Alaska Adventure 2018

An open-ended adventure by Bobbi and Rod Read more

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Trip start
May 16, 2018
Alaska Adventure 2018 Bobbi and Rod Reeves
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The start of the Great Alaskan Adventure
May 16, 2018 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 8 °C
Today is the first day of our Alaskan adventure. It was spent flying from Baltimore to Anchorage, Alaska. 3 Flights taking about 11 hours of flying with layovers in Detroit and Seattle. The longest flight was Seattle to Anchorage. The view was great as we flew along the coast of Alaska a good portion of the way. All connecting flights went well despite a 40 minute delay in Baltimore. We flew first class which made it very comfortable. No luggage was lost although one piece was inspected by TSA! It was a short taxi ride to the RV rental location from the Anchorage airport where we got our 'home-away-from-home'. It is a 20 foot Coachman - nice and cosy! We unpacked, checked out the coach and will be staying the night here. We are staying in Anchorage tomorrow - moving to a campground for one day to stock up on food and such. The weather is cloudy, occasional light rain and 50 degrees. We are 4 hours behind east coast time.Read more
Ruth Neff See, they were expecting more of us to tag along!
5/22/18Reply
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Alaska Adventure 2018 Bobbi and Rod Reeves
First Campground
May 17, 2018 in the United States ⋅ 🌧 9 °C
After spending the night at the RV location it was time to move on. We had our walk-around the rig with the Clippership rep, Crystal. We noticed two things that we wanted fixed before we headed out and that required them to take the rig back in the maintenance area. While they were doing that, they shuttled us to Walmart so that we could get our groceries and a few other things. Once all that was taken care of we headed to our first campground - Creekwood Inn & RV Park. It seems that many motels/inns also have an RV Park. There are only a few campers here. Two couples were from Florida and were here as camp-workers. For a free camp site they are workers for the campground - doing minor maintenance and trash detail. They are here until September. We spent today organizing things, setting up the go pro camera and programming the gps. Anchorage is a bigger city than expected. We woke up to temperature in the high 30's and today's high was 53 with overcast skies. It started to rain around 3. The first 3 photos are our view from our campsite. The last picture was taken at 9:30 pm and still looks light out! Sunset is scheduled for 10:45pm with tomorrow's sunrise at 5:07 am - only 6 hours of darkness. Heading to Seward -- stay tuned!Read more
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Alaska Adventure 2018 Bobbi and Rod Reeves
On to Seward, Alaska!
May 18, 2018 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 9 °C
This morning we left Anchorage under rainy skies to head south to Seward - about 125 miles. We drove Ak1 to AK9. For most of the trip we went through the Chugach National Forest. As we left the National Forest and in to the Kenai peninsula we saw snow in the trees along the highway. Despite the rain the scenery is awesome! Once we got closer to Seward to rained stopped and the sun even peaked out. We went through towns called Girdwood and Moose Pass. Two cruise ships were in port today - a Celebrity ship and a Norwegian Cruise line ship. We are staying at the Seward Waterfront Park which is run by the city's parks and recreation department. It is right on the water with a view of Resurrection Bay and mountains all around us. This area is all part of the Kenai Fjords. After camp was set up we walked around town which is a short walk away. There is also a festival tomorrow called the Mermaid Festival. We made a camp fire and roasted marshmallows and sat around the fire admiring the views which are spectacular!! The light rain held off until around dinner time but it doesn't seem to stop people from walking around. Temperature is in the high 40's.Read more
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Alaska Adventure 2018 Bobbi and Rod Reeves
More on Seward
May 18, 2018 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 9 °C
The city of Seward was named for President Lincoln's Secretary of State, William Henry Seward, the man who negotiated the Purchase of Alaska from Russia in 1867. It was a gold rush city in he late 1800's. The Iditarod National Historical Trail begins in Seward tracing the mail route that led to the gold strikes. The Port of Seward was the northern-most ice-free port and served as the southern terminus of the Alaska Railroad, a supply line for the WWII effort.

Resurrection Bay was created by millions of years of glacial activity and extends 35 miles north and south on the southeastern coast of the Kenai Peninsula. The Bay remains ice free in winter. We saw a few sea otters in the bay from our camp site. Humpbacks and orcas as well as migrating gray whales can be spotted in the Bay Area.

The last photo was taken at 10:30 PM! It's still light enough to read a book with no problem.Read more
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Alaska Adventure 2018 Bobbi and Rod Reeves
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More on Seward and the Kenai Fjords
May 19, 2018 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 8 °C
Seward was one of the towns most devastated by the Alaska earthquake of March 27, 1964. The greater part of Seward is built on an alluvial fan-delta near the head of Resurrection Bay on the southeast coast of the Kenai Peninsula. It is one of the few ports in south-central Alaska that is ice free all year, and the town’s economy is almost entirely dependent upon its port facilities.

The Alaska earthquake of March 27, 1964, magnitude approximately 8.3–8.4, began at 6:36 p.m. Its epicenter was in the northern part of the Prince William Sound area; focal depth was 20–50 km.

Strong ground motion at Seward lasted 3–4 minutes. During the shaking, a strip of land 50–400 feet wide along the Seward waterfront (where we are now camping) together with docks and other harbor facilities, slid into Resurrection Bay as a result of large-scale submarine landsliding. Fractures ruptured the ground for'severa1 hundred feet back from the landslide scarps. Seismic sea waves crashed onto shore; where runup was as much as 30 feet above mean lower low water and caused tremendous damage; fire from burning oil tanks added to the destruction. Damage from strong ground motion itself was comparatively minor.

Eighty-six houses were totally destroyed and 260 were heavily damaged. The harbor facilities were almost completely destroyed, and the entire economic base of the town was wiped out. The total cost to replace the destroyed public and private facilities was estimated at $22 million. Anchorage which was 75 miles from the epicenter also sustained damage. The town of Girdwood, which we drove through from Anchorage was destroyed by subsidence and subsequent tidal action. Girdwood was relocated inland. About 20 miles of the Seward Highway sank below the high-water mark of Turnagain Arm; the highway and its bridges were raised and rebuilt.

Today we took a boat tour of the Kenai Fjords National Parks. Unfortunately, due to the weather causing rough seas (swells of 4 feet or more) we were unable to go to 2 of the scheduled glaciers. We did, however, see lots of wildlife. We picked up the tour at the Seward harbor which is about a mile walk from the campground. We headed out from Resurrection Bay which at some points can be as deep as 1000 feet and the water temperature was 45 degrees. Our boat was 95 feet long with top speeds of 20 knots. It generally takes 1 hour to get to Gulf of Alaska.

The park started as a national monument in 1978 and became a national park in 1980. It is 669,984 acres. The park contains the Harding Icefield, one of the largest ice fields in the United States. The park is named for the numerous fjords carved by glaciers moving down the mountains from the ice field. The field is the source of at least 38 glaciers, the largest of which is Bear Glacier which we saw from a distance before the clouds covered it. The fjords are glacial valleys that have been submerged below sea level by a combination of rising sea levels and land subsidence.

Picture 4 is a view of our camp from the boat.Read more
Ruth Neff Beautiful
5/22/18Reply
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Alaska Adventure 2018 Bobbi and Rod Reeves
Kenai Fjords wildlife and scenery
May 19, 2018 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 8 °C
Even though we could not make it to the ice glaciers our captain made sure we saw plenty of wildlife. We spotted bald eagles, hump back whales, stellar sea lions, common murres, sea otters, harbor seals, orca whales, mountain goats and Dall's porpoise. The are 191 species of birds in the Kenai Fjords National Park. You need to be quick when taking pictures of the wildlife. Instead of whale watching our captain called it whale waiting! Pictures 1 and 2 are of a humpback whale. They migrate to Hawaii or California after feeding on fish and animals in Alaska.Read more
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Alaska Adventure 2018 Bobbi and Rod Reeves
Kenai Fjords wildlife continues...
May 19, 2018 in the United States ⋅ 🌧 8 °C
Photo 4 is of the Steller Sea Lions. They are the largest member of the eared seal family and live here year-round. They hunt for fish at night and rest during the day. The white birds are called common murre. Photo 5 is an orca whale. The resident orcas travel in family groups called pods and hunt for fish using echolocation. Photo 10 is a sea otter. These are endangered in western Alaska and typically eat shellfish, octopus and crab. Their fur is very dense (up to one million hairs per square inch). The last two photos are photos of pictures from our camera. The are of mountain goats and a bald eagle.Read more
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Alaska Adventure 2018 Bobbi and Rod Reeves
On to Kenai!
May 20, 2018 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 9 °C
This morning we woke up to light rain and the sun trying to peek through the clouds. There was a Holland America cruise ship in port today.

Today we headed to our next camp location - Kenai - which is just a little over 100 miles from Seward. We first stopped at Exit Glacier which is just outside of Seward. You had to travel through a part of the Chugach National Forest to reach it. Exit Glacier is a glacier derived from the Harding Icefield in the Kenai Mountains of Alaska and one of Kenai Fjords National Park's major attractions. It is one of the most accessible valley glaciers in Alaska and is a visible indicator of glacial recession due to climate change. Exit Glacier retreated approximately 187 feet from 2013 to 2014 and 220 feet last year. The hike to the glacier is about 2 miles and well worth it. Photo 6 shows where the glacier at one time came to. Photos 7 & 8 were views along the way to Kenai. Some of the towns we drove through were Cooper Landing, Sterling and Soldotna. The highest elevation was 751 feet ad that was when we were driving through Turnagain Arm. We had a moose cross the road in front of us (photo 9)! Instead of deer crossing signs you see moose crossing signs. The last photo is the view from our camp site. We are staying at Beluga RV Park in Kenai. It sits on a bluff overlooking the mouth of the Kenai River and Cook Inlet.Read more
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Alaska Adventure 2018 Bobbi and Rod Reeves
A tour of Kenai
May 21, 2018 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 13 °C
A little history about Kenai - The city of Kenai is named after the local Dena'ina (Tanaina) word 'ken' or 'kena', which means 'flat, meadow, open area with few trees; base, low ridge'. Before the arrival of the Russians, Kenai was a Dena'ina village called Shk'ituk't, meaning "where we slide down." When Russian fur traders first arrived in 1741, about 1,000 Dena'ina lived in the village. The traders called the people "Kenaitze", which is a Russian term for "people of the flats", or "Kenai people". This name was later adopted when they were incorporated as the Kenaitze Indian Tribe in the early 1970s. In 1869, after the Alaska Purchase, the United States Army established a post called Fort Kenay but was soon abandoned. In 1888 a prospector named Alexander King discovered gold on the Kenai Peninsula. The amount of gold was small compared to the later gold finds in the Klondike, Nome and Fairbanks. Kenai has a moderate subarctic climate due to the cool summers. Winters are snowy, long but not particularly with January featuring a daily average temperature of 15.8 °F. Snow averages 63.6 inches per season, falling primarily from October thru March.

Today we toured the Russian Church - Holy Assumption of Saint Mary Russian Orthodox Church - The church itself was originally established in 1791 and the current building was constructed in 1894. In 1970 the church site was declared a National Historic Landmark (one of 49 in Alaska). The church is the oldest Orthodox Church on mainland Alaska and is still active. The Parish House Rectory was built in 1881 and is believed to be the oldest original building on the Kenai Peninsula. This is home to the priest of the Russian Orthodox Church. The buildings of Holy Assumption represent “fine” examples of a Russian village church and the type of home provincial Russian gentry would inhabit.

We also visited the historic Kenai cabins. These cabins were built in the early 1900's and some were in use until the late 1940's.

The Kenai Municipal Airport is very close so we stopped there and while we were there 2 stealth fighters jets did a very low fly by! They moved so fast we couldn't get pictures. The campground is on the flight path for one of the runways so we were able to see the Alaskan Air Guard practice "touch and goes".

Kenai is home to the Peninsula Oilers, a minor league baseball team. We visited their headquarters.

The rest of the day was a walk to the beach and a campfire. The bluff area at the beach was the former site of a Russian Fort, St. Nicholas Redoubt, built in 1791. The Russian fur traders were the first to establish forts with 3 fur trading posts in the Cook Inlet. When the Russians sailed in to Cook Inlet, they beached the boat and used some of its wood to build their first building. A few years later they built a permanent Fort on the bluff.Read more
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Alaska Adventure 2018 Bobbi and Rod Reeves
On to Homer!
May 22, 2018 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 10 °C
We left Kenai under sunny skies! We headed south to Homer - about 90 miles from Kenai. The only road into Homer is the Sterling Highway which is Route 1. It was a beautiful drive - mostly coastal so the views were beautiful! We saw moose again crossing the roadway. This is the farthest south we will go on our trip. Homer is on the shore of Kachemak Bay on the southwest side of the Kenai Peninsula. Its distinguishing feature is the Homer Spit, a narrow 4.5 mi long gravel bar that extends into the bay, on which is located the Homer Harbor. We are camping on the Homer spit and our view is pretty nice! Much of the coastline as well as the Homer Spit sank during the Good Friday earthquake in March 1964. (This is the same earthquake that effected Seward). After the earthquake, very little vegetation was able to survive on the Homer Spit.

Pictures 7 and 8 are views from our camp site. Pictures 9 and 10 are of the Salty Dawg. Your visit to Homer is not complete unless you visit here. The Salty Dawg Saloon was originally one of the first cabins built here in 1897, just after the town was established. It has been a post office, railroad station, grocery store and a coal mining office. A second building was added in 1909 and it too served many purposes including a post office, store and schoolhouse. In 1957, the Salty Dawg Saloon officially opened. The building was moved to its present location on the Spit after the 1964 earthquake. The lighthouse was added to cover a water storage tank. It’s now one of Homer’s most recognizable landmarks. The walls and ceilings are covered with paper money (that started when fishermen pinned up notes and drink money for other fishermen still at sea), life rings, some of which serve as memorials to fishermen lost at sea and others who were well loved and respected. Also adorning the walls are other maritime trophies, some from boats that went down at sea.Read more
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Alaska Adventure 2018 Bobbi and Rod Reeves
Another day in Homer
May 23, 2018 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 12 °C
It is another beautiful day in Homer! The sun is out with light winds making the 50 degree weather very comfortable. We walked along the beach and then to the harbor where we talked to a local fisherman as he was cleaning his catch of halibut and cod. The tide is unbelievable - at least a 100 foot difference! While at the harbor we caught sight of a ship docked - the Time Bandit. This is one of the ships that the Discovery Channel follows in the tv show, Deadliest Catch! We saw an ice rink in the main part of town. While sitting outside admiring the view we noticed two eagles down on the beach. We were able to walk pretty close to them without having them fly away.

Homer's the "Halibut Fishing Capital of Alaska," and is about 26 square miles with half being land and the other half water. The population Is about 5000. Homer spit is 4.5 miles long and is between Cook Inlet and Kachemak Bay. Kachemak Bay is among the richest marine estuaries in the world. Homer was named for Homer Pennock, a gold-mining company promoter, who arrived in 1896 on the Homer Spit and built living quarters for his crew of 50 men. However, gold mining was never profitable in the area. Homer has a moderate subarctic coastal climate which causes its weather to be moderate compared to interior Alaska. Winters are snowy and long but not particularly cold, with the average January high only slightly below freezing. Snow averages 50 inches, falling primarily from November through March. Homer receives only about 25 inches of rainfall annually due to the influence of the Chugach Mountains to the southeast which shelters it from the Gulf of Alaska.

We had dinner at a local restaurant- Captain Pattie's Fish House. I had locally caught salmon and Rod had Alaskan King crab legs. Both were delicious.Read more
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Alaska Adventure 2018 Bobbi and Rod Reeves
On to the next locale!
May 24, 2018 in the United States ⋅ 🌫 11 °C
We left Homer and headed north - back on the same road we came in to Homer. There are only a handful of major highways in Alaska and to reach some places you have to fly to or go by boat. We are staying in Cooper Landing. To get here we traveled Alaska route 1 through towns with names of Anchor Point, Ninilchik, Clam Gulch and Soldotna. We are back in the Chugach National Forest. This is the first campground that is not on the water but in the woods. It's a very beautiful place within hiking distance to the Kenai River. Cooper Landing was named for Joseph Cooper, a miner who discovered gold there in 1884. However, Peter Doroshin, a Russian engineer, had found gold prospects as far back as 1848 when the territory was still part of Russian America. Besides the town being named after Joseph Cooper, there is also Cooper Lake and Cooper Creek. The first school was started in 1929. Cooper Landing is about 70 square miles with the majority being land. We talked with one of the locals who said their snow varies from just a foot to as much as 6 feet. After setting up camp we hiked down to the river.

We are a little over a week in to our travels and have gone about 450 miles. It doesn't seem like a lot but we have seen a lot of the Kenai Peninsula and are heading north to go east then back south.Read more
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Alaska Adventure 2018 Bobbi and Rod Reeves
Still moving on
May 25, 2018 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 15 °C
We left Cooper Landing to head to our next stop - Palmer, Alaska. We headed north on Route 1 continuing through the Chugach National Forest into the Chugach State Park until we reached Anchorage. Outside of Anchorage we then headed east to Palmer. We saw fishermen dip-netting. (See photo #3, man with blue hat). Each year salmon navigate back to the rivers that they were born in to swim upstream and spawn. The Kenai River is famous for large runs of sockeye (red) salmon. They swim up in such large numbers that Alaskan residents can legally harvest them via dip net with a personal use fishery permit. The head of household is allowed 25 salmon each year and 10 additional salmon per additional household member under their dip-netting permit. There are also regulations for the size of the net used. The fish is usually so plentiful that fishermen put on their waders and walk along the water with their dip-nets.

The scenery along the way was great especially Turnagain Arm which is south of Anchorage. Turnagain Arm is a waterway into the northwestern part of the Gulf of Alaska. It is one of two narrow branches at the north end of Cook Inlet, the other being Knik Arm. Turnagain extends in an east-west direction, and is between 40–45 miles long. It forms part of the northern boundary of Kenai Peninsula, and reaches on the east to within 12 miles of Portage Bay, a western branch of Prince William Sound. Turnagain is characterized by large tides of up to 40 feet which are the largest tides in the United States. The flood tide often begins with a tidal bore especially on large tides with a strong east wind, which has a height of 6 feet at times, and runs in from the west at a speed of 5–6 miles an hour. At low tide, the arm becomes a broad mud flat, cut by the stream channels. The area around Turnagain Arm is very rugged. South Suicide Peak is the tallest mountain rising from the north side of Turnagain. Mountains rise on both sides of the arm and reach altitudes of 5,000–6,000 feet. Their tops are ragged and bare. The timber rarely reaches higher than 1,500–2,000 feet. The smaller valleys are narrow and steep.Read more
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Alaska Adventure 2018 Bobbi and Rod Reeves
Glennallen
May 26, 2018 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 15 °C
Leaving Palmer (which we found out was started in the thirties as a government farming project during the Great Depression) we took the Glenn Highway to our next overnight destination, Glennallen. The scenery along this drive is beautiful! You are driving with the Talkeetna Mountains on one side and the Chugach Mountains on the other side and follow the Matanuska River to its headwaters. There we stopped at the Matanuska Glacier (photos 4 & 5). This glacier is the largest road accessible glacier in America and you can view it from the road. We stopped and took a short hike to get a closer look at it. The glacier is 4 miles wide at it's terminus and extends for about 26 miles back into the Chugach Mountains. It is classified as a valley glacier; a body of solid ice that flows like a river under its own weight through an existing valley. About 10,000 years ago it began its retreat to its present day location, and it has not seen any significant change in mass for almost two decades. Just after the glacier we passed Sheep Mountain (see photo 9) which is part of the Talkeetna Mountain Range. Our highest elevation we traveled was 3350 feet. Although the indigenous Ahtna people have lived in the region for countless years, the town of Glennallen was established in the mid-1940s as a highway construction camp for the Glenn Highway.Read more
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Alaska Adventure 2018 Bobbi and Rod Reeves
Valdez, Alaska
May 27, 2018 in the United States ⋅ 🌧 8 °C
We decided to go to Valdez today instead of staying in Glenallen another day. Before I describe our trip I wanted to show a picture of what sunset looks like. The first picture was taken at 11:15pm. Sunset was 10:55pm and sunrise was 4:32am. We talked with a local who said it only gets 'somewhat dark' between midnight and 2:00am. In the winter it is only light out between 10:00am and 1:00pm!

From Glenallen we headed south on the Richardson Highway, Alaska's oldest major Highway. This road runs from Valdez to Fairbanks in the interior. We picked it up about halfway. You can see the Trans-Alaska Oil Pipeline along the way but I'll talked about it more later. The Richardson Highway began as a gold rush trail. In 1910 the road was upgraded to allow cars. There is also a glacier that you can go to off of this road but unfortunately due to the visitor's parking lot still covered in snow, we could not stop to visit. Yes, snow! We were so surprised to see snow on this route. In fact, when going through Thompson Pass we had snow flurries and low visibility. The elevation is only 2720 feet. Once through the pass, the snow was gone. Valdez has a long-standing reputation for great snow - up to 900 - 1000 inches of snow! After Thompson Pass you drive through Keystone Canyon, about 10 miles north of Valdez. This Canyon has waterfalls which are created from melting snow run-off. We passed two popular waterfalls - Bridal Veil Falls (photo 9) and Horsetail Fall (photo10).Read more
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Alaska Adventure 2018 Bobbi and Rod Reeves
Touring Valdez
May 28, 2018 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 8 °C
Today was spent touring around the town of Valdez. We visited the Solomon Gulch Hatchery located across the bay. Not much was going on as the time for spawning of salmon is not right. The best time is July through September. During this time, bears, sea gulls and sea otters can be seen feeding on the fish. It was built to make sure sufficient numbers of salmon return each year. The facility incubates, rear and release 230 pink salmon and 2 million coho. (Photo 1)

The 1964 earthquake also hit Valdez. In fact, the tsunamis that occurred after the earthquake demolished the town. The original town of Valdez was actually four miles west of the current town location. The original townsite was condemned because of the ground being unstable so in 1967 the entire town was relocated to its current location - 52 buildings were moved and the rest were razed. You can still see where the streets were and they have markers where buildings were. Photo 2 was where the hotel was and photo 4 is where the post office was. The population now is around 4500 who work for the city, the oil industry, tourism, fishing or the transportation and shipping industry.

Our next stop was to Glacier View Park and lake. As you can see the lake is still slightly frozen so you could not get to the Valdez Glacier. (Photo 5 and note in photo 6 how you see the reflection of the mountain surrounding the lake). On the way to Glacier View Park you pass the Valdez Municipal Airport. We stopped in and other than private planes there is only one airlines, Ravn Airlines, that service this area.

We did a short hike on the Dock Point Trail. Parts of the trail give you a view of Harbor Cove and the Port of Valdez. The pink flowers are called Dwarf Fireweed and are also called River Beauty. The yellow flowers are called American Skunk Cabbage as they give off a skunky-odor when blooming although we didn't notice a smell.

We stopped off at the local grocery store to replenish- it was a Safeway. That seems to be one store that is found in almost every town. Food tends to be a little expensive - a half gallon of milk: $5.29; lettuce: $2.99; radishes: $2.99; onion: $1.74Read more
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Alaska Adventure 2018 Bobbi and Rod Reeves
More on Valdez
May 29, 2018 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 7 °C
Today we visited two of the museums in town to learn some of the history of Valdez.

In 1897 gold seekers came to Alaska to follow the "All American Route" (instead of going through Canada) over the Valdez Glacier into the interior of Alaska. A tent city sprang up at the head of the bay, thus forming the city of Valdez. Prior to that the territory belonged to the Chugach, an Alaskan Native people in the region of the Prince William Sound. Prince William Sound was originally named Sandwich Sound, after the Earl of Sandwich by Captain Cook in 1779. Editors of Cook's maps renamed the Sound to Prince William Sound after Prince William IV. IN 1790 Spanish explorer Salvador Fidalgo was sent to Alaska to investigate Russian involvement and to establish claim in the area. There is a street named after Fidalgo. The port of Valdez was named after Antonio Valdés y Fernández Bazán a Spanish Navy Minister in 1790.

In October 1980 the luxury cruise ship MS Prisendam was enroute to Japan, having cruised the inside passage way from Vancouver, put out a distress call as they had a fire that started in the engine room and was spreading. It was determined to abandon ship. The US Coast Guard and a tanker near by came to rescue and bring the passengers and crew to Valdez. One life boat was lost for 12 hours but was found. It is on display at the museum. There was a pilot, Bob Reeve, who became a famous Alaskan bush pilot. He his supposed to be the first to but skies on the wheels of is plane to be able to land in the snow (photo 2 & 3). The other museum was all about the damage done to the town by the earthquake and tsunami. Photo 4 shows what the intersection looks like today - photo 5 show what the intersection looked like before the damage (see where the red VW bus is). Photo 6 is part of a house that was an actual home in the original town.

Photo 9 is the Valdez Marine Highway Terminal. Alaska is over 650,000 square miles and much of that has no road access. The primary forms of transportation in areas without roads are by air or sea, so the Alaska Marine Highway is a big part of the 'highway system.' It is such a unique set of routes that is has been designated as a National Scenic Byway and an All American Road, the only marine route with this distinction.
With its southernmost port in Bellingham, WA, the Alaska Marine Highway extends more than 3,500 miles to Dutch Harbor, with over 30 stops along the way.Read more
ROBERT HARBRANTGREAT SHOTS; ESPECIALLY LOVED THE REEVES AIRWAYS!!
5/30/18Reply
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Alaska Adventure 2018 Bobbi and Rod Reeves
On to another place
May 30, 2018 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 12 °C
We left Valdez this morning heading north but before leaving we chatted with a local and asked him about the tide in Valdez. We noticed that it was quite a big tide and seemed to occur often. He said the tides occur every 6 hours and there is generally a 12 foot tide. It was 37 degrees when we left. We headed north back on the same road as we came in (there is only one road in and one road out!). We stopped at the old railroad tunnel outside of Valdez. This tunnel was being dug out by hand in 1906. Unfortunately there were nine companies that wanted ownership of it and a big feud and gun battle took place and the tunnel never was finished.

We continued north until just passed Glennallen, where we stayed a few days ago, and then took the Tok Cut-off to head north-northeast. We are spnding the night in a town called Gakona. The temperature was in the high 40's. Gakona served as a wood and fish camp, and later became a permanent village. A federally recognised tribe, Ahtna Athabascans is the Native Village of Gakona and is located here. In talking with the campground owner the weather can get very cold - as low as minus 60 degrees but last year it got 'to only minus 40'! They only got about 60 inches of snow this past winter. Summers are mild. Once camp was set up we hiked to the Copper River where we saw caribou and bear tracks.Read more
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Alaska Adventure 2018 Bobbi and Rod Reeves
Tok, Alaska
May 31, 2018 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 13 °C
We left Gakona and headed northeast on the Tok Cut-off road (Route 2). This route saves us about 100 miles and two hours of travel to Tok. We weren't sure about this route as we heard good and bad but overall it was a good route. There was a portion of it that wasn't in the best of shape due to an earthquake 5years ago and they haven't fixed it. There's sections of it like a washboard - the first picture doesn't quite show it very well but hopefully the video will. The locals keep saying 'maybe next year' it will be fixed! The road follows a beautiful route through winding high valleys of the Alaska Range, crossing a low divide near Mentasta Lake and the Wrangell-St. Elias National Preserve on one side. When we arrived in Tok, it was raining with thunder and lightning and even had a short spell of hail! It then changed to a clear blue sky. Our dinner tonight was Alaskan king crab legs that we bought in Valdez - yummy!Read more
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Alaska Adventure 2018 Bobbi and Rod Reeves
Another day in Tok
June 1, 2018 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 17 °C
Even though we are in Tok we did a day trip to a town about one and one-half hours away. On the way there we stopped at the Tok airport - 40 Mile Air. The pilot we spoke to originally came from Maine but has been here for at least 30 years. The airport is open year round and flies supplies to villages that have no access by roads.

We then headed to Chicken - yes, that's the 'town's' name. It is about 65 miles from here but the road (Route 5 and also called the Taylor Highway) in some areas, is not in the best of shape due to frost heave - some areas were only gravel. It is a beautiful drive through the Sitz Mountains. It was built in 1953 to provide access to Eagle, Chicken, and the historic Fortymile Mining District. After Chicken the road is all gravel and goes to Eagle, Alaska and the Canadian border.

Chicken was settled by gold miners in the late 19th-century and in 1902 the local post office was established requiring a community name. Mail is flown in twice a week. Due to the abundance of ptarmigan in the area that name was suggested as the official name for the new community. However, the spelling could not be agreed on and Chicken was used to avoid embarrassment. The ptarmigan is like a chicken. A portion of Chicken, with buildings from the early 1900s and the F.E. Company Dredge No. 4 (Pedro Dredge) are listed on the National Register of Historical Places as the Chicken Historic District. Chicken is the outpost for the 40 Mile mining district. There are still active gold mines in this area. Enough gold was mined here to make it worthwhile to haul the huge gold dredges to this remote location. There are still several inactive gold dredges in the Chicken area. There are 17 inhabitants and due to mining, Chicken's population peaks during the summer. They also have an airport which we visited. The last photo is of a piece of gold that was mined from this are.Read more
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Alaska Adventure 2018 Bobbi and Rod Reeves
Made it to the North Pole!!
June 2, 2018 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 18 °C
Before I tell you about today's travel I wanted to show you what it looks like at 3:00 in the morning - see photo 1. The length of day is 20 hours and 36 minutes and the length of visible light is 24 hours meaning it really never gets dark like we know it. We also met a couple from Delaware at the Tok Campground. We spoke with them and found out that they live in Lewis - a town about 30 minutes away!! Also, I wanted to tell you something else about Chicken. At Chicken they have no electric or running water! All electric to run the cash register, lights etc. are with provided by a generator. Water is brought in - no flushing toilets - just out buildings. And, no cell phone coverage.

We left Tok and headed north-northwest to Fairbanks, our most north location we will be staying at. We are actually staying at a campground just outside of Fairbanks proper in a town called North Pole. About halfway in to our trip, outside of Delta Junction, we stopped at Rika's Roadhouse. The roadhouse is named after Rika Wallen, who acquired it from a man called John Hajdukovich and operated it for many years. It became a hub of activity in that area of the interior. With the construction of the ALCAN (now Alaska) Highway and the replacement of the ferry with a bridge downstream, traffic moved away and patronage declined. The roadhouse was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1976. The roadhouse was built on the banks of the Tanana River. The Tanana River was one of the major rivers to be crossed by travelers along the Valdez-Eagle trail. A ferry was established just upriver of the Tanana's confluence with the Delta River. Several log cabins housed the telegraph office, a dispatcher, two repairmen and their supplies. Rika eventually became the postmaster and served in that position for many years. Last year, he Alaskan government wanted to end its support of the Roadhouse so a family from Delta Junction (a city just down the road) purchased it and now runs it. The Alaska oil pipeline crosses the Tanana River not far from this location also.

The campground is located on the Chena River. The Chena River is a 100-mile tributary of the Tanana River. It flows generally west from the White Mountains to the Tanana River near the city of Fairbanks. We took our camp chairs to the river bank and enjoyed the view. We were surprised at how fast it flows.Read more
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Alaska Adventure 2018 Bobbi and Rod Reeves
What do you do when at the North Pole?!
June 3, 2018 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 21 °C
You visit the Santa Claus House! In 1949 Con and Nellie Miller arrive in the community, North Pole. In 1952, the Millers had decided to build a trading post. The story goes that one day, while hard at work on the new store, a young Alaskan boy thought Con was Santa Claus and asked, "Hello, Santa Claus! Are you building a new house?" Inspiration clicked, the new store would be called "Santa Claus House!" In those days the Santa Claus House offered more basic necessities than it did Christmas treasures. Situated between two military installations and right in the middle of developing North Pole, Santa Claus House became an impromptu gathering place for area residents. In addition to purchasing their groceries, locals could mingle at the soda fountain or pick up their daily mail, as Santa Claus House, under the direction of Postmistress Nellie Miller, was a mail contract station and served as North Pole's first Post Office for almost 20 years. In 1972 the state rerouted the Richardson Highway, bypassing the store's location. The Millers built a new storefront just off of the new four-lane highway, where it still is today. Inside, the store's emphasis on Christmas items have replaced the aisles of well-stocked canned goods. Santa even makes a daily visit (when not busy in the toy shop!). The Santa outside the store is 42 feet high and weighs 900 pounds (photo 1).

We then stopped at the Golden Heart Plaza. This plaza was created to celebrate the silver anniversary of Alaska’s statehood in 1984. Our next stop was the Ice Museum. The museum is located in an old movie theater. You start with a 25 minute film about the ice sculpture contests held annually in March here in Fairbanks. After seeing the film you enter into the "freezer" where it's kept at a cool 20 degrees. You can slide down an ice track and take your picture sitting on or next to numerous ice sculptures. There then is a demonstration on Ice sculpting.

It was then on to something a little warmer. Rod was able to play a round of golf at the North Star Golf Club. It is located in Fairbanks and it is not only the Northernmost golf course in America, but also one of the most unique. This is not just because of the unusual and ever-changing lay of the land but also due to the likelihood that you will share the golf course with any of a host of wildlife species. We, unfortunately, did not see the wildlife. The golf course has a visitors special where they rent you clubs, balls, tees and you also get a logo hat. The cart path is dirt/mud - you need an ATV instead of a golf cart. Rod played a good round of golf.Read more
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Alaska Adventure 2018 Bobbi and Rod Reeves
Arctic Circle
June 4, 2018 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 19 °C
It was a busy day as we spent the day traveling to and from the Arctic Circle! We started at the tour company's office which is located at the Fairbanks airport for a briefing. Our original tour was to drive up and back but there was not enough signed up for that tour so they upgraded us to a fly and drive tour which worked out even better!

Our plane was a 10 passenger Navajo Chieftain piloted by Tod. We were asked our weight and our camera bag and backpack were weighed. Rod was able to sit next to the pilot. Our one hour flight took us to Coldfoot, Alaska which is an oil pipeline camp and about 60 miles north of the Arctic Circle. Coldfoot Airport, on the west side of the Dalton Highway, is a 4,000-foot gravel strip. There, we were met with our guide, Sabrina, for the remainder of the trip.The rest of our trip back to Fairbanks was in a passenger van on the Dawson Highway. Our first stop was to the Coldfoot camp which is right outside of the airstrip and then to the Visitors Center. This Center is unique as it has 3 federal agencies under one roof - the National Park Service, Bureau of Land Management and Fish and Wildlife. There was no cell service for the next 10 or so hours.

Along the way, Sabrina gave us the history of the area, pipeline and the area in general. The town of Coldfoot is said to have gotten its name when between 1899 and 1908 gold miners had been mining for gold in the Slate Creek area and not finding much got 'cold feet' and left. Coldfoot primarily serves as a truck stop on the Dalton Highway from Fairbanks to Prudhoe Bay. North of Coldfoot, there are no services for 240 miles until Deadhorse. It has a restaurant and a small number of overnight accommodations that are converted pipeline construction camp quarters. The stop actually started as a summer mobile food truck. Eventually the truckers wanted something year-round and asked the person running the food truck if they helped build a building would he become year-round. Of course, the answer was yes. The truckers provide everything for the approximately 8000 people working in some capacity at Prudhoe Bay.Read more
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Alaska Adventure 2018 Bobbi and Rod Reeves
Along the Dalton Highway
June 4, 2018 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 18 °C
We made several stops along the Dalton Highway:

Grayling Lake - two to three thousand years ago Native people stopped here to camp and hunt for caribou and moose. Many of their tools used for hunting were found during the building of the road (Photos 1 & 2)

Finger Mountain - is not really a mountain but hills. The rocks on the hills were formed over 100 million years ago from magma seeping through the surface and then cooling. The Anthapaskan Indians lived and hunted in this area. (Photos 3 & 4)

Yukon River Camp - one of the stops where truckers can get a meal, room and fuel. We stopped here for dinner. The bridge crosses the Yukon River and is 2,295 feet long and 30 feet wide. The driving surface of the bridge is wooden planks supported by a steel deck attached to a pair of steel box girders. The wooden deck has been replaced in 1981, 1992, 1999 and 2007. (Photos 5 & 6)

Arctic Circle - The Arctic Circle is the most northerly of the five major circles of latitude as shown on maps of Earth. It marks the northernmost point at which the noon sun is just visible on the December solstice and the southernmost point at which the midnight sun is just visible on the June solstice. The region north of this circle is known as the Arctic, and the zone just to the south is called the Northern Temperate Zone. As seen from the Arctic, the Sun is above the horizon for 24 continuous hours at least once per year (and therefore visible at midnight) and below the horizon for 24 continuous hours at least once per year (and therefore not visible at noon). The position of the Arctic Circle is not fixed; as of 23 May 2018, it runs 66°33′47.2″ north of the Equator. Its latitude depends on the Earth's axial tilt, which fluctuates within a margin of 2° over a 40,000-year period, due to tidal forces resulting from the orbit of the moon. Therefore, the Arctic Circle is currently drifting northwards at a speed of about 49 feet per year.

Permafrost- permafrost is ground, including rock or soil, at or below the freezing point of water 32 °F for two or more years. Our guide stopped and dug up a small area only a few inches deep and we got to put our hand in the hole and feel the ice! Plants in this area have a root system that doesn't go deep in the ground. (Photo 9)

Joy, Alaska - is a trading post. This place was originally set up as a lemon aid stand along the highway. The owners children set up the stand to serve to truckers along the highway. They dug down several feet to keep the lemon aid cold to serve at the stand. Soon, they began to sell other items such as cold drinks and candy bars. The trading post then followed, as a stop for the truckers to come in.Read more
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Alaska Adventure 2018 Bobbi and Rod Reeves
The Dalton Highway
June 4, 2018 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 17 °C
There are only 3 roads in the world that cross the Arctic Circle and the Dalton Highway is one of them. The Dalton Highway is a 414-mile road. It begins at the Elliott Highway, north of Fairbanks, and ends at Deadhorse near the Arctic Ocean and the Prudhoe Bay Oil Fields. Once called the North Slope Haul Road (a name by which it is still sometimes known), was built as a supply road to support the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System in 1974. The highway, which runs parallel with the pipeline, is one of the most isolated roads in the United States. There are only three towns along the route: Coldfoot at Mile 175, Wiseman at Mile 188 and Deadhorse. Fuel is available at the Yukon River Bridge (Mile 56), as well as Coldfoot and Deadhorse. The road itself is mostly gravel or packed dirt and very primitive in places. The nearest medical facilities are in Fairbanks and Deadhorse. Anyone embarking on a journey on the Dalton is encouraged to bring survival gear - in fact our guide was trained in survival methods, carries a first aid kit, food and a satellite phone for emergencies. Our van also had a CB radio which she used to inform truckers at certain locations that we were on the road or pulling back on the road from a pullover area. The truckers travel fast and don't move for oncoming cars and there are no shoulders. Truckers that travel the highway have given their own names to its various features, including: The Taps, The Shelf, The Bluffs, Oil Spill hill, Beaver Slide, Two and a Half Mile, Oh Shit Corner and the Roller Coaster. The road reaches its highest elevation as it crosses the Brooks Range at Atigun Pass, 4,739 feet (which we saw in the plane). We traveled through Beaver Slide, Oh Shit Corner and the Roller Coaster. They are doing some 'repairs' (putting more dirt on the road and smoothing it - somewhat!). It took us nearly 10 hours (with some stops along the way) to travel the Dalton Highway.Read more
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