5/22-6/1 Alaska Cruise (Radiance) & Land Tour, LOTS of Photos (L.J. & Bev Part II/I)

[WalleyeLJ]

I spent another couple minutes trying to get my legs ready for the return, and they did better the second time around. Our pace was brisk on the way back, and when we returned to the drop off point, our trusty water taxi was already there waiting on us. The kayaking was quick because the paddling and lunch/exploration portion was an hour shorter than the normal trip so we could make our train to Anchorage. So, by the time was got the kayaks packed and everything and everyone back on the taxi that was going back to Seward – it was 3:30pm. Train DEPARTS at 6pm. 2 hour boat ride back…and the kayak beach was NOT where the train left from – several miles back into Seward…

 

…could

 

…be

 

… a problem…

 

Our Captain said the trip back should be a bit shorter as the tides, waves and wind would be in our favor. The only time during the whole trip I can say we were both happy that despite the terrific weather and views, we were glad there we no major wildlife sightings to slow us down on the way back. 90 minutes later, our taxi grinds ashore and we hustle off. Pam was waiting for us and brought us back to the office. She told us she couldn’t get any taxicabs on the phone (!?!??!?!), but quickly followed up THAT piece of news with the fact that she was going to take us herself in their car. Our transportation back to Seward was on us, and not in any way the responsibility of the wonderful folks at Liquid Adventures, but Pam went out of her way to make sure we didn’t end up with a HUGE glitch in our trip. We left the LA offices at 5:25pm, and arrived at the train depot at 5:40pm, check out bags, and dragged our numerous carry-ons and camera bags up and onto the train – whew!

 

 

 

Some views of Squad Island near the terminus of Aialik Bay and the jagged mountain of the fjord above

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Getting the kayaks ready to load back up onto the water taxi

 

 

 

 

 

L.J.

[WalleyeLJ]

We were really looking forward to the adventure of the ride on the train. We had splurged and got the GoldStar car seats, so we had seats up on the second deck of a glass domed car, with fabulous views all around. The steps up, carrying all the stuff we had, was its own adventure. Well, it was bound to happen. I had managed to not have a single back issue the entire trip, after wondering if we’d even be able to travel a few months before the trip. Just as we got to our seats, I got a shot of pain down my leg, dropping me to one knee. Fortunately, it was just momentary, and I was able to stow the stuff and get into my seat, which always helps. We rolled out at 6pm, right on schedule, making our way towards Anchorage. The weather, which had been beautiful all day for our kayak trip had become cloudy, misty, and occasionally rainy. Most of the mountain tops were obscured to whole ride, but with all the good fortune we’d had with weather so far, we couldn’t complain. It was still very beautiful. The first cool view we saw just as we were leaving Seward, was some kids playing baseball or softball at a little ball field. Ok, maybe you all wouldn’t find it cool, but baseball is my favorite sport, and seeing the kids playing in the shadows of the snow-capped mountains was a fun moment as we zoomed by. We hadn’t had a chance to get out of our kayaking clothes, so we headed downstairs to the bathrooms and made like Clark Kent and changed into to some dry, normal clothes!

 

 

 

Baseball in the Land of the Midnight sun!

 

 

 

 

 

After the ball park, we saw the occasional signs of civilization, but basically we were back in the wilds, with lots of pretty, misty views of wetlands, lakes, streams, waterfalls, mountains and glaciers. The views from the dome cars were terrific, but I made several trips out to spend some time on the open air viewing platforms on the end of the cars. The air was cool and crisp, and it made for better photos. Plus, it was fun to listen to the hum and clack of the train in the seemingly empty wilderness.

 

 

 

Comin’ Round the Bend – Upper Trail Lake

 

 

 

 

 

First major glacier off the right side of the train heading north

 

 

 

 

 

Just a few of the MANY waterfalls along both sides of the train along the middle portion of the trip…

 

 

 

 

We also enjoyed a nice dinner on the bottom level of the car, about an hour into the trip. The food was pretty good –w e both elected for what they called the Engineer’s Special – pot roast, mashed potatoes, green beans, and a Caesar salad. The plastic utensils made for a bit of food fun, but it was a nice meal to finish off a long day. The dessert was also pretty good – Bev had the chocolate torte, and I had cheesecake!

 

 

 

L.J.

[Shazzah]

Beautiful photos from your kayak tour and the train.

[1153rsmith]

Great pictures. It is nice to see a review from a fellow Tarheel. We are planning on going to Emerald Lake while in Skagway. We aren't doing the horseback ride but are their pull offs from the highway to view the lake? We are thinking that Emerald will be our turn around point.

 

We are sailing Southbound so Skagway will be our first port. A couple questions for you if I can.

 

1] How far from the ship docks to the Avis rental place?

 

2] Are their any places in town (grocery or Walmart type stores) to grab some snacks for the drive up?

 

I am certainly hoping we have as much luck with whales as you guys have. You have some amazing shots.

[WalleyeLJ]

Great pictures. It is nice to see a review from a fellow Tarheel. We are planning on going to Emerald Lake while in Skagway. We aren't doing the horseback ride but are their pull offs from the highway to view the lake? We are thinking that Emerald will be our turn around point.

 

We are sailing Southbound so Skagway will be our first port. A couple questions for you if I can.

 

1] How far from the ship docks to the Avis rental place?

 

2] Are their any places in town (grocery or Walmart type stores) to grab some snacks for the drive up?

 

I am certainly hoping we have as much luck with whales as you guys have. You have some amazing shots.

 

Hey 1153rsmith,

 

Yes, there is a nice, multi-car wide overlook on the lake side when you get to Emerald Lake. Traffic is pretty light generally speaking, so you should be able to turn around there, or just past the lake.The current Avis location is about 0.40 miles from the docks. While there wasn't a big box store like Walmart, we were able to stop by the main gas station (Corner Gas Station - 4th & Main)and get the usual assortment of drinks and snack food. I think there's a main grocery store, but we didn't stop by on our visits. Plus, you can get the ice cream and other goodies at the General Store in Carcross for the ride back.

 

Good luck with the whales - we have been very lucky and had some great viewing, but there are a lot of whales all along the way, so your odds are pretty good. The big question is how far or close they are when you do. Good luck!!!

 

L.J.

[WalleyeLJ]

During the middle section of the trip, before we reached Spencer Glacier, and went through two tunnels, we meandered into a rolling set of turns and down into a pretty valley. There were scenic views off both sides of the train as the tracks turned back and forth on their way down into the valley floor. Then we came upon a fairly unique sight. This section of Alaska has some of the highest avalanche rates in the world. We saw a show on T.V. before the trip about how they fire 105mm artillery shells high up onto the mountains to force the avalanches to fall in a controlled environment so that people and equipment aren’t killed and damaged. Well, as we finished our decent down into the valley floor, and a strange sight came into view. As the train rolled into a gentle left turn, there off the left side of the train, in the proverbial middle of nowhere was some construction equipment and piles of bright, fresh looking building supply debris. As it turns out, a couple months before, a winter train with no one but crew on board, was making a mid-winter supply run with building materials to Seward. An avalanche came down and slammed into the train, derailing several cars and burying the supplies under a pile of snow. Fortunately, by some miracle, none of the crew members were hurt! It had only recently melted enough to begin recovery of the flatbed cars and supplies. Shortly after that, we entered the first of two mountain tunnels, with a beautiful, gray-blue glacial silt filled river gorge we crossed along the way.

 

 

 

Pretty valley views – even in all the snow, spring has sprung!

 

 

 

 

 

The avalanche destruction zone and cleanup site

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cool colors of the glacier fed river below left before the first tunnel

 

 

 

 

 

View right crossing the little gorge before going into the first tunnel!

 

 

 

 

 

L.J.

[WalleyeLJ]

As we passed Spencer Glacier, I didn’t really get any good photos, but it was an impressive view in the distance. We even saw a chubby little porcupine waddling away from the train as fast as it could (all my photos came out blurry – rendering it like a round little “Bigfoot” photo from the 1960s…). We stopped to drop off a few hikers, and boarded a couple, and then we started along our final leg of our journey, running along Turnagin Arm and the Seward Highway towards Anchorage. It was still very cloudy and showering and gray, but we were able to see the wetlands on both sides as we ran up the southern part of the Arm. The railroad guides pointed out some of the decaying remnants of homes and trees destroyed by the massive 1964 earthquake that stuck this part of Alaska, the second biggest in recorded history. The ground shifted so much that some of the homes and other buildings we partially swallowed, and the shifting earth and resulting tsunamis ended up causing forested portions along Turnagin Arm to be flooded by sea water which ended up killing the trees, leaving dead, decaying clumps of trees, some still standing, some leaning or tumbled over from the beating mother nature puts on the area each year. We also saw our second moose of the train ride along this area, off in the distance feeding in the marshlands. As we moved north along the edge of Turnagin Arm, a surreal, warm orange glow began to build and intensify off to the west end of the Arm where it meets up with the main part of the Cook Inlet. We also saw a lot of people parked in different spots along the Seward Highway (which was between the train tracks and Turnagin Arm), fishing and or dip netting. The tide was out at the time, leaving small pockets of water, or very shallow bays, and huge, sprawling mud flats easily a half mile or more across out into the middle of the Arm. Then, we saw the coolest thing – the bore tide was coming in!!! The tidal changes in Turnagin Arm are among the fastest in the world, with the water coming in so fast and so high that people caught out exploring the mud flats get caught and have even drowned – which made sense why the folks we saw fishing and netting earlier hadn’t ventured far from shore. The bore tide rolls in so fast that you can see it coming like a tiny tsunami – and I was able to grab a quick photo as we rolled on by. I can confirm it was amazingly fast – more like watching a low, long surf swell roll in on a beach. It was awesome!!! I hoped to see it again when we returned in 2012, but our timing wasn’t right. It’s a neat sight to see if you have the fortune too catch it. If you want to know when they’ll be if you’re visiting, there are bore tide charts so you can see what days they are expected in the Arm.

 

 

 

One of the half swallowed homes destroyed by the ’64 earthquake…

 

 

 

 

 

The eerie, warm glowing on the horizon to the west (at this point it was after 10pm, the time we were supposed to have arrived in Anchorage, but we’d had a couple delays along the way on the ride up)

 

 

 

 

 

A poor shot in low light of the bore tide rolling in!

 

 

 

 

 

It ended up being a good time to take some shots of the rail car and some of our fellow adventurers…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bev & I, exhausted but having the time of our lives!

 

 

 

 

 

L.J.

[mollanjake]

So lucky, you saw a porcupine! Thanks again for both reviews. Your reviews helped to me to plan our trip and made me want go so much more. We have bee home a week and I am writing a review now. Your pics are so much better than mine!

 

 

Laura

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[WalleyeLJ]

As we neared the end of the trip and started to approach Anchorage, the sun burst through the left and front side of the train as the storm clouds cleared out. Looking out the left and back side of the train into the Arm, we could see the sun spill across the top of the snow covered mountains above Turnagin, and a beautiful rainbow arched out of the dark, menacing clouds, reaching towards the rapidly brightening Cook Inlet.

 

 

 

Here comes the sun!

 

 

 

 

 

The end of the rainbow!

 

 

 

 

 

As the warm, late sun spilled across the landscape, we rolled on through Potter’s Marsh and were able to see some birds basking in and flying around the late light. This is a hugely popular area for bird enthusiasts.

 

 

Potter’s Marsh Birds

 

 

 

 

 

The sun set just as we arrived at the train station in Anchorage. First the train was late – then we ended up waiting almost a half hour for the baggage to get offloaded. Then, it was all Hunger Games trying to get a taxi. I don’t know if that’s normally a problem, or if the taxis all just left when the train was late, but people were running all over trying to flag down the few cabs that came by, and everyone was trying to call and get one to pick them up. We finally got ours, and headed to the airport to pick up our rental car. The woman at Avis was very friendly, and even offered us an upgrade to a Nissan Murano crossover SUV, and delivered the car to us – a great way to end a drawn out but wonderful day. We headed to our final destination for the night – the Caribou Inn B&B. We really aren’t picky, but I would have to say that if you can find other accommodations for your stay in Anchorage, I’m guessing they might be better. The place was old, dated, and smelled like old cabbage soup. The room was older than I am, but in the end, the bed was clean, the shower backwards, but it worked for the few hours we needed to crash before we hit the road for Denali!

 

 

 

A last couple of 11pm sunset shots from the end of the train ride!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

L.J.

[WalleyeLJ]

So lucky, you saw a porcupine! Thanks again for both reviews. Your reviews helped to me to plan our trip and made me want go so much more. We have bee home a week and I am writing a review now. Your pics are so much better than mine!

 

 

Laura

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

Laura,

 

The Porcupine was cool - we even saw another one on the side of the road heading up to Denali (opps - spoiler!):D I hope you had a wonderful trip - looking forward to your review! I'm sure your photos are terrific - the important thing is that they help you remember and relive the details of your trip!

 

L.J.

[mollanjake]

Laura,

 

The Porcupine was cool - we even saw another one on the side of the road heading up to Denali (opps - spoiler!):D I hope you had a wonderful trip - looking forward to your review! I'm sure your photos are terrific - the important thing is that they help you remember and relive the details of your trip!

 

L.J.

 

 

You can never have too many animal sitings!

 

Here's my review- still in progress

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2070945

 

 

Your description of that B&B is the funnest thing I have ever read!(but sorry about the smell)

[Cruise_More_Often]

Oh, my, I had lost track of your review and just came back to this board. Caught up now.

 

We had a similar kayaking experience in Ketchikan. My husband is 6'3", and whichever foot that was on the rudder pedal went completely to sleep and rendered him helpless. It's funny now, but he was not a happy camper. Our only prior kayaking experience was in a lagoon in Acapulco, when his back seized up. He ended up out of the kayak, lying across it, yelling "Are we having fun yet?" Needless to say, kayaking is not in our future.

 

Your photos of the train really took me back to one of our favorite things in Alaska. We did the southbound route from Anchorage to Seward, also in May. We're planning another Alaska Railroad adventure next year, and I can hardly wait.

 

I'm really looking forward to your Denali adventure. Thank you so much for sharing your trips with us.

[Cruise_More_Often]

Mendenhall porcupine that we saw on our photo shoot excursion last May.

 

[mollanjake]

Mendenhall porcupine that we saw on our photo shoot excursion last May.

 

 

 

 

 

Wow, jealous!

 

 

Laura

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[teachatthebeach]

I have read both your Alaska reviews and loved them both. We are traveling to Alaska next summer with a stop in Seattle first. Your reviews have given me some great ideas. Great pictures too!

[WalleyeLJ]

You can never have too many animal sitings!

 

Here's my review- still in progress

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2070945

 

 

Your description of that B&B is the funnest thing I have ever read!(but sorry about the smell)

 

LOL - I should have posted the pic of how to turn on the shower - priceless!

 

L.J.

[WalleyeLJ]

Oh, my, I had lost track of your review and just came back to this board. Caught up now.

 

We had a similar kayaking experience in Ketchikan. My husband is 6'3", and whichever foot that was on the rudder pedal went completely to sleep and rendered him helpless. It's funny now, but he was not a happy camper. Our only prior kayaking experience was in a lagoon in Acapulco, when his back seized up. He ended up out of the kayak, lying across it, yelling "Are we having fun yet?" Needless to say, kayaking is not in our future.

 

Your photos of the train really took me back to one of our favorite things in Alaska. We did the southbound route from Anchorage to Seward, also in May. We're planning another Alaska Railroad adventure next year, and I can hardly wait.

 

I'm really looking forward to your Denali adventure. Thank you so much for sharing your trips with us.

 

Thanks CMO!

 

The same thing happened on our 2012 trip - I ended up having to flatten my legs straight out instead of bracing them high and against the shell of the kayak - it worked, but probably made the kayak less stable. The same darn thing happens to me if I sit on the floor in front of the couch:D. I think I need to stretch more - I enjoy our kayaking, limited as it may be!

 

L.J.

[WalleyeLJ]

Wow, jealous!

 

 

Laura

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

Super cute! That's a way better look at the little bugger then the one we saw when we were at Mendenhall. They are funny little critters!

 

L.J.

[WalleyeLJ]

I have read both your Alaska reviews and loved them both. We are traveling to Alaska next summer with a stop in Seattle first. Your reviews have given me some great ideas. Great pictures too!

 

Thanks Teach!

 

L.J.

[3happykids!]

i just found your review. great reading material before our cruise in 2 days!!!!! jealous of your pictures!

[WalleyeLJ]

i just found your review. great reading material before our cruise in 2 days!!!!! jealous of your pictures!

 

Thanks - and I hope your 3 kids ARE happy and that you all are having a wonderful trip - I'm jealous too! Can't wait for next August! :D

 

L.J.

[WalleyeLJ]

So, despite the exhaustive day prior, we were up pretty early after only about 5 hours or so of sleep. Even through bleary eyes, we couldn’t help by laugh out loud at the sign below, which described the unique means by which we had to operate the shower. The tub was also filled with little non-slip decorative fish ALL over the tub itself. The shower was, however, nice and hot and had better water pressure than some places we’ve stayed, but nevertheless, while an interesting place to stay, we will not look to return the Caribou Inn on anytime soon. For those who’ve read my two reviews on the Alaska board probably think we just love everything we do and see, and while that’s generally the case, this proved the exception. As we prepared to leave, I guessed that Bev was all about skipping the breakfast portion of our stay, which was spot on, so we just grabbed some fast food on the way out of town.

 

 

 

How to work the shower – Caribou Inn style…

 

 

 

 

 

One last (hopefully forever) look at the Caribou Inn

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We also hit Target for some snacks for the next couple of days, including our bus trip into Denali, and we also picked up some inexpensive DVDs about Alaska to reminisce when we got back home. Interestingly enough, the Target we stopped at had a HUGE tourism section of postcards, DVDs, Alaska foods, Ulu knives, etc. Stocked up, we hopped on the Glenn Highway and started rolling north towards Talkeetna and Denali, with our first stop of the day just a short ways up the road – Thunderbird Falls in Chugach State Park. I love taking photos of waterfalls and had read that Thunderbird was easy to access, so after a quick dip off the Glenn Highway, we found the parking lot for the access trail. The trail is only about 1 mile each way, and the path is wide and easy to navigate. That said, yesterday finally caught up to Bev who decided to turn back a short way in because her legs were hurting her. I was willing to head back and move on up the road, but she insisted I go on and check it out. A short, pleasant walk later I got to the end of the trail. While it was cool to get to the little boardwalk overlook to see the falls, I was surprised and a bit disappointed to find out that the falls were a good bit away still, and blocked a lot by vegetation. With the camera zoomed in I was able to frame a couple of nice shots, but it looks smaller and further away with the naked eye. I turned around and headed back down the trail. For the most part there was always a couple of people in sight most of the trail but for a couple of short stretches I was alone, and when I was, I felt acutely aware of the idea that I could just stumble across a bear of a moose here. I know that’s probably the most obvious comment of all time, but it was still a rush because I never really had to worry about that back east for the most part, and I suddenly felt myself paying a lot more attention to the sounds of the woods and everything around me. Nothing but the songs of birds flitting through the trees, but it was still neat. A short time later I was back at the car, and we were back on the Glenn in search of our next adventure!

 

 

 

The well-travelled trail to Thunderbird Falls

 

 

 

 

 

Upper Thunderbird Falls (what you can see!)

 

 

 

 

 

Beautiful Birch Trees along the trail

 

 

 

 

 

Our view back on the Glenn Highway, making our way up the Mas-Su Valley

 

 

 

 

 

L.J.

[WalleyeLJ]

As we made our way north, we were not fortunate to be treated to the classic highway views of Denali’s looming presence. While we could catch a glimpse here and there of the shoulders of the great mountain, we never got to see the upper half/third of the mountain. We trucked along at a decent clip, with light traffic and no highway construction, so we made good time to Talkeetna. The road to Talkeetna is actually a right off the Glenn Highway, about 13 miles away. We stopped at the little Visitor’s Center that marked the turn for a few minutes, where I was able to get a shot of this traditional backcountry storage cache. These are used to keep food and supplies up off the ground and away from the many critters that might also find the items useful. Then, we made the quick trip up the road to the quaint little town of Talkeetna.

 

 

 

The cache

 

 

 

 

 

The weather improved and the sun popped out as we rolled onto North Main Street Talkeetna and parked near Village Park. N. Main Street is all of about ¼ mile long, and the whole area around Talkeetna is very flat – funny considering it’s the HQ/jumping off point/base of operations for some of the greatest mountaineering expeditions in North America. We saw some interesting art in front of the Post Office as we parked, so we walked over to check it out. It was a big blue metal moose, decorated with several different things representing Alaska and celebrating the state’s 50th anniversary of statehood. Similar types of projects were apparently all over the state at the various post offices. In any case, it was neat to see. We made our way back to Main Street and starting walking down the road, checking out the businesses, B&Bs and restaurants that line both sides.

 

 

 

Welcome to Historic Talkeetna!

 

 

 

 

 

The Talkeetna Post Office with the Blue Moose out front

 

 

 

 

 

A profile of the Blue Moose

 

 

 

 

 

Bev ready to check out downtown Talkeetna!

 

 

 

 

 

L.J.

[WalleyeLJ]

We wandered along Main Street, checking out the various businesses. We came upon the Roadhouse Café & Bakery (and lodging – not as relevant for us this trip – but food – always good!). We went inside to check things out and found the interior warm and quaint. The fresh baked goods smelled terrific, and there were a number of coffee options. The coolest thing about the Roadhouse to me, though, was the expedition flags and country flags that were hung all over from groups that had climbed Denali. It was a neat bit of history, and since I’ll never climb Denali myself, it was cool to live just a bit vicariously through their experience, and also knowing that if nothing else we had shared the experience of Talkeetna itself and the Roadhouse. Bev chatted with some folks at one of the tables, and we learned the joy of Moose Farkel! Apparently they have Farkel nights every week during the long winters, and it can get really competitive! We bought a set of Moose Farkel dice to play back home – a unique type of souvenir from the trip. While the bakery items were super tempting, we wanted to see what other options we might find in town for lunch, and then planned to come back and get dessert here.

 

 

 

Looking down from the car along Main Street towards the Roadhouse...

 

 

 

 

 

Al Fresco dining, Talkeetna style!

 

 

 

 

 

Checking out the amazing bakery!

 

 

 

 

 

A look at some of the expedition shirts, flags and banners from decades of Denali Mountaineering history…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

While we made sure we didn’t have dessert first, the Roadhouse ramped up our hunger, so within a couples minutes of heading out the door, we stopped sightseeing and we were headed for some great pizza!

 

 

 

L.J.

[WalleyeLJ]

Mountain High Pizza Pie was a cross the street from the Roadhouse, and based on the number of people sitting outside, it looked like others thought it was pretty good. As much as a late lunch of nothing but cookies and muffins sounded good (in theory), we figured we needed something slightly more meal-like since we still had a couple three hours north to go. Plus, we figured it would be pretty quick. So, we went in and got some slices and a drink. A few minutes later we had a couple slices of cheese and pepperoni (for me), and cheese, pepperoni and mushroom (Bev). One thing we found in general in Alaska is that the food is good and the portions plenty. You can see from the photo of Bev with her pizza that they certainly didn’t skimp on the ‘shrooms! The folks in the kitchen probably wondered why I was taking their picture, but I was actually shooting a couple of bumper stickers they had mounted over the food window into the kitchen. Our hunger satisfied for now, we finished our tour along Main Street, until we got to the end and walked a trail a bit further to the banks of the Talkeetna River. Looking NNW, we still had no luck getting to see the top of Denali. The glacial fed river was cold when we dipped our hands in! It was getting onto to after 5pm, so we started back to the car, said good bye to the fun little town of Talkeetna and headed back out to the Glenn Highway, destination – the hamlet of Healy, just north of the main entrance to Denali National Park!

 

 

 

Pizza Pizza!!! More spring time dining in the great outdoors!

 

 

 

 

 

Cute Talkeetna bumper stickers

 

 

 

 

 

Look at all the mushrooms (no thanks!)

 

 

 

 

 

In case you were looking into flightseeing around or onto Denali, here are some shots of the K2 and Talkeetna Air Taxi offices/art galleries/shops! Hopefully that’s not REALLY one of the planes they used…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bev wanted to get up close and personal with an Alaska moose, and in Talkeetna – she finally got her chance!

 

 

 

 

 

L.J.