Introduction
At the outset, we knew that Alaska, the 49th State, was going to be different from the mainland USA. Even then, we were not really prepared for the marvels of sights and sounds that would unravel themselves before us during our sojourn. It is, by far, the largest (area- wise,) and sparsest State of US, quite literally a land of superlatives. However, I feel, I would confine myself to chroniclise our days and events in Alaska.
Welcome to Anchorage (May 18).
Our tour technically started at St. Louis wherefrom American Airlines took us to Anchorage (via Dallas). The Alaskan coastline and the mountain ranges surrounding Anchorage were clearly visible through the clouds (it was overcast, though not heavily). It was 7:30 in the evening when we reached Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport, but still abundant daylight (Actually, at this time of the year, daylight last as long as 18 hours!). At the airport terminal. after collecting our luggage, we were warmly received by our tour operators, M/s. Grayline of Alaska (thanks to Asit's meticulously drawn airtight schedule, we didn't need to swat a dust, so to say)- our first stop in Alaska tour was Westmart Anchorage Hotel. After completing the formalities at the Hotel Tour Desk, and familiarising ourselves about the tour itinerary, we dumped our belongings at our Hotel room and vetured out on the street to explore downtown Anchorage. It's completely different from any downtown in mainland USA, not really because of cold. The similarity began and ended with a few high- rise building, mostly commercial- and practically the only visible signs of life were of a few tourists like us exploring the shops and restaurants. By this time, it was 9:30 p.m.- the daylight was not a problem, but as we were feeling tired after the strain of travel, we decided to call it a day after some hurried snacks at one of the pizzerias.
Anchorage & Portage Glacier (May 19).
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| Alaska Native Heritage Centre, Anchorage | | | |
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Anchorage is, by far, the largest city of Alaska with a population of about 290,000 (Fairbanks comes a distant second with about 30,000) and comprising of nearly half of whole Alaskan population. It is still very small in comparison to any metropolis of mainland US. However, what Anchorage lacks in size is more than compensated by its' natural beauty. Here is a rugged city beautifully settled between the base of Chugagh mountain range and Cook Inlet. An urbanised wilderness, humans are not the city's only inhabitants; it is shared with bears, moose and, even, a small wolf pack. Incidentally, Anchorage's downtown and west side landscape was changed dramatically by the 1964 Good Friday earthquake, which registered 9.2 on the Richter scale and lasted five minutes. It was, by far the strongest earthquake in recent history; Japan earthquake, by comparison, scaled 9.1.
The downtown Anchorage didn't have much to offer. a building on the 4th Avenue which bore the brunt of the quake and subsequent tsunami and landslide., was proudly shown to us. We didn't encounter any of those denizens of Anchorage, except Caucasians. Only the Native Heritage Centre which is situated on a 26 acre site facing Chugagh Mountains, provides an introduction to Alaska's native people. (It is interesting to note that we hardly met these people during our whole tour elsewhere in
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| Portage Lake, Chugach National Park, Tidewater Glacier |
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Alaska). The spacious Welcome House had interpretive displays, artifacts, photographs etc. We also were provided with some freehand demonstrative skills and also some folk dance numbers by the Athabascan tribe (the dominant tribe in this region). Frankly we didn't find them very entertaining; the only redeeming feature, other than the great landscape, was "reindeer dog" at the cafeteria.
The afternoon tour, in comparison, was pretty exciting. A bus- ride took us to the Portage Valley area along the Seward Highway. On the steep mountainside, we got glimpses of Alaskan wildlife like Dall Sheep, mountain goats and Arctic terns ( the sleekly beautiful champion traveller) and sea- gulls at seashore on the other side. However, on reaching Alyeska Resort at the base of Chgach Mountains, we found it was raining steadily and, as a result, couldn't avail the aerial tram which climbs Mount Alyeska for a breathtaking view of Turnagain Arm and several surrounding glaciers. After taking some hasty snacks at the Resort cafe, we were taken to the shores of Portage Lake and boarded MV Ptarmigan for one hour narrated cruise on the lake which weaves through iceberg- dotted waters to within a few hundred yards of the Portage and other glaciers. Due to global climate change, Portage Glacier, like most of the glaciers in Alaska,
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| Portage Lake, Fjords, ready for "calving" |
has receded considerably. Unfortunately, due to frequent "calving" (huge chunks of ice breaking away from the surrounding mountains and crashing into the lake with a deafening sound), we were unable to see much marine life like beluga whales and other marine animals which, we were told, avoided such waters. We returned to Anchorage at about 6:30 in the evening.
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| View from Mckinley Express, Alaska Range |
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Anchorage- Denali (May 20)
An exciting eight- hour journey aboard the luxurious Mckinley Explorer glass- domed double- decker railcar lined with oversized windows where we were able to enjoy the spectacular scenery- from the comfort of our seats. The journey was made quite enjoyable due to our corpulent and entertaining rail guide with her amusing way of narration (and also for complimentary beverages). On our way, we were able to see a sample of Alaskan wildlife like moose (with calf), caribou, black bears, beavers and several bird species- surrounded by snow- covered spectacular Alaska Range (with its peak at Mt. Mckinley) on one side and Talkeetna Range on the other. At Denali, we were transferred from the railroad station to Mckinley Chalet Resort for two nights' halt.
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View from Mckinley Range, Talkeetna Range
(with caribou herd in the foreground)
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Denali National Park, Airflight over Mt. Mckinley and Alaska Range)
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Denali National Park & Preserve
(May 21)
This Park comprises a massive area of six million acres and best known for the 20,320 foot Mt. Mckinley, North America's highest mountain, known to native Athabascan Indians as "Denali", the High One. The park and preserve were established in 1917 as Mt. Mckinley National Park to protect wildlife living along the slopes and the Alaska Range, Government caught up with thousands of years of native tradition and renamed the park "Denali" in 1980 and tripled the size of the park.
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| Denali National Park, Airflight over Mt. Mckinley and Alaska Range) |
As our Park tour schedule was fixed in the afternoon, we decided to utilize the morning by taking a flight- seeing tour atop Mt. Mckinley as we were told (and later convinced) that this was one of the best ways to get a sense of Alaska Range's size and scope. The weather was kind and the view was breath- taking: snow- covered peaks after peaks, glaciers after glaciers- our sights were literally dazzled. This hour- long tour was fully narrated by the pilot- cum- guide who was quite conversant with the history and geography of the Park.
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| Denali National Park, Airflight over Mt. Mckinley and Alaska Range) |
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| Denali National Park, Airflight over Mt. Mckinley and Alaska Range) |
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| Denali National Park, Airflight over Mt. Mckinley and Alaska Range |
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| Denali National Park, Dall Sheep |
A natural wonderland, Denali Park and Preserve is home of some 37 species of mammals, as well as 167 species of birds. The terrain of the park includes "tundra" and "taiga" zones. The taiga zone extends to approximately 2,700 feet above sea level and gives way to tundra zone where few trees are found. Taiga zones are made up of the stubby evergreen, spruce and aspen trees whereas within a tundra zone, the plants are often miniaturised.
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| Denali Naitonal Park, Brown Bear (Grizzly) |
As I have mentioned earlier, our afternoon was reserved for a seven- hour guided "Tundra Wilderness Tour" on a National Park bus (light snacks and beverages were provided), where we were able to see at our leisure quite a lot of Alaskan terrestrial wildlife like brown (or grizzly) bears, black bears, moose, caribou, Dall sheep, mountain goats and also the smaller fries like porcupines, prairie dogs and hares. Wolves and wolverines, however, eluded us. At avout 8:30 in the evening, we returned to our resort.
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Seward scenery
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Park Connection Denali to Seward (May 22)
Compared with eventful earlier two days, this was a rather quiet day- with a bus journey from Denali to Seward with a stopover for lunch at Anchorage. It was drizzling when we arrived at Seward Windsong Lodge for overnight stay; however, that didn't dampen our spirit as we took advantage of the complimentary shuttle service to the town centre to have a feel of the mountain scenery as well as collect some provisions. Surrounded by high mountains at the head of Resurrection Bay, Seward is the primary gateway to Kenai Fjords National Park. This quaint little town of fewer than 3,000 citizens was founded in 1903 to meet the need of a railroad from an ice- free deep- water port to the mineral- rich Interior. One of the more accessible features of the Park is nearby Exit Glacier, a must- see for most visitors.
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| Kenai Fjords National Park, Sea Lions |
Kenai Fjords National Park
(May 23: Afternoon)
This was possibly the most hectic day of our whole Alaska Tour. Our Kenai Fjords Tour started at 11:30 from the small boat harbour for a six- hour cruise on a catamaran into Kenai Fjords National Park where an included lunch and liberal rounds of beverage was provided. Scenically, this tour has similarity with our earlier Portage Glacier tour, except that this was on a much larger canvass.
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| Kenai Fjords, Bear Glacier |
Gallery of glaciers, (noteworthy among them were Bear, Aialik and Holgate Glaciers) and rugged fjords (Alas, we missed the calving again!) presented themselves before us but, what made the tour truly memorable was the wealth of marine life; sea otters, harbour seals, Stellar sea- lions, porpoises as well as birds like Golden eagles, puffins and sea- gulls were plentiful (we almost lost count!); however, the most exciting of them were humpback and gray whales and even an "Orca" (killer whale) briefly joined the party. It was unforgettable: a massive, barnacle- encrusted humpback breaches skyward from the placid waters and falling back, shattering the silence with a thundering display of grace, power and beauty! (However, a word of caution for the amateur photographers- to capture his beauty you need hours and hours of patience and perseverance). We returned to the pier at about 5:30 p.m. Kenai Fjords Tour provided transfer to Railroad station just in time for departure.
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| Kenai Fjords, Tidewater Glacier and Ice Floes |
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Kenai Fjords, Humpback Whale 'sounding'-
only the tail- fin is visible |
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| Coastal Classic Railroad- Seward to Anchorage |
Alaska Railroad: Seward to Anchorage)
(May 23: Evening)
The return journey to Anchorage was via the scenic Alaska Railroad Coastal Classic route where we could sit bac, relax and enjoy the ever- changing landscape as we travelled north through Chugach National Forest, paralleling the Seward Highway (along which our earlier journey to Seward was undertaken) and featuring dazzling views of Skookum Glcier, Johnson Pass and more. The route hugs the stunning coastline of Turnagain Arm at Portage and arrives at Anchorage Rairoad Depot at about 10: 25 p.m. It was a glorious evening, still daylight when we reached Anchorage.
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| Coastal Classic Railroad, Chugach Range |
However, no reception party at the Railroad Depot this time. We managed to get an Alaska Yellow Cab to take us to Westmark Anchorage Hotel for our night stay.
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| Coastal Classic Railroad, Sunset Time at Portage |
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| Alaska Zoo- Anchorage, Caribou |
Anchorage Zoo and "Good- bye to Alaska"
(May 24)
Our tour officially ended and our American Airlines plane departing in evening, we were left to fend for ourselves; we decided to spend a part of the afternoon at Alaska Zoo in South Anchorage along Seward Highway. (free hourly shuttle service was provided to and from downtown Anchorage).
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| Alaska Zoo- Black Bear |
This Zoo provides homes to orphaned and injured animals and educates the public on natural history and conservation of wildlife. It gave us an opportunity to see quite a few wildlife (even though in enclosures) which we missed during our earlier tours, like wolves, wolverine, lynx, snow- leopard and a large array of birds, as well as exotic animals like Polar Bears and Siberian (Ussuri) Tigers. It was another glorious afternoon and after our plane took off at 8:40 p.m. (the mountains and glaciers were still bathed in warm sunlight), we bade goodbye to Alaska with a heavy heart.
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| Alaska Zoo- Wolf |
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| Alaska Zoo- Siberian (Ussuri) Tiger |
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| Alaska Zoo- Polar Bear |
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| Anchorage, Sunset at 11 p.m. |
