Leaving Alaska

Connie ...

As we leave Alaska we take with us such wonderful memories, pictures, new friendships and life changing experiences.  It is truly a land to behold and will stay in our hearts always.  We hope that we were able to pass on to our family and friends the feeling of joy and wonderment through our blog that this journey has brought to us.
Here are some of the views as we leave Alaska and enter the Yukon.

After spending three months in Alaska, coming back into the Yukon looked just as pretty as it did when we entered the first time.

The lakes were just as bright blue-green as we remembered and the mountains as eye opening.

As we were making our way down the highway we could see the rain coming down through the clouds off in the distance.  It made for an interesting  effect on the picture.

We're not completely certain, but we think this might be fresh snow on the mountain.

The scenes are forever changing.  As the clouds broke up the sun cast a bit more light on the snow topped mountain.

Delta Junction - Milepost 1422

Stan . . .

Delta Junction is the terminus point of the Alaska Highway that was built in 1942 by the U.S. Military completing the 1422 mile highway that began at Milepost 0 at Dawson Creek, British Columbia (see our May 16th posting).

The U.S. Military built the highway to provide a land link between the lower 48 and Alaska which had previously only been reachable from the lower 48 via air or sea.  The military wanted to be able to maintain a land link to various military facilities in Alaska (particularly in Fairbanks with Ft. Wainwright and Eielson Air Base) as a line of defense against a possible Japanese invasion of American soil during World War II.  As shown on the below picture the Richardson was already in place from the port of Valdez up to Fairbanks passing thru Delta Junction.  Thus the Alaska Highway terminated at Delta Junction and used the existing Richardson Highway to complete the land link to Fairbanks.

The next 2 pictures are some of the yard art/signage found at the Delta Junction Visitor Center.  Alaska claims the mosquito as the "unofficial" state bird since everything is "bigger in Alaska".  The buffalo signage is a humorous way to caution "Watch Out For Livestock".

The next 3 pictures are of some of the original road construction equipment used by the U.S. Military during the Alaska Highway construction and abandoned at Delta Junction and the end of World War II.

The North Pole

Connie ........

Traveling north from Fairbanks we arrived at the North Pole.  It is a real town and Santa really does live there; along with Mrs. Claus and his reindeer.  During the other 364 days of the year Santa is available for visits and photos at The Santa Claus House.  Santaland is decorated with everything Christmas and goodies available for purchase.  There are lots and lots of wonderful items.  We did not see Mrs. Claus, as she was busy taking care of her everyday duties.  We did however enjoy seeing some of the reindeer.  Ruldolph was taking a nap in his house; resting up for his big night no doubt.

Our campground was located just next door so we were able to walk over and browse around.  Everyone is very friendly and obviously proud of this famous little town.

The official greeting to Santa's House.

This was a beautiful mural created from ceramic tiles on the Santa Claus House

Yes, this is really Santa.  We visited with him and  talked about our grandchildren.  Of course he already knows who they are!

This is Dancer.

and here is Comet.

Bigger than life statue of Santa checking his list!

Fairbanks - Our Northernmost Destination

Stan . . .

After reluctantly leaving Denali we continued north on the Parks Highway to Fairbanks which would be the northernmost point of our Alaska adventure.  After Fairbanks I guess it's all downhill (so to speak).  We spent 3 days roaming about Fairbanks and the below pictures are a sampling of our roaming about.

A statue of a family of Alaska natives located in a beautiful downtown park is shown below.

The sunflower below (at least 15" across the seedpod) was part of a very colorful display of flowers at the Fairbanks Visitor Center located downtown.

A street scene within Pioneer Park which preserves much of the original structures from Fairbanks earlier years is below.

A signpost we found during our wanderings within Pioneer Park.

A sampling of some of the beautiful floral and structural colors found throughout Pioneer Park.

Located on the northern outskirts of Fairbanks is an area named Creamery Field.  It has become over the years a migratory waypoint for Canada Geese and Sand Hill Cranes during their annual north/south migrations.  We were lucky enough to be there during the time that both bird species were passing through on the start of their southerly migration.

We spent the better part of a day at the Museum of the North located on the campus of the University of Alaska Fairbanks (the campus is beautiful).  The displays, artifacts and information presented were outstanding and well worth the time spent touring the museum.  Below are 2 pictures of the museums unique and impressive design.

More Beautiful Denali

Connie ......

O.K., for most of you who have followed our blog, you have figured out how much I love mountains.  I feel drawn to them and love photographing them.  While Stan posted most of the wildlife  from Denali, I would like to share the beautiful landscapes and mountains; except for this little guy above who was so adorable.  He continued posing for as long as we wanted to take his photo.   Sadly being a ground squirrel he is considered a BFC. (bottom of the food chain)

 Mt. McKinley on our second trip in and oh what a sight!  We were really lucky to have a cloudless window for such a photo.  It rarely shows itself in such magnitude.

This is part of the Alaska range seen in Denali Park.

This mountain range is opposite Mt. McKinley and notice the glacier.

    This photo was taken at the Eielson Visitor's Center about 65 miles into the park.  The caribou antlers in the foreground weigh around 40 pounds.

                                                                  
On our third day in Denali we decided to go back into the park in the evening for the first fifteen miles that tourists are allowed in their own vehicles.  So glad we did.  It was getting toward dusk and the park took on a whole different look.  There had been a short rain shower and this rainbow was a great view.

 As we drove further into the park looking for wildlife we spotted a mama moose and her baby.  They were a little shy, but didn't run away.

     Mama was mostly munching on willow and baby was frolicking near, but every once in a while he would come up to her for a reassuring nudge.  We watched them for a good twenty minutes.  Then finally they went off into the trees.

As sunset was ascending upon us  they view of the mountains this time of day is absolutely stunning.  We looked at this very mountain earlier in the day in the bright sunshine.

  Slowly the sun sets on the great mountains of Denali.  A place that will stay in our hearts and minds for always.  It was truly my favorite!

  Now we see only shadows of mountains and the sky looks to be on fire.  It's time to go home and leave the wildlife and mountains for another day.  See you next time Denali.                                                    

                                                                                                                           

Denali National Park - Simply Stunning

Stan . . .

It's simply hard to put into words and pictures what I saw and felt when I ventured into Denali National Park.  The park consists of 6.2 million acres and there is only one road into the park.  The first 15 miles of the road are paved and anyone can travel this stretch of the road, after that the remaining 65 or so  miles of gravel road are restricted and can only be traveled by buses provided by Denali National Park.

There is a campground with no facilities about 29 miles inside the park (14 miles further in from the end of the paved portion) that can be used by permit only.  You have to commit to staying a minimum of 3 days at this campground and must park your RV in the campground and then use the shuttle buses that pass the campground every 30 minutes or so if you wish to travel further into the park.  We chose to stay at a campground outside the National Park and traveled to the Wilderness Access Center (bus terminal) to begin our daily 8 hour excursions into the park.  We spent 3 full days in the Denali area and took the shuttle bus trips twice into the park to the Eielson Visitor Center that is at milepost 67 of the road.

The vastness and scenery within the park are simply stunning and overwhelming, but I will try to offer a sampling of what we saw and experienced in the following pictures--we have enjoyed everything we have done on this Alaska adventure, but the Denali experience definitely stands at the top of our list ! ! !

Mount McKinley (also referred to as Denali) is the highest mountain in North America at 20,320 ft. and is the symbol of all that is Denali National Park.  The mountain is usually hidden in the clouds and can normally only be seen about 25% of the time.  On our first trip into the park we were not able to see the mountain because of the clouds, but on our second trip we got our first glimpse while still 80 miles away from Mt. McKinley in the below picture.  Simply awesome----

We were able to get our next good view of the mountain from about 45 miles away, but the clouds were beginning to hide parts of the mountain.

Our closest point to view Mt. McKinley was at the Eielson Visitor Center which was still about 30 miles from the mountain, and by the time we got there the clouds were blocking our view of the lower portions of the mountain, but the peak was still visible.

We also were able to see lots of wildlife during our bus trips, some were only visible via binoculars, while others were close enough to be able to get some good camera pictures.  We saw moose, caribou, grizzly bear, Dall sheep, wolves and many ground squirrels.  The below pictures are simply a sampling of what we were able to photograph.

The above two pictures are of a mother grizzly and her 2 cubs (one dark colored, one tan).

Caribou are probably the easiest to see of all the wildlife living within Denali.  They like to roam in the river bottoms and out in the open brush country.  The below two pictures are a good representation of the caribou that we saw during our bus trips.

The Dall sheep in the next few pictures were fun to watch as they climbed and traversed areas that other wildlife find impossible to access.

Typically the hardest to spot in the park are the wolves and this was true for us.  The wolves were the last of the major wildlife (moose, caribou, bear, Dall sheep & wolves) we spotted on our two trips into the park.  Below is the best picture we were able to get of the wolves (mama and 2 pups).