the journal

The interior of Alaska is amazing.  On the way to Denali National Park we encountered some interesting sights that require some explanation.

• The largest igloo was the brainchild of some guys with too much time on their hands.  They build this as a stopover for tourists on their way to Denali.  But they left out the fire escapes so it sits vacant since it couldn’t pass inspection. 
• Hurricane Gulch is named so since the winds whip by so strongly that they are at hurricane speed (over 100 mph)
• The divide is the Continental Divide that separates how rivers flow; either west to the Pacific or east to the Atlantic and the Gulf of Mexico.  It stretches from Alaska to Argentina.
• The beautiful wild flowers are call fireweed and they caused my sinuses such despair that I missed the tour of Denali National Park.  I guess I’ll just have to go back.

I did however have time to enjoy the great lodge in Denali.  Hope you do as well.

Fairbanks, Alaska had a lot in store for us.  Once we got to the town center we had a few hours before the incredible paddle wheel trip on the Chena River.  So we found a great sculpture of the Native Alaskans.  But what was waiting on the river cruise was something special.  This river is home to Susan Butcher’s husband and the sled dogs in training for the Iditarod.  Susan won the famed sled dog race three times in a row and four times in her life.  Unfortunately, she died of cancer several years ago.  Her legacy lives on with her family, her husband, future female Iditarod racers and a book about the incredible lead dog that made all her wins possible.  That lead dog was named Granite.  The book tells the story of how Granite began life as the runt of the litter.  Susan attached herself to him immediately as she saw a true leader.  She nutured him when he fell ill and was deemed incapable of ever being a part of the team and certainly not leading it.  But Susan proved all pronouncements to be untrue and once he became strong she selected him to lead her team.  We saw some of the young sled dogs picking up the skills necessary to work on the team and hopefully a future Iditarod winner.  This young woman is being mentored by David Monson (Susan’s husband who has also been a winner of the race).  We got to see all this up close on the cruise and at the Athabascian Chena Village on the river.  At the village we saw how the Athabascian people lived, what they wore, how they cooked and the animals in their habitat.  But at the village got to have our books about Granite signed by David Monson.  What an incredible experience.  Other photos of Fairbanks show a city that has adapted to the vast temperature variations from summer in the 90’s to winter at minus 40 degrees or more.  Believe it or not – this is a great winter destination.  The aurora borealis is there in winter and they also have an ice hotel and hot springs an hour away.  I’d certainly go back.

 Once you read this title I am certain you will want to know the story right away.  Unfortunately, on a day when the weather was perfect and viewing of Mt. McKinley was superb, we experienced a fatal encounter with a car at the RR crossing.  It was about six p.m. after about 10 hours of a glorious train trip when we felt a slight jarring of the train, major debris flying past the windows and the smell of burning rubber.  The train came to an immediate stop.  My sister was up on the observation deck and I went to see what was going on.  At first we didn’t believe the rapidly spreading rumor that we’d hit a car.  But after a lot of discussion with those who saw what happened and those who were looking through their binoculars it was determined that a tragic accident had occurred.  The details we learned only two days later on the Anchorage TV station.  It appears that a 66-year-old woman had just been given a new car and was learning how to drive a stick shift.  She had stopped at the crossing but somehow the clutch popped and the car lurched forward as the train approached.  All the passengers, especially those on the observation deck, was shaken by what happened and expressed their sorrow to each other during the next six hours as we waited for the emergency crew, sheriff, coroner and train officials to complete their duties.  We were then bused to Anchorage (two hour trip) where Risa and I had made arrangements to spend an extra two days.  The accident is something we’ll never forget.  But there were also some great experiences on that train.  We had perfect viewing of Mt. McKinley which only happens about 30% of the time.  We ate great gourmet meals in the dining car since we’d paid extra to go First Class.  We also met a completely charming and endearing retired teacher from Minnesota (Gloria) who we bonded with further during the tenseness after the accident.  I hope you enjoy the pictures as there is beauty even on a day when bad things happen.

Well, after much needed rest, Risa and I toured Anchorage again.  This time it was a superbly georgeous day and we got to see the cool art in the city.  Like so many other big cities there was the iconic animal mascot done up by local artists.  For Anchorage that was the salmon.  I was able to spot several on our walkabout.  The other images were really enjoyable on our last chance to see a bit of Alaska.

My final look of this wonderful state was from the airplane.  A big airplane.  Many people suggested that I take a helicopter ride or a small plane ride to see the majesty of the glaciers.  But I just didn’t have the nerve to do so.  Instead, I was able to capture these visions from my seat (in First Class – I’ll explain in a moment) as we left Anchorage on our return to Seattle.  The airport in Anchorage was a treasure as well.  We arrived early enough to process our very heavy luggage.  Bought lots of stuff on the trip.  Since we had these extra bags and had to pay more for them, I thought that there might be another way to handle the fees since First Class doesn’t have to pay for luggage.  Upgrading cost an additional $100 but our luggage cost $40 so we made that choice easily.  By the way, we also got free food and drinks.  After unloading our bags we noticed that there was an exhibit of Native Alaskan artwork in the airport.  What a treat – one last opportunity to soak in the beauty of the Alaskan people.  This exhibit is from modern artists interpreting the iconic artifacts of their heritage.  I hope you enjoy them as much as we did.