Homer, Alaska - July 15th

Let’s pick up where I left off on July 7^th.

Instead of going for a hike in the rain we drove down to the gift shops that line the entrance to Denali for some serious browsing. I also checked to see if I could locate a WIFI signal for later.

Before we left on our trip I purchased a keychain sized device that will tell you if there’s a WIFI signal nearby and its strength. The only problem is that it won’t tell you if it’s a secured site or one that can be “high jacked”. When we came back later, with the laptop, none of the potential sites were available. Oh well!

The rain had finally stopped so we drove back north to Stampede Trail Road, the original entrance to the park. The first few miles are paved and have a few homes and home-based businesses along that stretch. The rest of the road is gravel and slowly narrows down so much that the truck could go no further. We passed several areas where other vehicles were parked and we weren’t sure where the owners were so we decided not to stay. If they were hunters we didn’t want to be mistaken for a bear and shot. We did find a beautiful lake out in the distance but unfortunately no wildlife.

On the way back out we stopped at a place that takes you on pack horse tours into the back country and checked their prices. Kim, Kurt and the girls will be flying up July 25^th to join us for a week and we thought going on a trail ride might be something fun to do with them. The owner was really nice and told us about another area that had an interesting geological feature that we should explore and off we went to Smoking Mountain to check it out.

Again we were on another gravel road and by now the truck was covered with sticky, gray Alaskan mud. We finally reached the end of the road and the Smoking Mountain. Actually, they’re sandstone or limestone cliffs with veins of coal running through them and at certain times, under certain conditions they smoke! It was a very interesting area and we took lots of pictures.

July 8^th

We were enjoying the area so much we decided to stay another day and go back into Denali National Park to take the sled dog kennel tour and then drive as far (about 15 miles) as private vehicles are allowed.

The sled dogs and handlers spend the entire year at the park and their main function is to patrol the park during the winter. The ranger said the dogs were happiest when the temperature was between 20º above to 20º below and running their heart out. But the dogs were eager to demonstrate their sled pulling skills for us even though it was sunny. Yes, we were having another sunny day!! But Denali stayed hidden from us.

After the park bus returned us to our truck we drove out to the Savage River and hiked about a mile into a canyon along the river. There was saw and photographed lots of Ptarmigan mothers and chicks. They’re large quail-type birds and once you started looking for them they were all over the place. The chicks were not afraid yet and came within two feet of us. The snowshoe hares were abundant and allowed us to take pictures of them too.

July 9^th

Good things can’t last forever and we had more sights to see so it was time to leave Denali behind and head for Anchorage.

The trip was a bit exciting and a bit stressful because Jim was told there were plenty of places with diesel fuel down the road and didn’t fill the tank before we left. Of course, you can guess what’s coming. The fuel prices around Denali were around $3.25/gallon. We had been paying $2.85 in Fairbanks and knew the Denali prices were highway robbery. The prices were also high at the next available station south of Denali so Jim kept going. Needless to say there were no more gas stations and the gas gauge was hovering just above empty. We finally spotted a gas station and pulled in only to find out they were out of diesel!! The next station was 15 miles away and we weren’t sure that they would have fuel either but we had to go for it. Luck was with us because we made it! They had diesel but the power to their pumps was out! We knew we couldn’t make it to the next station so we stayed put and waited for the power to return. Luckily, it was a short wait and we were back on the road.

I can’t believe how much Anchorage and the surrounding areas have grown since I lived here in 1984. Wasilla and Eagle Creek at one time were small towns north of Anchorage. Today they all just run together along the Glen Highway. Traffic is terrible and made worse because there are few freeways.

We had some trouble finding space in a full service campground and ended up in a municipal campground near Elmendorf Air Force base. We were surprised to find out that we were camped right next to Jean and Jerry from Virginia. We first met them at the visitor’s center in Dawson Creek and other campgrounds in British Columbia. We found out they had stayed at the same places we did but on different days. Small world!!

They told us about a mother Black bear and her cub that been running through the campground earlier in the day. Some campers had left food out in the open and that had attracted the bears. We got to see and photograph the cub later that evening. Then to top that off we were visited by a mommy moose and her two calves. Both the bear and the moose were no more than 20 yards away from us. Who would have thought that we would have the best wildlife sightings right here in Anchorage?

July 10^th

This was another one of those days for catching up on the laundry, going to the library for a WIFI connection so I could pay some bills and getting Missy shaved at the Dog Wash. She looks pretty weird but we’ve been living with a shedding fur ball for the last month and couldn’t stand it any longer!! Carson and Keeker the cat aren’t shedding but if they start we’re going to get them shaved too!!!!! Ha, ha….. I’m picturing the cat without hair!

July 11^th

We drove into downtown Anchorage to visit the Ulu factory. An Ulu is an unusual shaped native Alaskan knife with many uses from skinning a seal to chopping veggies. From there we walked the gift shops and saw more of the same stuff we saw in Denali, Fairbanks, etc, etc! We also checked on some day cruises out of Whittier or Seward in Prince William Sound to view glaciers for next week.

I got tired shopping and asked Jim if he wanted to see “Earthquake Park”. It was one of the hard hit areas from the 1964 earthquake where 4 people lost their lives and many homes destroyed. The city turned the area into a park. I lived nearby in the Turnagain area and we saw the house as we drove to the park. I was surprised to see that more than 20 years later it was still the same gray color.

After walking through the park we drove over to Lake Hood/Lake Spenard to see one of the largest and busiest float plane “airports” around and watched the planes take off and land. The lakes are adjacent to the Anchorage International Airport and it’s quite a contrast to watch the float planes land and hear the big jets take off.

July 12^th

We left Anchorage this morning and headed south along the Seward Highway for the Kenai Peninsula. In order to reach the peninsula you must travel along the Turnagain Arm of Cook’s Inlet.

The tide was out and I was hoping we’d get to see the famous Bore Tide come in. I’ve only seen it once and hoped Jim could see it too. Instead of the tide rising like it does in San Diego, the water comes in as a wave and at times can be as high as 6 feet! Crazy, die hard surfers have been known to ride the wave. I don’t know how they survive the cold water. Brrrr!!….Makes me shutter just to think about it.

Cliffs line one side of the road and if you’re lucky you’ll see Dall Sheep prancing from ledge to ledge. We weren’t lucky, but I did spot a Bald Eagle.

Some folks we met at the Anchorage campground told us about camping at Crow Creek Mine (former gold mine, now a National Historic Site) just outside of Girdwood/Alyeska ski area. We thought we’d check it out. After dragging Monty more than 3 miles up a mountain on a rutted gravel road there wasn’t any room for us. All was not wasted because we saw portions of the Ididarod Trail. It’s unbelievably narrow… just wide enough for the dogs and sled.