If I Were Going...: June 2013

Sunday, June 30, 2013

Valdez, the Richardson Highway, Wrangell-St. Elias

On the road again

Following our trend and hoping to escape gloomy weather, we decided to move our schedule up and take the ferry across prince William Sound to Valdez two days early. So we changed the reservation, packed up and headed for Whittier.

Whittier

Getting to Whittier is interesting. You have to drive through a railroad tunnel. It has passages to Whittier every hour. Then, there are passages from Whittier.

Approaching the tunnel

And, the rest of the time the train goes through. Before the opened the tunnel to cars, you could reach Whittier only by rail or boat.

It is unnerving to drive on the train tracks

Whittier hasn't changed a lot since we were there 12 years ago, but it was much busier. Mainly lots of fishermen in town for two fishing derbies.

Whittier Harbor

The weather was incredibly gloomy – gray, drizzly and foggy. In other words, typical Alaska weather we hadn't seen yet. The ferry office was very specific about what time you could check in. NOT BEFORE 12:30!!!! And there was no place nearby to park the car and trailer. But, we parked and walked.

What to do with extra time? Lunch!

Cruising

But, we finally got boarded and discovered a heated solarium on deck – nice if you want to sightsee without going in and out and in and out to stay warm.

Scott on deck

The trip was quite different from the one we took in 2001. That day was sunny and magnificent. the water was deep blue and the scenery was fabulous.

What we saw in 2001

This journey was beautiful, but in a moody, drippy sort of way.

A bit dramatic

The ferry we took in 2001 detoured to view glaciers, this trip was all business.

Ferries comprise the Alaska Marine Highway, a major Alaskan transportation route

But, we did see one baby Humpback breaching (no pix), Bald Eagles (bad pix), Dall Porpoise (no pix), Steller Sea Lions (no pix), Sea Otters (no pix), Seals (no pix), glaciers, icebergs and bergie bits.

At least I captured things that weren't moving

Valdez and the Richardson Highway

We arrived in Valdez and hurried to our hotel (the Totem Inn), which was far grungier than the Internet implied. At least it wasn't trailers left over from the oil spill clean up (been there, done that)!

We walked to a pizza joint and watched firsthand how lack of available workers makes it really hard to provide customer service. At least we got our food; they turned away most walk-ins and callers.

Then, to bed...

We left Valdez earlier than planned (I am sure it is a great place for some things, but it's not my favorite town).

We photographed the welcome sign as we were leaving

But, as soon as you leave, it is gorgeous.

Steep mountains and waterfalls abound

We drove up the Richardson Highway in fog and a light drizzle.

Not even sure what kind of bird this is, perhaps a Foggy Sapsucker

The fog blocked a lot of the view, but was lovely at the same time.

Roadside photo stop at Bridal Veil Falls in Keystone Canyon

Then through Keystone Canyon and up to the Worthington Glacier (billed as the most accessible glacier in Alaska). What a shock!!! In 2001, we walked up to the face and climbed on the glacier. Now, it's a hanging glacier way back from the viewing platform. It's a shocking trend to see these glaciers recede so much on our life times.

Left, 2001; right, today

Wrangell-St. Elias

The sun came out

We headed up to Glenallen and the weather started to improve. We found a lovely campsite and decided to stay two nights. I think I have broken the code. if it says "RV park," it is a parking lot. If it says "campground," it might be good. This one is the Tolsona Wilderness Campground. Nice site on a creek.

A beautiful campsite (finally!)

Then, I talked Scott into driving the 60-mile McCarthy Road in Wrangell-St. Elias National Park. He didn't want to do it in 2001 and I could tell he didn't want to do it this time. But, a Ranger said he'd seen Bears on the road, so off we went.

No Bears, just scenery

It's an interesting National Park Road because most of it it is not actually on Park land. It cuts in and out of private property. And interesting feature at the beginning is fishwheels that the indigenous people use to catch salmon on Copper River.

Fish wheels on the Copper River (famous for salmon)

We saw many lovely sights as the weather started to improve.

Beaver lodge

I wanted to see the mine

I knew that, at the end of the road, you have to walk across a footbridge to get to McCarthy and that you have to take a shuttle to get to the Kennicott Mine, but I thought you could see the mine from McCarthy.

You can't.

We got to the footbridge just after 5:00 and the sign said the next shuttle up was at 5:30 and the last down was 6:30.

Scott didn't want to go, but I wasn't about to lose my second chance to see the mine. I jumped on the shuttle, grabbed lots of photos and made it back down on the 6:30 (turn out the schedule was wrong and the shuttle ran until 7:30).

The Kennicott (or Kennecott, they spell it two ways) mine

The now abandoned mine (and town) were built in 1900 and operated until 1938, pulling about $300 million in copper and silver before the mine closed. It was reached by rail (now the road) and was a vibrant town. The defunct mine building is being restored. It is 14 stories tall.

An imposing structure

There are quite a few buildings, in various stages of disrepair, from slightly tarnished ...

I could have stayed hours

... to full disaster ...

Some is collapsing

And, lots of old mining equipment ...

A variety of industrial-looking thingies

The town affords a great view of the valley and of the Kennicott Glacier, which filled the valley when the mine was built.

The Kennicott Glacier and the distant mountains

There's a Visitor Center ...

The NPS Visitor Center

... and a National Park Lodge in the mine town ...

The Lodge (it wasn't open)

Oh, by the way, the warm weather and an earlier rain storm had caused a flood! It made crossing the footbridge scary!

I was surprised the bridge could withstand that rough water

I had just showed Scott a few pix and I replaced my lens cap and turned off the camera - two things I often don't do and Scott is always on me about. Big mistake.

As we pulled on the road (narrow, gravel), suddenly we saw a giant female moose (about 6 1/2 feet at the shoulder!) running wildly down the road in front of two cars coming our way. I handed Scott the camera while turning it on, etc., because it appeared the moose would pass right by him. But it turned and ran straight up the hill.

That's when we saw a bicyclist who had dropped her bike and was backing up to get out of the moose's way. I clicked one shot and then the moose came back down. That's when I abandoned photography and went into rescue mode.

I opened my car door and called the bicyclist over the either get in or hide behind the door. The moose turned around again and ran back up the hill. It was a close call for the bicyclist, but she wasn't hurt. No pix except an empty road, though!

This is where I ended up with a bicyclist in may lap!

The rest of the drive home was uneventful, except for some Tundra Swans in a pond along McCarthy road.

Mom and dad protecting their cygnets

When we got to the highway, clouds cleared and the mountains emerged.

Wrangell-St. Elias has beautiful views

Although Wrangell-St. Elias is the largest National Park in the system (more than 20,000 square miles or more than twice the size of the state of Maryland), it is also barely accessible with only two short roads in (McCarthy Road is one of them).

A great deal of the Park is the Bagley Icefield, the second largest nonpolar icefield in North America. Mount Wrangell is 14,163 feet; Mount Elias, at 18,008, is the second tallest mountain in the U.S.

Evening view

Since we're not long-distance hikers, we had to be content with views from the highway on the perimeter.

So worth it!

I later found out that Scott had changed his mind and tried to catch me at the shuttle to go to Kennicott. I am so sorry he missed it.

Such a shame Scott missed it

Trip date: June 3-July 20, 2013

Wednesday, June 26, 2013

Hope You Like Bears

Fishing Bear

Today, we went back to Brooks Falls at Brooks Camp at Katmai National Park via floatplane.

A Bear Patrolling where the floatplanes park on the beach

As I mentioned, we had tried earlier, but, because the salmon hadn't yet arrived, there were no Bears at the falls. We saw only one Bear swimming across Naknek Lake on his way to the falls. But Glen (Alsworth, our host and pilot) had heard that the salmon had arrived ...

Salmon jumping the falls

... and Bears were there ...

Although we saw a lot, we didn't see many together

And, were they ever. We saw 15 (ish -- we lost count). At one time, we could see five at the falls and riffles.

This one is taking a shower

There was a lot of coming and going, including a Bear that came down the opposite bank ...

Let's see what's happening

... and then, after seeing the rough looking Bears at the falls ...

This big boy is the survivor of many fights

... turned around and went back ...

I ain't messin' with you

Many photos of Brooks Falls show Bears sitting on the upper ledge of the falls. When we were there, we didn't see any Bears doing that. All were at the base.

Fishing below the falls

In case you don't know, Brooks Falls is famous as the gathering place for Bears to feed on salmon. It is located at Brooks Camp in Katmai National Park.

A successful catch

Because Bears -- even when intent on fishing and/or stuffed with food -- are dangerous and because the National Park is there, primarily to protect the environment and the wildlife, all visitors must obey strict hiking and viewing rules.

A rare moment of eye contact

When you arrive, you have to attend a Bear safety class at the Visitor Center before you can go to any of the viewing platforms.

The raised and gated boardwalk to the platforms

Chillin' by the chilly falls

There are viewing platforms by the falls and the riffles after the falls. During busy times, the number of people and amount of time they can stay is limited, but this early in the season, we had no time limits.

There are Bears everywhere, so there are strict rules about food (you can eat only in a small enclosure surrounded by electrified wires).

If Bears are near the trail, it is closed until they move on.

You can see the gate on the walkway as this Bear cruises by

The idea is to let bears be bears without human interference.

Sometimes being a Bear is being a goofball

About the Falls

Located on the Brooks River a mile and a half from Brooks Lake and an equal distance from Naknek Lake, Brooks Falls are where salmon leap over the 6 foot drop to get to their Brooks Lake spawning grounds.

The most famous Bear gathering spot

Brown Bears (also called Grizzly Bears, although that term is used more often for inland, not coastal bears) usually congregate at the falls in July through early September, and many well-known photos of Bears have been taken there.

He is just ignoring photographers

July witnesses the greatest concentrations of Bears of any month at the falls; up to 43 bears have been seen at one time at Brooks Falls in that July.

Taking off after a salmon

In September, a smaller number of bears (usually up yo only about 18 at one time) can be seen at the falls to feast on the later salmon runs. Of course, we were early -- visiting in June.

Fishing

In 1921, Kidawik Creek was renamed Brooks River, and Toms Lake renamed Brooks Lake. A controversial "stream improvement" was implemented in 1920 by the United States Bureau of Fisheries, when they cut a 10 foot gap on the south bank of the river, which was widened to 15 feet the next year.

Did these changes help or hurt the Bears? The salmon?

Between 1948 and 1950, the bureau, by then reorganized into the United States Department of the Interior′s Fish and Wildlife Service (later the United States Fish and Wildlife Service), built a fish ladder in the gap as part of its "landscape improvements."

I didn't see evidence of these structures (but i wasn't looking)

In 1974, the NPS closed the ladder and in 1986, placed sandbags to block salmon access. The Alaska Department of Fish and Game opposed a 1987 NPS proposal to dismantle the ladder, and the structure remains, though not used.

Similarly, a seasonal weir for counting salmon was constructed in 1940 by the bureau, across the outlet of Brooks Lake at Brooks River. This was replaced by a permanent one in 1952.

This young 'un tried, but never caught anything while we were there

The bureau, renamed the National Marine Fisheries Service, transferred ownership of the weir to the NPS in 1978.

Bears with fisherman downstream

Before the 1950s, when Brooks Camp was opened, there were fewer Bears at the falls than there are today, and no more than 6-7 could be observed at one time. That is because it was still legal to hunt Bears there. People who visited the falls were generally there to fish rather than watch and photograph Bears. Once hunting was banned and viewing controlled, Bear numbers quadrupled.

The site's archaeological human remnants date back some 9,000 years, some of the oldest human remains in North America.

Since the site is not far from the Bering Land Bridge, it is quite possible that some of the first humans from Russia made villages here. Native Americans still continue to harvest food caches and live their own ways of life at a site not far from the falls known as the Old Savonoski Site.