Back in the Lower 48

One more REI.  We are standing outside the Mother Ship!  The REI in Seattle, WA where it all began.  We decided to not drive thru the Yukon after Whitehorse or thru BC as the nights were getting seriously cold and many of the services were already closed for the season.  We headed west on a bit of a scary road to Prince Rupert, BC to pick up the AK Ferry. Convoluted planning (Prince Rupert on the MV Taku to Ketchikan then board the MV Kennicott to go from Ketchikan to Bellingham.  As lovely as the ferry system and the scenery are, I have had enough for now. We had a bit of a glitch at the Prince Rupert ferry entrance.  the purser, checking out ticket, said that the ferry to Bellingham only leaves Ketchikan on Wednesdays...We were there on Thursday with tickets all paid for.  Panic!  A week in Ketchikan??  His error.  We were booked on the proper Thursday ferry.  However, in all the confusion, Bob drove over a cement parking bumper and scrunched the driver's door so that it will not open.  We should have been safely in line for the ferry, not pulled over to go into the office about our tickets (which were fine).  That will be an expensive repair and we cannot use the door.

Tomorrow we visit Mt. St. Helen's Visitor Center. Originally, this area was not on our itinerary.  We will still be able to swing up thru Glacier and then to Yellowstone but will miss Lake Louise and Jasper.

Taiga

These look like little plants in the photo but they are full grown trees, but these are Tiaga trees.  Very old, limited by the permafrost below and the short growing season.  In our guidebook it says that Tiaga means land of little sticks in Russian: "This boggy landscape of bottle brush trees" where a 2 inch diameter black spruce tree might be 100 years old.  They have to spread roots horizontally because of the permafrost which prevents drainage of the soil.  Also the ladder like branches provide a route for fire to climb the trees easily reaching the top quickly.  This causes the bundles of pine cones to open for a new generation. 

The Old Salt

Here is the photo of The Old Salt from the last blog that did not upload.  Happy guy.

Valdez

 



(1)On the way to Valdez, we stopped at the Worthington Glacier.  People can go right up to the glacier if they are willing to ignore assorted warning signs that cautioned about steep trail, unsorted glacial till, eroded trail.  Without my trusty trekking poles, I decided to let caution rule, but I was more than jealous when one fellow came back with some glacial ice. From the scrambled order of photos, obviously, I haven't got the skills in place to get photos and text where I want it.   

 

 

(2) Meares Glacier.  the boat was able to go quite close to the Meares Glacier.  It talks!  Creaks, groan, cracks.  A few chunks of ice calved off and made an enormous booming sound.  I can only imagine the boom a big iceberg would make.  This glacier is one of the two that is advancing.  All other glaciers are in retreat.  We saw trees on both sides of the glacier that are slowly but inexorably being plowed over, they are bent or knocked down. 

 



(3)The Old Salt.  We are on the Stan Stephens all day cruise to the Meare Glacier. It is a beautiful day and we are rewarded with many sightings of animals and glaciers: A raft of sea otters including a mother with her cub riding on her belly; Many sea lions climbing up on rocky shore. Mostly it's a bachelor colony; Eagles in the trees and one on a sand bar with many gulls; Puffins (2 species) and Jaegers; Seals; Salmon jumping.  We also saw the Colombia Glacier and much icebergs of the smallish variety.



(4)The day before the cruise, we checked into the campground and did a quick tour of the pipeline terminal and the Solomon Gulch Fish Hatchery.  Thousands of salmon returning to the hatchery to spawn churn the water.  It frustrating to see so many fish and know that so very few will get to spawn which is not such a happy event at a fish hatchery.  Glad they do not have pre knowledge of the rest, they are blindly operating on hormonal changes the urge to return their original stream after 5 years in the ocean.  It is such an arduous journey for Pacific Salmon, given the rigors of the mountain streams, that they get only one chance to spawn.  Atlantic salmon can go upstream more than one year. 

Boxes

 

 

Bob at the Post Office mailing home yet another box of read books, extra gear, a few small souvenirs for his grands.  Kate and Mo think the pile of boxes in the home office is very funny but typical of how we travel.  The camper has very tight quarters.





But Wait...

Did I say a ten pound cabbage? I took the photos from the computer screen showing the account about the 2012 World Record Cabbage.  That's a lotta cole slaw!   

 

 

The ladies in their cabbage costumes.  Again, I wish we were going to attend the state fair; but no time (Valdez boat ride for Glacier, whales tomorrow); it's pricey, it's cold and rainy.  

Wet subjects

 

 

(1) Happy Nan at the Exit Glacier near Seward.  We hiked about a mile to get really close and when we climbed over a ridge, there was a blast of frigid air coming off the glacier.  I have my camera and binocs under my jacket, but we were pretty much wet through.

 

(2) Campground in Palmer, AK.  The state fair starts today, but we don't have time to go and spend the sort of time a state fair needs to be enjoyable.  I really did want to see the 10 pound cabbages and football sized potatoes.

 

( 3) Eagle Nest. This should have been in the first slot as the eagle nest is in Homer.  Talk about big lumps of wet seemingly annoyed juvenile eagles.

 

(4) Last Photo.  Along the road then along the trail to the edge of the glacier, there are signs with numbers - 1894, 1927, 1961.  At first we thought they might be forest service roads.  DUH.  They indicate the position of the glacier at different dates.  It sure isn't the glacier it used to be!

 

A few facts:  A.  Denali is the third largest national park in the USA.  It is bigger than NH, Israel, Massachusetts.  Of the top 5 national parks, 4 are in AK.  Death Valley comes in 4th.  Number One is Wrangle St. Elias, AK.  B.  Yukon has only 28,000 people, doesn't even come close to Framingham, MA.  C.  Homer is the halibut capital of the world!  D.  The Good Friday 1964 earthquake in AK measured almost 9 on the Richter Scale, largest in USA ever.  Approximately 150 people died which is amazing given the magnitude of the quake.  The tsunamis wiped out several towns especially Seward, Homer and Portage.  Seward turned the waterfront area into parks, etc., and that is where we camped last night. Portage is gone.  We drove through that area - nothing there but greenery and marshy areas and all the dead trees killed by the salt water.