Because of the frequent poor condition of the dirt McCarthy Road it is not suitable for a motorhome. We left Maxine and Mr. Tumnus back at an RV park outside Wrangell-St. Elias while we rode with Ed & Cathleen in their rented truck over 30+ miles of wash boards and pot holes.
We stayed in quaint, primitive cabins with no running water, heat, or electricity. There was an outdoor kitchen we cooked from and showers were available twice a day when the generator was running. We were warned that there was a moose and a bear that frequented the property.
To get to the nearby towns of Kennecott and McCarthy we had to cross a footbridge then take a shuttle van. There is one privately owned, locked gated road restricted to residents who have purchased a key in order to use the road. We were told the key costs $800! The area is an unpredictable mix of public and private areas, and has a 'wild west' vibe.
Gregory and Colleen enjoyed a guided hike to (and onto) Root glacier. The 2.5 mile hike to the glacier, another mile or so on the glacier (wearing crampons) and 2.5 mile back was more than either had done in awhile but completely worth the aches we felt the next day. Our guide, John, was excellent! He educated us about the glacier and the community. Ed & Cathleen had planned to take a flightseeing tour but explored Kennecott mine when the weather didn't lend itself to flying.
On our way out we stopped at the official(?) Wrangell-St. Elias National Park visitor's center and learned a bit more about the park.
We took a ferry to get to Valdez. Yes, Maxine has now travelled on a ferry. Putting Maxine on the ferry was an interesting experience. It reminded us of the board game Rush Hour. They squeeze those vehicles so tightly together we had trouble getting out of Maxine!
The ferry ride was very smooth as we sailed along the coastline, passing awesome rocky mountains and the occasional tiny-looking fishing boats sailing home with their catches. Mr. Tumnus kept an eye on Maxine and didn't seem any worse for wear after the crossing.
Our time in Valdez was short since it was more of a stop along our way to Wrangell-St. Elias National Park. It is a beautiful town surrounded by mountains that we explored briefly to get gas and restock.
Leaving Valdez we stopped to see sea lions feasting on salmon at a hatchery, waterfalls, and a glacier.
We stopped at the Alaska Wildlife Refuge on our way to Whittier. These animals were found injured or orphaned and so not able to survive in the wilderness. It was sad to see them penned in but we were happy to have the opportunity to see caribou, musk oxen, reindeer, and moose (among many others) up close.
Getting to Whittier involves driving through a functioning railroad tunnel. Everything is timed perfectly so traffic can flow safely from one side to the other taking turns.
Whittier began as a military base after WWII due to its strategic location close to the Arctic and its deep water port. Most current residents live in the re-purposed high-rise barracks and are involved in the tourist trade for curious RVers like us or cruise ship tourists.
Our drive to Seward was interesting. We stopped for lunch and as we were sitting in the RV eating when all of our phones went off with emergency warnings. We had never seen an emergency warning like this before, it was labeled as an "extreme" tsunami warning and stated we "are in danger." Thankfully we all remained calm and had cell service that allowed us to do a bit of research. We learned their was a 7.2 magnitude earthquake off the Aleutian islands. We were also able to see a map of the warning zone and realized we were no longer in the danger area. Fortunately for everyone the warning passed quickly and there was no tsunami.
We hiked to Exit Glacier in the Kenai Fjord National Park. This was the first glacier any of us had seen up close. Though up close was still about a mile away. In a few of the glacier pictures you can see the blue patches where there are holes in the ice. Though Exit Glacier appeared huge as we looked up at it, it is only about 2% of the Harding Ice Field. There were signposts along the path to Exit Glacier with the year that the glacier last reached that far down the mountain, making our hike up to and back from the glacier a walk through geological time.
Gregory and Ed had a wonderful time fishing for halibut. They caught quite a few halibut and rock fish but some were too small and had to be thrown back. Their fishing license allowed them to each keep two halibut and one rockfish which have now been frozen and shipped back to our homes. On the two hour ride out and back they saw gulls, an eagle, many of the rocky islands along the coast, a few orcas, and a Salmon Shark.
Cathleen and Colleen went on a glacier and wildlife cruise in Resurrection Bay around the Kenai Fjord National Park and just skimming the Gulf of Alaska. They saw four different glaciers and learned about the four different types. They saw icebergs, humpback whales, a large pod of orca whales, sea otters, harbor seals, steller sea lions, and various birds. Cathleen saw a puffin but Colleen missed it. :-(
We camped in Homer on the spit with our friends, Cathleen and Ed . Though the campground was like a parking lot for sardines we still enjoyed our spot and the amazing views of Kachemak Bay and the mountains surrounding the bay. We walked on the beach, watched the eagles in a nest above the campground, and enjoyed being together.
On our way to Homer from Anchorage we stopped at Beluga point on the Seward Highway in hopes of seeing some Beluga whales but there were none to be seen. We did see some dall sheep hanging out on the hillside. We also stopped at Crow Creek Mine - a late nineteenth century gold panning site where Ed tried his hand at panning gold by the river.
We stopped to get some wine and discovered a wine made in Homer so we decided to go to the winery for wine tasting. Bear Creek Winery was a lot of fun and we all found some wine to purchase for the rest of our trip together.
Originally Gregory and Ed were going to go halibut fishing but we didn't make reservations in time so they will need to wait until we're in Seward. Cathleen and Colleen were going to go kayaking but unfortunately Cathleen hurt her back so we had to cancel those plans. We soon realized that it would make more sense to head to Seward a day early. We packed up and headed out for Seward early July 16.
We aren't thrilled with our campground but realize we shouldn't have expected much from one in a city. We did consider moving to a campground outside of the city but realized this location is what we need for Colleen to get to the airport and for us to explore the Anchorage a bit...location, location, location.
Yep, it was time for Colleen to fly back to Boston for her 'spa day' again. This trip was a bit crazy and grueling as she flew to Boston and back in about 36 hours. She did get to see amazing views of the southern Alaskan mountains and the 11:30 PM sunset from the plane. The nearly constant light has truly messed with our ability to gauge the time but we are noticing that the days are getting shorter since the summer solstice.
Anchorage has an extensive bike trail system that we've enjoyed taking advantage of to explore the city a bit. We had dinner at 49th State Brewery and enjoyed a couple of their delicious beers. The most interesting of was one brewed with spruce tips and birch syrup that we had to try because how much more Alaskan can it get than that? We also explored the Smithsonian Arctic Studies Center today and though we had planned to explore the Alaska Natural History Museum we decided to ride the coastal trail instead and maybe see some 'natural history' along the way.
The Tony Knowles Coastal Trail is an 11 mile bike path along the coast with views of the Cook Inlet, Chugach Mountains, wildlife and beluga whales. We did not see beluga whales but we'll have another chance as we drive the Seward Highway. We did see our eighth black bear but were unable to get a picture before it lumbered off into the woods. The trail was beautiful and much more to Gregory's liking than the bike paths through the city. It was so enjoyable! The most exciting part was seeing two moose! Yes, we've already seen moose but we didn't really expect to see them in Anchorage. The first moose was far enough off the path that we rode by comfortably then stopped to get pictures. The second one was a bit of a surprise since we came around a corner and there it was, right next to the path. We didn't really have time to process what to do so we instinctively pedaled faster. The moose was so close we could have reached out and touched it! Clearly we're meant to have special experiences with moose. They are cool animals and Alaska's state animal, too, so it seems only appropriate.
The first moose we saw (and managed to take pictures of) had a red tag on her ear. After doing some research we learned a red tag indicates the moose has been immobilized at some point. The tag gives further information about when it is acceptable to kill the moose. This we found a bit humorous since who is going to get close enough to look at the tag before shooting? We also saw lots of fireweed along the trail. According to Google AI, "Alaskans often use the blooming of fireweed to mark the progression of summer. The flowers bloom from the bottom of the stalk upwards, and it's said that when the top flowers bloom, winter is about six weeks away." Sounds like their version of our groundhog.
Our friends, Cathleen and Ed arrived late Saturday night after traveling for nearly 24 hours to get here from Pennsylvania because their connecting flight was rerouted due to weather and had to land in Seattle to refuel, adding about four hours to their travel time sitting in a hot plane on the tarmac. As a result we saw them just long enough to say hi and give them hugs. Today, Sunday they rode the Alaska railway to Talkeetna while we did laundry and got Maxine ready for the next leg of our journey. We four head to Homer tomorrow! Cathleen, or "Julie from the Love Boat" as Colleen calls her, has a lot of things planned for us.
We found ourselves a bit ahead of schedule after we left Denali NP a day early and did all we wanted to do in Talkeetna so we decided to head to Anchorage with a stop at Hatcher's pass on the way to see the remnants of a gold mining boom town. On the way out of Talkeetna we stopped at a place where they make birch syrup and numerous other items made from birch sap. We didn't even know this was a thing! The syrup is delicious too.
It was a rainy, overcast day at Hatcher's Pass so the views were virtually non-existent and we were wrapped in the clouds most of the day. We decided to tour Independence Mine and learn a bit about gold mining. It was really fascinating but eventually the 45° F temperature and mist got the best of us. Though the visibility improved a bit while we were touring the mine it was still a nail-biting drive back down the mountain.
The drive to Anchorage was pretty and the roads were more level than what we've been traversing since entering the Alaska Highway in Canada. A lack of pot holes, frost heaves, and washboards made us wonder where we were!
Supposedly there are great views of Denali from the highway through Denali State Park (which we drove through on our way to Talkeetna). Yet Denali remained shrouded in the clouds which is more common than not. Only about 30% of the 600,000 visitors get to see "The Mountain." Having witnessed how truly hidden in the clouds the mountain can be we feel truly blessed to be part of the 30% club with our views from the day before.
Once in Talkeetna we met up with Lincoln, Alden and Kathy again to share dinner before they continued back to Anchorage for their flights home. We were really sad to see them leave but appreciated and enjoyed them joining us for a few days on our journey.
Talkeetna, we discovered, is a bustling tourist town in the summer. There were so many people! Crowds aren't really our thing, we'd rather enjoy the beauty of God's creation. But, we braved them and attempted to bike around a bit (which quickly became walking our bikes around). We did get to see Denali again though! We also tried Chaga tea. Chaga is a fungus that grows on birch trees in cold climates. The tea tasted earthy yet still like a strong tea. We explored the numerous businesses in the downtown and took a walk on a train bridge before retreating to the quiet of our campsite.