Blogs from Alaska, United States, North America - page 209

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North America » United States » Alaska » Anchorage August 1st 2008

Departed Centennial airport (KAPA) at 1648 lcl the temperature was 97 deg, density altitude (for those who care) was 9,850 feet. Made for a looooong takeoff roll and a V1 speed of 143 knots. Our first leg distance was 2,165 nm to Anchorage Alaska. Initial altitude was FL 360 then a climb to FL 380 1:30 minutes into the flight.... read more

North America » United States » Alaska » Homer August 1st 2008

Just some pictures of the animals and flowers we have seen in Alaska ! New Jersey follows...... See ya Kees and Willeke .................................................................................................. Een aantal fotos van dieren en bloemen die we in Alaska hebben gezien ! New Jersey volgt ook nog...... Hasta la pasta Kees en Willeke ... read more
Starfish / Zeester in Homer
Eagle / Adelaar in Homer
Eagle / Adelaar

North America » United States » Alaska July 30th 2008

Well, since I last updated everyone there have been a few new adventures. My family came into town so I was able to spend some time with them. They went to Homer for a couple days and then we spent a day in Seward doing a cruise/kayak tour. It was rainy the whole time we were there but we still had a great time. On the cruise we saw some sea otters, stellar sea lions, seals and dall porpoises. Kayaking was also a lot of fun. We did that out of Fox Island. We were in two person kayaks and I rode with my sister, my parents were together and my brother was with another guest who was on the trip with us. This was great fun! It was my first time kayaking and I was ... read more
Mom & Dad
Becky & Me
Bear!

North America » United States » Alaska » Glacier Bay July 30th 2008

Walking on ice, the big ice, a glacier. You know it is different... this is the stuff that's usually floating around in your soda on a hot summer day, but no, there is so much of it you are standing on it. At the ocean you get in it. Here it supports your weight. I use to go on snorkeling vacations and I'd tell folks it was the closest to off planet travel I'd ever get - it's a different world underwater. But really, a glacier walk is just as close, maybe closer. From camp we scrambled down the mountain slope, across a snow bank and onto the moraine. In some areas of the Lituya Glacier the ice to solid ground interface is very clear, but here the moraine rocks where thick and it was hard ... read more
Looking up the Lituya Glacier
A narrow crevasse
Crevasse

North America » United States » Alaska » Glacier Bay July 30th 2008

From the ice, the snow dome looked like a great campsite - the top of the dome was level and level was in very short supply on the Lituya Glacier. But up close the snow dome was pockmarked with rocks fallen from the steep cliff above. So we climbed back up onto the glacier and camped on the ice. Took us a half hour of scrambling over seracs, crevasses and rock to find a semi-flat area almost big enough for the tent. We leveled out the site using our hands and feet to scrape wet grit and gravel and pack it in behind cobble-sized rocks that we used to define the extent of the tent platform. After half an hour of work we end up with a reasonably flat tent site. We slept OK - exhaustion ... read more
The lake
Along the edge
Mountain behind camp

North America » United States » Alaska July 28th 2008

I stayed in Valdez the night of July 9. Next day, I had a flight seeing tour scheduled with Wrangell Mountain Air from a remote town McCarthy in Wrangell-St Elias park. Wrangell-St Elias park is the largest national park in US and is totally wilderness. I had to take a flight from a small town Chitina to McCarthy. At Valdez, I stayed in Lou and Laura's Bed & Breakfast. Nice place for a cheap price. It was the only night I did not stay in a hostel. Next morning, I drove from Valdez to Chitina on the scenic Richardson highway. The last 25 miles were bumpy and my car did bump a few times as I did not see the bump in time! I did manage to reach the airstrip at 9am. The airstrip was gravel ... read more
nice peak there
On the way to snow covered peaks
flying over peaks

North America » United States » Alaska July 27th 2008

Prince William Sound in South Central Alaska has the largest concentration of tidewater glaciers in the world. Harvard and Columbia glaciers are two of the big glaciers in these waters. Most popular way of seeing these glaciers is to take a half day cruise from the towns of Whittier in the west or Valdez in the east. I wanted to spend more time in front of these glaciers so I decided to take a longer cruise. Cruise West runs a 3 and 4 days cruise in Prince William Sound waters. This Cruise West ship, Spirit of Columbia, has rooms for single travelers unlike most large cruise ships which have room rates based on 'double occupancy'. So I did not have the pay the price for being single! After completing my road trip on July 10, I ... read more
glacier blues
close up
glacier ice


In Search of the Midnight Sun - Chapter 1 July 22, 2008 Departure day dawned bright and sunny. The truck camper’s packed (or overpacked) and our great neighbors are willingly looking after our house and yard again. Thanks! We arrived in Strathmore, AB in time to take Larry’s Aunt Jean out for supper. We camped at the Strathmore Rodeo Campground. It was nearly full of construction and oil workers. Diesel in Strathmore was $1.40.9. July 23, 2008 Our drive from Strathmore to Jasper was only about 300km but it took us all day. We didn’t stop in Banff or Lake Louise, having been there several times before. The Columbia Icefields Parkway drive north to Jasper is one of the top 10 drives in Canada. We have only driven the Parkway once before and that was 36 ... read more
Columbia Icefield
Peyto Lake
Athabasca Falls

North America » United States » Alaska July 26th 2008

Ever since I have seen it in TV documentaries, I have been fascinated by that classic spectacle of salmon jumping up on a waterfall and a line of brown bears standing up on the fall waiting to catch. Later I came to know that the place where those shots have been filmed is in Alaska. The falls are called Brooks falls and they are in the Katmai National Park. During salmon runs, certain spots in this park see the largest congregation of brown bears anywhere in the world. Brooks Falls, McNeil river are two of the famous ones. Having planned a trip to Alaska from July 4 to 14, I set July 7 as the date for my tryst with those brown bears. At the beginning of July, these bears migrate from coastal areas and move ... read more
bears on Brooks Falls
scoping out
Time to take a stroll

North America » United States » Alaska » Kodiak July 26th 2008

Seth had a project with Island Trails Network...so I took my vacation to Kodiak!!... read more
Laura
Laura, Berries and a Growler
Kodiak




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