22- 26 July

Route: Fairbanks-Denali NP-Fly,Kantishna-Denali-Anchorage-Fly,King Salmon-Fly,Katmai NP-King Salmon-Anchorage.

We leave Fairbanks, our most northern point of our trip at 65 degrees N heading south for Denali NP. All reports from fellow travellers indicate that we have little to no chance of flying into Kantishna, in the heart of Denali NP.

But our luck continues, we not only manage to fly, but the weather clears sufficiently to allow the pilot to find a hole in the clouds, giving us the most fantastic views of Mt. McKinley and the Muldrow Glacier.

At 20230 feet, McKinley also known as Denali (the high one), is the highest mountain in N America. As it turns out we are the only ones to fly the entire week.

We had decided to splurge and stay inside Denali NP at Sky Lodge, which is owned by Katishna Air to house their pilots. Our log cabin, set high on the side of the mountain, gave us the solitude that few visitors to Denali experience.

We spent our time walking on trails, with fog and drizzle as our companion, before returning to the communal dining room for a Cordon Bleu meal.

Its amazing, maybe disturbing, how little game is seen. We are not sure whether the low densities are the norm or whether decades of indiscriminate hunting is to blame. The whole time we where in the park which included a 6 hour bus ride out of the park, we only saw 6 Moose, 14 Caribou, 3 Grizzly Bear, 2 Dall Sheep and a family of Ptarmigan.

The rain followed us to Anchorage, and with the weather predictions for King Salmon & the Alaskan Peninsula even worse, we were very concerned that our luck would not hold.

Our $2500 trip to Katmai NP has a ‘no refund’ policy in the case of bad weather. The rain continued through out the night. We drove to the airport in torrential rain. We got drenched walking across the tarmac to board the single engine prop plane to King Salmon…………but we took off bang on time. We flew in rain, landed in rain & transferred to the float plane, where we were weighed in the rain…….but we took off bang on time, in the rain. We flew in the rain, landed in the rain, had the mandatory bear etiquette lecture while it rained and then walked the 2 miles to Brooks Falls viewing platform in the rain, and then……………….. THE RAIN STOPPED.

And now the full version.

The 1h20 flight from Anchorage to King Salmon, on the Alaskan Peninsula was in a 30seat prop plane. On arrival, we were immediately transferred to the Float plane terminal. Before boarding the plane, which was built in 1963 and has seen service in Saudi Arabia & Russia, before coming to King Salmon, we are each weighed to get an accurate measure of the load.

Wind gushes through gaps in the doors and the aluminium covers around the windows look as if they were hand beaten into place, but she lifts off the water with ease, carrying nine passengers, for the 20 minutes to Katmai NP. We could see bears on the beach as we approached.

We first have to attend a bear etiquette lecture, before we head out to the viewing platforms about 2 miles away.

Not far along the path, we round a corner and coming towards us are 2 bears, not 20 meters away. We make a hasty retreat, without running, turning our backs or looking them directly in the eyes. Its amazing how quickly they walk, I would hate to see them in a full charge. At the end of the muddy path, the park services have erected a platform that puts us right where the action is.

At times 13 Brown Bears, a larger sub species of Grizzly Bear, were catching Salmon at Brook falls. Immediately a fish is caught, it is held head down in the long claws, before having its skin, the bear’s favorite, deftly striped and eaten.

The balance is consumed in seconds, before one of the big more aggressive males gets a chance to steal it.

What a day, to see nature like few others experience, certainly the highlight of our trip……………..AND THEN IT STARTED TO RAIN.

18-20 July

Route: Chitina(Chit-na)-McCarthy-Chitina-Fairbanks.

We had a bit of time to kill today as our flight into Wrangell-St Elias (Sint-a-lie-ass) NP is only at 05:45. We had anticipated that the towns in Alaska would be quaint, charming little places, where you could sip hot chocolate next to a log fire. We could not have been more wrong; Alaska feels like a rough, tough mans country, with all the locals (you seldom see woman) out riding 4 wheelers, fishing and shooting.



Old rusting cars, parked haphazardly around a timber cabin, with massive bakkies that have exhausts like drain pipes and trailers with a couple of 4 wheelers, kayaks and a boat, standing ready for action, seem to be ‘town’. We went into one place for a coffee, called Grizzly Café, chatting to the owner, he declared that “Alaska is an Obama free, gun country”. Pretty much sums the place up.
What started out as cloudy got progressively worse and by the time we were scheduled to leave, the mountains were hidden behind a blanket of clouds and it was raining heavily. I really thought that our flight would be cancelled, but this is Alaska & before we new it, our tiny little plane was fighting the side wind as it ‘crabbed’ its way down the runway. The wind racing down the Copper River valley buffeted us for a while, but soon we were flying between the massive peaks where all was calm. Flying is the only way to see the countryside properly. From the air we could see the beauty of Wrangell-St Elias NP, which together with the Canadian side of the park, covers more than 34 million acres.


Kennicott Glacier covered in debris it has ground away over the eons.

Raging rivers fed by melt water from massive glaciers, 9 of Alaska’s 16 tallest peaks & water logged Spruce forest, make up this vast wilderness. The pilot pointed out a rock glacier, which is made up of 80% rock ‘suspended’ in ice slowly inching down to the valleys. Flying past Hidden Lake, which has great big chunks of ice floating in it, he explained that when the adjoining glacier has melted sufficiently, this huge lake would empty in less than 24 hours, as if the plug had been pulled.

We approach McCarthy via the 4th of July valley, the same pass that prospectors, Tarantula and his pal had traveled through on the same date in the early 1900’s.


Bonanza mine, the richest, perched high on Wrangell Mtn, as seen from the air.

They staked 5 mining claims, which eventually become the Kennecott Copper Corporation, which between 1911 & 1938 when the mine closed, produced more than 2 billion dollars in today’s terms, of copper.



High grade copper ore as concentrated as 70%, mined high up in the mountains, was brought to Kennecott mill in buckets on two cableways, where it was processed, before being bagged in heavy hessian sacks and transported via rail to Cordova, from which it was shipped to Washington state. Miners worked around the clock, through out the year in temperatures that regularly plummet to -45F. Today the Park Services are slowly rehabilitating the 14 floor mill & a number of adjacent buildings.


In the morning we were rather concerned as it had rained through out the night and we had planned to hike up onto Root glacier. However by the time we had been kitted up with crampons etc the sky had lightened considerably.



Root glacier is a relatively small glacier that ‘flows into’ the absolutely massive Kennecott glacier that dominates the valley.


Kennicott power plant, photos around 1911, show the glacier to be far higher than the chimney stacks.

Our guide pointed out how high the glacier was at the turn of the century. In just 100 years this glacier, although still 500m deep, has shrunk in height by approximately 100m. It is totally covered in rock and sand, which it has ground away on its way to the valley, making it appear like a disused mine, whereas Root glacier is clean white ice.


Staircase Ice fall is where Root Glacier originates.

The grip that the crampons give allows us to climb up and walk on the glacier. Melting water and the pressure of the advancing ice has sculpted wonderful shapes, creating blue pools & crevasses.



It really was special to be able to experience the raw beauty of nature.



We finished the day taking the historical tour of the mine, a rather different, sometimes vertigo inducing, but interesting experience before taking the shuttle down the hill to nearby McCarthy town.


McCarthy has been preserved much as it would have looked during the copper boom. A muddy track leads into town where workers from Kennecott, 5 miles up the valley would come to spend their hard earned wages, at the New Golden Saloon with possibly a visit to Ma Johnson.


Our small but comfortable room was furnished in original pieces, with artifacts from the era. We were at first disappointed, but once we had stayed for a while and immersed ourselves in the history of the day, Ma Johnson & McCarthy really grew on us.



The low clouds forced the pilot to take the longer route out, we were not complaining as we got to see a lot more. With more than 500km to Fairbanks, we took full advantage of the long days, actually at this time of the year Alaska is truly the ‘Land of the midnight sun”, so when we arrived at 10pm the sun was still high in the sky. On route we saw a pair of Moose, the male with massive paddle shaped antlers, swimming across a large lake. We also traveled a long way next to the Trans-Alaska pipeline, which snakes its way 800 miles across the tundra, from Prudhoe Bay to Valdez. To date more than 16 billion barrels have been pumped in the 48inch diameter pipeline, which cost $7 billion to build in 1977.
We had originally planned to fly to the Gates of the Arctic Circle NP, but in reality all we would get out the $1000, 6hour trip was to be able to say we had crossed the Arctic Circle. Maybe one day, if we return in winter to experience the Northern Lights of the Aurora Borealis.

15-17 July

Route: Fly Seattle-Anchorage-Seward-Anchorage-Majestic Valley Lodge.

As our plane dipped below the clouds on its approach to Anchorage, we could see how much water there is in Alaska. A vast area of wetland with meandering streams that look like giant snakes from the air, make up the landscape.

We immediately collect our car. We thought the Flex was ugly, but the burnt orange Dodge Caliber is in a class of its own. Not only is it ugly as sin, but a plastic, cramped tin can. We head out on the scenic Seward highway (pronounced Suewould), which travels alongside Turnagain Arm, a finger of water that reaches inland from the Cook Inlet.

Having one of the highest tides, 37 feet, we could see the water, laden with glacial silt rushing in, while we were driving. The area is a haven for birds and we got close up views of Arctic Tern, Mew & Glaucous-winged Gulls and many more.

About 8 miles before Seward, we took the turning to Exit Glacier. We walked the track that takes you to within a few meters of the tongue or terminus, as it is known, of the glacier. It has receded nearly 5km over the last 100 years, one has to wonder if this is a natural cycle or has man got something to do with it. In the last 5 years alone it has shrunk by more than 500 metres.

The areas of blue ice within the glacier are as a result of the snow being highly compressed over time, until the ice is eventually made up of 80% water. Light hitting the surface is absorbed, with only the blue & purple wavelengths being reflected.

Our B&B, Ballaine House is a wonderful, warm & cozy home that was built in 1906. From the feathered bed linen to the sumptuous breakfast, everything is perfect. We have gained an hour again, Alaska being 10 hours behind South Africa. Also the days are getting longer as we travel further north, the sun now sets at just before midnight and it is light at about 5, in the morning, so getting ready by 8, for our full day excursion into Resurrection Bay, within the Kenai Fjords National Park is easy. The day started rather foggy, but fortunately the sea was calm. We had selected Saltwater Cruises, wildlife & glacier tours as it limits numbers to 12 people, where as the others are large boats of 160 plus that cater for the cruise liners that dock each day in Seward harbour.

The wild life viewing was excellent, getting to see Humpbacked whale, one even tail slapping, a pod of Orcas which included a pair mating & Sea Otters.

With fur made up of a million hairs per square inch, Sea Otters are perfectly adapted to these icy waters.

We saw plenty of seabirds, either floating in rafts on the water or diving for fish, but the highlight was seeing large numbers of both species of Puffin, the Horned as well the Tufted, which has golden tufts of feathers that curve backwards from their brightly coloured bills. We also saw a few Marbled Murrelets, which I particularly enjoyed as they are the highly endangered species that nests in the old growth Redwoods on the Oregon coast.

We stopped for lunch in front of Holgate Glacier, which originates along with 39 other glaciers in the vast Hadley Icefield. It really is awe inspiring to sit below a 400 foot wall of ice, listening to it crack and groan like thunder as it slowly moves towards the sea.

Every so often chunks of ice break away crashing to the sea. On one occasion a massive slab broke loose, sending ice raining down, the force of which caused a massive wave of water that came hurtling towards the boat, reinforcing our feelings of insignificance in the greater scheme of things.

When this happens the swirling Kittiwakes & other birds start diving frantically, catching the bait size fish that are brought to the surface in the churning water.

The 40 minutes that we spend admiring this spectacle of nature seem to go by in seconds. Its not until we start heading back that I realize how cold I am. Cold air surrounding the glacier causes air to sink creating a catabatic wind that is more than 20 degrees colder.

We finished the day with excellent sightings of the rare Stellar Seals and Harbour Seals basking in the hot afternoon sun.

After a rather large breakfast, we head back towards Anchorage, this time Turnagain Arm is completely flooded with brown, muddy looking water. From Anchorage we drive east along the Glenallen Highway, another of the “All American Scenic Highways “, ending our day at Majestic Valley Lodge, just beyond Matanuska Glacier.