Day 9 - 10 Anchorage, Denali, Seward

It is now Tuesday early afternoon and I'm just getting around to providing a new update to the blog.  We arrived here in Anchorage late Sunday afternoon and have been having a great time.  But first let's backup to leaving Fairbanks.

We left our hotel in Fairbanks early Sunday morning in an attempt to beat the weather to Denali National Park.  We had a nice drive down and for most of the way we avoided the rain however by the time we got near Denali the overcast gray skies became intermittent rain clouds.  Just south of Nenana we spotted another cow moose off the left side of the road.  We had to make a U-turn and go back to get some shots of it but she was in no hurry to go anywhere so it worked out well.  Most of the shots were from a distance so it was hard to get a good clear one of her so I got out of the car and approached through the bushes to get a better shot of her.  She was standing in the river facing toward the highway but when I started through the bushes she obviously had gotten spooked and turner around.  When I came out of the bushes by the river she had climbed the opposite back and was heading away.  Although the photos were not great it was still a fun experience and I'm glad we spotted her.

We had decided to take our car into Denali and drive the 15 miles inside the park that you are allowed in privately owned vehicles.  Part way into the part I noticed a large bird alongside the road.  As we got closer the bird stayed along the roadway and we got right up alongside it.  Signs posted at the 15 mile point later on identified the bird as a Willow Ptarmigan.  This one had the red neck and head but still had the white feathers from its winter coloring.  It was about the size of a chicken and I would imagine it would make a fairly nice meal if you were hunting it for dinner.

As we got close to the 15 mile marker we came across a couple of Caribou along side road.   We spent a few minutes taking video and still photos of the Caribou as these were the first we had seen along the way.  Debra kept trying to get a still shot with the head up to show the full antlers but they were only up for a second or so and her camera operated so slow that I don't know if  she got them.  We did capture the head and antlers on video so hopefully we can add that to the photo album.  Another fun shot.

When we arrived at the turnaround spot there was a little parking area where we stopped for some more videos and photos.  Plus we got to see some local squirrels playing around near the trail.  I took a small hike up one of the trails that climbed up over the rocks but I only made it maybe a quarter of a mile up before the rain and the wind convinced me I wasn't dressed for it.  I did have my sweatshirt on but I was also wearing shorts so I wasn't really dressed for hiking in bad weather up a mountain trail. I took a few more photos along the way up to add to the blog.

Looking down the Savage River

Mile 15 turnaround Denali

Starting up on my hike,

Looking down on the river

The car in the parking lot

Veins in the rocks.

When we turned around and came out of the park we passed by the Caribou again.  They were still there but by this time they were laying down instead of grazing.   As we continued along the park road we finally saw our first bull moose.  He was coming up an open river bed towards the road so we got some pretty good video and hopefully some good still photos as well of him before he turned to his left and ran out of the river bed.  That was our first bull moose encounter and we were excited to see him and get the photo.

We arrived at our hotel in Anchorage around 5:15 pm and got checked in.  The Alex Hotel in Anchorage has been our most expensive hotel of the trip and we can't remember why we decided on it.  It is one of the least attracted places we've stayed in on the trip and certainly not worth what we paid for it.  However, at this point in the tourist year I don't think we could get anything better for less money so we decided to stick it out.  I have sent a review off to the Expedia folks detailing our disappointment with the place but we aren't here to sit in the hotel anyway so we are over it.

Our first two days in Anchorage were to be spent Salmon fishing up in Wasilla and do daytime stuff here in Anchorage.  The fishing trip fell through as the Little Susinta River where our contacts live is still closed to salmon fishing during the week and apparently no one has been catching salmon anyway.  Our third day here was designated for a trip down to Seward which is one of the ports where the cruise ships come in to Alaska.  So with the fishing trip canceled we decided to juggle the schedule around and head to Seward on Monday.

The drive to Seward was again very scenic with quite a few photo ops available. We travel around Turnagain Arm and down into the Kenai Pennisula which is a very mountainous and very green route. It was sunny but cool when we started out but by the time we arrived in Seward the rain had set in and it made for a chilly afternoon. On the way down we took quite a few photos of the scenery and Debra got a few of the bald eagles.  We saw 8 of those along the way.  I didn't get any on my camera as I was driving but we will try to upload hers later and add them to the blog.

Along Turnagain Arm

Road to Seward

Road to Seward

Road to Seward

Road to Seward

As it was a Monday when we visited Seward there were no cruise ships in the harbor so we drove a round a little and spent a bit of time down by the harbor.  We went it a local restaurant to get lunch called Zudy's, yes that is spelled with a Z but after looking over the menu for a bit we decided it was too much California hippie/vegan style food for us to spend money on so we continued on looking for something else.  We finally settled on a small place called the Highliner.  It appeared to be a fairly new place and even the signs out front said now open.  We had a nice lunch there and thoroughly enjoyed the food.  I had halibut and chips and Debra had clam chowder for lunch and then a Creme Brulee covered chocolate mousse for dessert.

Debra want a photo of that church.

     

Where's that Halibut?

Dessert.

We left Seward and headed for home after lunch as there wasn't really anything in Seward that we wanted to do or see and the cold rain was a deterrent to any random exploring.  On the way home we made a short side trip to the Portage Glacier to see that but again it was cold and rainy and visibility was reduced significantly.  We got a few photos and will add them to the photo album if any turn out well.

Happy Trails Everyone,

Tom & Debra Stephens