The Sounds of 4th of July and the founding of Cordova, AK

Hello Everyone, 

We have returned from our second wilderness outing of Rafting on the Copper River from Chitina to Cordova.  The highlight of the trip was rafting past two very active glaciers.  The Miles and the Childs.  The mountains and sand/gravel bars along the way were fantastic.  There were many Grizzly tracks on all of them!!!  A first for us is to set up the tent within a few feet of some pretty huge tracks!  Yes, Carol survived that!!!!!!! We only saw a Black Bear one morning by the privy, and he ran off when he became aware of us.  Now for the glaciers.  Again words or pictures will not do justice to the experience.  We were in 3 rafts, we tied them together to use a motor to go  up to the face of the Miles Glacier and past house sized icebergs that had recently calved off.  Then we used the motor to go against the wind to the Million Dollar Bridge from the old Copper River Railroad where we put on wet suits under our many layers of clothing for the row past the face of the Childs Glacier.  The River hits right up against the face of the glacier as the river curves to the west. The river is about a half mile wide there and the rafts went down the center in the stronger current.  It took about 10 min. to go past the active face, with the hope that nothing really big came off at the time.  It was a long 10 min.!!!!  It was breath taking and beautiful and scary at the same time!!  We made it past with a few small bits of ice crumbling off.  The 6 day river trip was a mix of rain and wind and lesser amounts of rain and wind.  It was colder in southern Alaska than in the Arctic!!!! It was a fantastic trip.

We had the van ferried to meet us in Cordova, that all worked out.  We drove the Copper River Highway back to Childs Glacier and camped there overnight. There is a very nice National Forest Service campground/picnic and viewing area there.  It was 4th of July Weekend and it seems most of Anchorage came down to do glacier calving watching.  Who needs fireworks when the sounds the glacier makes is much louder and more vibrating!!  The Glacier would rumble, crack, sound like thunder and gun shots all wrapped together. What a way to spend the 4th!!!!!  It seems that when we went back to the van for food the caving would be huge and even shake the van in the campground, then we would go back to view and not much would happen, it would wake us up at night with the thunderous sounds.  On Monday, we went to the viewing area before we drove out and finally saw a really big calving with waves and all.  I got it on movie video and will send it as an attachment if I can. Please mute the sound as I said "Oh my gosh" way too many times.

Tomorrow morning we take the Ferry from here to the Kenai Peninsula and then head to Homer and the trip to Kodiak Is.  The weather has been constant rain and rain mist with wind since we came south from Fairbanks.  Even the locals say it is rainier than usual, even though it rains all the time here!!!!

We talked to a local about the area and he said that long ago when the natives came down the Copper River, it was raining so hard that they decided to pull over and wait till it stopped raining to go on, well that is how Cordova was founded, they are still here!!!!!

Take Care, Carol and Ned

Can you find the two rafts ahead of ours? Just under the bridge and one a dot by the glacier.

Childs Glacier

Childs Glacier from Viewing area, we rafted in the middle.

Copper River Reds!

The video wouldn't download.

We Survived the Trip of A Lifetime!!

Hi Everyone, This will be a quick update with more to follow sometime.

 Words, pictures, stories of this adventure will never do justice to the wonderful adventure we just completed.  It was indeed a TRIP OF A LIFETIME!  It was a rugged trip, with more whitewater than I have ever paddled in, that includes Ned, he said now I can do the Wolf River and it will be easy!!!  We had all kinds of weather, except snow, from warm the first few days to rain, 30 mph winds blowing us up stream, to cold fog off the Arctic Ocean.  The river ran swift, totally clear and very cold.  It comes out of ice. The Brooks Range was totally AWESOME!  We started in a narrow canyon the paddled 40 or so miles down to where the mountains broaden out and the river became braided with many channels and gravel bars, about 20 miles from the Arctic Ocean.  This is the land of nameless mountains and tundra.  Hiking in the tundra is like walking across an alpine flower garden with every step impossible to avoid crushing something beautiful and in full bloom. The animals are there but hiding most the time, most the space is a vast emptiness of sky, green tundra and rock.  The perpetual light, with the sun circling the sky, is a phenomena to behold.  I loved it, Ned and the guys  took a midnight hike to the top of a mountain to over look the Arctic Ocean on the Solstice. The pictures are awesome!
    Animal life did make appearances on their terms.  The most unexpected species was the Muskox, we saw two on a gravel bar along the river.  When we arrived closer to the coastal plain, we did see waves of Caribou traveling in groups of 30-40 males, heading to the coast.  They were magnificent animals in full dark brown velvet.  At times we would see the tops of the antlers moving across the landscape. We spend part of an afternoon sitting high on a rock outcrop and watched several groups of caribou pass below us.  We also watched a Grizzly wondering around a willow water way looking  for food from there.
      The flights in and out of the Kongakut River basin were what Alaska is all about. We went from Fairbanks to Arctic Village, a first nation village with an air strip, by small 7 passenger airplane.  From there we transferred to a small bush plane with big soft tires that can land on a gravel bar.  These landing strips are hardly noticeable on the landscape!  It took 4 flights to get us all to the starting point on the river, we went in three and gear at a time.
     
      Now it is off to Valdez and the Copper River.  We get to ride on this trip!!

Carol and Ned     

  YUP, Packer fans everywhere even a native in Arctic Village, Alaska!!!!

Up Date from Fairbanks

Muncho Lake, BC Taken at sunset around 11pm!!!!

Arctic Lupine, grows under trees!






Pasque Flower, also grows in shade!!!

George, this one's for you!!!!  Teslin, Yukon, a really nice pioneer museum.

Alaska Highway, Yukon Territory

ALASKA AT LAST!!

Sullivan Roadhouse, Delta Junction, AK  reminds me of home!

The alpine tundra is blooming!!!!  Taken at Eagle Summit along the Steese Highway, on the way back from Circle.

Watched bird banding at the Alaska Migratory Bird Lab.  Fairbanks, AK

Old Packer Fans are everywhere!!  Even at Pioneer Park in Fairbanks!!!!

We have been in Fairbanks for the past 4 days and have been visiting places we missed 3 years ago.  This is a very interesting and alive place.  The Museum of the North at the University of Alaska campus is well worth the second visit.  The university does large animal research on Muskox and Caribou and they have tours of the facility, went there today also.  The smoke has cleared, it has been raining some, so that has helped.  Still can't see the Alaska Range to the South.

We head out on the first wilderness adventure on Wednesday.  So, will update after we return!!  It should be an something!!!     Take care, Carol and Ned

ALASKA AT LAST!!!

Hi everyone, we crossed the border into Alaska around noon today, Alaska Time.  The frost heaves were pretty bad the last 80 miles or so.  It is like riding a roller coaster and hitting bumps at the same time.  We are in Tok, Ak. And there is a forest fire just outside of town.  Lightning started it a couple days ago.  The Alaska Hwy to Fairbanks has been closed and open depending on the wind and smoke conditions.  They use a pilot car to guide people through.  We will see what the situation is tomorrow.  We can go South and go around the fire and get to Fairbanks a different way. We can smell smoke at the campground and ash is falling as I type!!!!

Always an adventure!!  Carol and Ned

Survived the snow, 5/25 Update

Hi everyone,

We did get snow and it was wet and slushy on the roads.  Headed out of Chetwynd for Hudson's Hope.  Visited two hydro dams on the Peace River.  Interesting.  The Peace River Valley between Hudson's Hope, ( an old Hudson's Bay fur trading post) and Fort St. John was eye popping beautiful.  Pasture land, Aspen forest, mountains on both sides.  The down side is that a 3rd hydro dam is proposed for the area.  We met the Alaska Highway at Fort St. John, BC.

We have been on the Alaska Hwy. a few days now.  We did this section 3 years ago, looks different in the other direction!!!  The weather is great now, sunny.  Had a few cold nights after the snowy weather.  Stopped for the most of the day and camped the night at the Liard Hot Springs.  Went in for a welcomed soak and a relaxing day. We also camped at Muncho Lake.  The ice was going out and it could be heard!!!!!  What an incredible sound!!!!! A soft tinkling sound, when a breeze came up, it got louder.  The lake is a wonderful aquamarine color.  We did a little hiking up a river valley and to an overlook on the lake.

We are now at Teslin, Yukon.  Will go to Whitehorse tomorrow.  We are an RV,Cabin, Resort,  nice and rustic and on a lake with snow capped mountains across it. This it has WIFI.

We are seeing all kinds of wildlife along the road.  Green up is just arriving here so the eats are good there.  We saw 6 or 7 Black Bear today.  Yesterday we was a mama bear with 3 cubs!!!! Also on the list, moose, Stone Sheep, and the special for today, Wood Bison.

Another eye popping event is that gas is around $1.20/L and that works out to well over $4.00/gallon!!!!!

Will work on pictures next.    Happy Trails, Carol and Ned

Adventuring Update: Chetwynd, Britsh Columbia

Greetings Everyone,

We are sort of waiting out the possibility of about 6 inches of wet snow here in Chetwynd ,BC. It has been raining since last evening at about 8:00pm, and the prediction is for snow tonight and tomorrow morning.  We are still in the northern Rocky Mountains at elevations around 3000 ft, but have to go over the mountains at about 5000 ft. to connect up with the Alaska Highway.

This is A REALLY HUGE CONTINENT!!!!!  We have been out 7 days, we are taking our time, but the distances seem farther than 3 years ago!!!!  Does distances increase as one ages????  Our bodies have had to adjust to less activity than usual.  Have to get out and move more often!!!

We drove west along I90, through the Badlands National Park in South Dakota, through North Dakota , into Montana to Hwy 2 to East and West Glacier,MT.  Crossed into Canada along the Flathead River west of the Rockys.  We drove along the Icefields Highway between Banff and Jasper.  Not much snow this time, the Athabasca Glacier was exposed from last winters snow.  The locals say it was just about a snow-less winter. They said that snow had to be flown in to Whistler  to have enough snow for the olympics!!!

We are now heading north along the John Heart Highway, (they name them here), will do the Hudson's Hope road that leads to the Alaska Highway north of Dawson Creek.  Provided the snow is gone or doesn't happen.

We have seen a lot of wildlife along the  roads,Bison, Black Bear w/2cubs, Big Horn Sheep, Mt. Goats, Elk, Mule Deer, nesting Red-necked Grebes by a campsite, and a new bird for us, the Grey Crowned Rosy Finch!!!  We found it at the toe of the Athabasca Glacier.  We have heard my favorite, the Varied Thrush.

Well, the picture thing is having trouble putting in labels, I think I forgot how to do it!!!  Will try next time!!  This is our first internet connection of the trip.

We are well, Happy Trails to all, Carol and Ned

Alaska Adventure Preview

Hello Everyone,

I would like to share with you our plans for our return trip to Alaska this  summer.
The plans are still developing, as I write this, but here is what it looks like so for.

Itinerary:

Mid May-Hit the road for the points West and North

We'll spend about 3 weeks driving to Fairbanks, AK via the Alaska Highway.  Crossing into Canada from Montana west of Glacier and driving through the Canadian Rockies, and meeting the Alaska Highway at Dawson Creek and seeing the sights all the way to Fairbanks.

June 9th we meet the Alaska Alpine Adventure group in Fairbanks to start our first adventure.  We will spend 12 days in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. We fly from Fairbanks to Arctic village, then to the banks of the Kongakut River in a smaller plane  that can land on a gravel bar.  The group will paddle and hike our way down the river, starting in the Brooks Range and heading almost to the Arctic Ocean.

June 20, we return to Fairbanks to clean up and resupply and then spend 5 days heading south to Valdez.

In Valdez we meet an Elderhostel group to raft the Copper River, June 26 to July 4, for about 100 miles to where it ends in Prince William Sound near Cordova. We hope to see a lot of wildlife and will pass 2 glaciers on the way.  Our Van will be shuttled via Ferry to Cordova to meet us at the end of the raft trip, we will spend 4 more days exploring Cordova.

We will ferry from Cordova to Wittier on  the Kenai Peninsula. We will spend a few days driving to Homer, from there we will ferry to Kodiak Island to explore for a week and then return to Homer via ferry.  That brings us to July 20th.  From here we plan to bum around and go where the van takes us.  Most likely back to Denali.  Our goal is to get a good look at the Mountain.  That may take a while.

 We don't have a set time to be home, so we will keep you posted on this travel blog!!!

On the road again!  Carol and Ned