Traveling down Turnagain Arm again

Our next stop was Seward, AK.


A Hump?? Well, I guess it is... The name for a Rotary up there is a Round-About.




There's the train tracks we were on before. Beautiful sky.




Beautiful ride.








When your truck doesn't work anymore, just leave it there, and look what happens.




On the way to Seward, we stopped at Portage Glacier, which we couldn't see because it had retreated around the edge of a mountain. We watched a movie about glaciers. We could see Burns Glacier across the lake. We learned about ice worms here..they do live in the ice! They are very small. This area is part of the Chugach National Forest.


This is the Explorer Glacier. It is a hanging glacier.


Driving around Seward we found this waterfall.


On the other side of the road, the river drained into the ocean. See the fishermen?

What a way to travel!

This bus was parked near us in the campground in Anchorage. It's a German made vehicle. There were 2 drivers, workers? Rick talked to them and they said they usually tour Germans. About a dozen people. There are seats in the front and, yes, that's the beds in the back. We didn't get to see inside...would have been interesting. The men also did a lot of cooking for the group. It had Alaska plates.

Glaciers in Prince William Sound

On one of the rainiest days of the whole trip, after the train to Whittier, we boarded a boat to go and view the glaciers.




Here we go...


I think that's a high hill going into the water.


I think I see a mountain with snow and waterfall through the misty rain.


Wildlife: our first sea otters just floating there watching us.


Our first tidewater glacier only calved one very small piece of ice. We stayed here probably about 20 minutes watching for more...in the rain.



It was quite wide and we were about 1/4 mile away.


The glaciers were a beautiful blue. They were quite noisy with all the cracking that they did.


As we left the glacier, we could see how immense it really is.


On the way to the second glacier we passed the rookery of black footed kittiwakes.







The second glacier.




There were very many waterfalls from the glacial melt.


Leaving the glacier.


Through the window you can see a hanging glacier.


On the return trip there was a second rookery and more waterfalls.



Anchorage train station.


Our train.


Cute.

Train from Anchorage to Whittier, AK

This map shows our train trip from Anchorage to Whittier along Turnagain Arm. Some of our group were lucky enough to see the Beluga whales in this arm of Cook Inlet. When Capt. Cook was exploring the area, he had to turn around again in this dead end.


Visiting on the train.


Mud flats in Turnagain Arm. There are warnings not to venture out onto them because of the extreme high tides in the Arm which are the second highest in North America. Also because the mud is like quicksand and people have gotten stuck in it when the tide came in.


Fishing for salmon.


The clouds kept getting darker and darker.


This is the area of Alaska that was hit by the second largest recorded earthquake in the world at 9.2 in 1964. The land sank about 12 feet.


The whole forest went underwater...the salt water prevented the decomposition of the trees and they don't decay.


Our train and the tent covered passageway to the boat. It rains here a lot because it is a temperate rain forest. Whittier, AK, averages 9 to 20 inches of rain each month. Snow is up to 20 feet.


It was really raining. Our train is in the background. (Not our bus.)

Mt McKinley Along the Road

The day we left Denali was spectacular...and clear as a bell. Opportunity for viewing Mt McKinley (or it's original name: Denali) all day long. Awesome. Wonderful. We became part of the 30% Club. Most people that visit Alaska don't get to see Mt McKinley due to the clouds. Only 30% do get to see the mountain. We were blessed.


Views along the road.




Driving along in the mountains.


Construction again.


Just look at that line of Airstreams behind us, too.


There it is again.




Tried a zoom on this one.


Our log book mentioned that this restaurant had good food and a good view. The wait for lunch would have been over an hour with everyone stopping here. There was only one waitress working that day. We found another spot with a view and just made sandwiches. We did that most of the time.


The view from the garden was really good.


And the view from the porch.


Zoom again.


Down the road we found a great spot along a lake.


Nice reflections.


Walked down on some boards almost in the water to get this last picture of Mt McKinley. Did not see the mountains again on the trip...rain, clouds, their usual weather.