn't melt until spring. This makes the winters very brutal there. The military built underground tunnels to move between buildings in these harsh conditions. Today, the 35 children even go to school via these tunnels so they do not have to go outside. The population of Whittier is around 200. There is a little more info here at wikipedia.
Obviously there isn't much to do in Whittier. There were a few shops but most were closed or run down. This is not a tourist spot except for the boat tours that go into Prince William Sound.
We took a boat into Blackstone Bay to look at wildlife and glaciers. We saw a bald eagle in a tree then flying around. We saw a raft of sea otters (more than two otters is called a raft). We also saw some some harbor seals laying on chunks of ice that had calved from the glacier. We saw several glaciers but two large ones were where we spent the most time. We did see some calving (ice falling off into the water).
We're back in Anchorage tonight. We will drive to Talkeetna tomorrow for an airplane ride around Denali (Mt. McKinley) and then we'll drive to Healy. From there, we will go to Denali National Park Thursday and Friday to hike. Then it's time for the wedding in Trapper Creek Friday night and Saturday. Sunday we leave Anchorage for SC.
I'm not sure if we will have internet capabilities anymore after tonight. The next few nights we'll be staying in pretty remote cabins. It's already late here so I did not get time to post our pictures from today. I will post them as soon as I can.
The weather has turned rainy here, so wish us luck as we fly and hike for a couple days!
Today we drove to Whittier, AK. This is a tiny little coastal town. It was only accessible by rail and boat until 2000. Now cars can go but you take the same tunnel the train does and drive on the train tracks! The tunnel was really cool. It is 2.7 miles long and very natural. The inside was mountain rock, not smooth concrete like most tunnels you go through. There is a picture of the tunnel here at wikipedia.
There is some interesting history about Whittier. It started as a military post before World War II because the US was afraid the Japanese would attack the US via Alaska. The military built the tunnel, a boat dock, and some housing. The military had grand plans for Whittier, but soon after this infrastructure was complete, they abandoned the town. There is not much there now except the old military buildings. 90% of the town's small population live in the old officer's housing which is one big building with condos. The ground floor is a grocery store and the 3rd floor has a medical clinic. In the winter, Whittier does not get any direct sunlight because it is wedged between mountains. The sun does not get high enough to get over the mountains. According to the forest ranger, Whittier gets about 30 feet of snow each year, and it doesn't melt until spring. This makes the winters very brutal there. The military built underground tunnels to move between buildings in these harsh conditions. Today, the 35 children even go to school via these tunnels so they do not have to go outside. The population of Whittier is around 200. There is a little more info here at wikipedia.
Obviously there isn't much to do in Whittier. There were a few shops but most were closed or run down. This is not a tourist spot except for the boat tours that go into Prince William Sound.
We took a boat into Blackstone Bay to look at wildlife and glaciers. We saw a bald eagle in a tree then flying around. We saw a raft of sea otters (more than two otters is called a raft). We also saw some some harbor seals laying on chunks of ice that had calved from the glacier. We saw several glaciers but two large ones were where we spent the most time. We did see some calving (ice falling off into the water).
We're back in Anchorage tonight. We will drive to Talkeetna tomorrow for an airplane ride around Denali (Mt. McKinley) and then we'll drive to Healy. From there, we will go to Denali National Park Thursday and Friday to hike. Then it's time for the wedding in Trapper Creek Friday night and Saturday. Sunday we leave Anchorage for SC.
I'm not sure if we will have internet capabilities anymore after tonight. The next few nights we'll be staying in pretty remote cabins. It's already late here so I did not get time to post our pictures from today. I will post them as soon as I can.
The weather has turned rainy here, so wish us luck as we fly and hike for a couple days!
Monday, August 3, 2009
Our day in Seward, AK
Today, we went sea kayaking in Resurrection Bay in Seward. To get there, we drove about 3 miles on a dirt road. We pulled up to this barn and walked in to find a gravel floor and several people walking around in flip flops. They were all very nice. We headed to the beach and started our kayaking adventure.
There was fog early in the trip. We were supposed to kayak about 5 miles, then hike for 2.5 to an old WWII bunker. Our guide said if the fog didn't burn off it would not be worth hiking that far because we couldn't see much. The fog never burned off, so we stopped for lunch on North Beach. We hiked about a mile and then started kayaking back. We stopped at another beach where we walked to a creek to see the salmon running. We weren't the only ones there for the salmon - we were joined by a young black bear. There are several pics in today's album.
The scenery all day was just breathtaking. As James said, "it doesn't matter where you look it is just beautiful." We really enjoyed the trip. I was VERY nervous about the kayaking trip because I am just not fond of being around the water stuck in a plastic thing with my legs kind of confined. But it was just fine. :)
While we kayaked, we saw a seal and sea lion. We saw several fish jumping out the water and several different birds that go diving for fish. And of course we saw the black bear and salmon.
The kayaking trip lasted from 9-5. We went for dinner then headed to Exit Glacier. Glaciers are not just chunks of ice floating in the water. That's what I thought before I came to Alaska. A glacier is just an accumulation of snow and ice where snow accumulates faster in the winter than it melts off in the summer. As they melt, they work their way down the mountains. There are several different types of glaciers.
Exit Glacier was really neat. As early as 1998 you could actually touch the glacier. However, it has receded enough that you can no longer touch it. This may sound alarming to you and you may be thinking "that's global warming". But there was a sign at the park showing where the glacier had been in previous years. The worst decay of the glacier was in the 1960s and sometime in the early 1800s.
The pictures of the glacier don't do it justice. It is massive but only a small portion of the ice fields that it came from.
Take a look at our pictures from today. Hope you enjoy! Tomorrow we have a boat ride in Whittier to see more glaciers and wildlife.
Seward pics
There was fog early in the trip. We were supposed to kayak about 5 miles, then hike for 2.5 to an old WWII bunker. Our guide said if the fog didn't burn off it would not be worth hiking that far because we couldn't see much. The fog never burned off, so we stopped for lunch on North Beach. We hiked about a mile and then started kayaking back. We stopped at another beach where we walked to a creek to see the salmon running. We weren't the only ones there for the salmon - we were joined by a young black bear. There are several pics in today's album.
The scenery all day was just breathtaking. As James said, "it doesn't matter where you look it is just beautiful." We really enjoyed the trip. I was VERY nervous about the kayaking trip because I am just not fond of being around the water stuck in a plastic thing with my legs kind of confined. But it was just fine. :)
While we kayaked, we saw a seal and sea lion. We saw several fish jumping out the water and several different birds that go diving for fish. And of course we saw the black bear and salmon.
The kayaking trip lasted from 9-5. We went for dinner then headed to Exit Glacier. Glaciers are not just chunks of ice floating in the water. That's what I thought before I came to Alaska. A glacier is just an accumulation of snow and ice where snow accumulates faster in the winter than it melts off in the summer. As they melt, they work their way down the mountains. There are several different types of glaciers.
Exit Glacier was really neat. As early as 1998 you could actually touch the glacier. However, it has receded enough that you can no longer touch it. This may sound alarming to you and you may be thinking "that's global warming". But there was a sign at the park showing where the glacier had been in previous years. The worst decay of the glacier was in the 1960s and sometime in the early 1800s.
The pictures of the glacier don't do it justice. It is massive but only a small portion of the ice fields that it came from.
Take a look at our pictures from today. Hope you enjoy! Tomorrow we have a boat ride in Whittier to see more glaciers and wildlife.
Seward pics
Sunday, August 2, 2009
Our first day in Alaska
We arrived in Alaska yesterday evening. It is very beautiful here. Words can’t really describe all the beautiful scenery and the pictures don’t do it justice. But everywhere you look is scenic. The weather has been perfect so far – sunny and high 60s. We made a trip to Wal-Mart to find some things we couldn’t pack (matches and such). Wal-Mart was much like we’re used to. The merchandise was a little different. The sporting goods area had lots of fishing, hiking, camping, and boating gear. There were toboggans and winter gloves in the clothing section – in August! Prices were comparable to the lower 48 except soft drinks seemed to very high ($9 for 24 pack).
On the plane, the guy sitting next to me started talking to us about Anchorage. He got married near Anchorage last year, so he started telling us all the places to visit while we were here. He even emailed us the info he sent out for his wedding guests explaining where to eat, where to stay, and things to do. He was very kind! His name is Genji.
This morning we were woken by a blaring fire alarm at 6am. Luckily it was 10am eastern time, so we weren’t totally groggy. But we were still sleeping when it went off. We put on shoes and a fleece and headed downstairs. We were on the 11th floor so we walked down all those stairs. We never smelled smoke and most other people didn’t either. Everyone was moving slow, so we were hoping there wasn’t a real fire.
We got outside and it was a little chilly for your PJs! Even with a fleece we were a little cold. It was probably in the low 50s. There was one guy with a shirt on but a towel around his waist. One lady was saying she wanted to just come right down but her husband made her put on pants and shirt. We were glad because we could see the skirt of her nighty hanging out over her pants. And there were several military guys who must have been in the middle of breakfast because they brought their plates with them!
We stood there for about 30 minutes and decided we couldn’t wait any longer to pee. Luckily James had brought his wallet and keys and his handy dandy phone helped us find the nearest McDonald’s. There was a teenager sleeping at one of the tables (no food at his table). A guy came in with his tall hound dog, ordered his breakfast and went upstairs (with the dog) to eat. When we got back to the hotel, everyone was back inside. While waiting for the elevator, we saw another family in their PJs with McDonald’s cups so we weren’t the only one at McDonald’s that morning in our PJs.
After getting ready, we finally left for the day. We started toward Seward with plans to make many stops at scenic spots along the Seward highway (thanks to help from Genji). The drive was the most beautiful drive I’ve ever taken. For most of the drive, there were mountains and water on the right side of the road and more mountains on the left side. We stopped at Potter Marsh, Beluga Point, Bird Creek, Mount Alyeska in Girdwood, and Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center then to Seward.
At Bird Creek, we saw lots of people fishing for silver salmon. It was like fishing in a barrel! When most people put their line in the water they had a fish in 2-3 casts. You could see the salmon in the water, but the water is kind of gray from all the glacier silt, so the pictures probably won’t show them.
At Mount Alyeska, we took a tram to the top of the mountain. The view from the top was beautiful. This is a ski resort in the winter.
At the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center, we saw a porcupine, musk ox, moose, brown bears eating the leg of a large animal, wood bison, elk, baby moose (getting fed with bottles), plains bison and a black bear. There was also a bald eagle in a cage. These animals were rescued from the wild and cannot return for some reason. For example, the baby moose get separated from their mothers sometimes (by fences, predators, etc.). Without their mothers, the moose cannot survive in a typical wild area, so they stay here in protected lands.
Seward is a really neat harbor town. Our hotel room looks out onto the harbor. There is a huge cruise ship there and lots of fishing boats. Tomorrow we will go sea kayaking!
View pictures from today
On the plane, the guy sitting next to me started talking to us about Anchorage. He got married near Anchorage last year, so he started telling us all the places to visit while we were here. He even emailed us the info he sent out for his wedding guests explaining where to eat, where to stay, and things to do. He was very kind! His name is Genji.
This morning we were woken by a blaring fire alarm at 6am. Luckily it was 10am eastern time, so we weren’t totally groggy. But we were still sleeping when it went off. We put on shoes and a fleece and headed downstairs. We were on the 11th floor so we walked down all those stairs. We never smelled smoke and most other people didn’t either. Everyone was moving slow, so we were hoping there wasn’t a real fire.
We got outside and it was a little chilly for your PJs! Even with a fleece we were a little cold. It was probably in the low 50s. There was one guy with a shirt on but a towel around his waist. One lady was saying she wanted to just come right down but her husband made her put on pants and shirt. We were glad because we could see the skirt of her nighty hanging out over her pants. And there were several military guys who must have been in the middle of breakfast because they brought their plates with them!
We stood there for about 30 minutes and decided we couldn’t wait any longer to pee. Luckily James had brought his wallet and keys and his handy dandy phone helped us find the nearest McDonald’s. There was a teenager sleeping at one of the tables (no food at his table). A guy came in with his tall hound dog, ordered his breakfast and went upstairs (with the dog) to eat. When we got back to the hotel, everyone was back inside. While waiting for the elevator, we saw another family in their PJs with McDonald’s cups so we weren’t the only one at McDonald’s that morning in our PJs.
After getting ready, we finally left for the day. We started toward Seward with plans to make many stops at scenic spots along the Seward highway (thanks to help from Genji). The drive was the most beautiful drive I’ve ever taken. For most of the drive, there were mountains and water on the right side of the road and more mountains on the left side. We stopped at Potter Marsh, Beluga Point, Bird Creek, Mount Alyeska in Girdwood, and Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center then to Seward.
At Bird Creek, we saw lots of people fishing for silver salmon. It was like fishing in a barrel! When most people put their line in the water they had a fish in 2-3 casts. You could see the salmon in the water, but the water is kind of gray from all the glacier silt, so the pictures probably won’t show them.
At Mount Alyeska, we took a tram to the top of the mountain. The view from the top was beautiful. This is a ski resort in the winter.
At the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center, we saw a porcupine, musk ox, moose, brown bears eating the leg of a large animal, wood bison, elk, baby moose (getting fed with bottles), plains bison and a black bear. There was also a bald eagle in a cage. These animals were rescued from the wild and cannot return for some reason. For example, the baby moose get separated from their mothers sometimes (by fences, predators, etc.). Without their mothers, the moose cannot survive in a typical wild area, so they stay here in protected lands.
Seward is a really neat harbor town. Our hotel room looks out onto the harbor. There is a huge cruise ship there and lots of fishing boats. Tomorrow we will go sea kayaking!
View pictures from today
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