Seward, Alaska
As we headed out of the Kenai Penninsula, we stopped in Seward – the gateway to the Kenai Fjords National park. Kenai Fjords National Park is where the mountains, ice and ocean come together. One of the best ways to visit this National Park and view the immense glaciers and icy ocean wildlife is by boat.
Unfortunately, during our visit, the weather took a turn and we found ourselves having to layer up and don our rain gear. But, off we went, boarded the boat and explored the chilly waters of Resurrection Bay.
Click on any image to enlarge:
Valdez, Alaska
Next stop was the picturesque seaside village of Valdez which is nestled deep in a fjord at the head of Prince William Sound. It has an incredible history from the early 1900’s Gold Rush days, recovering from the 1964 devastating earthquake/sunami and of course, the massive 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill.
The drive to Valdez, like all of Alaska, is spectacular and every mile has breath-taking vistas, flowers, glaciers, lakes and total solitude.
Like all coastal Alaskan cities, Valdez offers easy access to fishing, hiking, wildlife and glacier viewing. However, it also a major port for shipping supplies to the interior of Alaska and is the terminus of the Alaskan Pipeline. Even though it is the snowiest city in the US (300+ inches) it is also the most northern ice-free port as well.
The rainy, cold weather continued, but we enjoyed walking around the city and port, visiting the informative museums and eating at the local restaurants.
Continuing our journey south along the western Alaskan coast we headed to Haines, Alaska. But, since there are few roads through the Alaskan wilderness, especially along the rugged, mountainous coast, we had to go north to the Alaska Highway and back through part of the Yukon and British Columbia. Unfortunately, we also needed traverse one of the worst sections of the Alaska Highway between Tok and Destruction Bay for a second time. This 225 mile stretch is mostly unpaved, uneven gravel, dirt and loaded with pot-holes of every size. We could barely drive over 30 mph! It is a jarring, bumpy ride and you are constantly on edge trying to avoid the next pot hole, deep crevasse, or rolling frost heave and hopefully avoid damage to your vehicles.
As we were porpoising along and were about 100 miles from our next campground, the Airstream’s tire pressure monitoring system unleashed its alarm and I soon discovered that we now had a leaking tire on the trailer’s passenger side. Fortunately, it was not a catastrophic blow-out; but, it was leaking air quickly.
So, I decided to pull over as best I could on this narrow, soft shouldered, 2-lane desolate road and fill it up with my portable air compressor. The rest of the caravan was ahead of us, there was no cell service and no help of any kind for at least 100 miles in each direction. My plan was to limp along until we got to camp were we could safely put on the spare tire. After stopping a second time to inflate the tire again, we rolled into camp just in time for the caravan cookout!
By the way, we are typically the last ones into camp because we are known for making many stops, taking in the views, exploring points of interest enroute and “smelling the roses”. So, the rest of the caravan was not too concerned yet that we had not arrived.
One advantage of caravan traveling, is all the wonderful help you get. As soon as we limped into camp and folks heard out about our tire, there was a crew of guys waiting to jump in. And, like an Indy car pit crew, they couldn’t wait to lend a hand! Air compressors, impact wrenches, jacks, and wrenches were at the ready. We no sooner had the Airstream lifted and the damaged tire removed when one of the guys discovered the culprit – a 2″ long screw. And of course, another guy not only had a tire plugging kit, but was an expert at executing the repair. 10 minutes later, the tire was plugged and back on the Airstream ready for the next day’s journey.
Alaskans have a great sense of humor as you can see from these roadside displays (click image to enlarge):
Haines, Alaska
The continuous rain, dense clouds, claustrophobic fog and numbing cold continued much to everyone’s dismay. Like Valdez, Haines sits in a valley of snow-covered mountains….. or, so they say, since we could only briefly see a glimpse of the mountains in between waves of weather rolling in.
Haines was going to be our jump off point to ferry down to Juneau and up to Skagway. Unfortunately, the 8-hour Juneau excursion was cancelled due to wind and rough seas and we opted not to participate in the 6-hour Skagway tour because of rain and minimal visibility.
So, now what do you do when it is rainy, windy, foggy and cold? Bundle up, slide on the rain gear and walk around the town to see what you can find.
But, first, a quick stop to warm up and taste some of the local libations!
One of the first places we found while walking the empty streets was an eclectic museum of hammers! 1800 hammers in fact; dating back to early man! The Owner/curator also has another 8,000 hammers in storage…….go figure!
Next we were off to find a highly unusual wildlife center way off the beaten path – Kroschel Wildlife Center. Steve Kroschel, founder of the center, has a lifetime of experience working with wild animals for movies such as “Never Cry Wolf” and the PBS “Wild America” series. His center provides a home for orphaned and rescued wild animals including a Kodiak bear, moose, wolves, Arctic fox, lynx, porcupine, pine marten, mink, reindeer and wolverines to live out the rest of their natural lives.
He is also a celebrated independent filmmaker and cinematographer – films include Vertical Limit, Avalanche and The Beautiful Truth, as well as a wildlife interpreter/ethologist. And I might add, quite the actor/entertainer. He freelances for Walt Disney Pictures, Paramount Pictures, Lionsgate, Universal and many others. He has made or contributed to over 200 natural history documentaries and has recently released three humanitarian films on “Grounding the Body”. He is passionate about the animals who live in this center and has amazing relationships with all of his animals. We saw wolves, foxes, mink, porcupine, moose, caribou, snowy owl and a grizzly. We were entertained and educated during this 2 hour tour. Susan even got to pet a porcupine and moose!
So, even in the driving rain, bone chilling cold, and dense fog, you can always find things to do in Alaska…… the Meandering Continues..…..