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Days 13 to 26 - Our Alaskan tour

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Day 13 - Thursday 23rd May - Anchorage

We had forgotten how noisy American trains are in a town!  Because the railway crosses so many roads, with just ordinary level crossings, right across town, the trains blast on their horns at every crossing. So, you can hear them frequently.....and they start early in the morning! 

We started today....after breakfast of course..... going to the Airport to collect our rental car. We asked at the front desk of our hotel about getting a taxi - and once they know where we wanted to go told us they ran a shuttle to the airport and so off we went - which was great - saved money and an interesting conversation with the driver. 

Collected the car with no problems - the easiest we’ve ever had, and then we drove back to our hotel. We decided to walk into downtown Anchorage - not very far, and do the one hour trolley bus tour. We visited the Log Cabin visitor information centre, saw the Air Crossroads sign outside and generally saw what was around while we waited the half hour for the next Trolley tour.

The tour was interesting, and confirmed our thoughts that Anchorage itself had little of great interest! It is the main business hub around, and tourism plays a big part with the cruise ships coming into Whittier and Seward. 

We passed a statue of Captain Cook, looking out at Cook Inlet - named after him. He was looking for the Northwest Passage, and when realising that this wasn’t it - is reputed to have said we will have to ‘Turnagain’ - hence the name of the Turnagain Inlet we will be travelling beside tomorrow. 

The main event seems to have been the 1964 Earthquake - a 9.2 on the Richter scale, and lasting 4 minutes 38 seconds - the second most powerful earthquake ever recorded in the world. There was significant damage and many buildings lost, but very few deaths in Anchorage itself - most were further afield due to tsunamis. One neighbourhood that was completely destroyed with a huge shift in land levels is now Earthquake Park, where the terrain is very uneven.

Another area we went through in the tour was a huge sea airplane base at Lake Hood. It is the biggest, and busiest small aircraft base, with lots of berths on the lake as well as around the area on land - and an average of 190 flights per day. We saw quite a few taking off and landing while we drove through. On the outskirts of it we also saw 2 moose! 

Having completed the tour, we headed back to get the car and make our way out to the Alaska Native Heritage Centre, which is just outside of the main town. This was very interesting, with 6 life sized traditional Native dwellings, representing 11 major cultural groups, located around a small lake. There were people in each area to tell you more about them, and the items inside. Although each of the cultures are different, there are many similarities- as they followed the food, hunting and gathering during the summer and as a more nomadic way of life in tents, and settling down in more robust structures during the cold winters.

There was also a schedule of things happening in the main centre, and we stopped by to watch the Dance performance. There were four girls dancing, and two men playing the drum, with one of them singing. He explained a bit about each song/dance first, and there was a story to each one, but they sounded and looked very much alike to us.

Leaving there we headed out to the Chugach State Park, arriving at the Eagle River Nature Centre just before it closed, and so managed a brief chat with a Ranger there, and got a trail map. We did the Rodak Trail, which took us down by the Eagle River and gave us some lovely views of the valley and mountains on the edge of the Chugach mountains. This was a perfect end to our first day exploring Alaska.

No of Miles Driven -62 miles.

No of steps walked today.... 11168

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We set off in good time this morning, stopping off first to have a closer look at the Captain Cook statue, overlooking Cook Inlet.  Then it was off on the Seward Highway, following the Turnagain Arm Inlet. Our next stop was Potters Marsh, where there was quite a lot of raised board walks out onto the Marsh, where lots of migratory birds congregate. However, there weren’t very many in sight while we were there! A pleasant stroll on the boardwalks though.

As we followed the road along the edge of the Inlet, there were many places to pull in and admire the views. We saw a Dalls sheep, high up in the Chugach mountains behind us, (not a good photo), and lots of eagles. It is supposed to be a good place for spotting Beluga Whales, but we only saw the stone ones in the car park! 

We made a detour out to Girdwood, and had thought of going up the Alyssa Tramway, but when we got there decided against it, as we have already done a couple and definitely have more to do. It didn’t look as though we were going to get fantastic views from here so we gave it a miss, and had a coffee downtown instead.

Just after this we passed the turn off down to Whittier, - until then we were returning on the road we had travelled up on Wednesday. At this point we left the Turnagain Arm, and went up over the Turnagain Pass, climbing some 1015 feet. There were snowy mountains all around us.

Not long later we turned off onto the Sterling Highway to follow the Kenai River out to the coast, again along the Cook Inlet. Along this road was the river and lots of lakes, all good fishing territory, which is BIG business around here. The rivers open for fishing this weekend, and as it is also Memorial Weekend (Bank Holiday), it was busy. However, there were road works pretty much all the way along this road, widening it, which wasn’t brilliant. Also, although the water was there, you couldn’t actually see it very much, the tres had grown up too high at the side of the road.

Every now and then we also had glimpses of some large snow covered mountains in the distance, and we discovered these were volcanoes on the other side of the Inlet.

Once out to the coast part of the Highway, again we didn’t get the views we were expecting, as the road was further in and so it was more glimpses. Our destination was Ninchilak, a small fishing village with Russian and Native Alaskan connections. We turned off the main highway onto Orthodox Avenue to visit the Russian Orthodox Church, a very small building on the cliff top, with a small graveyard around it. Unfortunately it was locked and there was a makeshift sign on the gift shop hut saying ‘Gone Fishing’!

So we looked around outside, and then set off to find our accommodation for the night - a small B and B in the woods! When being shown our room the proprietor told us to be careful when going outside, as they have had a few moose around recently. We did see a couple of moose earlier this afternoon.

Having found where we were staying, we went back to the old village, to look a bit more. Not a lot there! Found a good place for Pizza for tea though.  We sat and admired the view out over the Cook Inlet, bathed in evening sunlight for a while before returning to our lodgings.

No of Miles Driven 220

No of steps walked today.... 6637

Day 15 - Saturday 25th May - Ninilchik to Seward

All the other guests where we were staying had come for the fishing....... 6 blokes off on a charter for halibut, and a couple on a different one for halibut and salmon - she really wanted to catch a king salmon! As they were off to sea, they were going out with the tide - a 5 am start! And not returning for 12 hours - not my idea of fun. Especially as the weather came in about 11 and it was quite wet!

We left Ninilchik and started off back the way we came yesterday, branching off after a while to Kenai. This was a much bigger place, also with a Russian influence from the mid to late 19th Century. We dropped into the Visitor Centre and looked at a couple of exhibitions there - one historical and one of photos taken by a local photographer. We were already in the old part of the town so, we looked around - finding Erik Hansen Scout Park - which had a statue of ‘The Boy Scout’ but no explanation.... have googled it and he was an Eagle Scout in 1981, and died of cancer aged 32, and this Park is to honour all Scouts.

Just as we finished looking at the Russian Church and surrounding buildings it started to rain, so we popped into a small historical cafe (about 100 years old) for a coffee. Then it was back on the road, joining back with the Sterling Highway. For quite a while it was very wet, but it did ease as the day went on.

The route back seemed more scenic in this direction, as we were able to see more of the river and lakes, although not quite so much of the mountain tops! Back to the Seward Highway and we continued on down to Seward. 

We had been going to  visit the Exit Glacier tomorrow, but as it had stopped raining when we reached the turn off, and we were in good time, we decided to go there today, as the forecast for tomorrow isn’t great!

This Glacier is in the Kenai Fjords National Park, about the only part of the Park accessible by road. So, another National Park to tick off our list! Phil is keen that I point out he hasn’t been eating too much, but has the binoculars tucked inside his coat, when you look at the photos with him in! Also, for reference, the photos - the date plaques are where the Glacier extended to at those dates.

We went for a nice walk up to the viewing areas for the Glacier, about a 2 mile round trip. It has certainly receded a lot in the last 100 years. Although the clouds darkened, we didn’t get wet, so that was a bonus.

Day 16 - Sunday 26^th May  - Seward

The forecast, unfortunately was right! But that didn’t stop us having a good day in Seward.... we managed to time it right this morning, and go out for a walk around in more of a mist than rain. We were trying to follow a Mural Trail around town, but some proved harder to find than others - although how you can miss pictures that big is a little odd - we think some might have been removed! Seward lays claim to being the Mural Capital of Alaska, and they were all relatively new and depicting various aspects of the town and its history.

We also drove a bit further out to pick up some of the others, nearer the cruise dock and called in at another of the National Park Visitor Centres, the town visitor centre was closed. As we drove along the waterfront, there was nice houses on one side of the street, and lots of RV and camping parks on the other, just between the road and the shoreline - and they were quite full with it being the Bank Holiday weekend.

Seward is named after William H Seward, who negotiated the purchase of Alaska from Russia in 1867, for $7.2m.

We then went out towards Lovell Point, to the West. It was a very rough track, and quite industrial to start with, followed by boating and Adventure centre launches - there are lots of companies offering kayaking trips out into the bay and around the fjords of the National Park. The shoreline at the end of the road is a good place to go rock pooling. We also saw quite a few people fishing in a few different places today. We also saw some sea otters.

After a coffee stop back at our hotel, it looked as though the rain had eased again, so we ventured out for another look along the waterfront.....by the time we got out the rain had returned, but it was worth it as we saw seals and orcas in the water, quite close to shore.

Returning to our room, to dry off - both us and the camera, we saw the orcas again from our bedroom window, so the last few photos are us watching from the comfort of our room! Not bad at all.

No of Miles Driven 55

No of steps walked today.... 11513

Day 17 - Monday 27th - Seward to Anchorage and onto Glacier View

After finishing last nights blog and sending it off, we turned the TV on, remembering that 4 years ago when we were in the States for Memorial Day there had been a good programme. Once again we caught the end of the broadcast of the National Memorial Day Concert, held in Washington DC. This is the USA equivalent to our Remembrance Day Celebration from the Albert Hall, and is very patriotic and moving. Glad we remembered to turn it on.

Seward this morning was not as wet as yesterday, but still pretty grey, with low cloud over the mountains. We found another Mural on our way out, and were soon making our way back up the Seward Highway. Not far out of Seward we spotted a moose munching in the wetlands beside the road. It’s always interesting to do scenic roads both ways, as you really do get a different perspective. We didn’t stop off for photos as much as our trip down, as the cloud was lower over the mountains.

Going back along the Turnagain Arm, we didn’t see much activity today in the way of wildlife, but there was a lot of traffic.... lots of caravans and RVs...some of them huge. Getting through Anchorage was also quite busy, but we were soon heading out and off onto the Glenn Highway.

Not far after we passed Eagle River, where we had gone on Thursday, we saw a turn off for Thunderbird Falls, so we set off to see what this was. The fee station was closed, so we were able to park for free, and we did the 2 mile hike out to the viewing platforms for both the gorge and the falls. It started off with a very steep climb up, but was a lovely path through the woods, with the final 200 yards or so on a board walk built out from the cliff to a viewing platform.  They do like board walks and decking over here!

Continuing on from here we stayed on the old Glenn Highway for a while, a two lane twistier road, rather than the new four lane faster route. At Palmer it was back on the newer road, but this soon reduced to mainly two lanes, for the rest of today’s journey. The road was following a large river for most of the time, and this varied in width, from extremely wide, with lots of exposed gravel beds and driftwood trees, to narrower areas where the water was rushing through.

During our time on this road we again saw lots of caravans and RVs, many of them also towing quads and other ATVs, having obviously been well used for off roading - they were extremely muddy! We were surprised by the number of actual caravans, as we hadn’t seen many before in the States, nearly all RVs or Winibagos, or Minnie Winnie’s - that weren’t very Mini!

The scenery along the way was lovely, being surrounded by mountains and the river, the occasional lake, and the sun even came out, which was great. The next main highlight was the Matanuska Glacier, a large glacier that suddenly came into view as we rounded a bend in the road. It was looking good with the afternoon sunlight in it.

Not much further along the road, in an area called Glacier View, was our accommodation for the night, at Majestic View Wilderness Lodge.... and it certainly was a majestic view!  This place is also a Heliski lodge.... which means in the winter skiers come and stay and get dropped by helicopter to pristine slopes to ski!

We had booked this over a year ago, when first planning this trip..... and as it was one of the few accommodations not booked through Bookings, or one of the chains, when getting our emailed reply direct, they offered  dinner reservations, so we booked! So having had a dinner reservation for over a year, we weren’t disappointed- a lovely meal with a fantastic view! The really weird thing is that we are the only ones staying here! So, we have the manager, the waitress/bar staff, the chef and possibly more.... just for us. When we arrived we were told we had been upgraded to a room in the main lodge, (rather than a cabin) and the table with the best view was reserved for us - it was only later we found out there was no one else here! The waitress/bar tender was from Virginia and had been here three days! We have discovered that a huge amount of the people working here in Alaska are from the Lower 48, and just working here seasonally.

A lovely day, now feeling like we are beginning our Alaskan adventure in the true Final Frontier!

No of Miles Driven 240

No of steps walked today.... 8184

Day 18 - Tuesday 28th  - Glacier View to Tok

Well we woke up to that amazing view again.....and had a lovely breakfast - specifically prepared just for us! On checking out they did admit we were their first guests of the season!

We set off on the Glenn Highway again, a reasonable road.... but as with everywhere we have travelled today, there were sections of rough, undulating surface, where the weather has made its mark. Some sections were very patched, and others needed doing. 

Our first detour of the day was to see Lake Louise.... not the famous one we will see in Jasper, but another one. It was at the end of a 20 mile road off the Glenn Highway, with lots of small lakes either side of the road amongst the trees. All these lakes have been formed by the retreating glaciers, leaving ice to melt in hollows and dips.

Lake Louise was very pretty and large, with quite a few small islands, a few of them with houses on. Not long before we reached the end of the road, the Sat Nav showed us driving through the lake, and not on a road at all! At the end of the road, there was another smaller lake on the other side, with a small connection, and another road continuing on - you would need a 4 x 4 to get across to it. There was a lady and young girl canoeing on the smaller lake, they pulled their canoes up onto the shore, walked up the bank and got on a quad to carry on up the track.

We had a look around and walked the short lookout trail, which had lots of information. Then we dropped down to the river at Copper Centre, before returning to our route. We had been on the Richardson Highway for this detour, and we remained on this now for a short while, until turning off on the Tok Cutoff Highway. We were headed for Tok, and the Alaskan Highway, which was a further 120 or so miles away. There really wasn’t anything particular to be looking out for on this stretch..... lots of trees, mountains and rivers.

We went through quite a long stretch of roadworks..... the verge had been cleared on both sides of the road for a long stretch, and then we came to the section they were working on with huge earth moving machines, and a nearly 2 mile stretch where we had to wait for a lead car to take us through, having had to wait sometime for it to lead the traffic through in the other direction first.

We made it to Tok, a very spread out place, and found our B and B, another place in the woods. There are various cabins dotted in the grounds, we have been allocated the Bears Den, which is the basement of the main building.... with two bedrooms, a lounge/kitchen area and bathroom - and complete with a bear skin on the wall!

No of Miles Driven 286

No of steps walked today.... 6769

Day 19 - Wednesday 29th - Tok to Fairbanks

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 We started today by heading back into Tok, to have a look around..... a very spread out town, the first main settlement after the Canadian border some 110 miles away! We were now going to complete the final 108 miles of the Alaskan Highway, which has the majority of its 1390 miles in Canada. This Highway was built between March and October 1942, following the attack on Pearl Harbour, when it became clear that an overland route to Alaska was going to be strategically important. Agreement was reached with Canada, who granted US right of way and waived taxes, import duties and immigration requirements. They started work in -40 degrees C, and in the summer battled the blazing sun, as well as the mozzies! More than 10000 troops worked 16 hours a day, 7 days a week to complete it - an amazing feat.

This road, much like yesterday, was very straight, running through wooded terrain - a lot of it stunted firs that are a sign the soil is very poor, or is perma frost. The black spruce trees can vary in trunk diameter considerably depending on the soil they are growing in, with some that are decades old just a few inches in diameter. The road itself was in places very patched, due to the weather conditions, and also the fact that earthquakes are also very common!

It was quiet on the road, and again like yesterday, I think these roads could compete for the title of America’s Loneliest Road - which we drove in Nevada in 2016. We crossed a couple of very wide rivers on narrow bridges, and just after one of them saw a moose, but weren’t able to stop. A little later we saw another one disappearing into the trees.

On reaching the end of the Alaskan Highway at Delta Junction, we stopped at the Visitor Centre and to take photos of the sign marking the end of the route. Across the way from the Visitor Centre was The Sullivan Roadhouse. This roadhouse was originally built in  1905 on the Valdez to Fairbanks Trail by John and Florence Sullivan - and was one of the many roadhouses on these trails across Alaska where travelers could rest and eat. This one was well preserved and has been moved to its current location and is a real insight into the way of life.

Moving on from Delta Junction just a few miles, back on the Richardson Highway, we stopped at Tanana River Crossing, and ate our lunch. Crossing this river was not only the road bridge, similar to a couple of others we had already gone over, but also the Alaskan Pipeline, on a Suspension bridge of its own! The Alaskan Pipeline goes across Alaska, from Prudoe Bay on the North Alaskan coast to Valdez on the South Alaskan coast, a distance of 800 miles and was built between 1975 and 1977, to carry the oil to the ice free port where it can be transported out. About half the pipe travels underground, but here is an area where you can see it above, as it passes over the fast flowing river.

Moving on this afternoon, the countryside seemed to be a bit more lush, with one or two small farms even. It was a lovely afternoon, and the temperature got as high as 70 degrees F (over 20 degrees C). We stopped off at The Knotty Shop - a strange gift shop, where there was quite a lot of stuff made from knotty wood...... as well as a lot of other crafts. It also had good ice cream!

We passed, today and other days lots of State Parks... many of them by rivers or lakes. These are recreational areas with campsites, boat launching, fishing and probably hunting as well. Alaskans are big on the outdoors, and we have seen plenty of evidence of this with all the ATVs, boats etc being towed around.

Then was a section of road.... with a sign saying: No stopping, No Parking and No Photos! We were passing by Eielson US Air Force base, and could see the Runway with planes lined up either end.

Then it was onto the really bizarre..... the North Pole! There really is a town called North Pole, and they do Christmas! The street lamps look like candy canes, it has the worlds largest Santa, at 42 feet tall, and festive street names- St Nicholas Drive, Mistletoe Drive, Santa Claus Lane. At Santa Claus House Christmas trees full of decorations abound, and Santa and Mrs Claus are there waiting to talk to you. As he said to me, he has to do something the rest of the year! There is also an area where all the Reindeer are, and you can go and see them. They are looking a bit patchy at the moment as they are loosing their winter coat. Their antlers started growing again in March, and can grow between 1 and 3 inches a day!

Leaving Christmas behind, we were soon into Fairbanks, and found our accommodation for the next three nights.

No of Miles Driven 224

No of steps walked today.... 7365

Day 20 - Thursday 30th May - Fairbanks

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Another lovely day in Alaska, blue skies and sunshine....with temperatures reaching over 20 degrees C again. We started today with a visit to the Cultural and Visitor Centre downtown... full of useful information and interesting displays. After looking around the exhibits, a very helpful man started chatting to us and drawing all over a map telling us where we should go! So we set off on the walking tour downtown first. Fairbanks, although the second largest city in Alaska, didn’t seem that busy! We walked along the Main Street, crossed over the river Chena a couple of times, and back along the riverbank. It was very pretty, and as in Anchorage there was a lot of summer bedding plants being planted around many of the areas - we are still early in the tourist season.

We then set off on a large loop we had been shown on the map. We climbed up towards the University, where there is another Museum of the North, but decided as it was so nice not to go in then.... and continued around. Part of the University has a large animal research station, and we passed an area with Musk ox and another with reindeer. There is also an experimental agricultural area a well.

Then it was onto a loop, taking us past the river and then up on a ridge back. We were hoping for some good views, but there were so many trees you only got the odd glimpse through.

Coming back into Fairbanks we looked for, and eventually found, where we need to go tomorrow for the tour we have booked to go up into the Arctic Circle...  looking forward to that.

Late afternoon and we decided to go to Pioneer Park - nearby our hotel. This is a large area, showcasing the history of Fairbanks. It was free to go in, and lots of the area was free to wander around, with charges made for some things.

Our helpful man at the Visitor centre this morning told us we really ought to try the Alaska Salmon Bake - an all you can eat place - so we went there first.... a great place with salad bar, potatoes, beans, rolls and the stars of the show - Slow roasted Prime Rib, Fire grilled Salmon and Beer battered Cod. You paid your money and were given a large fish shaped plate and then it was eat as much as you can! There was also a desert shack, some soft drinks and coffee included - alcohol and some other drinks were extra.

The same company also has The Palace Theatre at the Park, so we bought tickets for that nights show at the same time.... a Comedy Revue about Life in the Last Frontier - trying to answer the question ‘Why would anyone want to build a town in the godforsaken swamp’, and how that town has survived for more than 100 years.

We had time when we finished eating to look around a bit more, seeing the boat that had founded the town, when the man who had everything with him to set up a trading post was unceremoniously dumped here so the boat wouldn’t ground. A gold strike nearby at that time made him stay there and set up camp to trade.

There are also many of the towns early cabins and buildings, moved from their original locations, some with people dressed in period costume telling you the history of the place. It was interesting, and filled the gap nicely before we watched the show.

The show itself had just 4 performers - two men and two ladies.... plus a pianist, a stage director and two ladies on the door. It was very well done, a bit Music Hall style, with singing, sketches and a lot of history. 

One of the facts we were told, was that the sun won’t set today - it sets at one minute past midnight tomorrow! In the middle of July there will be a day when it sets twice in one day - just past midnight and just before the next one!

No of Miles Driven 61

No of steps walked today.... 10899

Day 21 - Friday 31st May - Fairbanks - Arctic Circle Tour

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We arrived at our set off point for our Arctic Circle Tour before the 9:30 am meeting time, and as the rest of the group were already there - just 10 of us including Aaron, our driver/guide, we left well before the 10 am start time. As well as us, there was a family of 3 from Mumbai, India and a family of 4 from near Denver, Colorado.

The tour is called the Arctic Circle Midnight Sun Drive Adventure..... and lasts around 16 to 17 hours, 11 to 12 of them on the road..... about 400 miles on rough roads at a maximum of 40 mph! The driver was very knowledgeable and gave us a lot of information about where we were going, the history of the region, and so on, which made the long drives more interesting.

We started off on the Steese Highway, soon turning onto the Elliot Highway before joining the Dalton Highway. We were also following the line of the Alaskan Pipeline most of the way, and could see it and learnt a lot more about it as we continued.

So our first stop was at Joy, visiting the Arctic Circle Trading Post. This was set up by a pioneer family whose children set up a lemonade stand for gold prospectors passing by. Then when the oil was discovered, the family decided to try again at getting passing trade, and set up a stop off point that has developed into the Trading Post... not big by any standards, but with outhouse restrooms, much needed! The area is named Joy after the wife of the original owner.

The road to this part was rough, with lots of roadworks happening, involving miles of following a lead car again. As all construction work has to take place in the summer, large stretches at a time are undertaken. We had left Fairbanks in drizzly rain, but by this time it had dried up and we were to have good weather, until we returned here again, some 14 hours later!

During the next part of the journey we watched a film about the Pipeline, and the struggles to get it built, and to get the permission to allow it to be built in this area, which was really interesting, and later on we watched two further films about the Area we were in. Our driver also gave us a lot of background information on the history of Fairbanks, covering much of what we learnt at the Theatre show. He also explained that when the Pipeline was being talked about, in the late 1960s, early 1970s, was when a lot of the Native Alaskans finally claimed land settlement areas, a big contrast in the way this had been done in the Lower 48 States.

Our next stop was for the official sign for the Dalton Highway... the truckers route! Most of the Highway is dirt/gravel, although there are a few paved areas. It actually wasn’t as rough generally speaking as a lot of the previous Highway, which was all paved! This was built purely because of the oil found in Prudhoe Bay, and services Deadhorse, the camp community that has grown up there because of it. A lot of the workers do 2 weeks there and 2 weeks off, but some will stay for a lot longer at a time.

The bus was equipped with a CB radio, and our driver was often advising his position on the road, as there are a lot of stretches, hills and bends where you don’t want to meet anyone, and also to talk to others nearby that wanted to pass. The truckers were going a lot faster than we were!

At this stage the scenery was much the same as we have had, lots of trees, of various sizes depending wether there was permafrost or not. This definitely reduces the size that they grow, but where the road construction has occurred, the temperature surrounding that area warms and so you get bigger trees at the edge of the road. The permafrost was a huge problem in the construction of the Pipeline, and instead of being able to bury it the entire 800 mile length, more than half has had to be suspended above ground, which increased the cost and time of building it.

Our next stop was at the Yukon River Crossing, a wide fast flowing river. This was our lunch stop, at about 2:30pm. We had pre ordered sandwiches to buy before we set off. Once we had paid and collected them, we walked over to the other side of the road where there was a picnic area and small info hut.

Moving on from here we changed from boreal forest, rising into the arctic tundra, no trees, and at the top of one rise good views of the Brooks Range of mountains. There were a few granite tors  dotted around here as well, with one aptly named Finger Mountain. We were able to get out here and stretch our legs, clambering up to a viewpoint.

Just a few miles further and we finally crossed the Arctic Circle - nothing dramatic, until we pulled into a lay-by where the sign was. Our driver told us to stay on the coach while he got out the Red Carpet..... well I thought he was joking - but he wasn’t! Out came a strip of red carpet with a white dotted line on, that he placed in front of the sign, and we all had to individually, and ceremoniously walk along, while he played a ‘tune’ on his trombone, then shook our hand! Very bizarre!

We had travelled 200 miles from Fairbanks, and the Dalton Highway goes on for another 300 miles before reaching Deadhorse. It is a long and arduous road to travel, and the truckers do it in one go!

We now started on our return journey, stopping at a section of the pipeline that we could get to easily and actually touch it. The raised sections, resting on large H shaped supports are radiator finned, with cooling agents in the pipes, so that the permafrost doesn’t thaw. There is a large degree of flex built into these as well, to allow for expansion and contraction with temperatures, and movement from earthquakes, and the Pipeline is resting on Teflon coated plates to allow easy, non stick movement!

The pipeline reached its peak of flow in 1989, with 2,145,297 barrels, and has been declining ever since. At present about 650,000 barrels of oil per day move through it, at about 3mph, and it takes about 14 days to flow from Prudoe Bay to Valdez. As production declines so other problems arise, and at some stage it will be uneconomical to continue..... which will be a huge blow to the Alaskan economy.

We also went down on the permafrost here, and our driver dug a small hole down to the frozen ground, some 12 to 18 inches down. It soon filled with water from the surrounding area, as the water lies in the ground, unable to soak into the frozen ground below. It was certainly cold when we put our hand in it. The water he dug out was quite peaty looking.

Then it was back to the Yukon River Crossing for dinner - about 8:30pm, for our burger we had pre ordered at lunch time! By this time the mozzies were out, but we went down to the River bank for a look.  The return trip from here was long, but even though we didn’t get back to Fairbanks until about 2:30am, and the weather had deteriorated back to drizzle, it still wasn’t dark - and we’re still 3 weeks away from the longest day.

At our final stop, Joy, for the outhouses if needed, our driver suddenly appeared with a tray of Tundra Mud cake and Permafrosting - a slice of chocolate loaf cake with squirty cream - at about midnight!  A very good and interesting trip, but very long and tiring, with  lots of jolts and bumps along the way. When we finally got back to Fairbanks he presented us with our certificates to say we had crossed the Arctic Circle and survived an Adventurous journey through the wilderness. We weren’t expecting to see much wildlife - but did manage to see a moose, a snow shoe hare and one other creature - not sure quite what....possibly a porcupine.

No of Miles Driven - 9 by car although over 400 in a coach!

No of steps walked today.... 12099 – although I am sure this isn’t accurate – I think it is all the jolting on the coach!

Day 22 - Saturday 1st June - Fairbanks

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Quite a lazy day today....... recovering from yesterday. We collected our laundry and then, as the weather was not at all nice - very wet, went to the Museum of the North, based at the University of Alaska. Although quite a modern building, it was quite a traditional museum of exhibits of wildlife, and artefacts from all parts of Alaska, split into the main 5 regions: Southwest, Western Arctic Coast, Interior, Southcentral and Southeast. Each region covers different Native Alaskan cultures. There was also an Art gallery - not really our thing, but ok.

We then went and found the Great Alaskan Bowl factory, where they have an amazing variety of wooden bowls, made on the premises. We had a good wander around, couldn’t find exactly what we wanted, and so had one laser etched especially for us - we wanted an Eagle as that is what we have seen most of since we’ve been here.

Then we went down to the Chena River, where an old Paddle steamer does trips from. We were quite glad we hadn’t booked this for today, as the weather was so poor, but thought we’d just have a quick look around. The trips are 3 hours - morning or afternoon, and we had decided to give it a miss. There was one of the paddle steamers tied up to the shore so we had a look from the landing stage.

By evening the weather has improved, so hopefully it will continue into tomorrow as we move onto Denali National Park.

No of Miles Driven 23

No of steps walked today.... 5289

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We left a grey, drizzly Fairbanks behind and set off on the Parks Highway - heading for Denali National Park. As we climbed up higher we were in the clouds, and you couldn’t see very far, but before long, we had left the clouds behind, and it turned into a nice sunny day.

The first small community we came to was Ester, an old gold mining town..... well it was more like a ghost town now. The places that were still inhabited are so far apart from each other, in amongst the trees, and the Main Street is a desolate dirt road. Apparently there 11 buildings on the National Register of Historic Places, I don’t think we saw them all.

Then it was onto Nenana, another small town on the edge of the Tanana River. We crossed a nice bridge before coming to the town. With a further one beside for the railway. One of the things that Nenana is famous for is the Ice Classic, which started in 1917, when railroad workers were waiting for the ice to break up so that they could start work again. Nowadays, every year a large black and white wooden tripod is set up on the Nenana River ice and people all over the state guess the minute, hour and day that the ice will break up, and the tripod will fall into the river. They buy tickets at $2.50 a go, and it is a lottery, you can buy as many as you like, with different or the same guess, and the nearest to the actual time are the winners! This year the ice went out on April 14, shattering records for the earliest break up.

Nenana has barges working on the river, and there is an old tug boat on display. We also saw one up on the bank, waiting to be relaunched. It’s other claim to fame is at the Railway Depot, a plaque and copy of the golden spike, used by President Harding in 1923, to officially declare the railroad complete. It was his train carriage we had seen in Pioneer Park in Fairbanks.

Next along the road was Healy, again very little here, it is more of a supply town to Denali Park. It does have a coal mine, which is still in production, mainly supplying fuel to Alaskan utilities, although it used to export a lot overseas.

By now the weather was good, and the road was more open and in the mountains, with lovely scenic views. Earlier there were so many trees beside the road, you couldn’t see very far at all. We were approaching the Alaska Range of mountains, much higher than those we have seen before, and lots were snow capped. The higher of the mountains were still in the clouds, but the views were good. The highest of the range is Denali, formerly known as Mount McKinley, and renamed with its Native Alaskan name of Denali in 2015, after President Obama passed legislation to change the name. Denali is the highest mountain in North America, standing at 20,310 feet.

It wasn’t long then before we entered the National Park, and we continued on a bit to find our accommodation for the next three nights, at McKinley Creekside Cabins.  We then returned back to the Park entrance and had a quick look around the Visitor Centre, to find out a bit more before deciding what we will do tomorrow. On the way in we saw a moose, munching on the verge.

The road has been following the fast flowing Nenana River, which is probably the fullest river we have seen, so probably still being swollen with melt water from these higher mountains.

No of Miles Driven 188

No of steps walked today.... 6127

Day 24 - Monday 3rd June - Denali

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What a fantastic day we have had in Denali Park....wonderful weather and wonderful scenery.  As we entered the Park road this morning, we were stopping to get a photo of the Park sign, and wondered why so many were stopped in the road...... well, behind the sign was a mamma moose and her two babies. So we had a lovely time watching them, retreating to the car when they started moving towards us, before the Rangers in their car came along and told everyone to return to their vehicles! Moose are considered more of a danger to people than bears, if you get too close, especially when they have young.

We then started off on the Park road... which goes into the  Park for 92 miles, although you are only allowed to drive the first 15 miles yourself. After that stage you have to go by bus - either a Park shuttle bus, or a Tour bus - we are booked on a Tour bus for tomorrow. As we reached about Mile 12 and the Mountain Vista Trail, which we thought we would do, the sky got blacker, and we decided to wait awhile and come back to this. Just as well, as a few minutes later there was a very heavy downpour of rain and hail! But not long after it cleared and the sun was out again. By this time we had reached Mile 15, and the end of the road for us today. The stop was at the Savage River, and there was the 2 mile Savage River loop trail, which we then did. This very scenic trail took us up one side of the river, across a small bridge and back down the other side. At the start the river was very wide, and reasonably shallow, but at times became much narrower, and was a fast and deep torrent. We saw a couple of arctic ground squirrels, who were definite posers!

After this we returned to the Mountain Vista Trail, and completed that as well. There were some interpretative boards along this one, showing where cabins had been in the early days of the National Park.

A little further back on the road, and there was a pull in with a mountain identification sign.....although it still wasn’t overly clear. We stayed there for quite some time, debating with two separate couples about which mountain we thought was actually Denali - and we still aren’t sure! But, whichever it was - we saw it! Which is fantastic, as only about 30% of visitors actually get to see it, as it is hidden in cloud so much of the time.

Returning back down the Park road, we were near the Dog Kennels, just at the right time to pop in and see the final Dog Sled demonstration of the day. This is done three times a day during the summer, and you can also look around the kennels. I had read that you had to go there by shuttle bus as there wasn’t any parking, but there was a small car Park, obviously not advertised too much, which we parked in. Then we had a half hour or so Ranger talk and demonstration. For this purpose they only harness up 5 dogs, but in the winter when they are working it is 10 or 12 in a team. It was interesting to find out more about the dogs, and how they are an important part of the research that goes on in the Park during the winter.

Our final stop for the day was near the entrance, to have a quick look at Horseshoe Lake. The start of the Trail for this was beside the railway line, and as we parked up, we could hear a train whistling, so quickly got in position to see one of the very large trains, with the high scenic carriages, pass by over the road crossing. This was great, as in all the time we have been in Alaska, we haven’t actually seen one on the move before, and only saw them stationary at Whittier when we arrived from the cruise.

We walked out to the lookout point for Horseshoe Lake, and decided that  would be enough for today. So, a lovely day, with superb weather..... hoping for more of the same tomorrow.

No of Miles Driven - 77

No of steps walked today.... 12881

Day 25 - Tuesday 4th June - Denali

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What another fantastic day! We again had lovely weather, blue skies and sunshine.... even at 5:15am this morning when we went for breakfast. The temperature at that time though, was nearly freezing (1 degree). We needed to travel 7 miles along the road to Denali Park Village, where we were to be picked up on our bus for our pre booked tour. We wanted to go as far into the Park as possible, and had even changed the way we went around Alaska in order to do this, as the tours right into the Park didn’t start until today!

We were soon on our bus and ready to go onto collect more passengers.  Melanie, our driver and guide for the day, was really informative and told us loads about Denali, the wildlife and everything else you could possibly want to know. This is her 15th season working in Denali, the last 8 of them as a bus driver/guide.

The only road into the Park is the one we were on yesterday....but after the 15 mile cut off, instead of paved road it is gravel. However it was a really good surface, and not too bumpy - some of the main roads here have been a worse ride! The road winds it way into the wilderness for 92 miles all told, and our destination was at Mile 90 - Katishna Roadhouse. We covered three Passes, Sable Pass, Polychrome Pass and Highway Pass, rising to a height of 3980 feet. There were numerous hairpin bends, and in places the road had been cut into the mountainside, with a steep drop off.

We had a few stop offs on our way, to take in the views and use the facilities. Also, lots of unscheduled stops, as and when, for the wildlife. We were extremely lucky and saw lots!

Moose - both cows and bulls - about 5 separate occasions

Caribou- loads! On lots of occasions - mainly in groups of between 4 & 10

Dall sheep - lots! On many occasions - in groups of about 10

Grizzly Bears - two sightings - first in the distance and hidden a bit, of 2 or 3 and then a mother and 2 large cubs in plain sight

Golden Eagle - no photo

Hoary Marmot - 2 different occasions

Arctic Ground Squirrels - absolutely loads!

Red Fox

Snow shoe hare - lots but no photos

Oh... and lots of Mozzies! They ate us at Kantishna.

So, the big 4 - Moose, Caribou, Dall sheep and Grizzly Bear are what the Park is most famous for - and we were lucky enough to see all of them.

The Park was set up to protect the Dall sheep in particular, from over hunting.

One of the first things we learnt this morning, was that it didn’t matter which we thought was Mount Denali yesterday in our debate....... basically we hadn’t seen it! Today we did! And what a spectacular sight...... it definitely stands out amongst all the other mountains around it, and covered in snow. All the time that we could see it, and that was over quite a stretch of the way, there was cloud around, coming and going, and obscuring parts, but we did see the top of both the North and South summit.

One of the interesting facts about Denali, is its vertical height gain. As it is starting from a base level of just a couple of thousand feet above sea level, its vertical gain as a mountain is greater than any other in the world..... Mount Everest, although taller, starts from a base level of about 12000 feet!

The other thing we learnt, was the wide river beds we have seen so many of in this area, are called Braid Rivers, because of the multi strands of water amongst the gravel tracks. These are glacial fed rivers, and the gravel is all brought down from the glaciers and deposited along the wide, flat beds, with new channels being made frequently. In fact you can see which of the water channels are clear running and which are cloudy with gravel.

Once we reached the end of the road, well Mile 90, we were at Katishna Roadhouse, a small community owned by Native Alaskans. This small area was once gold mined, and settled by Athabaskan Native Alaskans, in the land settlement of the late 1960s. At that time the area was not in the Park boundary, but in 1980 the size of the Park was increased. So, this small area, and a few others are privately owned within the Park. We had lunch laid on at the Roadhouse, and then time to look around a bit, and join one of their ‘programmes’ if we wanted - Gold Panning or a talk about Sled dogs. Having been to the Sled dogs yesterday, and not really wanting to go Gold Panning, we sat on the verandah and had a coffee!

The return journey was as interesting as the outward one - with more wildlife spotting, and the evening sun on the colourful mountains. A long day... again.... but only just over 13 hours this time - but well worth it.

No of Miles Driven - 14 plus about 200 miles by bus

No of steps walked today.... 6807

Day 26 - Wednesday 5th June -

Denali to Wasilla near Anchorage 

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Today has been quite different to yesterday...... the weather for starters.... starting grey and drizzly, coming out nice and ending with some short sharp rain showers, thunder and lightning!

We left our Creekside Cabin and set off to follow the Parks Highway south. At Cantwell, not a lot there, we thought we would travel a short distance on the Denali Highway.  This road cuts across to the Richardson Highway, over the west section of the Alaskan range. We knew it was mainly a gravel road, which we aren’t allowed to go on with a rental car, but had been told the first 5 miles this side, and 20 miles the other was paved. Well, after about 2 miles we hit the dirt road, and as all we were seeing was the snow topped mountains in the cloud we turned back.

The next section of the Parks Highway was across the Broad Pass, very aptly named, as it was a wide flat area between two ridges of the mountains. However, with the cloud down so low, the views were limited.

We then entered Denali State Park, and as we have experienced elsewhere in Alaska, these State Parks seem to be recreational areas for people to camp, hike, fish, off road etc. At either end of the State Park were two big pull ins, North and South, with expectations of viewing Denali itself. Unsurprisingly, with the weather, it was not visible today, and we again speculated as to its exact location! It was really interesting listening to others around also speculate which was the ‘Big One’.

Talkeetna is a small town, again an old mining area, that has kept itself going as the railroad stops here. There seemed to be lots of people milling around, who we guessed had either come by train or on coaches. It is also where those wishing to climb Denali come to be air dropped into base camp at 8000 feet. About 1200 people a year register to climb the mountain, and mostly due to the weather, the success rate is only about 50%. There is a huge amount of activity providers here as well, offering: rafting, zip line, sightseeing flights - in both helicopters and airplanes, off roading.... and probably more. There were also a lot of gift shops! 

However, on the road in there was also another lookout where it was possible to see Denali...... on the way in we stopped and admired the sun shining on the mountains.... but no ‘Big One’, but on the way out we stopped again. And surprisingly the cloud had lifted and we could see the tops of the mountains again. Fantastic! 

We then continued South, to Wasilla, which being about 40 miles or so outside of Anchorage seems to have become a bit of a commuter place for there, looking quite modern and full of shops and businesses, a bit of a culture shock after our last few days. The last few miles here had lots of recreational areas, lakes for fishing and boating, and off road trails. Alaskans certainly like to play hard!

No of Miles Driven - 145

No of steps walked today.... 6510