06/27/2010 - Sunday

The first photograph is of downtown McCarthy, from our hotel porch.

Today's activity was a guided walk on the Root Glacier followed by a guided walk through the town of Kennicott as well as the Kennicott Copper Mill. The glacier walk took 4 and 1/2 hours, with lunch sitting at the top of the glacier watching a person climbing a vertical wall of ice with ice picks. We had to put crampons on our shoes to walk on the glacier. I ended up ripping the bottom of one of my pants legs with the crampons - good thing I missed my leg itself.

The mill tour took about 2 hours. It was raining, however most of the tour was inside the large mill building itself.

The major problem(s) of the day was finding a place to eat that was open when we were ready - for example we wanted to get a cup of coffee only instead of a meal. Only two places were open, the bar was too crowded and the one dining hall would only serve a full course meal.

Signed:

The Wayward Travelers

06/26/2010 - Saturday

Please excuse the delay in the posting of today's and tomorrow's post as the hotel did not have Internet service, and there seemed to be none in the area, nor any cell phone service.

Today was a day of travel from Tok to McCarthy.

The photo is of a Moose we saw along the 60 mile dirt road from Chitina to McCarthy. The road was built on the bed of a old rail line to Kennicott. The 60 miles took 3+ hours to drive. Let's jsut say the travel today was one of adventure and excitement.

Since the day was mainly driving, not too many more photos to share at this time.

Signed:

The Wayward Travelers

06/25/2010 - Friday

Today was another travel day.

We got up and left Haines, Alaska, and headed towards Tok, Alaska. We had to drive north about 40 miles and cross into British Columbia, through Canadian customs, etc.

About 45 miles later we crossed into the Yukon. A few miles up the road we stopped at the Million Dollar Falls Provincial Park for a stretch and to see the Million Dollar Falls.

About 10 minutes after leaving this park we stopped to watch this Black Bear along the road.

There was about a 1/2 hour wait clearing customs back into the USA. The Alaska Highway, both in Canada and the US had a fair amount of construction on it.

We ended in Tok, Alaska, and checked into our hotel right before 7 bus loads of tourists checked in.

The ride today went from a rain forest, up and over some mountains which were snow covered and lots of large evergreens. Once over the crest of the mountain the terrain became very sparse, although there were a fair amount of scrub type brush.

As we traveled further north the vegetation again changed into White Spruce - tall and thin.


I am not expecting internet access for the next two days - but it may occur. Just keep watching the posts.


Signed;
The Wayward Travelers

06/24/2010 - Thursday

Please excuse the delay in this posting as the hotel did not have wireless Internet in the rooms, and the lobby wireless unit was not working.

Early this morning, at 7:30, we were picked up for our float trip by rubber raft down the Chilkat River to view Eagles in the wild.

During the afternoon we walked around the town of Haines visiting the small shops and figuring out a place to eat - not much of a selection.

After supper we drove out of town to the Chilkoot Lake State Park. On our way back we spotted a large brown bear across the road.

That is today's quick summary.

Signed;

The Wayward Travelers

06/23/2010 - Wednesday

Another day of travel. It was still raining when we got up.

First, we did the laundry before we checked out of the hotel. We figured that instead of sitting around waiting to check out we might as well get some things done. It is one of the things that one must do when one travels for more than a week.

On our way to the ferry terminal we stopped for some sandwiches to take along with us on the ferry - cheaper.

We then went to Mendenhall Glacier even though it was raining. It was on the way to the ferry terminal. I went to all of the viewing areas with my cameras and an umbrella. The glacier was not as 'colorful' as the one at Tracy Arm - there was more dirt in the ice.

We took the ferry and arrived in Haines around 7:30 pm. Our Hotel is a building that was once part of Fort Seward, one of the first US Army forts in Alaska.

Well, that is all for now - we need to get up early for a river float trip tomorrow - we hope it stops raining.


Signed:
The Wayward Travelers

06/22/2010 - Tuesday

I forgot to mention earlier that the morning light begins a little after 3:00 a.m., and lights out is a little past 10:00 p.m.

Our plans today got changed. It was raining when we got up, so instead of going to the Mendenhall Glacier first thing we went to the Alaska State Museum.

It was still raining, even a little heavier, so we did some 'tourist' stuff in the historic downtown district, things such as browsing stores, etc.

Since it was still raining three of us went to the Alaskan Brewery outside of town a little.

For supper we walked downtown (we are only a few blocks away) in the rain to El Sombrero, for something other than fish.

Hopefully we can get to Mendenhall Glacier tomorrow after we check out of this hotel and before we check in at the ferry for our next ferry ride to Haines. so, my posting for tomorrow, Wednesday, will probably not be done until Thursday.


Signed:
The Wayward Travelers

06/21/2010 - Monday

Today was a great day.

We left on an early boat tour / cruise to Tracy Arm (Arm is another word used for fjord).

During this 10 hour ride we saw many exciting items. From the photos above you can tell we saw:

A mother whale and calf,

Ice bergs - in some places the water surface was 95% covered with them. You can see this in the photo of the glacier,

South Sawyer Glacier,

A Glacier Calving occurring,

and

some of the scenery along the way.

We also saw eagles flying around and many harbor seals - mostly at the base of the glacier.

Signed;

The Wayward Travelers