Portland/Vancouver/Alaskan Cruise/Denali (Part 3 of 3)

If you'd like to skip my ramblings, here's all the Part 3 images.  Images are in order of the story.

"I am convinced, after only two visits to "The Great Land," that Alaska is one of the most impressive reservoirs of beauty and wilderness - an inexhaustible resource for creative interpretation. The Alaskan scene has been but lightly explored by the serious artists in all media"

-Ansel Adams

Surprise Glacier

August 24 - Whittier/Anchorage/Denali

Well the cruise is over, and they kicked us off the boat (literally) at 840am but we thought it would be fun to continue to see more ice while in Alaska.  Hey, it might all be gone by the next time we come back so might as well see as much as we can.  We signed up with a local boat provider who does a 26 glacier tour of the local area (Prince William Sound and the local fjords, and one of the fjords on the list was College Fjord, bad planning on our part).  Bad part about the tour was it didn’t start until 1230, so we had about 4 hours to kill in the cruise port lobby in two metal folding chairs.  This gave me some time to catch up on this blog and to edit a few of my pictures, and at the time of this writing I have amassed over 50GBs of pics, seems like I’ll have to do a bit of deleting.  

Wet Bald Eagle

Seal rookery

Sea Otters just chilling

Working our way through Harriman Fjord

Well the boat for the glacier was much smaller and almost twice as fast as the cruise liner and the boat was able to get MUCH MUCH closer to the glaciers.  The captain was navigating the boat through fields of broken ice to get very close to the glaciers, it was a much different experience than from the cruise ship.  While out in the Sound we saw more seals, bald eagles and sea otters but from a much closer distance than on the big boat. As I explained earlier, the trip was planning on going to 26 glaciers which included the ones we previously saw in College Fjord, but since the weather was pretty foggy (a common occurrence in the Sound) the captain took us to another fjord instead.  All in all we got see the Harriman, Surprise, Cascade, Barry and Coxe Glaciers and many of the waterfalls which flowed all around the walls of each of the fjords.

A wet couple enjoying the cold near the glacier

Seals relaxing

The receding Barry Glacier

Glacier fed waterfalls

The glacier tour had ended and now we had to make our way north to Denali, but first we had to get to our rental car which was at the Anchorage airport.  The glacier tour provided us with a bus to the airport, which included a ride through a one lane/one track train/car tunnel.  Yes, everything in Alaska is difficult to get to, the town of Whittier where the cruise ended is protected by mountains on all sides (just like Juneau and Ketchikan) and really no way in or out, but luckily the federal government built a 3 mile tunnel back during WWII for defense purposes as they needed a way to get soldiers through.  So every hour on the hour, until 11pm the tunnel opens up for car to leave Whittier en route to Anchorage AND it’s $13 for a car and you don’t wanna know what the bus had to pay. The drive from the end of the tunnel to Anchorage was one of stunning beauty, this long bay (Turnagain Arm) surrounded by sweeping mountains and this road that just ran along the bay… I honestly thought this was the most amazing road I’ve ever been on and sadly the damn bus driver didn’t stop for pictures and it didn’t really look like there were a lot of places to pull over.

Turnagain Arm - Not mine :( (Courtesy Wikipedia), the road runs along the left side

We got to our car at 7 and were looking for dinner because, well it was dinner time, but we also realized that we still had about 5 hours of driving ahead of us.  We had plans to hit up a local beer pub because as you might have heard the food is always good, but we figured that another hour and a half would get us into Denali a bit later than we really wanted to be out.  We phoned a local pizza joint, ordered a pizza, got it to go and ate it on the road.  Great decision and great pizza but no beer :(

The weather in Anchorage was nice, a bit cloudy but we had gotten use to that and we were making good time on our way in to Denali, but when we hit the park boundary (and still had an hour and half to go) the rain came out.  The rain combined with roads with no street lights, ice road truckers with high beams that burn retinas, and roads that were at times missing lines made the last stretch a bit stressful but we finally made it to our destination at 1am and promptly went to sleep.

August 25 - Denali from the Park Entrance

A bit of a weird day here, we woke up late due to our late night arrival then went down to breakfast saw the overpriced buffet and decided to eat our left over cold pizza instead.

We drove over to the Denali Park visitor center to check out the entrance and find a few things to do for the day, because we never detail our trips to max.  We found a hike that went Horseshoe lake, and it was raining is so bad we took camera phone pics so excuse the quality.  It was a cute and fun little hike, but nothing truly majestic.

Overview of Horseshoe Lake (trail was down around the lake)

Horseshoe Lake (Beaver dam on left)

We also took a short trip down the park road, but between the rain, our sleepiness and lack of animals just running across the road we turned around.  This was our lack of sleep catching up with us so we decided to take a nap. After the nap we went back to the visitors center to watch the dog sledding presentation put on by the park rangers.  Which seems to be a HUGE thing in Alaska, everywhere we go they have dogs for mushing and I do mean everywhere (we had previously seen them while driving through the Yukon).

For dinner we went out to eat at one of the breweries we had considered the day before but skipped because of our time limitation.  49th State Brewery…well we finally found the one brewpub with bad food and bad beer.  I usually don’t bad mouth places but if you’re ever in Alaska, please skip this place, maybe the hops and malts they get up in Denali are just bad or maybe I was spoiled from all the good Portland beer I had the week before.

Overview from our hotel outside the park.  You can see the visitor center just above the treetops.

After dinner we headed home in a shockingly beautiful weather to go to sleep, the late night the night before had finally caught us and tomorrow was another long day.

Heading south back towards the park entrance

August 26 - Denali National Park (park entrance)

Another cloudy day but this was the new normal in Alaska so we were used to it but being spoiled with the first few days of good weather on the cruise had really set us up for disaster.  It wasn’t quite raining but you could feel it in the air.  

A little back story before I continue, they say that only 30% of the people who come to Denali National Park actually get to see Denali Mountain (formerly Mount McKinley).  The mountain is notoriously cloudy and has very few clear days.

We had run into a couple who had did a flight seeing tour of Denali, and told us that they saw the mountain from a plane and this had us intrigued because WE had to see this mountain.  We had actually talked about doing the tour the day before but with the weather being crappy we thought we’d wait another day and we’d have better luck.  Well, like I said at the beginning of this day, it was cloudy and looking bad…very bad.  So bad we thought our flight might be cancelled, but it wasn’t…

Rebe, Janie, and myself...note the clouds and this was actually after the flight

The plane took off and our pilot Janie was a bit pessimistic sounding on whether we were actually going to get to see the mountain on this day.  She circled around the area where we were staying and showed us a few of the smaller, 3000-4000 foot tall mountains.  She doubled back trying to find a break in the clouds so we could get higher because of course The Mountain would be above the clouds.  She called on the radio to a colleague who was also in the air to see if he had had any luck, and he had and he told her where the break was.  She maneuvered the plane over to the area where he had had success and we made our way up through a hole through a series of spirals in an upward manner.  As we came up through the clouds we found a view of the mountain, but only the center of it!

First ever sighting of Denali

Denali through the clouds

We were at 7000 feet at this moment and were still looking at the middle of this majestic mountain that was just blanketed in years of snow.  We pushed on thru this open layer, which didn’t close and when we came out it was clear and amazing.  Even Janie, our pilot, was astounded as to how clear it was around the mountain and we later found out that people on the park road actually saw the mountain at this time. Janie decided that since it was so clear we’d make a loop around the mountain to see it from all sides and all the surrounding majesty that exists at Denali.  Truly an amazing flight and truly an amazing mountain, plenty of WOW moments. 

Denali after the clouds

Denali and the Kahiltna Glacier

It was now time to get back to the airport from which we took off and just like getting above the clouds, we had to find a way back down which turned out to be even more difficult than the way up.  Janie had circled the mountain at 10,000 feet and had plenty of sight lines but there seemed to be no openings.  She radioed around to see if any other pilots had any luck now getting down and they seemed to be complaining too about all the holes closing up.  I can you hear you wanting to ask, “why not just dive through the clouds?” yeah I had this same question, since there really isn’t an air traffic controller the pilots all fly by line of sight so ducking through a cloud is a bit dangerous.  Janie then decided to take a dive (not a steep dive) through a hole that was near the mountain but into a recess where a glacier had carved out part of the mountain.  We were again back under the clouds into the gloom that was typical Alaska and flew over the park road for quite a while before exiting the park air space. It was then back to the airport and on the ground safely.

Upon leaving the airport headed back toward the Denali National Park entrance for a bite to eat before lunch and then into the park to catch our bus to our final location of the trip.  Our final destination was Kantishna Roadhouse, which is a lodge deep into the center of the park and at the end of the park road.  Denali is a bit of a different National Park than most of the others we have previously visited, Yosemite, Yellowstone, Grand Canyon are all parks that you can just get to the gate and drive through the park to take in all it’s wonder.  But it’s not quite the same in Denali, the park road is a 90+ mile road that winds into the center of the park but only the first 15 miles of the park road is accessible to public cars.  If you want to see the other 75 miles, you need to catch a park bus or stay at on of the lodges deep in the park.  Also, only the first 15 miles are paved, the rest is a one lane dirt road that winds through the heart of the park and in this day in age of technology and modern paving techniques one would ask why does this majestic park only have a one lane dirt road.  If you saw a few of these sights you could imagine people stopping and creating traffic jams that line up for miles to just to stare at a mountain or watch a bear, which is a common occurrence in Yellowstone and can be a nightmare traffic wise and safety wise too.  

We met our bus at 1pm at the Denali visitor center, packed our little suitcase and joined the other 20 or so guests on the bus and headed into the park.  The 90 mile journey was slated to take six and half hours but we would get to see the main interior track of the park.  

The bus would stop 4 times for bathroom breaks and for people to stretch their legs, but the bus would also stop for any animal that we spotted out the window.  First it was caribou (reindeer).

Later it was bears.

Couple of bear cubs playing

Dall Sheep.

Even a fox came out to play

But even amidst all the cloud cover you could tell this place was special.

The bus driver proceeded to tell us all about the history of the park, a few of the special people who had a hand in creating the park and even about a large bear named Hannibal, aptly named because he ate another bear and buried the body of the bear near the park road.  Yes, Hannibal is still walking about in the park and HE’S huge.  

We finally got to our destination, the Kantishna Roadhouse, a cute series of 32 double cabins, a dining room for those visiting patrons and a super friendly staff.  The roadhouse is situated along Willow Creek right in a valley beneath the Outer Range and the Alaska Range mountains in the park.  This time of year in Alaska is really in the start of fall so the leaves have already started to change and the surroundings are just glorious, being this far from civilization is a bit eerie in that you’re so far from help but a bit freeing in that you’re really apart of the wilderness out there.

Roadhouse (main building)

August 27 - Denali National Park (park center)

The plan for the day was to do the ‘moderate’ hike. The roadhouse puts on 3 hikes every morning, one being casual, 2-3 hours no elevation gain; moderate, 4-5 hours and 3-4 miles 1500’ elevation gain and a packed lunch, and strenuous 6-7 hours 1700’ elevation gain and 7-8 miles with a packed lunch too. 

The hike was called Quigley Ridge named for Fannie Quigley, who is an Alaskan heroine who apparently walked from Nebraska to the Denali area to mine for gold in the early 1900s.  Her and her husband lived up on the mountains for 40+ years just enjoying the mountains and looking for gold.  The hike was… well a bit more than moderate as we walked up an old mining road before hiking straight up the mountain.  None of that zig-zag crap, the old miners didn’t waste time with switchbacks to make it easy just straight up.

The views at the top were nice and we even got a peak at Denali while were were at the top, he (yeah they call the mountain a he, the mountain next to Denali is his wife) doesn’t show his face often but every now and then he’s peaks out.

If you look closely, you can see Denali (about 4/5 up the image behind the clouds)

There was an older lady on the hike with us, easily 70.  At first I thought she was in the wrong group because her husband was in the casual hike group.  She plodded her way to the top, though she took a few stumbles and needed a leg up a few times but she made it.  She had an episode on the way down where she just lost her balance for a moment but she kept on trucking, when I get that age I dream of being able to do that hike.  She’s a champ in my eyes.

We spent the afternoon relaxing at the Roadhouse, enjoying the nice cool Alaskan air and listening to the creek that runs by the facility and even took a nap before dinner.  

We shared our dinner table with two young women from Switzerland who came to Alaska to get away from everything (work and cell phones) and I’d say that they came to the right place.  After dinner we enjoyed a talk from Cody, our tour guides from the day's hike who had just graduated with a degree in geology and in the talk he told us about how Denali (the mountain) was formed, a very interesting and engaging talk.  

After the talk Cody offered to take us to Wonder Lake, which is a lake created by ice remnants of the glacier that used to cover the park.  This was a last ditch effort to see if Denali had come out to give us some love, but all we got was this.  

Remember this image of Wonder Lake, it's very important

This is the standard view from this location, it is said that Ansel Adams waited 20 to 40 days to get a perfect image of this mountain.  I took a few images of the surroundings because the park is still beautful even if the mountain is not out.

August 28 - Denali National Park (park center)

This day started a lot earlier than I had expected it to, back in Skagway (Day 10) we had a conversation with some locals and they told us that on a clear night we might have a shot at seeing the northern lights (aurora borealis).  Well for some reason I woke up at 2am and couldn’t really get back to sleep, so I did what any photographer in a place so far from civilization  would do.  Yep, get up and look at the stars.  I first peeked out the window to see if I could see the clouds and the front window of our cabin was fogged over.  Checked the rear window, and I could see two bright stars peaking through the trees.  This gave me hope that it was clear but with the amount of clouds we have been seeing I still wasn’t very hopeful.  Now it’s time to go to work, throw on a coat over my PJs and walk outside to take a real look this time.   

Nothing but stars and the sound of the river running by (the image shows a bit of green, but I couldn’t really see this with my eyes but the camera can see a lot more than the human eye).  I ran back inside to get my camera, change lenses, all in the dark because Rebe is still sleeping and I am trying not to stumble over all our hiking gear and my other camera gear in the floor.  Finally got it all together and now the search was on for some early morning magic.  Guess who found some magic?

We had signed up for another moderate hike on this day and it was to be a more flat but still 4 miles worth of hiking, and this hike was to take us walking straight at Denali.  When I woke up in the morning, I again checked the skies to see if what I saw last night was still true and yes, the skies were still clear.  At breakfast I asked our tour guide from the day before if word was out that the mountain was visible…and he said it should be.  Of course, just because it’s clear in one part of the park that has absolutely no effect on what’s happening at Denali.  We ate breakfast in suspense of what we would see, finally left in the van for the hike and…

Wonder Lake, this time with no clouds

This is the same location from the day before, but notice that the clouds are missing now and how it changes the landscape.  And the images really don’t do the mountain justice, it’s so large in person that I always found myself not really looking high enough.  The surrounding mountains are not tiny either, the ones to the left are 10,000-14,000 feet tall and the tiny one to the right (seen in the image below) is actually 17,000 feet tall but the range runs away from the view point so it makes the mountains on the right appear shorter.

Reflection Pond, Foraker seen off to the right

The hike meandered through an area where a glacier had previously existed, and then it continued on into a forest of new trees that had grown after the glacier had left.  The trail spills out right on to the McKinley River, which is a river of water formed by glacier runoff.  A nice hike, made even more spectacular by the large mountain looming continuously overhead.

The evening was relaxing, again just enjoying another wonderful Alaska day and listening to the wind and sounds of the nearby creek.  Dinner was with a couple who had recently moved to Alaska and was getting in a last bit of travel before starting work down in Wasilla, the old stomping ground of Sarah Palin.  After dinner we enjoyed a talk from our tour guide on plants and animals ability to adapt to living in Alaska. 

Since it was still clear after dinner everyone piled into the van to visit the Wonder Lake again, yes the same spot that was visited the night before but this time the view was slightly different.  Let’s compare:

Wonder Lake the day before

And this time without clouds

We stayed at the lake until 10pm because the mountain was so magnetic, and it still wasn't dark but we had an early and very long last day so we probably should get a bit of sleep…

August 29 - Denali National Park (bus ride out) 

Well since it was clear the day before and I has shared the word that I had witnessed a bit of the aurora last night, a few other people were up and about when I got up at 230 to see what the sky looked like.  I wasn’t disappointed again.  

This night we could actually see the remnants of the aurora with the naked eye and combined with the amazing stars it was truly a sight to behold.  Back to bed, to catch the bus out of the park at 6:15am.

Leaving the park was much different that the ride into the park, for most of the journey we could see Denali looming overhead around every corner and another positive was being so early it was the best time to see the animals.  We finally saw the elusive “brown ninja” of the forest, better known by it’s common name moose.  Some how these giant 1600 pound animals can hide in the forest or walk without being seen or heard.  It is said that less than 30% of visitors actually see a moose and less than 20% see a wolf.  Well, we didn’t see a wolf :( but we saw just about everything else.

Man Moose, as Rebe calls them

Bear eating berries

We drove our 90 miles a bit faster this time and got to the front of the park at 11:30 am, where half the bus caught the train back to Anchorage, some had other plans at the front of the park and we headed back to our car to drive 5 hours back to Anchorage to start our journey home.

The trip back to Anchorage was a bit different, it was sunny and not dark or cloudy or raining; it was so clear and Denali was looming over the landscape and then continued to loom in the rearview mirror.  Even after we had made it nearly 3 hours away to Willow, Alaska.

Denali as seen from 100 miles away

Afterword:

Denali National Park, how does it compare to the other giants of the National Park scene?  I now understand the allure of why this place was set aside as a National Park, but interestingly enough it wasn’t set aside because of the mountain but because of the threat of loosing a few sheep.  In the park there are Dall Sheep, a sheep only found in Denali and during the gold rush the hunters really taking a liking to the sheep where others were afraid the sheep might be under threat by the wolf population.  Research showed that the sheep were not under threat by the wolves and were fine but this brought attention to the park and we are very grateful.

Is it beautiful? No doubt, the place has so many jaw dropping vistas and so much unspoiled land that it truly is a treasure.  But like Yellowstone, there is so much to see in this park it would take years to attempt to see it all and even the park road which runs 90 miles into the park, there is another 100 miles of untrailed and unexplored park.

The park to me has a bit of mystique and I see how it could disappoint, while without seeing the mountain views of the Alaska Range, the park is still great but it seems like the park is missing the bit of panache without the mountain visible.  The abundance of animals, rivers, formations and glaciers are found no where else in the national park system and it truly is a special place.

Would I go back, without a doubt and I would have loved to have spent more time and explored more but it’s also not an easy place to do so but I think that’s also what makes it special and I think it also takes a bit of luck to get the full majesty of the place.