| Alaska |
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| It is fair to say that our trip in Alaska started off very slowly and finished off on an absolute high. Most of what Alaska has to offer is nature and wilderness, so weather conditions are quite important. Since we set off rather early in the season, we had quite a bit of rain in the first week, but nice sunny weather towards the end of our trip. We had specifically opted to visit Alaska in May, as things can get very busy, even overcrowded, during the peak season, which starts in June. In the end, we were very lucky, as a lot of things only started to open up as we gradually moved northwards. For example, the first weekly Alaska Marine Highway ferry of the season leaves Bellingham on 4th May, which is the one we caught, the first monthly ferry to leave Juneau for Seward leaves on 16th May, which is the one we caught and we made our first wilderness hike in Denali on 26th May, the first day of operation of the park shuttle service. THE INSIDE PASSAGE The Alaska Marine Highway is the state ferry that connects the coastal towns of South-East and South-Central Alaska, which would otherwise only be accessible by air. The ferry cuts through the famous "Inside Passage", the coastal fjords between Ketchikan and Prince Rupert, which is meant to be one of the most scenic ferry rides in the world. The ferry is intensively used by locals and gets fully booked up during peak season. Tickets are a bit pricey (although subsidised), but you can limit expenses by rolling out your sleeping bag on the sun deck. Our first stop was Petersburg, a small Norwegian settlement founded on fishing. The weather was pretty bad, so we just managed to make a one-day hike up Ravenroost Trail. The old-growth forest was very pretty though, very lush and dense, fully covered with mosses. We continued our ferry journey to Juneau, the capital of the state of Alaska. The first ferry to Seward would only leave about one week later, so we had about a week to spend there and we found very cheap accomodation in a nice, clean youth hostel ($10 per night per person). We made a day trip to Mendenhall Glacier, a so-called "drive-in" glacier, as a tarmac road goes all the way up to its foot. One of the things we wanted to do was stay overnight in a log cabin, so we hired the Eagle Glacier Cabin for one night and a two-day hike. Meriel was frightened of bears, but our newly acquired bear bell seemed to make enough noise to keep them at bay. We then booked ourselves on a two-day trip to Glacier Bay National Park. This cost us a lot of money and resulted in us eating bread and jam for the remaineder of the trip. The first day of the trip consisted of whale watching, which was very exciting, as we not only saw 5 humpback whales but also loads of sealions and utterly cute sea otters, floating on their back with their little ones cuddled on their bellies. They looked like they were sunbathing! ON THE WAY TO DENALI After Juneau we took the ferry again across the Gulf of Alaska to Seward, where we spent just one day kayaking on the Resurrection Bay. Jeroen had never kayaked before and with a bright blue sky and tranquil waters, this made for a very nice day. We then took a scenic train to Anchorage. The train moved at about 15 miles per hour, but went straight through snow covered passes and past a number of glaciers. Anchorage didn't really impress us, so we were keen to move on quickly to Denali National Park, which was meant to be the climax of our trip. Unfortunately, we discovered that the shuttle bus service in the park would only start operating on 26th May, so we had a few days to kill. Steve and Ali, who had now also arrived in Anchorage with their van, suggested a three day canoe trip on Nancy Lake, somewhere halfway between Anchorage and Denali. This turned out to be a great idea. Again, because it was so early in the season, we were the only canoers on the lakes. We followed a canoe trail, which links about ten small lakes into a loop. We had to carry canoes and backpacks from one lake to the other and camped somewhere along the lake shore. Very peaceful, except for the nightly sounds of loons, porcupines, wolves and galloping moose (mooses, meese?) DENALI NATIONAL PARK We finally arrived in Denali. At first glance, Denali National Park looks like any other park, just a bit less pretty. The unique thing about the park is, however, that you can really experience the wilderness by trekking into the backcountry. The park is divided into smaller units and the number of campers in every unit is limited to maximum 8 people. There are no trails whatsoever, so you rely completely on map and compass. We booked ourselves into Unit 6 for two nights, which features the Teklanika river and Cathedral Mountain. We hiked alongside the river on the first day and made camp on the river bed. During the day we had spotted a grizzly bear on the opposite river bank, but he was at a safe distance. On the second day, we left our camp behind and climbed one of the Cathedral Mountain peaks. The sun was glorious and so was the view, although we couldn't see Mount McKinley. On the way down we spotted a large fox, very visible against the snow. On the third day, we had to return to the park road by closing the loop around Cathedral Mountain. This involved crossing large patches of deep snow, which made for very slow (and wet) progress. But after our exhilirating encounter with the grizzly bear at breakfast, our spirits couldn't be any higher. We were so thrilled with our first wilderness experience that we rushed straight back to the visitor centre and booked ourselves into Unit 27 for one night, which is one of the few places where you may get a good view of Denali (Mount McKinley), weather permitting. We were very fortunate, as Denali revealed its beauty to us while we were camping on Primrose Ridge. We had made arrangements to meet friends of Jeroen's (Michel Vanesse and wife Beth) in Chicago for the weekend of 2-3 June and to then meet Meriel's mum in Atlanta, whilst visiting her uncle. So we left Denali and Steve and Ali behind and continued our journey. It was a bit of a shock to arrive back into the capitalist heartland of America after our wilderness experience, but is was wonderful to see acquaintances and relatives. |
| The Route |
| The Alaska Highway Ferry turned out to be a perfect place to meet people, as you end up spending days and nights on the same boat/deck. Steve and Ali - We met Steve and Ali(son), a couple from Rochester near Manchester, on our second ferry trip from Petersburg to Juneau. On a two/three year trip around the world, Steve and Ali were touring around in an old Dodge van which they had nicely turned into a mobile home. Since we were all aiming ultimately for Denali National Park, we decided to keep in touch via e-mail and to try and meet up in Anchorage for a lift up to Denali. We actually ended up spending ten days together, both on our canoe trip at Nancy Lake and on our wilderness hikes in Denali. We had such an incredibly good laugh together, particularly with Steve, who seemed to have the thickest skin we had ever encountered. Bob - We met Bob, a white-bearded Aussie, on our ferry trip and kept bumping into him in Juneau, Anchorage and Denali. Bob had travelled all around the world, alternating work at home with frequent travelling. Diane and Brian - This couple from Sydney (Australia) got off the ferry in Petersburg together with us and we ended up in the same Bed & Breakfast. We met up later in Juneau and spent numerous cosy evenings together in bars and restaurants. Del - From Minnesota, Del had the rather un-American gift of sarcastic humor, which made him a perfect ferry companion. Homeless drifters - The early season ferries carry a lot of homeless drifters into Alaska, searching for seasonal work for the summer. THis makes for an interesting collection of solitary people, with fascinatging stories to tell., One of these drifters got violent on our first ferryy trip, threatening to kill people. He was promptly chained to the car deck and thrown off the ferry at the first port. |
| The People |
| Highs and Lows Highs Grizzly bear encounter - Without a doubt the highlight of our odyssey so far. While finishing breakfast on the second morning of our wilderness trek, Ali spotted a grizzly bear coming out of the bushes. She uttered the famous words "Oh, my God" and when we all looked, we saw a medium-sized, probably 2-year old, golden-brown bear walking straight towards us. Quite amazingly, we all moved swiftly to do the things we had been told to do: close the bear resistant food barrels, wave our arms above our heads and speak in a low and calm voice ("Go away, bear"). The bear kept moving towards us at a leisurely pace, came to about 15 meters away, sniffed the air and then continued to move towards the river, crossed it and disappeared into the bushes on the other side. We stood there with bear barrels, porridge pots filled with washing water and pepper spray in our hands, not quite believing what we had just witnessed. Whale fluke sighting - Admiring, through our binoculars, the gracious movement of the humpback whale's dive, when it swings its fluke in the air and disappears vertically into the deep waters. Denali sighting miracle - We actually put Alaska on our itinerary in order to see Denali (Mount McKinley), the highest mountain in North America. Unfortunately, because of typical cloud formation in Denali National Park, only 35% of visitors see the mountain. When we reached Primrose Ridge, a prime viewpoint for the mountain, on our second wilderness hike, the sky was covered. Miraculously, the clouds lifted at 10pm, revealed the mountain in all its impressive glory and descended again by midnight. The next morning, it looked as if Denali had never been there. The mountain is twice as high as the surrounding peaks of the Alaska range and sticks out like a sore thumb! (Quite amusing as we had been trying to guess which one it was initially - it's pretty difficult to miss once it appears). Scenic sunbathing - On the two-day ferry journey from Juneau to Seward, the weather finally turned sunny. We spent hours on the back deck of the ferry, out of the wind and in the sun, reading our books. The landscape was awesome, as we passed snow-capped mountains and tidal glaciers, one after the other. Securing FA Cup Final pay-per-view - Finding a place to watch the FA Cup Final was always going to be a challenge in soccer-averse America, particularly as the game was being broadcast at 6am in the morning on pay-per-view. We spent half a day going from pub to pub in Juneau but they were all hooked up to satellite and, even if they had cable, they were not going to open up at 6 in the morning. In the end, we knocked on the door of a small Bed & Breakfast that hadn't yet opened for the season. An old lady opened the door. She turned out to have cable TV and we managed to find the pay-per-view channel. The lovely lady even inquired whether we wanted tea of coffee in the morning! Since she would be leaving at 7am, she kindly asked us to close the door behind us after the game. How much more hospitable and trusting can you get? Playing games in the tent - During our 10 days camping spree, we got into the evening habit of playing cards or rolling dice in our tent with Steve and Ali. Since it would only get semi-dark way past midnight, these game evenings would go on late into the night. The four of us had such a laugh that it became our daily routine. Fortunately, our old-fashioned rented tent was big enough to house four people. Sausage and smash - Gastronomic standards probably drop when you have been camping for too long. After too many days eating bread with jam/peanut butter, the camp fire cooked meal of instant smash and sausages was a delight, particularly with the gravy concocted by Ali using onions and red wine left overs. Singing ManUnited songs - Warning bears of your presence by making noise is one of the best ways of avoiding unwelcome encounters. On the last morning of our first wilderness hike, we sang, at the top of our voices, a whole repertoire of Manchester United songs we had learned from our Mancunian friends while wading through snow and bushes. Lows Toothache - Even though Jeroen went for a dental check-up on the day of our departure from England, his front teeth started to hurt halfway through our Alaska trip and the pain came and went for about two weeks. By the time we arrived in Atlanta, the pain had gone and even spending $200 on a dental specialist did not reveal the cause of the suffering. Jetty on fire - During our canoe trip on Nancy Lake, we paused for lunch on the jetty of one of the many lakes we crossed. Steve fired up his stove to prepare noodles, but unfortunately the stove caught fire. He kicked the whole thing in the lake, which made things worse, as the flames started to lick the mooring pole and got scarily close to the canoes. Bear fever - "In Alaska you are never far from a bear", says the guide book. Unfortunately, the thought of a bear jumping in front of us anywhere at anytime somewhat reduced Meriel's enjoyment of our hikes in otherwise beautiful nature. Even after our encounter with a bear, the fear continued. US Immigration - When we entered the US in Seattle, we had been on a plane for more than ten hours, watching videos and drinking complementary cognacs. This meant that we arrived at the US immigration desk with a breath "on fire", smelly clothes, no job and $100 in the pocket. Not the sort of credentials that guarantee a smooth entry into the United States. FA Cup Final defeat - The excitement of being able to watch the FA Cup Final disappeared completely after 90 minutes, when Liverpool scored two goals in the last 10 minutes, beating Arsenal 2-1. Fortunately, the hike to Eagle Glacier later in the day was worth more than mourning over a faraway football game. Walking tour of Juneau - Every self-respecting capital city has an interesting walking tour. Although Juneau is a pretty little town, the one-hour walking tour takes you past interesting places such as the bus stop, a concrete federal building, a concrete state administration building and other historic sites less than twenty years old. Rainy days - The first week in Alaska didn't really benefit from particularly sunny weather, which meant that our first ferry trip and our stay in Petersburg were rather wet. Fortunately, weather improved as the season wore on, so the last two weeks provided nice and sunny weather. Snow wading - Our first wilderness hike in Denali took us through large patches of deep snow, which we had to cross in order to get back to the main road. Snow came up waist high and our feet and trousers got absolutely drenched and freezing cold. Digging a hole for nothing - Denali National Park regulations require that you dig a hole in the ground for your essential activities. On behalf of Steve, our travel companion, we would like to add to our list of lows his frustrating experience of making all the effort of going out and digging a hole just to find out that he had "misjudged" his essential need. |
| Detailed Trip Schedule |
| 4 May: Seattle - Alaska Ferry 5 May: Alaska Ferry 6 May: Alaska Ferry - Petersburg 7 May: Petersburg 8 May: Petersburg - Alaska Ferry 9 May: Alaska Ferry - Juneau 10 May: Juneau (Mendenhall Glacier) 11 May: Juneau 12 May: Juneau - Eagle Glacier 13 May: Eagle Glacier - Juneau 14 May: Juneau - Gustavus 15 May: Gustavus - Alaska Ferry 16 May: Alaska Ferry 17 May: Alaska Ferry 18 May: Alaska Ferry - Seward 19 May: Seward - Anchorage 20 May: Anchorage 21 May: Anchorage - Nancy Lake 22 May: Nancy Lake 23 May: Nancy Lake 24 May: Nancy Lake - Denali 25 May: Denali (Riley Creek) 26 May: Denali (Riley Creek - Teklanika) 27 May: Denali (Teklanika) 28 May: Denali (Teklanika - Riley Creek) 29 May: Denali (Riley Creek-Primrose Ridge) 30 May: Denali (Primrose Ridge - Riley Creek) 31 May: Denali (Riley Creek) - Anchorage |