The BIG Holiday: Alaska at last.

Hello everyone from a happy camper.

It was 3rd July and I was sitting on the plane again watching the ground crew going through the very familiar routine of preparing for take off. Then all of a sudden I thought "Pinch yourself, Carmel, you're finally making it to Alaska!" And that's when the excitement set in. I was finally achieving a long held desire to visit Alaska. I don't really know for sure why I had wanted to do this, I just knew I did. Maybe I had some vague expectation of excitement and it certainly was going to be a bit different from Brisbane and anything else I had experienced before. So off we went. We flew out of Portland to Seattle where I had a celebratory massage at the airport and then we were on our way to Anchorage. The flight followed the coastline for a while and there were wonderful visions of green islands, blue sea, blue sky, white clouds and sandy cliffs and, because it was the 4th July long weekend, I could see lots of boats out on the water way below. Then it was up through the clouds and there we stayed until we descended to Anchorage. What happened to the sun?

As we only had one evening in Anchorage and having been told there were great local markets open, Sue and I dropped our bags at the motel and hot footed it in the appropriate direction. It looked a tad like rain but we were assured it looked like that every day and it hadn't rained in ages (but we took our umbrellas just in case).

After a hard trudge around the markets, which were an Alaskan version of Eumundi, it was time to eat. We stumbled across this great little wine bar and celebrated our arrival with fresh salmon and some yummy wines. After all, one cannot go to Alaska and not have salmon (can one?) It was early to bed for an early start the next day. It doesn't happen often, but us two slow starters were the first ones to breakfast. That's worth a scratch on the wall. From there it was off to the railway station for our much anticipated Great Train Ride up the middle of Alaska to Denali.

We had seats in a bubble top carriage and the views were spectacular. Just to ensure we knew we were in sub-arctic zones, the air conditioning was freezing and it seemed impossible to regulate it. Wish we'd worn our long johns that day. We were treated to wide rivers, big mountains and .... Wasilla.... home to Mrs S. Palin, the great exponent of considered and intelligent thought. And, no, she can't see Russia from her back door. However it does have a lovely lake and the locals were making the most of the above freezing temperatures and sun baking on its scenic shores. We were told that in Winter, the lake freezes over and the locals make an 8 hole golf course on it. We were beginning to get a taste of making the most of conditions, Alaskan style. It reminded me of boat races on the Todd River. Onwards the train went up through wild rivers and more snow capped mountains, all the while getting higher and wilder. Ah, the sun came out! Time to celebrate, don't you think?

There is a small line that runs off the main line and goes to Talketna. That is the only line in the US that allows the locals to flag down the train. It's their only way of getting supplies, mail etc. When we got to Denali station, we were loaded on a yellow school bus and taken to the Denali Education Centre which was to be home for the next six nights. It is definitely basic accommodation but a great place to be. It is just across the river from Denali National Park and our cabin was beside the river. Every morning and night, the first and last thing we heard was the water rushing past our window. So special.

The Education Centre comes equipped with it's own beach, yellow school bus (no wonder there are so may chiropractors in the US!), magnificent surroundings, cheerful staff and resident owls.

Our cabin was the last green roof on the right.

However, this is no holiday camp. Breakfast at 7am every morning and go, go, go until the last lecture finished after dinner at night. And I'm not complaining. Our days were full of learning and seeing and experiencing.

Alaska was first settled thousands of years ago by the Athabascan people who came across the then Bering land bridge from Asia. They and other native people had the wilderness to themselves until the Russians showed up in about 1740 and then the US bought it from Russia in 1866 for the grand total of $7.2 mill. After the Klondike Gold Rush, people started to move across the border from Canada and the US and so the next chapter of Alaska's history began. However I was surprised to discover that, even today, there are only about 500 000 people in the whole of Alaska and half of those live in Anchorage so the rest of the country is sparsely populated.

We had lectures by passionate, experienced and knowledgeable people in their fields. One such person was Nan. She talked us through the geology, the history, the wildlife and more of the local area. She is a trained scientist and has lived in Alaska for many years and she is passionate about preserving it for the future. She knows so much, loves talking about it and has wonderful slides and exhibits and tales to keep the sleepiest person enthralled. She also took us on a number of walks in the area and showed us what she had discussed in class. It was from local people like Nan that we started to get a glimpse of what life in Alaska is really like and how the people and the animals live a very different life from those in most places because of the climate and how it shapes the environment.

We were very lucky because every day we were there was sunny. This is especially significant considering there are only somewhere between 60 - 100 growing days a year in Alaska. In that time, trees have to grow, plants have to bloom and bear fruit, animals have to build up after the winter, have their babies and mate again. It's all very frantic. When we were in Denali, it was just past the Summer solstice so the days were very long. It was still light at 10.30 pm and I don't know when it got light - long before I opened my eyes. Every plant and animal makes the most of daylight to grow and build up for the winter. It takes a spruce tree 15 years to grow 10 - 15 cm. There is a layer of permafrost below the soil, which is not very fertile to start with, and that stops roots growing deep and getting more nutrients.

We went on other trips deeper into the National Park. The wild life is there but sparsely spread around the mountains and huge valleys carved out by glaciers in the past. We saw moose, bears, a fox, wolves, hares, birds of varying sorts, caribou, arctic ground squirrels... I was surprised to see that the grizzlies were blonde in Alaska. In terms of warnings, in Canada and Yellowstone it had been all about bears but in Alaska it was moose and bears and the warnings were deadly serious. I had never realised how big moose are. I measured myself against their height and, at their lowest point. they are about 12 cm taller than me and big, fast buggers. I can't work out for the life of me why Americans and Canadians say they're frightened of spiders and snakes!

Huge river valley carved out by glaciers.

River with glacial water (L). Fresh (R).

A fox pointing ready to pounce.

A grizzly grazing - a safe distance!

Rudolf's cousin building up for the Christmas run.

We were also introduced to the Athabascan culture and history by a proud woman at a place they call Inspiration Point. A place to come and think and enjoy the quietness and the beauty of nature - and that it certainly was. We were shown a cabin that the rangers use in Winter when they are on patrols of the park with their sled dogs. It's a very old cabin with none of the comforts of home but plenty of security against bears.

Rangers' winter patrol cabin.

All the comforts of home. Where's the tap?

The last great sight for this installment is Denali (Mt McKinley). It's the highest mountain in the USA and is over 21 000 feet high. It's so high it generates its own weather. Most of the time its peaks are covered in cloud but, on one of our visits into the park, the clouds cleared and it was magnificent. Although I had been more interested in seeing the wild life, I was still stunned by the sight. Click on the photo if you can't see it clearly. I was still 100 miles away when the photo was taken.