cruisinskier Posted June 22, 2019 Author #26 Share Posted June 22, 2019 (edited) The rest of the evening we just laid low, the finale of Game of Thrones was on , we picked up a pizza in town and brought it back to our cabin to watch the show. The next day we awoke unsure what our plans were. We had already done the one thing we had come to Talkeetna to do. We did know we were going to have breakfast at the Roadhouse....one of many places in town built around the climbing community. Edited June 22, 2019 by cruisinskier Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruisinskier Posted June 22, 2019 Author #27 Share Posted June 22, 2019 After breakfast we headed to check out the Ranger Station, where all the climbers must register and prove they are ready, before they start their 17-21 day trek to summit Mt Denali. They had a great video here that truly gives you insight to the challenges of this climb. It was still early in the season but no one had summitted yet. Typically they said 50% of those who try make it to the summit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
masterdrago Posted June 22, 2019 #28 Share Posted June 22, 2019 (edited) Great pictures! Thanks for sharing with us. Definitely following along. We took the Talkeetna Air Taxi flight same as you the day b4 (May 18) but landed on a different glacier ( Kahiltna Glacier at 7,200 feet). It's where the climbers base b4 making the summit attempt. Looks like all have failed so far this year. Looks as if the weather is great there this morning also. The FAA has two weather webcams set up there. https://avcams.faa.gov/ Edited June 22, 2019 by masterdrago 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruisinskier Posted June 24, 2019 Author #29 Share Posted June 24, 2019 On 6/22/2019 at 11:50 AM, masterdrago said: Great pictures! Thanks for sharing with us. Definitely following along. We took the Talkeetna Air Taxi flight same as you the day b4 (May 18) but landed on a different glacier ( Kahiltna Glacier at 7,200 feet). It's where the climbers base b4 making the summit attempt. Looks like all have failed so far this year. Looks as if the weather is great there this morning also. The FAA has two weather webcams set up there. https://avcams.faa.gov/ That must have been great to visit the base camp!! What an experience! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruisinskier Posted June 24, 2019 Author #30 Share Posted June 24, 2019 We spent most of the day around town, visiting the shops, and just relaxing. It rained on and off throughout the day, which made us even happier we had done the flight tour the previous afternoon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruisinskier Posted June 24, 2019 Author #31 Share Posted June 24, 2019 It did clear up later in the day, and thanks to info from friends we had been advised to go to the river front at the end of the main street to check out the views.....so glad we didn't miss this view! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
masterdrago Posted June 24, 2019 #32 Share Posted June 24, 2019 Spectacular shots of Denali cruisinskier! The day we were at that spot, there was a huge rainstorm between us and Denali. The confluence of the Susitna and Talkeetna River was a raging torrent. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
masterdrago Posted June 24, 2019 #33 Share Posted June 24, 2019 IMHO, Nagley's Store was the best shop in the whole little town. We were pretty lucky in that the rain kept away while we were roaming around town. Very much enjoying your share of your trip. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruisinskier Posted June 24, 2019 Author #34 Share Posted June 24, 2019 (edited) 5 hours ago, masterdrago said: IMHO, Nagley's Store was the best shop in the whole little town. We were pretty lucky in that the rain kept away while we were roaming around town. Very much enjoying your share of your trip. For anyone who is into Northern Lights photos, check out Aurora Dora. We really enjoyed her shop and talked with her for about an hour. Her passion truly is chasing the perfect Northern Lights photo. She could tell us the story behind each shot, the date it was taken, etc.... We couldn't take photos in her shop but her website shows you her work..... https://www.auroradora.com/ Edited June 24, 2019 by cruisinskier Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruisinskier Posted June 24, 2019 Author #35 Share Posted June 24, 2019 (edited) Tuesday May 21 - Talkeetna to Seward After an uneventful evening, and maybe a return to the Roadhouse for breakfast, it was time to drive back to Anchorage and head onward towards Seward. While we researched many options and places we could have spent time before our cruise, we liked the idea of one base and some downtime before a port intensive cruise. We also found there would be lots around Seward to keep us busy. So we hit the road on our drive to Seward..... Sometimes it is a challenge to keep your eyes on the road..... As we were stopped at this beach, we saw this guy land.... Edited June 24, 2019 by cruisinskier Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mapleleaves Posted June 24, 2019 #36 Share Posted June 24, 2019 I've always had to visit Alaska in late July thru August, so it's interesting to see how much more snow is around earlier in the season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruisinskier Posted June 24, 2019 Author #37 Share Posted June 24, 2019 As you can see, we had another great weather day. We randomly stopped along the road for a quick break and caught these great reflections...... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruisinskier Posted June 24, 2019 Author #38 Share Posted June 24, 2019 5 minutes ago, mapleleaves said: I've always had to visit Alaska in late July thru August, so it's interesting to see how much more snow is around earlier in the season. We were chatting with one of our flight pilots. When she first came to Alaska 30 years ago, the snow in May now is equal to what she said used to there at the end of the summer..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Coral Posted June 25, 2019 #39 Share Posted June 25, 2019 I continue to be amazed at your photos! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruisinskier Posted June 26, 2019 Author #40 Share Posted June 26, 2019 On 6/24/2019 at 8:29 PM, Coral said: I continue to be amazed at your photos! Thanks Coral...lots more to come soon. Still sorting my albums...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruisinskier Posted June 28, 2019 Author #41 Share Posted June 28, 2019 (edited) We continued our drive, arriving in Seward late afternoon. Given we were here for 4 nights, we had decided to rent a home we found on VRBO and it turned out to be great for us. The owners were very responsive and great to work with, and shared some of the best Halibut we have ever had!! The property was well situated just on the outskirts of town very close to the Safeway grocery store. You can find the link to the property here: https://www.vrbo.com/580854 The front The view Inside Fire Pit out back Edited June 28, 2019 by cruisinskier Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruisinskier Posted June 28, 2019 Author #42 Share Posted June 28, 2019 Wednesday May 22 - Seward & Orca Tour After getting settled in the house and buying some groceries the night before, we were ready to set out on our Orca Quest tour with Major Marine! It was an overcast day and cool out on the water when we were moving but we were excited to see if we could find Orcas in their natural habitat!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruisinskier Posted June 28, 2019 Author #43 Share Posted June 28, 2019 The Orca Song, our tour boat, had maybe 30-35 people aboard so we had lots of space to move around. There were table on the lower level (with a couple remaining empty) and an upper viewing area with seats as well. We weren't far out of the harbour when we saw our first whales.....not the Orcas we were after yet but rather some Humpbacks....we were off to a good start!! Mom & Baby Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruisinskier Posted June 28, 2019 Author #44 Share Posted June 28, 2019 We continued our quest to find Orcas....seeing a few other things on our way..... Seabirds..... Bear Glacier Puffin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruisinskier Posted June 28, 2019 Author #45 Share Posted June 28, 2019 There was lots of scenery along the way..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruisinskier Posted June 28, 2019 Author #46 Share Posted June 28, 2019 And then we spotted our first Orcas!!! And then we saw lots in the pod!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
masterdrago Posted June 28, 2019 #47 Share Posted June 28, 2019 On 6/24/2019 at 5:48 PM, cruisinskier said: We were chatting with one of our flight pilots. When she first came to Alaska 30 years ago, the snow in May now is equal to what she said used to there at the end of the summer..... That's strange. When I was there for two weeks hiking the Chugach Mountains in late August of '95, I remember no snow remnants whatsoever except in the occasional view we had of Denali. I'll dig out my 35mm Velvia slides to look them over. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruisinskier Posted June 28, 2019 Author #48 Share Posted June 28, 2019 The captain did a great job of keeping his distance while at the same time trying to position the boat so that the Orcas would swim towards us.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruisinskier Posted June 28, 2019 Author #49 Share Posted June 28, 2019 3 minutes ago, masterdrago said: That's strange. When I was there for two weeks hiking the Chugach Mountains in late August of '95, I remember no snow remnants whatsoever except in the occasional view we had of Denali. I'll dig out my 35mm Velvia slides to look them over. It may not have been Denali....I believe it was Michelle in Ketchikan who said it during our tour with her...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruisinskier Posted June 28, 2019 Author #50 Share Posted June 28, 2019 Our Orca sightings continued....they indicated that this was one of the better days they had for sightings in a while..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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