Killing Time in Anchorage

The train ride from Seward to Anchorage on Monday night was pure torture for me. I spent the day feeling a little sore throat, and by the time we got on the train, I could barely swallow. Needless to say, I was an unhappy camper- Teres said she could tell I wasn't feeling well b/c I wasn't even looking at any of the beautiful scenery passing by. I thought for sure I had strep throat, and tried finding a walk-in clinic when we arrived in Anchorage, but it was 1030 at night, so no clinic.
Woke up Tuesday feeling a bit better- my throat still hurt, but I could actually swallow without wanting to cry, so I was happier :)
We took a bus downtown and hiked a trail near the salt marshes- it was another beautiful, sunny, warm day! After walking a while, we went to lunch at the same Irish pub we ate at last week- since my throat still hurt me, I didn't have a beer!! What a travesty. We then wandered around downtown Anchorage for a while, then took a bus back to the hotel to get our bags and head to the airport.
Our flight left 1.5 hours late- the two times I've been to Alaska, I've spent extra time at the airport! To kill some time, I showed Teres all the spots I hung out at last year when I had to sit at that airport for hours on end, waiting to see if I'd make it out to Kodiak. Once we got on the plane, who did we see? The same group of guys that were on the plane with us on the way up (and we hung out with them in Seward). I tell ya, Alaska really is a small place.
Now we're sitting at the Houston airport waiting for our flight to FLL, since we missed our original flight. I'll leave you for now with some pics from our walk yesterday and the airport.

Last Day in Seward

We were both so tired after a long day of kayaking and hiking yesterday that we didn't even go out last night...wow! We went out to dinner at a place called Thorn's Showcase Lounge- one of the kayak guides told us about it, and she was very excited b/c it had "rolling loveseats." Walking in, it was very "lounge-y" dark, smokey, cool decor. Their specialty is a "bucket of butt" or chunks of fried halibut, so of course we had to get it, and some garlic bread too (and some beer, duh!). All of it was delicious! Teres sat in the rolling loveseat, but all the chairs were actually rolly :) After dinner we went back to the Yukon bar that we drank way too much at on Friday night, but we were both so tired we didn't even stay for a drink!! Unheard of.
After packing our bags this morn, we left the wonderful (no sarcasm) Moby Dick Hostel, dropped our bags at the train station, and went to the store of Exit Glacier Guides to catch a ride to the glacier. We did a short ranger-led walk on the trails and then walked on our own to the edge of the glacier. It was really amazing to be right next to it! The hike to the edge was hot- I was wearing thermals still- and by the time we made it to the glacier, I was sweating- but there was a cold breeze coming off the glacier that really cooled it down.
There were signposts all over the park with years marked on them, which indicated the position of the edge of the glacier since the 1800s (I forget when exactly). The glacier has retreated hundreds of feet, and them most drastic change has been in the last 2 years of course. Teres asked the ranger why there's been so much recession (just to see if he'd answer "global warming") and he gave a good explanation about Antarctic ice cores and atmospheric CO2 concentrations without mentioning those hot-button words...In my opinion, he did the best job of explaining everything that we were seeing/what has happened/etc.
Now we're on the Coastal Classic train back to Anchorage...4 hour ride, bit it's not bad on a train! Our flight doesn't leave until 830 tomorrow night, so we've got to find something to do in Anchorage during the day tomorrow...I'm sure that won't be a problem!

Seward, Day 2!

Took it easy and went to bed early last night, knowing we had to be bright eyed and bushy tailed for kayaking this morning. Walked down the road to Kayaking Adventures Worldwide to meet our guide and get suited up for our trip. After meeting Buddy, the first thing we did was sign liability waivers- of course!! We then got our PFDs and loaded into the van with another group and headed down to Lowell Point, where we were putting in. It was another beautiful day in Alaska- flat waters, minimal wind, and SUN! Perfect kayak conditions.
I was initially a little leery of the sit-in kayaks, since I've only been in sit-on-tops, but it wasn't too bad. Kayaking in the Keys and Everglades is just a bit different than kayaking in cold Alaskan waters!! Once inside, we had a skirt that went around the opening, preventing water from getting into the cockpit.
Since I'm (apparently) the more experienced kayaker, and we were in a tandem, I had to sit in the back and control the steering with foot pedals. This was totally new to me, since I'm always steering a sit-on-top with my paddle, but easy to do.
We set off into Resurrection Bay and paddled south towards Tonsina Point; on the way we saw a sea lion, murres, and some bald eagles. We beached on Tonsina and walked to a waterfall, then had a little picnic snack (hot chocolate yay!) on the beach.
The paddle back to Lowell Point was much harder than going out- the wind picked up and made some good swells, so we really had to work to get back! Not fun, but we did it!
After kayaking, we decided to head to Mount Marathon- a little over 3000 feet- where there is a race up & down the mountain every July 4th. There's a pretty daunting sign at the trailhead thy basically reads, "this is dangerous, don't do it" so we turned around and looked for an easy hike :) Ended up hiking the Two Lakes Trail, then walking to the small boat harbor just for shits & giggles. Now we're back at the hostel relaxing (having a beer!) before going out to dinner. One of the kayak guides recommended a place that has rolling love seats- I cannot imagine it- so we HAVE to check it out! Tomorrow we're hiking the Exit glacier, then heading to Anchorage on the train...more later!

Kenai Fjords Boat Tour

After settling in to our new place, the Moby Dick Hostel, Teres & I headed to "downtown" Seward to see what's what. We ended up at a bar whose name I can't remember, hung out with the locals and listened to a band. Some guys that we had met on the plane from Houston were there too- again, for such a big state it really does seem small!
This morning we went out on a boat tour of the Kenai Fjords. Unfortunately the wind was blowing hard and the seas were at 10 feet, so we didn't get to go as far as we were supposed to. We ended up staying in Resurrection Bay, and our day was cut short. 10 foot seas is nothing for this seasoned pro! Wusses.
While in Resurrection Bay, we saw sea otters, bald eagles, puffins, murres, Dall's porpoises, and Stellar sea lions! No whales though :( The area around here is absolutely beautiful. As much as I loved Denali, this place is even better for me because I love the water!!
After a few hours of sightseeing, the ship stopped at a place called Fox Island and we got an all-you-can-eat salmon & prime rib lunch (was supposed to be dinner) which was awesome! There was a guy on the beach there filleting a rockfish that he had just caught- reminded me of all the rockfish we caught and ate on the NOAA ship last year!
We arrived back at the small boat harbor around 230, much earlier than the 6:00 time we originally planned. Oh well, we can't control the weather, and at least it was a gorgeous sunny day. The company did give everyone a partial refund because of the inclement weather so now we have more money to play with :)
Tomorrow we're back out on Resurrection Bay, but kayaking this time! Should be interesting. I need to see some whales!!

Random Thoughts on Denali...

Sitting on a bus on the way from Denali to Seward and bored, so here's a totally random posting.
On the flight from Houston to Anchorage on Monday, there were 3 older ladies sitting in the row behind me. Every time they got up, they yanked on my chair and pulled my hair- EVERY time- so I was rather annoyed. After arriving at the train depot in Denali the next day, who did we see? Same ladies! They were on the same shuttle van as us to go into town. Wednesday, at a restroom break on our Park tour, who did we see? Same ladies! Yesterday at the sled dog demo, guess who was there? Yup! Small world I guess. Wonder if we'll see them in Seward...now that would be freaky.
I completely forgot to mention in yesterday's post that we got to see Denali on the bus out to Savage River! Denali is often obstructed by clouds but we were lucky to catch a fleeting glimpse of it- just a tiny little portion waaaay off in the distance, but exciting nonetheless. I tried taking pictures from the bus, but they don't look so hot- will have to check them more once I upload to iPhoto.
It was bittersweet leaving Denali this morning- I'd like to stay and explore further in to the Park (since I only went 53 miles in!) and do some backcountry camping & hiking, but I'm also ready for the ocean/coastline in Seward. Maybe someday I'll be in Denali again...
A last few pics from Denali- a signpost at the Salmon Bake showing how far we are from home, the Bake (taken from the bus), and our exciting bus journey.

Last Day in Denali.

Before I recap the day, let me say that it was BEAUTIFUL today! Sun almost all day and around 65 degrees! I even got a little sunburn (prob windburn too) on my face! If Alaska was like this all the time I'd move here in a heartbeat!
We started out around 8 this morning and walked the 2 miles to the Park. Even though we hated walking from the Park to our cabin last night, we figured it wouldn't be as bad today b/c we were going downhill. We figured correctly :)
We got to the park right in time for a demo with the sled dogs. The Park uses the dogs for wintertime surveying and to haul supplies to distant outposts. I volunteered to do something during the presentation, and ultimately I was one of the Parks' dogs, as opposed to a race dog. I really hammed it up while I was up there- shocker I know- and lots of people in the crowd said I did great haha. Teres has pics on her camera, so I'll have to post them later.
After seeing the dogs, we checked out the Visitor Center, then headed out to Savage River on a free shuttle bus- it's 15 miles in. We hiked around the river area for a while and I climbed a rock formation with a great view of the area! After hiking, we started walking back towards the entrance, waiting for a bus to scoop us up. We were lucky in our walk to see 2 male caribou resting in the river bed! They were too far to get a pic, but looked great with my binoculars! On the bus ride back to the Visitor Center, there was a moose not 10 feet from the road! Pretty cool.
So now we're waiting for a table at Prospector's Pizza, and definitely ready for some food & drink! We hiked a lot today :) We're on a bus all the way south to Seward tomorrow morning, which I'm not particularly looking forward to, but definitely excited for Seward! We're going on a sightseeing cruise (with an all-you-can-eat salmon dinner after!) and kayaking a place called Resurrection Bay (and possibly fishing too, haven't planned that yet). Bye for now!

Denali, Day 1.

Our first foray into Denali National Park didn't start so well. The shuttle that was supposed to take us from our cabin to the Park never showed up, and we were getting close to the time that we needed to be there for our bus tour, so we hitched a ride with some local guy who was headed that way. Yay for helpful, friendly locals!
Once we got to the Park, we had reserved seats on one of their green shuttle buses to take us about 53 miles in to Toklat. The shuttle buses aren't the same as a tour bus- the shuttle bus lets you get off wherever you want so you can hike, and when you're ready to head back you can just flag down another green bus. The tour buses only let you get out at certain stops, and you're on the same bus all day.
Even though Toklat was only 53 miles in, it took us 4 hours to get there! We stopped whenever we saw wildlife and had a few restroom breaks. After we turned around at Toklat, Teres and I got off the bus at the Teklanika River and hiked around there for a while before walking the main road and grabbing another bus.
We saw some amazing sights today- both wildlife and geography. Unfortunately it was too cloudy to see Denali today, maybe tomorrow we'll get lucky. On the bus ride, we saw a few moose, a caribou, some Arctic ground squirrels, lots of Dall's sheep, and a grizzly! The bear was pretty far off so I couldn't get any pics :(
After being at the Park for about 10 hours, we foolishly decided to walk back home, and now we're ready for some food & drink!! More Denali tomorrow.

Leavin on a Jet Plane!

It was one year ago that I was on my way to Alaska to spend some time as a NOAA Teacher at Sea.  Even though I didn't get to see very much of the biggest state (only little ol' Kodiak), I totally fell in love with the place, and now I'm going back!  Back in March, a friend/coworker randomly said, "want to go to Alaska this summer?" and of course I said yes. We bought our tickets the next day and started planning the trip- where to go, what to see, what adventures to have?  So difficult to plan, but we did it, all without a travel agent :)  If teaching doesn't work out, we'll be able to find jobs in the travel industry!
So, here I am, making this blog right before I leave for the airport to begin our trip.  I was out last night with a bunch of friends and asked for their input for blog names, and got a lot of hilarious ideas, but most of them had to do with Alaska/cold climate/etc, so I chose this "general" one submitted by Labo :)  so I can use the same blog in the future.  I'll be posting from my phone from here on out, which I'm not particularly looking forward to, but it'll get done- mostly to appease Gary Lapay, since apparently he loved my Teacher at Sea Blog :)  I'm on my way to Alaska!!