Skip navigation

Category Archives: Alaska

Denali Sled Dogs

The sled dogs are one of the more popular attractions at Denali National Park. Since much of the park is wilderness and off limits to motorized travel, they use sled dogs to get to the more remote areas in the winter. It was almost the beginning of the summer season when we were there and they were starting the daily programs, showing the dogs pulling a wheeled cart around a track. It was a short program and we were late. Something about a bear as I recall. We enjoyed walking around and getting to know the dogs. Some were open to being petted too. Did you know sled dogs are especially bred to have long fluffy tails so they can keep warm when sleeping outside in the winter? I was surprised at the diversity of appearances in the individual dogs.

60° is kind of warm for sled dogs.

Denali

Our next stop was Denali National Park. We are ever so grateful to a friend who loaned us her family cabin just eight miles from the park entrance! It sits atop a bluff overlooking the Nenana River with the park’s mountains in the distance. All of the rivers in that region flow north into the Yukon drainage. It took us a while to get used to rivers flowing north. We thought we were seeing quite a bit of Alaska but when you consider just how big the Yukon watershed is and also there is still more Alaska north of that, you begin to realize just how little we actually did see.

The cabin was cozy and comfy and the views were sufficiently awesome that we probably could have stayed there and been perfectly comfortable. However, there was the national park and we did go see it, everyday we were there. The trees in the park are primarily spruce and birch with a few others. Much of the landscape seemed like barren tundra. We were there early in the season and it had not started to green up. The aspens and birches leafed out while we were there.

View from the cabin
The best view we had of the mountain
Lichens
Park buses and an approaching thunder storm
View up the Teklanika River
View down the Teklanika River

Driving North

We left Homer bound for Denali after a short stop in Anchorage. We had gone a charter fishing trip and caught some halibut. At the Anchorage airport there is a freezer locker where you can store your fish, for a fee.

We stopped a few times to take in the sights. At once place, numerous people were dip netting for hooligan or smelt. We’d never seen that before. Most of the people were waiting for the tide to turn and were spread out on the rocks anticipating that the fish would soon arrive. We also stopped at Tern Lake and Potter Marsh where we saw courting Mew Gulls and Arctic Terns. Arctic Terns migrate between Antarctica and the Arctic, a distance of about 12,000 miles, twice a year!

Hooligan fishing
We didn’t see anyone catch anything.
Mew Gulls
Arctic Tern

Homer

From Juneau we flew to Anchorage and drove to Homer. Homer is located on Kachemak Bay on the Kenai Peninsula. It’s a beautiful drive, first passing along the Turnagin Arm of Cook Inlet and then through the mountains. The snow-covered mountains in Alaska seemed never-ending. It rained a good part of the way but now and then the clouds would part and there would another incredible vista of glaciers and volcanoes.

The Kenai River was impressive and had lots of little towns along it but they were mostly deserted since fishing season had not started. Once we got to Homer, we were treated to more mountain views across Kachemak Bay. The best weather days of our stay were the day we arrived and the day we left! Otherwise, it was intermittently rainy and/or windy. One day it was very rainy and windy and a planned boat trip was cancelled. Because of the weather, I never seemed to have a camera when I needed it so there are few photos of the birds that we saw while attending the Kachemak Bay Shorebird Festival.

Someone told us there are 10,000 sea otters in Kachemak Bay and they have consumed just about all of the sea urchins. This is good for the kelp beds. We took a boat trip across the bay where we were told 10,000 Black-legged Kittiwakes (a type of gull) and 5,000 Common Murres nest on Gull Island. Tufted Puffins nest there too but they hadn’t arrived in big numbers yet. We also kayaked there.

The view from the bluff where we stayed
On the spit at Homer
We took a water taxi across the bay to go kayaking
Sea otters are pretty adorable
An oyster farm
Our taxi comes to get us
Xtra Tuff boots are the state book of Alaska. Or maybe it’s a cult.
A tractor boat launch
There was a boat in this marina that was featured in the Deadliest Catch
Sea otter on the rocks

24 Hours in Juneau

We arrived in Juneau at 7 am and got to check into our hotel immediately. A friend who we’d only met once before, here in the valley, said she’d take us to see the sights. That was super nice of Rebecca and her dog Tilli. Tilli is an English Shepard in training to be a search and rescue dog. We had a terrific time seeing the Mendenhall Glacier and downtown Juneau.

As we departed the ferry, we were invited by union members to participate in a protest at the state capitol steps at noon. It seems that the governor has proposed cutting the funding for the Alaska Marine Highway system. These ferries are often the only way for Alaskan’s to get around since many small towns are off the road system. They also provide much-needed tourism dollars to the economy. You can read about the protest here. If you look closely at the photos, you can see Rebecca and me.

After she went to work, we rode the tram overlooking the town and then wandered around downtown, looking at all the cruise ship tourists. Cruise ships have changed the character of many of the small towns of Alaska although they also provide tourism dollars. Always a trade-off.

The glacier has retreated a long way in recent years
Nugget Falls
Alder catkins
Top of the tram
Juneau
That cruise ship on the left can carry 4000 passengers
Ravens by the parking garage