This and That in Anchorage, AK

Leslie, Saturday, June 26, 2010
Mountain View RV Park, Palmer, AK

Saturday morning was chilly and spitting rain.  We headed to the Anchorage Fair which is held every Saturday during the summer season.



Fair vendors feature a wide variety of goods from vegetables to fur pelts.  Some of the pelts are animal faces; that’s a bit grim.

As we wandered through the tourist district, Connie and I each posed with a stuffed (never having been alive) grizzly bear.  The bear was a bit shop-worn.  You can tell from our jackets that we aren't suffering in the extremely hot temperatures of some of the lower parts of the country.

 

Stan and Robert suffered through posing with the larger grizzly in the store entrance.



And a bit later I admired this puffin welcoming tourists to another shop.



We enjoyed lunch at Humpy’s Bar and Grill (fresh fish and chips for some and crab roll for me). Humpy's is a favorite lunch spot in Anchorage. The food is classic bar food, but quite good.  In recent years Humpy's  has expanded and acquired quite a following.  They even have a Humpy's Company Store next door.

In 2005 Robert and I had seen an excellent movie on the 1964 Alaskan Earthquake.  We wanted to share the movie with Connie & Stan.  After a bit of asking around, we were directed to a different theater for the “Earthquake movie”.  The new movie was enhanced by special effects.  Although the film footage was old black & white film, the theater had been mechanically altered to simulate the feeling of an earthquake at various points during the movie.  I could have done without the special effects.  :-( 

We all find the earthquake materials very interesting and have now seen several earthquake movies.  The devastation that Anchorage experienced is unimaginable.  In the downtown area there are some buildings still standing that look like the photos from the earthquake.  Throughout the region, there are large sections of “stick” trees.  Stick trees are defoliated dead trees that were killed when the earth dropped and the land was flooded.  It looks somewhat like the forest many years after a forest fire, except the trees are white, not black.

Glaciers and Vegetables

Leslie, Friday, June 25, 2010
Mountain View RV Park

We reluctantly left Tolsona Woods for Palmer 130 miles west.  Along the way we climbed up and down across mostly good roads. 

We again saw the roadside markers to indicate to the snowplow drivers where the edge of the road is located.



Along the way we followed the route of the Matanuska Glacier, one of the easiest glaciers to see in Alaska.



The day was cloudy with squirts of rain and the clouds hung low obscuring the mountains from view.  If you look closely in the pictures above, you can make out the mountain top.  The area to the left and downstream from the glacier was covered in ice not very many years ago.  It is obvious from the locations of the roadside visitor’s centers, that the glacier has receded greatly.

After we got set up in Palmer and made the necessary trips to the local US Post Office for general delivery mail and the local UPS store to pick up forwarded packages, Connie and I walked next door to the campground to a local organic farm that Robert and I had visited previously.  The farmers sell produce on Friday evenings to the local people.  We were fortunate to find lots of greens this week.  Later in  the season we expect to find more varied produce.

Despite the short growing season, due to the long nights of summer sunshine Palmer is famous for people growing huge produce.  Even this early in the season we saw some large Easter egg radishes.



We both bought fresh spinach.



The bunch was 17” long.



The larger leaves were almost 8” long.

In addition to being large, the spinach was very tasty.

As part of preparing food for our upcoming backpacking adventure, I dehydrated half of my bunch of spinach. :(  It was reduced to less than 2 tablespoons!!!  :-(  I sure hope it tastes intense when it is reconstituted!

Our campground in Palmer is a wide open field (fewer mosquitoes).  We’ll be staying here until almost mid-July as we take excursions to and from the Anchorage area.

Alaska Pipeline

Leslie, Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Tolsona Wilderness Campground, Glenallen, AK

We returned north on the Richardson Highway from Valdez to Glenallen.  Unfortunately the clouds were very low so we did not get to enjoy any beautiful views from the Thompson Pass.

We had planned to stop along the way to photograph the Alaska pipeline.  The pipeline was built between 1973-1975 to bring oil from the north shore of Alaska (Prudhoe Bay) to the open, deep water port of Valdez. More than 30,000 workers participated in the construction.  Along much of the route, the pipeline is underground in the permafrost where special precautions had to be taken to ensure that the warmth of the oil didn’t melt the permafrost, resulting in movement of the earth and fracture of the pipe.   The pipe is insulated with refrigerants. 

As the pipeline approaches Valdez it is above ground.   The pipeline is positioned on steel supports.  The supports enable to pipe to flex vertically with changes in temperature. 



The pipe is laid in a zig-zag pattern to enable it to move horizontally due to seismic changes (earthquakes). 



Since 9/11 access to the oil facilities is severely restricted but we were able to photograph this bit of pipeline along the Richardson  Highway.

 Nearby I saw this air mail box and thought I should share it with you.  Pretty funny!



The air mail box is positioned for incoming small planes.  (hee, hee)

We returned this afternoon to Tolsona Wilderness Campground near Glenallen, AK.  (Our favorite Alaskan campground.) As we drove down the 1 mile gravel road to the campground, we commented to each other that since the road was damp, we weren’t experiencing as much dust as last week.   (Snowflake (our big truck) stirs up a lot of dust!)

Just as we approached the campground office, the sky opened and the rains fell.  For the next 40 minutes we were in a deluge.  After registering, I hung out in the campground office and chatted with the very friendly workcamper until it appeared that I could see the truck.  Eventually we were able to back into our site, however, despite wearing my Gortex jacket and funny rain hat, I was drenched!  There was a lake at our door.  :-( 

To warm everyone we made Goulash Soup and homemade bread for dinner.  Yum.  Although the rain eventually stopped, it was too cold and the mosquitoes were too active for us to have a campfire tonight. 
A few minutes ago I noticed that despite the rainy day, we were having a pretty near mid-night sunset.



I braved the mosquitoes for a few minutes to capture this view from the rear of our site.  Pretty sunset at 11:34 pm, the stream is in the shadow.

For our readers who are tired of my pictures of mid-night sunsets, those pictures quickly will be  evaporating.  In Alaska, the days get shorter very quickly following midsummer.  We’re still hoping to see the northern lights before we return to the lower 48 in September.  However, my motto is always – take the sun while you can!

It Snows in Valdez, AK

Hopefully it doesn’t snow in late June but I thought it interesting to report on Valdez snow statistics and correct a statement I made a few days ago.  Thompson Pass at 2073 ft. receives an average of 900 inches of snow a year.  Valdez, at SEA LEVEL, receives an average of 300 inches of snow a year.  That’s a lot of snow.

Look at the fire hydrant.  It is raised 4 ft. to help keep it visible to fire responders.



As we left the museum annex another tourist told us that she had just taken a picture of a black bear in a carport nearby.  We drove by but didn’t find the bear. 

History of Valdez, AK

Leslie, Tuesday, June 22, 2010
Bear Paw RV Park, Valdez, AK

Today we visited the Valdez Museum Annex devoted to the 1964 Earthquake.  On March 27, 1964 a 8.6 earthquake struck Valdez.  An undersea landslide triggered huge waves, more than 30 people were swept out to sea.  The town was largely destroyed.  The old town was located on a delta created by the Valdez glacier and  composed of consolidated silt and gravel.  It was unstable under seismic conditions.  Flooding was common.  After the earthquake the US Army Corps of Engineers determined that the old site was unsafe.  Many buildings were condemned  and ultimately the town council determined that the town should be moved.  Although after the earthquake the town did continue to operate in a fashion for two years until the new town was ready for occupancy, life was difficult.  Water was available to most buildings via a temporary above ground temporary pipes. Within two years the town had moved 4 miles to the new site. Fifty-two buildings were moved to the new site.  New Valdez has stringent building codes so the buildings being moved had to be upgraded to the new standard.   The new town is located at higher elevation (barely) and is located behind some breakwaters.  It is also positioned on better compacted earth and most importantly suffered little damage during the 1964 earthquake.   Alaska suffers frequent earthquakes.  Ordinarily they are not a problem.  The 1964 earthquake was the strongest to have hit the north American continent. 

Mid-Sommer i Valdez, AK

Leslie, Monday, June 21, 2010
Bear Paw RV Park, Valdez, AK

Happy Mid-Sommer!  June 21st is the longest day of the year.
We started out around noon to visit the Valdez museum.  First, because the sun was actually shining, I wanted to capture some pictures along the waterfront. 







Connie was really enjoying the sunshine.



After our short walk along the small boat harbor, we headed over to the Valdez Museum.  The museum is very nice for a smal town.  Valdez is known for 1. the “All American” route into the Klondike gold rush (miserable route), 2. the site of the March 1964 earthquake, and 3. the site of the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil tanker grounding.  Each are displayed very nicely in the town museum.

There is nowhere better to celebrate mid-sommer than in Alaska.  Unfortunately, unlike Sweden where you are likely to have a day of sunshine, in Alaska you may more than likely experience rain.  We had been hoping for a mid-sommer party, but the clouds rolled in and the evening was very chilly.  Valdez is a fishing town; since the salmon  are not yet running here, it’s a quiet town.  I didn’t see a may pole so I’m not sure how the locals celebrated.

After most people had gone to bed, I noticed that the sun had returned.  I went out near mid-night to capture these pictures of the Valdez small boat harbor.





Love that sunshine!  Notice that the first and the last pictures in this post were taken 12 hours apart but they don’t look very different.

Spectacular Day at Sea (Long)

Leslie, Sunday, June 20, 2010

Bear Paw RV Park, Valdez, AK

We spent over 9 hours today on a glacier/wildlife cruise run by Stan Stephens Cruise Line.  I had wanted to take this trip in 2008 but it rained the entire week we were in Valdez so we never got the opportunity.  Our experience today confirmed that the Stan Stephens Glacier/Wildlife Cruise is one of the best along the Alaskan coast.

For travelers following us:  The Columbia Glacier Stan Stephens Cruise is in the Alaska Toursaver Book. We took the longer Meares and Columbia Glacier cruise and the company applied the value from the Toursaver book to our cruise.  We were extremely pleased.

We took the Stan Stephens Cruise to the Columbia and Meares Glaciers.  The boat for the trip is a two-level  catamaran that will hold approximately 150 passengers.



On our trip there were only 90 or so passengers.  That number was perfect.  The Stan Stephens facilities are excellent, better than any prior day cruise we have ever taken.  We boarded early and scored a six seat table on the upper level.  The weather forecast lead us to expect rain and miserable conditions for boating.  We were all dressed for the worst conditions.  Surprisingly, the day turned out almost perfect.  Although we had little direct sunshine, the seas were flat, visibility was exceptional, and the wildlife were very cooperative.

On the way to Columbia Glacier we were treated by some sea otters.

There were a lot of them floating along and resting.  Isn’t he cute, looking at me?  Reportedly the sea otters feed at night and rest by floating during the daytime.  A sea otter has to eat 25% of his weight every day to survive. 

On the way to the Columbia Glacier we passed many ice bergs.
 


Notice the blue color of the ice.  Glacier ice is blue because the ice absorbs all the colors except blue which is reflected back to the eye.

We were not able to get closer than 12 miles from the Columbia Glacier due to the ice bergs.
Columbia Glacier:



We’re pretty far away so it is difficult to differentiate the glacier from the icy water.

Next we were treated to lots of Stellar Sea Lion antics.  First on Buoy Number 9, this guy is showing off.
 
 



A bit later we observed a few sunning on the ice.



Aren’t  these guys cute?



And here’s their “take-out” spot – a place for the sea lions to bask in  the sun:

 

The sea lions are noisy characters.

After the sea lions, we moved on to viewing Bald Eagles.  All the eagles we observed were adults with the traditional feathers.



After more than 3 hours at sea, we reached Meares Glacier.  We were able to get within 1/4 mile from Meares.  We all had time to pose for pictures.  Here’s the traveling group: Stan, Connie, Leslie, Robert.



Yes, we’re all cold because we’re right next to a glacier!



You can see the Mearses Glacier between the mountain peaks.



To the left of the text the glacier is calving (pieces falling into the sea).  It’s very difficult to get a picture of calving because as everyone know, light moves much faster than sound.  By the time you hear the roar of the calving, the ice has already fallen into the sea.

On the return from the Meares Glacier we were looking for a whale.  As we motored along, numerous Dall’s Porpoises swam along with our boat.  Finally we were rewarded with the sighting of a humpback whale.



We followed this whale at a respectful distance for over 30 minutes, trying to capture a picture of him showing his tail.  Time after time he surfaced and took a breath, then took a shallow dive where he didn’t show his tail.  Finally I captured this series.








In addition to the animals I’ve pictured, we saw a loon and several tufted puffins but none of the birds stayed in place long enough for me to capture a good picture.

We strongly recommend the Stan Stephens Cruise in Valdez.  The cruise ship was very comfortable; they provided an excellent lunch of chicken alfredo, a second meal of clam chowder, and complementary drinks all day.  The crew was very knowledgeable and customer-centered.  Interestingly, the company seems to discourage tipping the crew.

Valdez, AK

Leslie, Friday and Saturday, June 18 and 19, 2010
Bear Paw RV Park

We departed Tolsona Wilderness and headed south along the Richardson Hwy to Valdez.  South of Glenallen, the Richardson Hwy is still very bumpy.  

We stopped at the Worthington Glacier, our first glacier visit for this trip to Alaska. 



The glacier has receded significantly over the past twenty years.  Glaciers grow when there is more annual snow than melts the following summer; glaciers recede when there is less snow during winter than melting the following summer.  The attendant told us that three weeks ago there was snow 6 feet deep in the location where we were now standing on the sidewalk.  Although the snow had largely melted around the sides of the glacier, it was still very cold.  I was glad that I had a hat and gloves in my pocket.  :-)

After the Worthington Glacier we crossed Thompson Pass.  Thompson Pass is noted for breaking snowfall records for Alaska.  Although it is only 2,678 ft. in elevation, (very low for Colorado standards), it is above the tree line and there is still quite of bit of snow on the ground at the top.  The pipes along the side of the road are markers for snowplow operators.



Our next stop was Bridal Veil Falls.  Although they are moving fast now, the falls are completely frozen in winter.



Our destination for Friday was Valdez, famous for fishing and the Exxon Valdez disaster.  We’re staying here for 6 days so hopefully we’ll have opportunities to enjoy the beauty of Prince William Sound in sunshine.  Thus far it has been very cloudy with rain showers (high of 52 degrees). 

I’m looking for interesting pictures and as we walked along the waterfront, I captured a picture of these sea kayaks.



And then a someone cleaning a halibut:



Our guess is that the halibut weighed between 30-40 lbs.

Tolsona Wilderness, AK

Leslie, June 14-17, 2010
Tolsona Wilderness Campground

We’ve spent four days in the woods “just camping”.  This campground is much like the campgrounds we frequented in the days of tenting and pop-up camping.  The location is beautiful; bubbling stream, ample space, great campfires with good friends, lots of mosquitoes. (Had to have the last item for authenticity!) Actually we’ve been very fortunate, the mosquitoes have not been anywhere as bad as we’ve experienced in prior years. Here’s our traveling group enjoying the campfire. 



Both Robert and Stan have long handled axes and seem to enjoy using them! While firewood is plentiful, it is often not split.



Although we had hoped to hike from here, every day we’ve had bouts of rain so we’ve spent much of the daytime doing indoor chores including working on the menu plan for our 7 day remote tent camping trip in early July. 

One morning this female Hooded or Common Merganser stopped in our stream.



Glenallen borders on the Wrangell St. Elias National Park, the largest US national park.  The park is larger than Switzerland and has higher mountains. (See the gray area to the right of the push pin.)

Today we drove to the National Park Visitor's Center and got some excellent views of more of the mountains.  Several of these mountains are actually active volcanoes.




We listened to several Ranger Talks including one about the river otter.  The river otter is found in many areas of the US.  He’s a most ingenious critter. Otter’s dens always have a door both above and below the water line.  That way if a land-based predator approaches, the otter can escape under water.  In the frozen north, the otter uses the beaver’s den as a route below the frozen stream to unfrozen water below. 

Wrangell – St Ellias National Park

Robert - Thursday, June 17
We went to the Visitor’s Center for the Wrangell - St Ellias National Park & Preserve. It is located about 10 miles south of Glennallen on the Richardson Highway. The same highway we will take tomorrow to go to Valdez.  Although you may have never heard of this national park, is it the largest national park in the US. By comparison, it is about six times the size of Yellowstone and Yellowstone is huge. The park has 9 of the 16 tallest mountains in the US. It has a glacier, the Malaspina Glacier, that is larger than Rhode Island. There are only two roads into the park and both are reported to being very rough. In Alaska, “very rough” means like nothing you probably have ever driven on.
The Visitor’s Center is very impressive. They have a film about the park and multiple displays. While we were there we also heard several short talks by Rangers. One was about river otters that live in the park and the other was about the assent of the 16,390 foot Mt Blackburn in 1912 by Dora Keen and George Handy.
Here is a fish wheel that sets at the Visitor’s Center. The Native Americans place these along the river banks when the salmon are running. The wheel is propelled by the running water. It scoops up fish and deposits them in a basket on the side.

Everyone has heard the comment, “If you don’t like the weather, just wait 10 minutes.” In Alaska this seems to be really true. From the Visitor’s Center, there are some impressive peaks that can be observed. Today the only one to show itself was Mt Drum. A few minutes before this picture the whole top of the mountain was shrouded in clouds.