Alaska - Anchorage/Denali/Fairbanks

After the comfortable cruise, time to discover the mainland of Alaska. The main towns (Anchorage and Fairbanks) had a comfortable feel but no noticeable highlight or must-see. So let me report mostly on Denali National Park.

The most impressive first - the landscape. Massive mountains, wide valleys, broad rivers. And of course, the highest mountain of Northern America: Mount McKinley.

Amazing! And what a beautiful contrast between the white snow and the blue sky. Yes, indeed, there was blue sky. Actually, I received a certificate for being among the 30 percent of visitors who get the chance to see the whole mountain.

Then, the animals. In the park, there are wolves, bears, moose, caribous, and mountain sheeps. I am not sure that the Alaskan "big five" compare favorably with the African "big five". We got to see seven grizzly bears, including a mother with two young ones. Apparently, when spotted by grizzly bears and brown bears, you should raise your hands, make noise, and slowly back away while facing the animal.

Obviously, the caribou is less intimidating. Its horns are still impressive. In conclusion, I must say that I was somewhat surprised at the low number of animals we saw. The vegetation was not so dense, meaning that the visibility was good. But there is only a single road going through the park, limiting the access to animals. I was also surprised at the simple state of infrastructure in the park - African parks have nothing to envy to Denali.

It is interesting to see that nature is also being shaped by animals. Here the beavers have built a dam creating a nice lake.

A little bit further, we got to see a beaver from close-by. What a nice treat!

Alaska is not all nature. There are some nice and slow trains running through the interior, transporting tourists and cargo. The 8-hour journey between Anchorage and Fairbanks is almost on time. Why? Because of labor laws, stating that train operators can only work for 8 hours in a row. Well there is really a problem on the line, the conductor will then call someone to replace him after these 8 hours.

A more Alaska-specific mean of transport is the hydroplane. It can also land on the ice in winter times.

In case neither your GPS nor your compass work, you would rely on the old fashioned road signs. Well what is they are really confusing? What about taking the exit "SOUTH" to go to the "NORTH POLE"... I wonder how many people got lost.

A last impressive and original thing to see in Alaska is the oil pipeline. It looks pretty solid, yet quite unsophisticated. It is the artery that keeps Alaska rich.

Alaska - glaciers

One of the biggest plus of doing a cruise to Alaska is the chance to get close to glaciers. Well, in glacier bay, there are many glaciers next to each others. I still did not get how it is possible that, while most of them are retracting, a few of them manage to grow. But yet, who understands the climate...

The most impressive about being close to the glacier is not the cold, not the size, not the color, but that it is alive: it moves and it makes sounds, cracking sounds. Yet this movement is rather slow: it takes around 400 years for the ice to travel from the top of the glacier all the way down to the bay.

A bit further is the Hubbard Glacier. The cruise ship does not get to close, as mini icebergs get bigger and bigger the closer we get.

Alaska - Skagway/Yukon

A defining moment of the interior regions of Alaska and Yukon off Skagway is the Klondike gold rush at the end of the 19th century.

It's still a bit of a mystery how people got the idea that there would be gold somewhere in these "larger than life" regions. I guess it was a lot of try, try, try. The area is huge and inhospitable, yet majestic. Beautiful lakes, immense forests, even a small desert. A relative surprise is that in these isolated places, we did not get to see any animals.

At one stage, gold explorers were flocking here, so much so that the Canadians authorities were worried that they would not have enough resources to survive. They imposed that each pioneer entering Canada took with him a heavy load - almost a ton! - of supplies, including salt, flour, rice, soap, etc. This measure limited the number of deaths but, at the same time, made the fortune of shop owners - there was a captive market for their goods. It also had another grimmer consequence: the death of around 3000 pack horses which carried these loads up the mountains.

In light of the high production of gold and the number of prospectors, a railway line was built through the White pass in 1898-1900. It's quite an amazing achievement. The line was abandoned in 1982. It has now been revived - in the summer season - for tourists to get an idea of the gold rush. Well, the pass is steep and narrow, and there are a few scary bridges. Definitely not for the fainthearted.

They have kept some of the vintage cars and locomotives, including the ones used to blow away the snow that had accumulated on the tracks.

The town of Skagway is now much smaller than at the peak of its glory, with a few well preserved historical buildings. Of course, a lot of them have been taken over to cater for the cruisers.

All in all, a very comfortable and instructive journey to and back from the Klondike - a testimony of the progress made in one century.

Alaska - Juneau/Mendenhall

Let's start with a big "waow" !!! This excursion was one of the most exotic I have ever done. Funny to associate Alaska with exotic... Especially that, for this excursion, I was wearing layers upon layers of clothes. All started with an helicopter flight.

The helicopter flew over the Mendenhall glacier. An impressive flight over the wide glacier falling all the way into the sea.

Upon landing on the glacier, we see the dog kennel. Many dogs are there resting on top of their little house.

And then it is time for the dog-sledging adventure. What an experience! The dogs were all excited and jumping around, as it was time for them to go for a run. They were pulling us and we were sliding on the ice. The dogs needed a few stops to rest and cool down in the snow. It was too warm for them...

 What a view of the glacier!

A few words also about Juneau. While it is a capital of a state, it is not connected by roads to any other city, province, country. You can only reach it by plane or by boat. There are no remarkable buildings, with a lot of government buildings. It is funny to hear people refer to "the lower 48 states" when talking about the USA. While it was nice to walk around town, I cannot really imagine how it would be in winter - and I am not going to do my utmost to experience it. The Alaskans have names for the migrating people who come to Alaska only during the summer months, the "cheechacos". The real Alaskans are called the "sourdoughs", in reference to the yeasty starter pioneers carried with them. There is still a dispute on the number of winters you need to have spent in Alaska to be called a "sourdough". It is a title I will never strive after.

 

Alaska - Ketchikan

The first stop in Alaska proved to be the least impressive of all. The excursion to see bears did not result in any sightings. The only "highlight" was walking on hanging ledges between trees.

However, we spotted another animal which is also a symbol of Alaska, the salmon. I learned that there are five types of salmon in the Pacific.

Ketchikan is the "salmon capital of the world". I am not going to say that there are more salmons than people here, because it would be far too easy (there are only 8000 inhabitants...).

Moving to the town itself, there is not much to report, besides the entrance sign and the many many tourist shops. Apparently, these shops remain open for the four months of the tourist season and then their stock is moved to the Caribbean.

The only special feature is Creek Street, with its houses on piles. This was a famous red-light district in Alaska.