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Published: July 29th 2006
Alaska... the last frontier!
Where do we start? This really is an amazing part of the world. After arriving in Anchorage and picking up our car, we headed up to Denali National Park. Our photos below of a bear and caribou (wild reindeer) were captured on the park shuttle bus. We were not blessed with great weather, but the abundance of wildlife and amazing mountain scenery made up for it.
Even further north, we reached Fairbanks before heading on to Chena Hot Springs, a natural spring pool in the midst of lush green mountains. Then on to our resting place in Chatanika. Dinner at the nearby pub proved very entertaining, as it was the first night of a week long festival celebrating the gold rush days. It's clear that these people use any excuse to celebrate the few days of sunshine they have each year.
The next road we travelled headed south towards the water. After passing Santa Claus' house in the North Pole, we marvelled at the snow-capped mountains and breathtaking waterfalls that appeared around every corner. Further down the highway we saw our first glacier up close and spent some time there with our camera.
In Valdez, we went on a kayaking tour that took us to the face of another glacier, Shoup Glacier. This was an incredible day spent with a knowledgeable guide. This is the place where the Exxon Valdez oil tanker went aground in 1989. An untrained eye would not be able to tell that the tragedy ever occurred, as it now appears pristine.
Back on the highway, we went through Anchorage and ended up on another stunning drive on the way to a small town called Hope. With a population of 130, this was unlike any town we had visited. Our lodging was a quaint but rustic cabin built in the 1800s during gold rush time, but it served us well. We enjoyed soaking up sunshine with a beer on the local bar's decking after several days of overcast weather. It was also fun to watch the fly fishers in action down at the salmon filled creek.
Once we have downloaded the rest of our photos we will fill you in on the second half of our trip, where we encountered the best and the worst of Alaskan travel.
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B.Maher
non-member comment
Sweet
Sweet photo's mate, looks like the travels are treating you well. I hope you told Santa that he has forgetten to deliver me a present in well over 15 years.....also never, ever get a Caribou angry, it ain't pretty. B