In August 2006, Paul and I spent 5 days driving around in Alaska. Sadly, it rained pretty much the whole entire time. We saw lots of rain, clouds and fogs, but only very limited scenery and almost no wildlife :-(
About the photos:
01 1-2
We flew out on August 10th 2006 – shortly after the terrorist threat in
London. Because of that, security measures were increased, but the airport
was not at all ready for it.
As a result, the queue was about 3 hours long - zig-zagging through the parking
garage, across the skybridge, up the stairs, then more zig zags in front of the
security gates. You might have seen us on the news that day. Thankfully we
had arrived at the airport very early and we did get our flight (by about 3
minutes !!! )
02 1-5 Alaska Airport
Quite pretty and new, with stunning views from the windows.
7 Dimond – redneck spelling for diamond ???
8-14 Downtown Anchorage - just a large hick town.
03 1 our landmark to find our B&B - that police car was in the same spot for the
whole 5 days we were there, every time.
2-5 The B&B we stayed at, host Nancy, and the lovely sitting room for guests.
04 1 "When the fireweed is gone, summer is over"
2 We saw many warning signs (for wildlife crossings), but never any animals.
3-4 this was a VERY long moose fence, complete with moose gates designed to
"collect" the moose - sporting one-way bars to let them IN, but not out.
05 1-13 Talkeetna - a rather picturesque little town. It has a lookout with KILLER
views - we only saw clouds, but we did see the postcards of the stunning
scenery we missed out on.
06 1-5 Another look-out with incredible views - according to the postcards
6-21 Denali National Park
08 our only glimpse of Mount McKinley (20,320 feet/ 6,193 m)
10 we don't know what the huge building is……
19 you can only drive cars about 20 miles into the national park….
20 ….after that, you have to use their buses - rickety old school buses!
21 the wildlife we saw in Denali…. (plus a sparrow and a chipmunk).
07 1-3 Nearly every town we saw was small and messy - redneck heaven.
08 01 Turnagain Arm - just south of Anchorage. A very beautiful area, indeed.
02 that is a rotary snow plough
9-10 this is a "bore tide" - the brochures promised a "6 foot wall of water rushing
up the inlet". Hmmm….. we only saw a "wave" about 10 cm tall at best.
13-14 Dall Sheep - the only real wildlife we saw. At this spot, they often come all the
way down to the highway.
23 Alyeska skiresort has a "tram" up the mountain which takes you to incredible
views. We didn't bother, since it was very cloudy/rainy every day.
25 interesting house, huh?
26-34 the damage from the 64 earthquake is still visible in many places, including in
all those dead trees. Must have been quite the bang!
35-42 first glimpses of glaciers - pretty spectacular stuff!
44-45 a beautiful visitor center at Portage Lake
54-55 Salmon spawning waters
58-61 The tunnel to Whittier - it is a one-lane tunnel, shared in both directions by
cars AND train. It is about 3.6 miles long and survived the bad earthquake just
fine. The weather on this side was so-so, we all hoped to come out the other
end to sunshine.......
09 02 ……. instead, the weather was even worse !!
09 the whole town of 200 people lives in this one apartment building. It includes
shops, doctors, hairdressers etc, and has a tunnel leading to the school.
07-09 our glacier cruise boat - if only the weather had been better *sigh*
18-32 right AT the glacier, it actually wasn't raining for a change - the cool air kept
the clouds away. Glaciers are very noisy, there is much groaning and crackling,
and from time to time it sounds just like a thunderstorm.
33 "Calfing" - that's when parts of the ice breaks off and falls into the water
34-35 we were amazed by the blue colour
37 seals
42-44 a colony of kittywakes
11 2 Homer - one the most picturesque places in Alaska (according to people who
have seen it in sunshine)
2-4 "THE" look-out - try to imagine what lies behind those clouds
7-11 The spit has some very cute looking buildings…….
12-14 ……… but also a lot of mess.
16 Land's End - this is as far south as the Alaskan highway system goes - from
this point, it is via boat or plane only.
12 1-3 on the way home
© Karin
