Alaska Trip 2009

One of my lifelong goals was to visit Alaska and in 2009, it finally happened. The trip took a while to happen as the boss was keen on a cruise boat where I preferred the RV (campervan) option that we had used in 2003. As usual, a compromise was found: 7 nights in the RV and 4 nights on the cruise ship.
What a great country; what amazing scenery! Here are a few of the highlights:


  Our trusty steed for a week













We picked up our RV in Anchorage after allowing a day to recover from the 40 hour journey (elapsed time). We can heartily recommend the Sheraton Anchorage - best hotel beds anywhere! Great deal too via the hotwire website.
The van was 21 feet long and that extra 2 feet over our 2003 RV was substantial. It meant a lot more room inside and a proper toilet & shower. Galley was also a quantum leap up with three gas burners and even a microwave.



  Plenty of cupboard space too!











There was a bigger bed which meant I no longer needed to sleep diagonally across the bed to fit in.


  Sue emerging from the bedroom -
  the shower/toilet is behind her.
  Ample wardrobe on her left.
  Gas/electric fridge to her right.








We also had a permanent dining room table rather than having to eat in the front seats as we did last trip.
So it was off to Wasilla, famous only for being the home of Sarah Palin. It is also home of the biggest Walmart in Alaska. It was huge - an amazing selection of everything you could think of. We were impressed with the quality of the fresh fruit and vegetables - as good as in California, although I suspect that is where a lot of the produce came from, given Alaska's short growing season. Prices were a lot better than what we had expected; some earlier visitors said food in Alaska was frightingly expensive. Maybe that was why Walmart were prospering.
Having stocked up, we headed for Denali and our first campground - which we found was closed! A friendly local informed us that the other campground owned by the same people was open and we should head there. It was easy to find as in fact we had passed it 10 miles before.
We were supposed to spend two nights there but it was was very noisy, being alongside the main highway so we checked out after one night and went into a campground inside Denali National Park.
We had booked a bus trip deep into the interior of this huge park. It would take 3&3/4 hours each way but that was not as bad as it sounded as it stopped every hour and you could get off, wander around and then catch the next bus through.

 

  The roads were smooth and well-maintained










Fantastic views from every corner.






  But no trout in all Denali Park!












  Rugged - oh, yeah.










We soon saw our first grizzlies - these northern ones are a lot smaller than the species further south.




  Not that we intended getting out
  of the bus to measure them!






We finally reached Eielson Station, named after one of the region's most famous bush pilots. Mt McKinlay was partly obscured by the landform in front so we decided to climb a 1000 ft high ridge behind the station to get a better view. It was a tough old climb for legs accustomed to being stuffed into plane seats for 20 hours! But the view was spectacular.



  Reminds you of Sir Ed?
  Oh, well - maybe not














 View of Eielson Station
 from 1000 ft above
















  Denali National Park












  Slightly obscured view of Mt McKinlay
  all 20,000 ft of it!






























  The three mountains pictured here are all 
  over 17,000 ft!











 Coming down was a bit easier














On the way back, we saw more grizzlies (12 in total), heaps of elk (deer) but no moose. Oh well, next time..........
















It was a lot more peaceful in the Denali Campground and the next day we headed for Fairbanks. Nice town and a lovely campground beside a river (yes, I did have a fish but further up in the headwaters). The weather was lovely in Fairbanks - 76 degrees. A few days after we left it was 90 degrees; a bit different to the -60 degrees they get in winter. Is that the highest diurnal in the world?

On the way out of Fairbanks, one of our party just had to visit Santa Claus House and send a Christmas card from Santa to her darling granddaughter.

 

We trucked on joining the Alcan Highway - one I had always dreamed of driving. It was built in 1943 by the American Army to counter the threat from Russia. The entire 1000 mile road was built in only 13 months - an amazing feat considering the isolation, weather and the unstable frozen tundra the road was built over. That became obvious when we crossed the border into Canada. Here the tundra kept melting and the road was a shocker. It slumped every few yards and the van went up and down without warning. Eventually I learned to look for the small red flags on the road border that showed another bump or slump. We dropped from an average speed of 70mph to around 20!

Not far over the border was the small hamlet of Beaver Creek. Not a very attractive place - biggest goddam mosquitoes we had ever seen! About as bad as a swarm of sandflies on NZ's West Coast.

Next on the schedule was Whitehorse; which has a nice campground but not much else. But the drive from Whitehorse to Skagway was one of the highlights of the whole trip. The BC scenery was incredible - first up: Emerald Lake.



  The camera doesn't do it justice.











  Wow! And we thought NZ
  was beautiful.









   
 

  The photo op, naturally









While we were parked in the layby admiring the view, several tourist buses pulled up and disgorged a whole heap of 'oldies'. If we had known they were our future shipmates, we may have turned round and headed back to BC!


After a steep descent, and another border crossing, we came into Skagway.



  And saw two huge ships -
  the biggest was ours!












Next - Part Two:
The Cruise from Hell! (only joking - it was brill!).