Denali

This morning we travelled by train from Fairbanks to Denali.  Beautiful scenery through the tundra heading to the Denali National Park where the largest mountain in North America stands. Our train car was an observation car with glass all around,

We had breakfast on this train as well.

When we arrived at the park we had some lunch then took a bus tour into the interior of the park.  This was a tour to see the wildlife and get closer to the mountain. It took over 7 hours to complete this tour but we saw everything except wolves out in the wild.

First sighting was of a Caribou then many others.

Next we came across Grizzly bears, a mom and her two cubs that our guide said were about two years old.

Dall Sheep were spotted up on the mountain side quite a way from us, but these white specs are really them.

Next we reached the half way point of our tour, barely scratching the interior of the park, but Denali was right there in front of us.  We have been blessed with clear skies these past few days.  Our guide told us that most days you cannot see this mountain due to fog and clouds that almost always surround it.  Today we got the full view which we were told was very rare. Only 30% of the people who come to visit Alaska get to actually see this mountain and we were told that only 10% see it completely, like we have done for the past couple of days! 

On our way back out of the park we came across more Grizzlies and Caribou then finally the Moose.  Of the 4 or 5 moose we saw, many of them were far out in the landscape and a bit difficult to see, but our first sighting was this female cow who presented herself by crossing the road right in front of our bus. Another unique sighting for us.

A very long day of travel but one we will never forget!

Our Tour Begins

You may have noticed from yesterday's post that this trip wasn't quite living up to our expectations.  While our tour had not officially started, we have been here for a few days staying in the two largest cities in Alaska.  While they do not compare in size to Toronto, or even Oshawa, staying within walking distance to MacDonalds, KFC and Walmart wasn't giving us that feeling that we were in the most northern state of America.

Today was better, we began with a ride on a paddlewheel steamboat down the Chena River.  This river runs right through Fairbanks, but we took a route away from the city.  We were given a wonderful narrative from the tour director of this boat, who has been a part of Alaska and this company for most of his life.  Very knowledgeable and funny at times with his stories.

We saw some really nice homes on this cruise.

Next we were given s demonstration of flight here watching a float plane take off and land on the river right near our boat.  Many of the residents here have a pilots license since the majority of communities here had not access by roads, so these planes become the only mode of transportation.  In the winter they change the pontoons for skis so that they can land on the snow or frozen rivers and lakes.

This trip was very well planned and we first stopped at the location of the dog sled teams of Susan Butcher, who won the Iditarod race 4 times here in Alaska.  This is a 1000 mile race across the state.  Susan died at age 52 of Leukemia and is regarded around here as a folk hero. Her husband and two daughters still manage the sled dogs and we were given quite a demonstration of their power, pulling a lady on a 4 wheel ATV. 

Next stop on this tour was near a replica native village, and our hostess here was a young descendant of the Athabasca people who showed us how they catch and cure salmon for their people and the sled dogs.  We were taken on a tour by this young lady and shown various pelts from the animals here in Alaska and the clothing they make from these pelts.

We also got to visit with the sled dogs from the demonstration earlier and learn more about them.

After our river cruise, we headed to downtown Fairbanks for lunch and a bit of sightseeing.

For dinner tonight Barb and I headed to the Pump House restaurant a very nice restaurant on the river we travelled down this morning.

We decided since we were in Alaska, we would order some King Crab Legs as an appetizer. King Crab is very expensive, but we thought we would order 1 pound from the menu.  Here is what we got for our 1 pound.

Now these crab legs are fun to eat so I fought with them until we managed to get all of the meat out. 

Tomorrow we leave Fairbanks at 7:30 am heading for Denali and the National Park that surrounds this massive mountain.  It will be a long day for a 4 hour train ride in the morning and then a 6 - 8 hour tour of the park searching for wildlife.  Now we are going to see the parts of Alaska that we came to see.

Tropical Alaska or Look at the Canadian carrying his coat everywhere!

Today was a bit of a rest day for us. We are still waking up before 6:00 am. We transferred to our tour hotel this morning, the beautiful Sophie Station Suites Hotel.  Our room is the size of my son Ryan's condo in Toronto, even with a very similar layout.

We rested for most of the morning and afternoon, then met some other travellers from our tour, including a couple from the Isle of Man, UK. We will certainly find out more about them in the coming days.

Today has been another warm day so at around 4:00 pm Barb and I decided to find some local wildlife areas here in Fairbanks. Knowing we likely would be out until 8 or 9 pm we took some warmer clothes. Barb took a sweater top and I took my fall jacket that I would normally wear back home in October or November. I carried this jacket around with me all day, it is now 9:00 PM and still 19 degrees Celsius here. The sun won't set for another hour or more. This is what the sky in Fairbanks was like for the whole day.

We wanted to visit a local wildlife sanctuary but our shuttle bus driver suggested we visit a migratory waterfowl refuge called Creamer's Field. WOW we came all this way to see a farmers field full of Sandhill Cranes and.... wait for it...Canada Geese!  This is why we take an organized tour when we travel.

So not many pictures today, but tomorrow our tour starts with a 3 hour river cruise here in Fairbanks followed by a tour and time to spend in the downtown area.  I'm not sure if I'm going to bring my jacket.

What time zone are we in??

We got to bed early last night (8:00 pm).  Needless to say we were up early (6:05 am for Barb).  I was in the bathroom with the lights on reading a book, I didn't want to wake her at 5:00 am.  So we will try to stay up a bit later tonight.

This morning we explored downtown Anchorage.  We took a 1 hour tour on a trolley bus for some great information about this city.  Our driver/tour guide was a 3rd generation Alaskan, and she was very knowledgeable. We even got to meet her family when her husband and son surprised her at one of our stops.

 

We found some interesting Alaskan road signs on this trolley tour.

There is a road near the airport where aircraft taxi across, so drivers need to be aware of planes out here as well.

Next we visited a local outdoor market open only on weekends. 

Then it was back to the airport for our trip to Fairbanks.  On our trolley tour, our guide pointed out Denali, or Mount McKinley, the highest mountain in North America.  We could see it from Anchorage, and our cab driver on the way to the airport, proudly pointed out some mountains and told us that was Denali.  We knew it wasn't, I pointed to the right and said to Barb, that Denali was over there. She agreed.  Funny how we seem to know more than this guy after only one day. Here is a picture of the mountain while we were flying to Fairbanks.

While at the airport, we arrived early as usual, so off to the bar.  Our server, Fernando, asked to see our id!!  At 60+ why would we be carded?  Barb was giddy and most ladies are when asked, while I was dumbfounded (usual for me).  We showed our id and pressed Fernando on why he asked.  He told us that in Alaska, if someone is caught drinking and driving they are charged.  If someone is charged 3 times, a red mark is placed on their drivers licence and they cannot be served alcohol. So he needed to see our drivers license before he could serve us.  Barb wanted her picture with him, because she thought he was sweet asking to check her age!!

So I found Ana for a picture.  Ana is from Serbia, a student working the summer in Alaska before returning home to complete her masters degree.  We told her that we were in Serbia last summer on our European Tour. We had a nice conversation with her and enjoyed meeting someone from another country.

So while waiting for our flight to leave, we crossed paths with some old travelling companions.

This is Dave and Cheryl, who we travelled with last year through Europe.  They had planned a trip to Alaska this year and what a coincidence, they will be on the same cruise as us next week!!! It will be fun to catch up with them and travel together again.  Before they go back home to Sydney, Australia, they will visit us back home in late September. 

Barb took more great pictures from the sky as we travelled to Fairbanks in this tiny, turbo prop airplane.  The ride was smooth and we are now settled in Fairbanks for the next few days. We still hope we can catch the Aurora Borealis while we are here in Alaska.

So we are now in Fairbanks.  First meal here, (Santa, please forgive Barb) was a Buffalo Hamburger for me and Reindeer Sausage for Barb,

It is now 10:15 pm and we are completely wiped out again.  We will get used to this new time zone eventually. Our adventure continues tomorrow