19 July, Haines, Alaska Day 2

We had just two nights in Haines, but we made the most of them.  Mary and I had gotten a great bike ride in on the previous night ... 21 miles round trip to Chilkoot Lake.  Then on the 19th John, Mary and I climbed Mt Riley. Pam stayed back and did a walk on her own.  The trail was reportedly difficult. That forecast hit.

The trail to the summit was 3.2 miles each way. Much of it was through a forest of boreal Sitka spruce trees. They can grow up to 300 feet tall. Prized by luthiers (guitar makers) for guitar tops, the trees can get so heavy they crush their wood under their own weight. This makes a wood that is tonally excellent for musical instruments.  I had never seen spruce tree so large.

This boardwalk protects the tundra at 1600 feet.  I have climbed easier 14ers (Colorado's 14,000 foot peaks).  Steep grades, roots, rocks, and tundra. It was the perfect workout.

John and Mary summit.

The view of the coastal mountains was spectacular.

Now all that remains is to start the downclimb. Our knees are already sore just thinking about it.

This glacier was visible across the fjord.  Take a close look, you can see a huge waterfall, the product of glacial melt.  

18 July, Haines, Alaska

You may have seen photos of Haines, Alaska even when you didn't know what you were looking at.  Haines is the center of Alaska's Bald Eagle population. If you have seen photos of hundreds of Bald Eagles in trees and on rocks and such, the photo was likely taken in Haines.  The place is stunningly beautiful.  We did not see hundreds of eagles, but we did see dozens.  

This stretch of road in Yukon headed toward Alaska we had the best stretch of road of the entire trip.  It was about 150 miles and was smooth as glass in Canada. In Alaska, not so much.  But we knew we were in for something special when we got our first glimpse of the coastal mountains.

Bugs on the windshield could not affect the view.

This is Haines.  The white houses on the hill are Ft. Seward. On the National Historic Register, Ft Seward was constructed in 1898.  It was the only military installation in Alaska until 1940.

Mary and I headed out at 10PM to look for a grizzly that had been reported at the salmon weir. We were not lucky but did get a great view of a rising moon as we drove back to the RV park in daylight.

Mary's little Pansonic Lumix does pretty well.

A cruise ship from the Princess Lines heads off down the fjord for a western port of call.

17 July. On the eve of destruction -- Destruction Bay, Kluane Lake, Yukon

Today was almost our last day in Alaska, but accounting for road systems and geography, the only way to drive to Haines, AK from Tok, AK is though a piece of Yukon and British Columbia.  We had super spots on Kluane Lake in Canada's "biocenter" of grizzly bear population.  Evidently the week at the RV park had a visit from a Grizzy female and cubs, but as luck would have it, we never saw them.

On 17 July, we re-enter Canada. On 18 July, we re-enter Alaska. On 20 July, we re-enter Canada.

Yukon's largest lake. It was beautiful.

14 July. Valdez, Alaska. Watching Sea Lions rip salmon to shreds.

Valdez (pronouced Val deeez) is a small fishing village. It has a few nice restaurants, a Safeway grocery store, a couple of gas stations, and some majestic scenery.  It is also the terminus for the Alaska Pipeline that extends from Prudoe Bay on the north edge of Alaska.

Near the terminus of the pipeline is a salmon hatchery.  The place collects eggs and sperm.  The hapless salmon are DNA coded to return to the same spot to spawn.

They attempt swimming upstream...

...to this river on the other side of a bridge to the east.  But are stopped by a gate ... a "wier," whatever that is ... a gate that stops them.  

Waiting in the wings are giant sea lions.  I mean huge.  Notice in this photo the "Pink Salmon" is peaking out of the water above the sea lion. Bad plan.  He won't last long.

The fish are reasonably smart, but are tired from traveling across the Pacific ocean. When they sense the sea lion, they scatter.  The dark area is fish so densely packed, you cannot see water between them.

This is a little brutal. Cover the kids' eyes.  The sea lion simply dips his head in for a tasty snack.  Sea gulls stand by for whatever slings out. And it does.  The sea lion shakes from right to left to rip the salmon into bite-sized chunks for swallowing.

Then he does it again. Then again. Think eating french fries at McDonalds. "...I'll just have one more."

And the gulls, mostly Glaucous-winged gulls here, pounce in for scraps.

I'd have to study sea lion behavior, but it looked like there was a pod of smaller ones waiting their turn. That is, waiting for the dominant bull to finish up.

A Black-legged Kittiwake looks at the action.

Black-legged Kittiwakes nest on the nearby bridge.

Most readers will be interested to know how can a birder distinguish between Herring Gulls, Thayer's Gulls and (pictured here) Glaucous-winged gulls.  Easy if you can see it.  Glaucous-winged gulls have a pink orbital rings, dark irises, and a pink gape.  I know most everyone knows this, but I thought I'd review for emphasis. :-)

13 July. On to Valdez Alaska.

Famous for the Valdez oil spill Prince William Sound lived up to its reputation for beauty.  We took a short drive from Seward to Whittier though the Whittier Tunnel, a one lane affair that is open one direction for 30 minutes, then the other.  Railroad tracks are embedded in the asphalt.  It was a little squirrelly driving on them in the tunnel.  Then we hoped on one of the ferries that's part of the Alaska Marine Highway ... the Aurora.  The trip was 90 miles in 6+ hours, but saved 380 miles of driving.  It was expensive.  We are not sure we'd recommend it. 

Lining up for the ferry ride. We arrived at around 9:45 for a 12:45 departure.  There was a lot of standing around.  Hurry up and wait.

We were near the last to drive on.  ...lots of vehicles, RVs and motorcycles ahead of us. Dory and Bean had to stay below decks. I was able to check on Bean half way through. He was fine. 

As we pondered the Exxon Valdez disaster we imagined how much one tanker, even a huge one, could damage this sound.  I had imagined for years, some kind of bay swimming in oil, when the reality is a "sound," 100 miles lone and about 15 miles wide.  There is, in plain terms, a LOT of water.

Glacier after glacier.  The views were mind-boggling.

By now we are tired of seeing glaciers.  To paraphrase Ronald Regan, "...seen one glacier, you've seen them all."

Artsy photo required. John, Pam, Richard, Mary and scenery all captured in this one.

We got lucky again with the weather. In an area of North American that sees rain and low clouds more often than not, we had blue sky.

There were a lot of salmon fishing boats in the sound. This one was pretty representative.

12 July, Seward Alaska. Kayaking.

The drive from Homer to Seward was another case of immense beauty.  Seward is another port town.  We stayed at a US Army Recreation Facility.  The good news is it was cheaper than we had been paying, but not necessarily much nicer. John went for a hike alone with the bears.  On day two, we all went on a guided kayak tour of a tiny part of Resurrection Bay.  

You can't see them, but "Dog Salmon" are spawning in the water behind us.

Pam imitating Mae West.  ...oblique humor. Let me know if you get it.

Mary and Richard trying to stay vertical.

The paddles are supposed to be exactly in tandem. So you can see what experts we are.

Note, John is resting, while Pam does the work.

The cabin behind marks a homesteader's claim.  He still owns the land on this bay.

Just spectacular scenery.

Two Marbled Murrelets.  The Murrelet is one of the few birds who swims underwater using its wings. 

Mary in the foreground. Pam and John pulling away.

After the kayak tour we ate at a little place called "Zudy's."  We chose it to reconnect with a young woman named Cassia who had driven from Denver to Seward in a clapped-out pickup truck by herself. We met her at a construction stop along the Alaska Highway near Muncho Lake in British Columbia.  She said, "Stop by and say hello at Zudy's."  So we did.