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Alaska Adventure 2018

May 2018 - April 2024
An open-ended adventure by Bobbi and Rod Read more
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  • Bobbi and Rod ReevesAlaska Adventure 2018
    Day 8

    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

  • Bobbi and Rod ReevesAlaska Adventure 2018
    Day 9

    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

  • Bobbi and Rod ReevesAlaska Adventure 2018
    Day 10

    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

  • Bobbi and Rod ReevesAlaska Adventure 2018
    Day 11

    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

  • Bobbi and Rod ReevesAlaska Adventure 2018
    Day 12

    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

  • Bobbi and Rod ReevesAlaska Adventure 2018
    Day 13

    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: $1.74    Read more

  • Bobbi and Rod ReevesAlaska Adventure 2018
    Day 14

    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

  • Bobbi and Rod ReevesAlaska Adventure 2018
    Day 15

    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

  • Bobbi and Rod ReevesAlaska Adventure 2018
    Day 16

    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

  • Bobbi and Rod ReevesAlaska Adventure 2018
    Day 17

    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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