Alaska activities

[Mousey Girl]

The Old People arrived in Anchorage (via Faribanks and Denali) yesterday. They have gone to a bunch of different gold mining areas, and other stuff that is good for Old People to do.

They did decide that moose are extinct. They have seen the road signs everywhere, but not a single moose.

[Mrs. Nesbitt]

I would definetly do Denali but would skip Fairbanks and continue on up so you can say you crossed the Arctic Circle. Not much to do in Fairbanks other than rip off the tourists.

[Alex]

I will be a tourist on a limited schedule so I'm the perfect target for getting ripped off (just getting to, from, and around Kodiak for one day on the island along the route I intend will run us over $1,000). Add another $900 if I can find a tour company with room on a Katmai bear watching flight.

But simply being able to say I've been above the Arctic Circle and turning around doesn't hold much appeal to me (it'd feel like claiming I'd been to London with just a Heathrow layover). I don't expect to spend much time in Fairbanks, it is just a logical turnaround point for the time I have to drive (about 12 hours of driving over four days with, I hope, lots of stopping and distraction).

[Cadaverous Pallor]

Originally Posted by DreadPirateRoberts

I spent some time doing killer whale research up in Whittier Alaska, it's on the Prince William sound. To get there, you traverse a 2.5 mile tunnel that alternates between cars and trains. When we did it, about 15 years ago, we drove the car onto a flatbed railcar and rode the train in, not sure how they do it now.

It's been converted, so trains can run, and cars can drive over the tracks as well. It's too narrow to accommodate two lanes, so every half hour they switch the direction. It's an interesting process, and the drive is not for anyone with claustrophobia. Most of it is a rough hewn tunnel with bare, jagged rock staring at you. Whittier itself was a simple port town, but the journey to get there was a kick.

I looked it up, it's the second longest highway tunnel in North America. Worth a visit.

[Ghoulish Delight]

Killer fish and chips in Whittier.

[DreadPirateRoberts]

Originally Posted by Cadaverous Pallor

It's been converted, so trains can run, and cars can drive over the tracks as well. It's too narrow to accommodate two lanes, so every half hour they switch the direction. It's an interesting process, and the drive is not for anyone with claustrophobia. Most of it is a rough hewn tunnel with bare, jagged rock staring at you. Whittier itself was a simple port town, but the journey to get there was a kick.

I looked it up, it's the second longest highway tunnel in North America. Worth a visit.

Thanks for the updated info. I always thought it was interesting that everyone in the town of Whittier lived in one building. From what I heard, it was a real soap opera, living there. Certainly not a tourist spot in itself, but a jumping off point for Prince William Sound adventures.

[Alex]

Oh, by the way. We went to Alaska. It was fun.

The big ticket activities included:
- Taking the ferry from Homer to Kodiak
- A "flightseeing" tour around the peak of Mt. Denali (McKinley)
- A glacier cruise from Whittier to Blackstone Glacier in Prince William Sound

The small ticket activities (which are the ones that make a vacation) included:

- Barely avoiding rear-ending another car that stopped suddenly and having my annoyance/anger quickly terminated by the realization she stopped because of the beluga whales dining on salmon just 100 yards away.

- Being flexible enough to stay in "rustic" tent cabins while surrounded by people staying in $300 rooms.

- Spending a fair amount of time among large packs of geriatrics and seeing how, when in large packs they exhibit the same full range of personality types, behaviors, and misbehaviors as younger people. Really, it was kind like being on an anthropological tour.

- Two moose sightings, just to make GD jealous. One of them on the side of the road while (we were) driving.

- Turning every corner and having it be somehow more beautiful than the last.

- For the first time ever having falafal and liking it and the irony of doing so at the northernmost hummus stand on the continent. And all it cost me (beyond the $5) was a menacing stare from a librarian.

- Seeing the sandhill cranes and Canada geese gathered at the other end preparing for the migration south. I asked that they skip California this year and not **** on our sidewalks but I expect they'll ignore me.

- Muklukland even though we didn't have time to stop for it. It just makes life better knowing it exists.

- Watching Lani's reaction to seeing for her first time a salmon run in full go.

- A very large dead whale on a beach and the people fishing within yards of it considering I could smell the thing from 600 feet away.

- Bitching about how seeing dozens of businesses with the word "Sourdough" in the name has made me really want some and there must be great sourdough available though I'd never heard that before. And then learning what "sourdough" means in Alaska. (And I did eventually get some sourdough pancakes though they weren't all that great.)


Here is a panorama I made from our glacier cruise in Prince William Sound. Your browser will probably resize it to fit in your browser window but if you click on it you can scroll through it full size.

[DreadPirateRoberts]

Originally Posted by Alex

Here is a panorama I made from our glacier cruise in Prince William Sound. Your browser will probably resize it to fit in your browser window but if you click on it you can scroll through it full size.

That sounds like a great trip. Nice picture!

[wendybeth]

I'm surprised those geese have any **** left in them after flying over our place, Alex. I suspect we are on a primary migration route and are the rest stop for Eastern Washington.

Sounds like a great trip!

[cirquelover]

What a gorgeous panorama view. I've never seen one before but our camera is capable!