States – Page 19 – Kevin's America

Denali National Park and Preserve

Alaska vacation day 9

Denali National Park and Preserve is much more than Mt. McKinley (or Mt. Denali). Mt. McKinley National Park became a national park in 1917 under President Woodrow Wilson. Under President Jimmy Carter in 1980, it was expanded to become Denali National Park and Preserve.

There is abundant wildlife and wilderness. Or at least that is the rumor – haha! We took a natural history tour where we was beautiful landscapes but very little actual wildlife! From a distance we saw Dall sheep and caribou. We did not see any wildlife up close. Other people, on different tours, saw caribou, black and grizzly bears and moose very close to their buses.

Savage Cabin. Park Rangers use cabins such as this one while they patrol the park road and backcountry in the summer, and in the winter park rangers patrol the park on dog sleds from these cabins. Our tour guide gave a masterful and entertaining presentation on the life cycle of the moose mating process, called “the rut”. It involved moose urine, dirt and mud, fights, strutting and a harem. You can ask me for details when you see me, or simply use your imagination!

These moose antlers weigh about 35 pounds.

The small pinecones on these black spruce are mainly at the top of the trees.

The yellow in these pictures are willow.

Native Athabascan explaining his culture. The native cultures all but disappeared after the US outlawed many of their traditions and religions, but the cultures are starting to make a comeback. To preserve native languages, videos are being recorded for a permanent record of their language.

Mt. Denali! This is the tallest point in North America, at 20,320 feet above sea level! Only 30 percent of visitors to Denali National Park ever get to actually see the mountain, due to the prevalence of cloud cover. Here, the clouds backed off on a fairly gray day so we could see pretty much the whole mountain! We actually saw the mountain three days in a row, which is practically unheard of! We saw it from the train yesterday, but I could not get a picture, and we will see it again tomorrow – details on another post!

This is a beautiful fall scene at Denali. The yellows are willow, and the reds are fire weed and several types of red berries. Fall lasts only a few weeks here. This field should be covered in snow in 2 or 3 weeks.

The Train to Denali National Park

Alaska vacation day 8

So we came to the end of our cruise at Whittier. We disembarked from the ship and boarded the Denali Express train. This ride was supposed to be 10 hours – from 8 AM to 6 PM. However, due to circumstances out of our engineer’s control, wee didn’t arrive at the Denali Princess Lodge until after 10 PM! A southbound train engine was hit by a mudslide so they had to be cleared to resume before we could proceed.

We took this train to Denali National Park. We were in the first passenger car – first class!

The ride to Denali was a feast of incredible scenery. Here is one of about 100,000 glaciers in Alaska. What an amazing place is Alaska!

These mountains are in the Chugach Range.

Turnagain Arm off of Cook Inlet. We saw beluga whales here.

Birch trees, which are used in Alaska to make Birch syrup.

These mountains and the ones below are in the Alaska Range.

Our tour guide said that the snow on these mountains was not there four days before we got there. This was all fresh snow. They call it “Termination Snow” because it means that the tourist season will soon be over, and the workers (who come from all over the world) will lose their jobs.

Shows on the Ship

Alaska Cruise

The entertainment on the Grand Princess was pretty good. There was always some show going on all evening. The talent was very good. Good musicians.

This guy played bass in the Party Band Symphonee. He also gave the message at the church service on Sunday. He was pretty good, and is a Christian from Barbados, unafraid to talk of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Champagne Waterfall. After they built this pyramid, they started pouring champagne in the top and it cascaded down throughout the pyramid.

Libby Riddles, the first woman Iditarod champion.

Classics and Pop Hits With Simon & German String Duo.

College Fjord

Alaska Cruise Day 7

After we left Glacier Bay we sailed out into the open ocean for the first time, and it got a little rough that evening, overnight and a little bit into the morning. In our bed we were definitely swaying front to back and side to side, the rocking was substantial! Walking down the hallway was an experience – it literally threw us from wall to wall, side to side! I didn’t get seasick, but MJ got a little queasy for a bit until she put on a seasick prevention bracelet.

This water doesn’t look like enough to throw us around but it did!

The next morning we arrived in Prince William Sound, which was very smooth and calm. If this would have been a clear sunny day Prince William Sound would have been beautiful! It is really neat with all these little islands in the water, and the mountains in the background!

More Prince William Sound. This is where the Exxon Valdez oil tanker ran aground into a reef in 1989 and spilled some 11 million gallons of crude oil into the sound. It eventually polluted 1,300 miles of Alaska coastline. Investigations determined that the ship’s captain had been drinking before the accident.

Entering the calm waters of College Fjord on a dark cloudy morning.

Wellesley Glacier. Being named College Fjord, the glaciers are named for elite eastern colleges.

Three glaciers in one picture (left to right): Bryn Mawr, Smith and Harvard.

Four glaciers in one picture (left to right): Bryn Mawr, Smith, Harvard and Yale. The skies tried to open up for a minute to show a little blue!

Glacier Bay National Park

Alaska Cruise Day 6

Glacier Bay National Park is the highlight of all Alaska cruises. It is absolutely beautiful! There are several large glaciers in Glacier Bay. Unfortunately for us, we did not get to see Margerie Glacier, which is the tallest at the water – over 200 feet. We did get to see others, including John Hopkins Glacier and Lamplugh Glacier.

In 1680 there was no Glacier Bay, it was a broad river valley with a Tlingit village. During the Little Ice Age from 1680 to 1750, the glacier grew and covered the valley and even went out into the Icy Strait. When the glacier receded from 1750 to 1880, it had gouged out Glacier Bay. Today the glaciers are 65 miles up the bay from the Icy Strait.