The Alaska Ferry System

As we watched from dockside in Homer, an Alaska ferry loaded passengers and vehicles. The Alaska ferry system provides passenger and freight service up and down the peninsula. In fact, it goes as far south as Bellingham, WA, and north to Anchorage. For many communi- ties on the Alaska peninsula, this is the primary means of getting from place to place since many of these towns are not connected by roads. 

The ferries we rode in Washington between the San Juan Islands and the mainland, loaded vehicles over the front or the rear of the vessel. The process of loading vehicles through a side port and lowering them to the cargo hold on a hoist was interesting. Full size semi trailers were pulled into the bay by a yard tractor, which is apparently able to turn the trailers and back them into position in the hold. 

After the loading was complete, the ramp was raised and retracted into the ferry, the deck railings were dropped into position across the opening, and a large roll-up door was lowered to cover the entire loading port.

More Alaska Wildlife

We've been fascinated throughout our travels across the U. S. by the diversity yet similarity of wildlife. There are some species here, however, that we have not seen anywhere else. We visited a wildlife sanctuary and took photos of musk oxen and black bears because we were reasonably sure we would not have an opportunity to see them in the wild. While musk oxen are not particularly attractive, you have to admit the baby is cute!

The last picture, the moose, was on the loose in Homer, Alaska. We snapped this photo right on the edge of town near a road to what is called the Spit, a long arm of land reaching out into the bay. As we were photographing, the moose crossed the fairly busy main roadway that goes out onto the Spit. All traffic stopped momentarily as it crossed the highway and stepped over the guardrail on the other side.

Seward - Cruise Ship Port

Seward, Alaska, is on the Kenai Peninsula, southwest of Anchorage. There are about 3500 permanent residents in Seward. The town is laid out on a grid pattern, which is somewhat unusual in Alaska. Seward is a major port for cruise ships. 

When we entered Seward, we came down from a higher elevation toward the bay. There were two cruise ships in port. In this relatively small community these two giants dominated the landscape.

The ships--one Holland America and one Royal Caribbean--were berthed side by side in the harbor. Our quick analysis of the business places downtown indicates that the big business here is tourists, probably most brought here by cruise ship. 

Later in the evening, at about one hour intervals, both ships backed out of their berths, turned around in the relatively narrow bay, and headed out to sea. The pictures give you an idea of the size of the ships and the beautiful mountain scenery in the background.

The first photo shows both ships in port. The second photo is of the Hollard America Ryndam. The final two photos are the Royal Carribean's Radiance of the Seas.

On the Road - Glenallen to Anchorage

Alaska is a state of huge distances but few highways. From Glenallen to Anchorage is about 185 miles. There are no towns of any size between them. There were a couple of points of interest for us. 

The first picture is the Grandview Cafe and RV Park. It turns out there is a North Dakota connection. The people who own it are related to the Dietrichs from Bismarck, some of whom we had as students. We had the best pie we've had on this trip at the Grand View. 

Also in the area is the Matanuska Glacier, which is in the second photo. It is typical of glaciers in Alaska: note the blue veins. This glacier for us had the advantage of being close to the highway and easily photographed. 

In the same area, is the Sheep Mountain Preserve, where Dall sheep are protected. Note the unusual coloration in the third picture. The rust color is created by the gypsum on the mountain being colored by iron and magnesium compounds from volcanic activity. Dall sheep come from miles around to lick this mineral deposit. It is apparently the sheep's natural mineral block.

The Alaska Pipeline

The Alaska Pipeline, built between 1974 and 1977, extends 800 miles from Prudhoe Bay in the north on the Beaufort Sea to Valdez in the south on the Gulf of Alaska. The pipeline is a 48-inch, insulated line which is capable of delivering 1.5 million barrels a day. At 55 gallons per barrel, that's a lot of oil! For most of its length, the pipeline runs above ground. However, several stretches are underground.

The pipeline was designed to deal with a wide variety of potential problems and hazards in the Alaskan 

environ- ment, including extreme cold and potential earth- quakes. The pipeline is insulated to retain heat in the oil so it will flow during cold weather and to protect Alaska's permafrost. The pipe itself ranges from .462 to .562 inches thick and has a minimum yield strength of 60,000 to 70,000 pounds per square inch. You may recall that Valdez was literally destroyed by the 1964 Alaska earthquake.

The first picture shows the pipeline as it rises above ground after crossing AK Highway 4. In our trip from Fairbanks south to Glennallen on AK2 and AK4, the pipeline was visible on one side of the road or another for about half the distance of the 225 mile-plus drive.

The line runs through a wide variety of terrain, including two mountain ranges. It cross the Brooks Range north of Fairbanks and runs through the Alaska Range between Delta Junction and Glennallen. It also crosses or runs beside many rivers and streams.

Wildlife of Denali

In 1917 Mt. McKinley National Park was established as a game preserve. While the Park's main geographic feature is Mt. McKinley, for most visitors the wildlife is equally important. Those who fought to establish the Park placed a high value on maintaining the Park as a wilderness with a variety of wildlife in a setting unaffected by humans. Therefore, the decision was made not to allow private vehicles more than a few miles into the Park. Visitors see the Park on buses or flight-seeing excursions. 

We took a bus from the Wilderness Access Center. At this season of the year, buses can travel 42 miles into the Park to the Toklat River. Later in the summer, these excursions will extend to 90 miles into the Park. 

During our six-hour excursion, we saw and photographed many key wildlife species in the Park: caribou, wolf, Dall sheep, grizzly bear (all pictured) as well as moose, ptarmigan (Alaska's state bird), Artic ground squirrel, hawk owl, and many snowshoe rabbits. 

We had three separate opportunities to see grizzlies--including one at some distance of a sow with her two spring cubs, which our driver estimated weighed about 15 pounds apiece. Our driver assured us that seeing and photographing a wolf was uncommon. Seeing one as close as we did was awesome!

We were fortunate also to have a young, highly skilled birdwatcher on our bus excursion. He could identify virtually instantly nearly every bird we saw, adding greatly to our wildlife viewing experience.

Mount McKinley

The heart of Denali National Park is Mount McKinley, the highest point in North America, at 20,320 feet. The Park was created in 1917 and expanded in 1980. It now covers six million acres. The Park is larger than many states. However, it is only the third largest Park or preserve in the U.S. The two largest are also in Alaska! They are Wrangell National Preserve and the Brooks Range Complex, which is really a series of connected preserves and parks.

There is a continuing discussion about the name of this highest point--many Alaskans simply refer to it as Denali, which in Athabascan means "the high one." 

We were extremely fortunate to be able to see the mountain unobstructed by clouds. Only about 20 percent of visitors ever have this good fortune. Mount McKinley is so high it creates its own weather. The upper reaches of McKinley are permanently covered in snow and ice. Wintertime temperatures drop below -95 degrees and winds reach 150 miles per hour. The circular, almost funnel-shaped cloud, in the first picture is characteristic of the clouds that shroud the mountain most days.

McKinley is apparently irresistible to mountain climbers. When we reached Denali on Memorial Day weekend, there were over 400 climbers on the mountain. Many actually make it to the top. However, three-tenths of one percent of those who try, don't come back. When we arrived in Alaska on May 22, one experienced climber was reported missing for a couple days on the mountain. Today (May 26), the evening news reported the search for that climber had been suspended as no sign of him had been found in six days.

Early in the day when these pictures were taken, you could not see the top. However, later in the day and the following day, the "High One" was visible. The first three pictures were all taken from Denali Viewpoint South off Highway 3 about 40 miles south-southeast of the mountain. The final picture was taken the next day approximately 70 miles northeast of the mountain from within the Park.

Alaskan Float Planes

Much of Alaska is accessible only by air due to a combination of the state's size and its lack of roads. And when we say talk about planes we're not talking about 757s!

Float planes, like the ones pictured in this blog, are everywhere. On Lake Spenard in Anchorage, immediately behind the Millenium Hotel where we stayed, there were probably between 20 and 30 of these planes visible from one vantage point moored in the lake.

We started to walk around the lake. A pickup came toward us and parked next to one of the planes. We asked if we could watch their take-off. Over the next hour, we got to know some really wonderful people, Hap and Barbie. They were planning to spend the Memorial Day weekend at their cabin near Glenallen. They estimated the flight would take an hour. Both of them donned their waders and began to load weekend provisions in the plane. When everything was aboard, they climbed in and we waved goodbye, taking pictures as they taxied to the end of their watery runway and took off.

Their plane is a 1961 Cessna 185, which has been repowered with a bigger engine. Gross weight capability is 3600 pounds, of which 2100 pounds is the plane itself. 

While Hap and Barbie were readying their plane, we watched a red Twin Otter take off. Hap told us that this is the top of the "food chain" among float planes in Alaska. He indicated that this Otter was owned and flown by one of the best bush pilots in Alaska. By the way, the Otter is equipped with prop blades that pitch to allow the plane to back up.

While most of the planes that we saw were float planes, all of them fall into the category of bush planes.  Some bush planes are equipped with skis, others, with just wheels.

North Cascades National Park in Washington State

The National Park Service attributes jagged peaks, deep valleys, cascading waterfalls and over 300 glaciers to North Cascades National Park. Three park units in this mountainous region are managed as one and include North Cascades National Park, Ross Lake, and Lake Chelan National Recreation Areas. 

We entered from the west on Washington Highway 20. Most of the roads in the area of North Cascades Park are actually located in the recreation areas. Much of the Park is accessible only through hiking trails or rivers. Many areas of the Park are inaccessible by motor vehicles during the winter as they receive over 200 inches of snow.  

The first picture shows one of the 300 glaciers in the Park. The Park has been shaped by glaciers over the eons. 

Much of Seattle's electricity is generated by hydroelectric facilities in the Park. The second picture shows one of several dams. 

The beautiful lake in the third and fourth pictures was created by one of the hydroelectric dams. In the final picture, notice the islands in the lake. As glaciers in the surround- ing high country slowly wear down the mountains, the grinding of rock against rock produces a fine silt that meltwater streams carry into the lake below. This "rock flour" suspended in the water reacts with light to give the lake its blue-green color.

The Olympic National Park Rain Forest

The rugged Olympic Mountains dominate the central part of the Washington State's Olympic Peninsula. Their western slopes face the prevailing westerly winds and, consequently, get up to 200 inches of rain per year. By contrast, the eastern side of the mountains averages less than 20 inches of annual rainfall. The Peninsula is not only a national park but has also been designated a World Heritage Site by the United Nations.

On the day of our visit, we went from 5400 feet and winter on Hurricane Ridge to this tropical rain forest, which is near sea level. The key difference is elevation.

The temperate rain forest is dominated by Sitka spruce. Tom is standing beside one of the largest Sitka spruces in the U. S. It is approximately 270 feet tall, 12 1/2 feet in diameter, and over 500 years old. It was a sapling when Columbus discovered America! High rainfall, fog, and ocean-moderated temperatures create optimal growing conditions for these Monarchs. The second picture shows the floor of the forest. In the third picture, you can see the eerie effect of moss which grows everywhere. 

The final picture is a pond near the Park visitor center. If you look carefully, there is a great blue heron sitting on a log at the base of a large tree on the far side. Because of a mirror effect on the pond, the heron appears to be sitting in a hollow between two trees. 

Hurricane Ridge in Olympic National Park

Hurricane Ridge is a mere 17 miles from Port Angeles, WA. In Port Angeles, while the morning was cool--in the low 50s, spring was evident everywhere. We saw lawns being mowed and flowers in great abundance. While winters are mild at lower elevation, with temps in the 30s and 40s, snowfall can be heavy in the mountains, with snow accumula- tions of up to 10 feet common.

At Hurricane Ridge, it was very clearly still winter! The elevation at the top of Hurricane Ridge is 5400 feet. The temperature at the top on the day we visited was 25 degrees. We drove over stretches of icy road. But the scenery was awesome!

A shifting morning fog provided great photo opportunities. In the first picture, the mountain above the fog is directly west of Hurricane Ridge. It is pretty easy to understand why the only other people on the mountain while we were there was a group of photographers. The building in the last picture is the ranger station at the top. One of the vehicles parked in the driveway was a very large snowblower. 

 

Whitney Gardens and Nursery

Whitney Gardens and Nursery include seven acres of gardens at the foot of the Olympic mountains near Brinnon on the Olympic Peninsula. The Gardens are known for rare hybrid and species rhododen- drons, azaleas, magnolias, trees and shrubs. We stopped in, walked through the gardens for over an hour, and took loads of pictures of beautiful blooming plants and trees. Unfortu- nately, perhaps, we did not/could not identify all of the flowering "art." The photos are the story on this blog.

Seattle Mariners

The Seattle Mariners, leaders in the American League West, lost a heart- breaker to the Oakland A's at Safeco Field. Safeco Field is one of a number of newer stadiums with a retractable roof. During last night's game (May 2), the roof was closed because Seattle was enduring one of its frequent rainstorms. It was so windy, however, that at our seats in the lower deck just off first base, the wind blew so much rain in just below the roof, that the floor around our seats was wet. 

For this game, the Mariners wore the 1939 uniforms of their farm team, the Rainiers. Stadium organists play a critical role in the atmosphere of a game. During this game, a foul ball flew into the organist's box, the window above the first E in the the welcome sign. The organist came to the window and, like any good fan, gave the victory sign with great excitement.

Jarrod Washburn, starting pitcher for the Mariners did a great job through six innings. Power hitter Russell Branyan (No. 30) hit an opposite-field home run in the second inning. Also shown are Ken Griffey (No. 24) at first base and Ichiro Suzuki, lead-off hitter (No. 51), at bat. Suzuki hit a single in the top of the first inning, but he was tagged out trying to steal second base.

We attended the game with Tom's cousin, Connie Decker.  In spite of a stormy night, the stadium was nearly filled with fans.