whats in Alaska besides snow and ice

[Paul G]

On the way to Alaska. 10 day trip. 3 days on land going up to Denali park, then 7 days on the ship. We have been vacationing in the Carribbean for years. This time my wife wanted to go north. Instead of packing sun and sand gear, I have coats jeans and long sleeve shirts. This is going to be different.

[mrsskip68]

Sounds like a fun trip!!! Its so beautiful there. (At least from the pictures i've seen!) Pack thermal underwear and gloves!!!!!! Have a great time and take lots of pics to share!!! 

[skip68]

Wow, sounds awesome.  But you're from Phoenix Arizona, do you even have cold weather clothes?       
Never been but looks like a beautiful trip. 

[Paul G]

Originaly from Chicago. We kept some cold weather clothes. We have almost all of them with us. Right now we are in Portland Oregon, 2 hour layover, the airport is even cold. Brrrrr

[RallyeMike]

Yup. It's just all igloos, eskimos, and polar bears. Don't expect much 

[el dub]

big game and big fish. big country. untamed.

[Alaskan_TA]

What cities will you be stopping at on the cruise? I have been to them all, so I can make recommendations on the shore excursions available if you like?

[AKcharger]

3 days on land? And during that time going to Denali? Do worry, your not going to have time for anything else. Kinda like going to Disney land for 2 hours.

It's pretty though, have fun!

[Paul G]

This trip is pretty well packaged. First night in Anchorage we stayed at Captain Cook Hotel. Enough time to clean up after a day of flying, walk down to Humpy's for some local Halibut, fish & Chips, a local brewed beer to wash it down, and back to the hotel. This restaraunt, Humpy's, was excellent.

Second day, was a bus ride to Mt Mckinley Lodge, then an afternoon trip to Talkeetna. Very small town with great restaraunts, and small shops. We ate dinner at Wildflower Cafe. The chef and owner of the resturaunt was a chef for the Bushes in Kennebunkport. Excellent food. Surprisingly good for the low cost look of this small town. I had to ask the hostess "why open a resturaunt of this caliber in Talkeetna"?

Today we ride the bus in to Denali park.

[Paul G]

The strangest thing is the daylight. Twilight all evening long. Nightfall about 3 am, sunrise about 5 am. We sat outside at the fire until midnight. Still twilight enough to see the mountain tops in the distance. Very bright. Very weird. I was very tired by midnight, but too bright out, it felt more like 7pm than midnight.

[Bob T]

Sounds like a neat trip and one I'd like to do. Have fun.

My in-laws did it a couple of years back with B.C. , Vancouver Island, Whistler, then  the cruise up the inland passage  and up to Alaska , train trip and about a week in Denali Park, they throughly enjoyed it.

Get some pictures up when you get a chance

[Paul G]

Toured Denali park today. Saw Grizzly Bears, Dal sheep, and Moose.The park is huge. Got some good Moose shots. Finally the sky cleared enough to see MT. Mckinely. Got some pics from 45 miles away. Cant post pics yet. Will when we get them downloaded.

[skip68]

What kind of temperatures are you having?  Can't wait for pictures.   

[Paul G]

Temps are in the 60's by afternoon. 40's overnight. Overcast skies most days. Some sun yesterday and today.

[Ghoste]

I hear you can see Russia.

[Paul G]

We did..... from the aiplane coming in to Anchorage.

Little piece of info. Some of the rivers are a murky gray color. That is glacial silt. The water is glacier water melting off. The silt is finer than talc. Fish do not live in these rivers. They are big rivers too.

[rt green]

sounds like fun.  how are you adjusting to the temp change?

[wingcar]

My wife and I did the grand circle tour of Alaska in our motorhome about six years ago....love the state, it is beautiful.  We drove from Arizona up through B.C. then on to Alaska and in my mind driving is the only way to see the state.   You see so much more by being able to leave the confines of the Cruise Tour areas.   We were on roads where I didn't see another vehicle for hours.   Unfortunately most individuals cannot do the driving thing because of time restraints or other obstacles...to bad as there is so much to see off the beaten path.   I remember one day driving and I couldn't understand how I was making so many miles...until I looked at my watch and realized that it was almost 10:00 at night and the sun had barely gone down....I was actually out cleaning the motorhome in the middle of the night and other people were going about their way as if it was the middle of the day....something I would have to get use to for sure.   We are planning a return trip in the near future...so much to see and so little time....

[Paul G]

We are back home and winding down from vacation. Got the pics from Alaska uploaded to photo bucket. Many of them are through the window shots on the airplane, bus, and train. Might be some glare. 

Alaska Airlines likes to "theme" the aircraft. We got to ride on "Tinkerbell" Sweet!


Looks very cold down there doesnt it? These are islands we passed over on the way to Anchorage.

[Paul G]

This is our first night in Alaska. Pic of the downtown Anchorage on the walk to Humpy's for dinner, great food, and a shot of the ocean from our room, with my wrist watch for good measure. It was 9:40 PM when we got back to the hotel and still daylight. Crazy! The sun doesn't shine much I don't think, just doesn't get very dark. Funny how the evening comes, but without darkness you don't feel tired. Exhausted but not sleepy.

[Paul G]

Talkeetna, Alaska. A sleepy little town. One stop sign and two streets. It is the meeting place for mountain climbers and others going on treks up the mountains. Great food at the Wild Flower, surprisingly good. We had dinner on the outside patio. The restaraunt across the street, Denali Brewing Company, was very good too we were told. The Alaskan local "amber" and "summer" beers were good. There was one local brew I tried, three letter name I cant remember, tasted like battery acid!!! Yuk!



11 PM and still daylight, Just crazy!!

[Paul G]

Had to get a pic of this guy. Local bird they say. Never saw "skeeters" this big. And they say the ones in mid summer get bigger. Got him on the window sill at the lodge. He just had breakfast.

[Paul G]

In Denali park. This Moose was standing on the side of the road grazing.



In the far distance is Mt. McKinley. They say only 30% of the visitors to the park get to see McKinley. It is usually hidden in the clouds. We got very lucky. It is 45 miles from where were at taking this picture. The camera was on full zoom.

[Paul G]

More pictures from Denali Park. Just an awesome feeling. The park is an example of the hugeness that is Alaska. Open and untamed. Denali is like a zoo without fences.



A bear family going down to the river.

[Paul G]

Train ride to the Grand Princess was the last day of the land tour. The train gets you in to the back country. Actually the entire state is back country. No need for any additional pics from the train ride, other than the Grand Princess herself.

[Paul G]

The ship took us up close and personal with the glaciers. Yakutat bay, and Hubbard Glacier. Distance is very misleading. The glacier stood over 100' above the water. They say the glacier is a moving river. It moves at a rate of 8' per year. I heard different numbers from different tour guides, so lets just say it moves. Ice falls in to the water routinely. We did see it "calving" once. That is the ice falling in to the water. Falling snow high up the mountain compacts, it gets very dense as it continues to pile on. Eventually it makes it all the way down the moving river of ice and falls in to the ocean.

[Paul G]

Ice floating on down to the ocean. Glacier ice has a blue color due to the extreme denseness. It is a prizm effect. The dirty ice is from scraping along the sides and bottom of the moving river of ice. Again, distance and size is misleading. The floating ice in the first two pics are big enough for several people to sit on. The camera was zoomed in.

[Paul G]

Skagway, Alaska. An old mining town. Again not much there. Alaska has an entire population of only 800,000 persons. Many cities in the lower 48 are larger. Skagway is famous for it's Red Onion bordello. I don't think it is used for that purpose any longer??



Some very "friendly" young lady's advertising for the show in the back of the establishment. I think it is just a "throwback" I hope?



And a railroad size snow thrower.

[Paul G]

Juneau, Alaska. Ziplining anyone? That was a lot of fun. Juneau is the capital of Alaska, not accessible by road. Air and sea only. Go figure. Click on the last pic, it may open to a video. My wife being a hot dog zip liner.

[Paul G]

Ketchikan. Sled dogs. They use us, tourists, to help keep the dogs in shape over the summer. I was surprised at how small the Alaskan Husky is. Only a 30# dog. They hitched the dog team to wheeled sleds and let them run. These dogs were yelping, barking, tugging at there harnesses to get going. Amazing how they loved to run. It's what they live for. And we got to hold a puppy. We got to ride a Unimog up to the dog kennel.

[skip68]

Wow, just beautiful Paul.         
Thanks for sharing.  Seeing the glaciers up close in person is something most people won't ever see.   Looks like you folks had a great trip.   That late night daylight stuff would take some getting use to.   Looks like the overall temperatures were mild and perfect for the trip.     
Any plans on going back?   

[Paul G]

We had a great week for sure. Weather was cool, not cold. We had nice sunny days for the most part, not the norm, cloud cover is the norm. Would I go back? I don't think so. Once is enough. I will strongly recommend that people who like to travel put Alaska on their to do list. We did the land tour first. Some did the land tour last, or no land tour at all. Both land and sea have so much to offer, I would recommend doing both if you can.

Truthfully I was not to enthused about going to Alaska, but I am glad I did. (sometimes it pays to listen to the wife)     

[Chargerguy74]

Wow, very nice, I've always wanted to make the trip.

[green69rt]

The pictures of the glaciers are misleading.   They're actually MUCH taller than they look,  the cruise ships will only go so close.  We went a few years back and when the cruise ship decided to turn around the glacier looked huge.  Then the captain pointed out a smaller cruise ship ( only help about 200 passengers ) and it looked tiny and a few miles closer to the glacier.   I think the glacier face may be as much as 1000 ft high in spots.

A beautiful state and well worth the time and money to visit!!  Sounds like you had a good time.