Touring Glacier Bay National Park

6/20/13

Up at 5 AM for the boat trip.  Nice buffet breakfast was served at the Lodge starting at 6, down to the boat and off we went into nothing but watery wilderness for the day.  We saw a number of humpback whales here in the Bay having traveled from Hawaii to spawn and eat.  They only eat annually about 4,000 pounds of small fish per day while they are here before they migrate back to Hawaii.  Stopping in front of the Margurite Glacier to observe it (seeing it calve twice – massive hunks of ice hit the bay with what can only be described as thunder).  Saw a massive Kodiak Bear, Mountain Goats, numerous birds including orange-beaked Puffins, and Eagles all today.  Returned at 3:30 for a quick trip to the airport for a flight back to Juneau and Skagway on Wings Airlines in a Cessna Caravan II.  Up over the mountains at 6,500 feet in VFR weather back to Skagway.  Just a few pictures below of our day.  Just incredible!!!!

    

Skagway to Glacier Bay National Park

6/19/13

We departed this morning around 11:30 for the quintessential Alaska experience “bush plane flying”.  Our pilot brought along a Cessna 206 six-seater for our flight to Juneau and then Gustavus, Alaska.  Weather was clear and a hundred miles visibility down the Lynn Canal.  We arrived at the Glacier Bay National Park Lodge around 3 PM, took a hike in the forest, and had a wonderfully sophisticated dinner of salmon, shrimp, and halibut overlooking Glacier Bay.  Tomorrow up early for a cruise in the Bay.  The last picture was taken about 11 PM, this is about all the sunset you can see up here now.  PS – sunset was at 12:48 AM and sunrise at 3:06 AM.

Inside Passage Skagway to Juneau

6/18/13

Joy and I joined our friends Bob and Sharon on the Fjordland catamaran for a tour down Lynn Canal to Juneau.  Weather was a bit iffy but cleared later in the day.  We saw whales, seals, eagles, and numerous glaciers.  Our tour took us to Juneau where we ate lunch, bussed to Mendenhall Glacier and then back to Skagway.  We share a few pictures from our day below:

Happy Birthday to our Granddaughter Alivia and Son Bob

6/17/13

A Happy Birthday to our granddaughter Alivia (6) and our son Bob (??) today.  Kept busy cleaning the motor home and doing laundry today at the docks in Skagway.  So many people from the cruise ships stopped by amazed that we had driven all the way from Missouri and Texas.

Skagway, Alaska

6/16/13

After a brief stop we departed for Skagway, Alaska.  This is our first stop in Alaska on our trip.  We departed the Alaska Highway at Jake’s Corner, traveled down Yukon Highway 8 (Taglish Highway) to Carcross where we stopped mid-morning to a little touring.  Joined the South Klondike Highway for the 65 mile journey to Skagway which sits at the northernmost terminus of the Lynn Canal.  After climbing to 3,400 feet at White Pass (where the 1898 Gold Rush prospectors made a perilous climb) we descended into Skagway at sea-level in 11 miles.  What views and what a ride.  Joy started breathing again near the bottom after holding her breath for several minutes.  Cleared US Customs and arrived unscathed mid-afternoon.  We are now at Pullen Creek RV Park in downtown Skagway right on the docks where today only one cruise ship sits quietly on Sunday evening.

We will remain here until Friday.  Monday is clean the motorhome day and doing laundry.  Tuesday is a whale-watching trip down the Lynn Canal to Juneau.  Wednesday and Thursday we will fly over to Gustavus, AK for an overnight in Glacier Bay National Park followed by a day long boat trip to see Glacier Bay and our return flight to Skagway in the evening.

Watson Lake Sign Post Forest

6/15/13

We departed under sunshine this morning continuing northwest bound on the Alaska Highway.  Reached Watson Lake stopping to refuel, put up signs showing our passage at the world-famous Sign Post Forest begun during WWII by homesick soldiers.  Continued our movement after lunch passing Teslin, Yukon about 20 miles to camp almost alone at the Timber Creek RV Park along the Liard River.

RV Report:

The Alaskan Highway is actually in pretty good condition.  Mostly good pavement surfaces and fair shoulders with passing lanes on grades.  Not much traffic beyond RV’s and a few commercial trucks.  Encountered minor delays on road resurfacing and one bridge repair thus far.  Frost heaves not a problem to day and roads marked with orange flags or cones where potholes and bumps are mostly located.  No one should fear driving this road.  Every hill and turn offer up beauty and majestic views.  We have encountered bears, moose, elk, caribou, buffalo, and deer thus far.

Fuel: $ 5.51 gallon / $1.449 liter at Watson Lake for diesel

         $ 5.08 gallon / $ 1.339 liter for gasoline

More Liard Hot Springs

6/14/13

Spent the day at Liard Hot Springs soaking (the ladies) and working on some minor cleanup on the motor homes (the guys).  Barbequed some steaks tonight and enjoyed our first campfire.  First mosquito’s of the trip began to appear.  Tomorrow will take us northwest again to Watson Lake and Teslin, Yukon.