Halfway Round the Planet, Part 2

You can only get to Whittier by driving through the Anton Anderson Memorial Tunnel. The interesting thing about the tunnel is it is only one lane – for inbound and outbound traffic and the train. It’s open for 15 minutes on the half hour going to Whittier and 15 minutes at the top of the hour coming to Girdwood. We needed to pay attention to the schedule so we’d arrive by 10:00 for our trip to Prince William Sound. We left Girdwood with beautiful blue skies. Instead of driving up and over the mountain the tunnel takes you through the mountain. On the other side of the mountain, in Whittier, it was misty and foggy. Not ideal conditions for our boat trip.

Before the boat we “toured” the small quirky town of Whittier. We watched a National Geographic Special before we left about Whittier – most of the town lives in one apartment complex. The complex contains everything the 400 residents need so they never have to leave – post office, school, medical clinic, grocery store, movie theater… Can you imagine?

This town was a strategic army post during WWII since it was so close to Russia – you can practically see it! There’s a huge abandoned housing complex that could hold 10,000 troops. Again very friendly Alaskans stopped Jon while we was taking photos. Both asked if we were visitors, just their way of being friendly because I’m sure they know all 400 people who live in those apartments! The woman told us about her favorite places along the shore – Smitty Cove and Salmon Run. A few minutes later a guy stopped Jon to tell him about a break in the fence so he could get into the abandoned army complex and walk around…”park your car over here and no one will even know you’re there!”

We chose this boat tour because it was a smaller boat. Only 4 other people joined us. It highlighted glaciers over wildlife. Captain Mike looked at the forecast and thought the fog was lifting in College Fjord so that was our destination – about 85 miles away. We stopped along the way at a bird rookery on the side of a cliff. These black footed kittiwakes only come on land to lay their eggs, otherwise the stay strictly on the open water. We watched a bald eagle feast on their newly hatched babies or tarrocks.

Since the boat was small we were able to get off on Hobo Cove and walk around. It reminded us of the North Shore since the fog was still hanging on and we couldn’t see the mountains beyond the shore. We found some ruins that were part of an abandon gold mine about 3 miles inland but sadly we didn’t find any gold.

The fog was beginning to lift as we entered College Fjord. We were headed to the end to see Harvard Glacier, which was next to Yale Glacier as we passed Vassar… Harvard Glacier is the second largest tidal glacier in Alaska. It’s 1 1/2 miles across and we could see it 12 miles away. It took us awhile to get there because we had to navigate through the ice. Captain Mike knew the names for the small and medium size ice. I knew the big chunks – icebergs! Some of the icebergs would’ve been trip-enders if we ran into them. I couldn’t help but think of Titanic as we made our way through. We were only able to get as close as 2 miles but we could still hear and see it calve. The chunks of ice are all from the calving glaciers in the fjord – some as big as school buses.

The glaciers were very cool to see but I can only imagine how jaw-dropping the scenery would’ve been had the skies been sunny and blue!

To end the day we went to the Swiftwater Cafe right on the dock. We had their fresh, locally caught halibut fish and chips. The cook broke the rules and fried Jon’s halibut in the French fry oil instead of the oil used for the shrimp. It was the best fish and chips of the trip!

On the drive to Seward we enjoyed the beautiful scenery around Turnagain Arm but then the rain came during the second half of the drive. Today’s forecast was for sun in the morning and rain in Girdwood by afternoon. Julie told us the views were spectacular so we were hoping the rain held out and we could see what we missed. The rain held out all day!

We didn’t have anything planned and since it was clear we decided to go to Alyeska Ski Resort. We rode the tram to the top of the mountain. It was a 4-minute ride and the views of Turnagain Arm were amazing. There was still snow at the top. It was fun to watch people who’ve never seen snow before have snow balls fights! Our tram ticket came with a voucher that we turned in for a mountain top drink.

In Girdwood we walked across the street to a local Alaskan bar for the “best deep dish pizza in Alaska”. Since it’s the only one we’ve had here I can’t really vouch for that but we thought it was tasty.

The drive from Seward to Girdwood is about 2 hours and we have to get up early for our glacier boat ride in Whittier. The plan was to go back to our AirBnb and get to bed early. However since the weather was still holding out and the sun doesn’t set until 11:23 we called an audible. So many people told us to go to the Portage Glacier area. It was only ~20 minutes away so we hopped in the car and went!

We wanted to get to the shore of Portage Lake. You could see the glacial blue water through the trees from the road, but the end of the road was gated off at 5:30 and it was way past that. We got out of the car and started walking down the road. This friendly older gentleman stops his truck and asks us if we are trying to see the glacier. Um… yes we are. He tells us we really want the next parking lot and the hike is beautiful to the edge of the glacier. People are very friendly here but it’s after 8:30 and we wonder if we should really believe some random guy (who couldn’t tell us how long the is) and my phone has no service to check.

What the heck… he says we can walk on the glacier and it usually takes him an hour but he goes pretty slow. Since I’m here to type this… you know we didn’t get lost in the wilderness or weren’t eaten by bears!

Bonus photo.

This one was taken last night at 2am. It never gets really dark. And people don’t sleep much during the summer. There were still people cleaning fish at 2 in the morning!

Today is our last full day in Seward. I’m going to be sad to leave. We fell in love with this small town on Resurrection Bay. It didn’t hurt that we’re staying in the most amazing place with a wonderful view of the mountains and water in every direction and the weather has been fantastic. Today was sunny blue skies and 68. Nothing compared to the 100 degrees back home – yuck!

Since we had to get up early yesterday for our Fjord Tour we planned a relaxing morning. We grabbed some coffee and strolled along the path right next to the bay. It winds it’s way through the campgrounds – which just might be the best view in town. This picture is the view you have – all the campers are directly behind us.

Today was also the day we were meeting friends from Minnesota! No they haven’t moved here… they are actually on vacation just like us. Greg, Christina, Mike and Erin hiked with us to Exit Glacier. After the beautiful glaciers we saw yesterday this one was receding and not showing off it’s blue colors. It was probably the least awe-inspiring hike of our trip. It was fascinating to see the year markers starting on the road and along the path where the glacier used to be. It’s a good things we came when we did – you aren’t going to be able to see it for much longer.

We added Julie to the rest of the Cibuzar clan and found a fantastic deck for cold beers and dinner. The food might not have been best we’ve had, but the view and the company was fantastic!

The best way to experience the park is by water. People recommended that we take the longest cruise possible so we booked an 8 1/2 hour tour on a smaller boat that will get you closest to the glaciers.

Again we lucked out with the weather. We had picture perfect blues skies. It was the first tour of the season for the crew and captain. They were ready to see what had changed since September. The first thing we spotted were some humpback whales. Captain John stopped the boat and let us watch them lunge feed. We even got to see the classic whale tale before they dove into the water.

Boats ahead of us talk on the radio about what they’re seeing – not just tour boats, fishing boats and research vessels as well. A research vessel spotted a pod of orcas they’re studying so we headed to that spot next. Captain John told us this pod had 10 orcas – we spotted 8 of them.

Our destination was Northwestern Glacier. Along the way we saw more humpback whales, puffins, sea otters, bald eagles, mountain goats and various other impressive Arctic birds. I was really looking forward to this tour because I wanted to see the whales. That’s because I didn’t know just how impressive the glaciers would be. We stopped to watch two on the way – Anchor and Ogive. But the crowning jewel of the day was the Northwestern Glacier. Again I hate to repeat myself but the pictures do not capture how beautiful it was. Captain John stopped ~1/5 mile from the glacier – in water full of icebergs and turned off the engines. We floated there for 45 minutes watching the glacier calve, the sea otters with their pups on the icebergs and simply enjoying something so magnificent. Even the crew got lost in the beauty and lost track of time. We spent ~15 minutes longer than they usually do.

On the way back the crew spotted large spouts of water – the largest of the day. They thought it might be fin whales so we went for a closer look. Sure enough there were 4-5 of them. They are the 2nd largest mammal in the world. We got to see them surface and dive. None of the whales we saw today breached but we did get to see them all surface and dive. It was pretty cool!

On the way back Captain John said this was his best day in the 8 years he’s been here. This was only my first time here but it was are best day of the trip so far! I was stunned by the beauty of the glacier!

Last night while watching all the action on the docks, we came up with a plan for today. In the morning, while it’s raining, go to the Sealife Center and then when the skies clear go on a hike.

Let me pause a moment and say it’s hard to sleep in the land of the midnight sun! Although the places we’ve stayed all have blackout shades, there is a lot of light that still gets through!

We woke up to bring sunny skies. It was time for a new plan – good thing our middle name is flexible 🙂 But it would require some coffee. Lucky for us there’s a coffee shop next door.

Who knows when it will rain. We are in the middle of a rain forest after all. Hiking while we had blues skies seemed like the perfect idea! It was a short drive to Lowell Point, and depending on who you ask, an easy or moderate hike to Tonsina Point. Apparently the easy hike is if you hike to Lowell Beach. The barista told Jon it was a wonderful hike along the shore – that’s what he thought we were doing. My hike, even more wonderful, was 4 miles (round trip) through the rain forest and ended at a black sand beach along the shore of Resurrection Bay. Isn’t that the same thing?

(Jon’s note-it was largely downhill switch backs on the way there, which meant uphill switch backs on the way back!)

The switch backs and “hey bear” were worth it. The payoff over delivered! We didn’t want to leave!

Another stunning view is right out the windows of our AirBnB. Last night, although our dinner was good, we felt like we were wasting time sitting in a restaurant. Jon came up with a brilliant idea on the hike back to our car… let’s go grocery shopping and make our own dinner. By the time we got to our car we ditched the idea of the Sealife Center. It was still sunny, why waste it inside!

While prepping dinner we watched a show right outside our window. A number of fishing charters were returning and they had a good day out on the water! We watched as they cleaned all the fish they caught – mostly salmon and halibut. And with a slip of the knife one guy cut his finger. We saw a few really good size halibut – the biggest one was ~4 feet.

This is the fish cleaning dock right outside our window. The guy in the green waders had a halibut so big he couldn’t lift it. And the guy in the gray jacket (two to green guy’s left) is the one who cut his middle finger but never stopped. It was a production line-green wader guy did the rough work, then the black jacket guy moved the filets over to the gray jacket guy who finished the filets by removing the skin. Then the filets went into a huge garbage bag to go to local restaurants. Fresh halibut. Nom nom!

We had to go on a quick walk to our car to get warm clothes for tomorrow’s whale and glacier boat tour. We stopped by the cleaning dock to see the fish a group was getting ready to clean. They maxed out their limit on Alaskan Red Salmon, 6 each for a total of 48! They noticed us standing by and started talking to us for the next 15-20 minutes. Alaska might just be the friendliest place we’ve ever been! All the locals we’ve met have be so friendly and willing to share what they love about their state.

The sunset in Anchorage is a lot like the sunset at Mallory Square in Key West – It’s a party! At least it was at the park we found about 10 minutes outside of Anchorage last night. There were 50 cars in the parking lot and a guy selling reindeer sausage from a hot dog cart at midnight – on a Tuesday. The biggest difference – party lasts a lot longer here.

This was sunset at 11:20pm. 🙂

Today was a beautiful sunny day. The perfect kind to drive the Seward Highway. (Side note: Alaska has only 8 highways in the entire state!) I wish there were more words I could use to describe it – beautiful, stunning, gorgeous, spectacular… I would use them all but it wouldn’t capture just how beautiful this area is. Even the pictures don’t do it justice. We were surrounded by mountains and unlike driving in Colorado it really wasn’t mountain driving. The highest elevation we reached was 1000 ft.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

Our Airbnb in Seward is right on the harbor. When I first looked at the listing I thought the windows were just pictures on the wall.

Seward is on the edge of a rain forest so naturally it was raining when we arrived. We walked around this quaint little town, ate dinner and were excited to get back to our little place on the harbor. This is our setup for blog writing, sea otter viewing and people watching. It’s like watching a reality TV show only they really don’t know you’re watching 😁

He eats a lot! He was right outside our window for 30 minutes. Diving and bringing up fish after fish to eat. Not seen in this photo are the seagulls circling him trying to eat his dinner.

I’d prefer sunny blue skies everyday but if it’s going to rain I guess I’ll put up with rain on the travel day. Sadly we spent our last day in Denali and today headed back to Anchorage to spend the night before continuing on to Seward. I had noted the specific mile markers where you could pull off and see Denali or beautiful mountain vistas. We didn’t need them on Saturday when we drove up and we didn’t need them today. It rained most of the way again. The skies cleared when we got to Wasilla… the hometown of a famous politician, anyone remember who?

Since we are spending very little time in Anchorage I booked us into the Cook Hotel, right in the middle of downtown. We’re in a corner room with beautiful views of Cook Inlet on one side and the mountains on the other.

We checked-in, dropped off our luggage and walked part of the Tony Knowles Coastal Trail right along the water. It was low tide…we’re used to seeing a big sandy beach when it’s low tide. Not here! They have mudflats which aren’t quite as pretty and a little more dangerous. They look like you can walk on them just like the beach. If you stand on them while the water drains out at low tide, it can set up like concrete and not release it’s hold until the tide comes in over your head! When I tell Jon this, why is it that’s the very thing he wants to do?!

There’s a 49th State Brewing blocks from our hotel – who knew? We thought we should venture out and try something new – Glacier Brewhouse. Similar but a little more upscale. Jon is continuing is quest to have halibut every single day. So far he’s had it all 4 days. He proclaimed it the best halibut he’s had so far!

It’s 9:00, we’re back at the hotel gazing out at the beautiful view, wondering where to go to watch sunset. We have time… it doesn’t set until 11:20 – about 1/2 earlier than in Denali. Tonight the skies are cooperating.

Another beautiful day in this vast wilderness. A few more clouds and a bit warmer – in the low to mid 60’s. Before heading into the park we stopped at the Alaskan Coffee Bean for some coffee and breakfast. We took it to go and found the perfect spot to enjoy it.

In Denali they don’t have that many hiking trails that are marked on the map. Instead you can just head out… into the wilderness. If you want to camp you need a permit – just like the boundary waters. A campsite doesn’t come with your permit. Rather you are given 10,000 acres in a specific section of the park – that’s your campsite. There will be no running water, no toilets and you can’t have a fire. But there’s 10,000 acres that’s all yours. You won’t run into anybody else accept those in your party. It’s a really bad idea to go camping alone! You’ll take a shuttle bus into the park and they’ll drop you off close to your 10,000 acres. Good Luck – you better know what you’re doing out there!

Our plan for the day was to do a little hiking in the park. We definitely don’t know what we’re doing in the Alaskan wilderness so we stuck to the marked trails!

We hiked Horseshoe Lake first thing in the morning. It was beautiful. There is a very active beaver population around the lake and you could see beaver activity everywhere – lots of downed trees. Most impressive was the massive dam – unlike anything we’ve seen in Minnesota. It dammed the lake at least 6-7 feet. Apparently if you hike in the evening you’re likely to see the beavers at work. It looked like a mosquito haven so we were glad to hike it when they weren’t out yet. We’ve seen a few and they are HUGE – as big as dragonfly’s!

Our bus driver yesterday told us about all the work the sled dogs do in the winter maintaining the park so I really wanted to go see the kennels. Unfortunately the ranger activities at the kennels are suspended for the summer due to COVID but we were able to walk through the outdoor kennels, pet the dogs, if they were interested, and ask questions. These are not the kind of sled dogs that would run the Iditarod. These are much bigger, these are work dogs made for pulling heavy loads. These dogs have massive paws – just like Rosie! We talked with a volunteer who adopted one of the dogs when she was no longer interested in pulling sleds. She told us most of the retired dogs need to walk at least 5 miles a day.

It was time for another hike – Mountain Vista Trail. It was about a 13-mile drive into the park. Again we saw Denali! Not as pretty as yesterday as there were clouds hanging around the summit so you couldn’t see the entire mountain as clearly. Still pretty though!

I think moose in the Alaska are like deer back home. They aren’t shy! We’ve seen so many I’ve lost count. We saw this one munching on a tree at the side of the road.

After dinner at our favorite (and only) restaurant in Healy – 49th State Brewing we took a tiny little nap. We’re going on a photography tour to capture the midnight sun. It doesn’t start until 8:30 and as you know by now the sunset is late. Tonight it sets at 11:52. It supposed to rain so we’ll see how it goes. 🤷🏽‍♀️

The weather sort of cooperated. Finally around 11:30 the clouds broke and we were able to see some color. We took some photos next to this beaver dam – even saw the beaver! Then we drove 20 minutes to see it set against some different mountains. When we got back to our room after 12:30 the sun was still setting. It rises in the northeast and sets in the northwest and never really goes down.

* WiFi is hardly ever our friend while traveling. Alaska is no different. Most of these images I’ve had to try to load multiple times. There’s no way I could ever load Jon’s beautiful photos so what you’re seeing today are the ones I took on my iPhone. Imagine how spectacular the ones Jon took will be.

It was a rare day for us. We were back in our room and had time to write the blog and edit a few photos all before 8:30!

From our deck we watched the mommy moose and her 2 calves eating across the lake.

Since the sun wasn’t going to set for hours we decided to go down by the lake. They have a fire ring and chairs right by the shore.

Before we could find our jackets another moose appeared. This time she wasn’t across the lake. She was right where we were going to go sit.

Looks like we’ll just be enjoying the evening from our deck!

Yesterday we drove for 4 hours in the rain and barely saw anything out the car window. We made up for that today!

COVID 19 has changed many things. In Denali they have only one guided bus tour into the park. It goes into the park 54 miles and lasts 7-8 hours. It made our decision easy, no need to research what we’d see on all the different tours.

We boarded the bus for the Tundra tour at 8:30. It was a picture perfect day! I talked about wanting to see the Big 5. The day delivered – big time. We saw grizzly bears – at least 5 different ones.

Papa Minky was eating right out the window on the side of the road. We could hear him breathing!

Mom was not too far away from this 2 year old cub. They usually leave the mom during their 4th or 5th summer.

We saw a bunch of Dall Sheep. Usually they’re just white dandruff up high on the mountains but in the spring they come further down. These we saw right outside the window. It pays to do a little research and find out the left side of the bus is the place to be.

This moose was the closest one we saw. We saw another one that the driver thought was trying to find a place to give birth. He was a little judgey with her choice. He thought she could’ve found a better neighborhood. Apparently there’s a lot of grizzly bears in the area.

Our first ever sighting of a caribou. This time of year they have velvet on their antlers. We saw a lot of these today!

This is the BIG ONE! Denali in all it’s glory. They say you only have a 30% chance of seeing it. We saw it at every viewpoint – all day long.

Like I said, it was a Top 10 Day.