Matthew's web log

The ship docked in Juneau in the early morning.  We were surprised to learn that we would be leaving port  by mid afternoon.  We bit the bullet and set the alarm for 6:30am so we’d have time to squeeze everything in. 

The main attraction in town is the Mendenhall Glacier.  There’s an express bus from the cruise terminal to the glacier, but it doesn’t start until later in the morning.  We take the city bus instead.  It’s longer, cheaper, and let us off about one mile from the visitor center.  As we’re walking towards the visitor center, the express bus passes us.   Oh well, at least we’ve been moving and got a tour of Juneau.  On the walk, an older guy walked with us and told us about his journeys to all the counties in the U.S. and how he has less than twenty to go.

From the visitor center, we can see the Mendenhall Glacier.  It’s neat and there are icebergs floating around in the water in front of the glacier.  We don’t see it calve like we did in Glacier Bay, but it was neat anyway.  With limited time, we go on the 3.5 mile loop trail.  This doesn’t get us on the glacier, but we have some views, get some exercise, and hunt for bears (didn’t see any)

We’re back at the visitor center around noon and catch the express bus back to town.  Since we do have to rush, we just get a snack at McDonald’s (man, their fries are good) and then press on to the sights of Juneau. 

Juneau is the state capital.  We see various government buildings- the capitol, governor’s mansion (former home of Sarah Palin), and the Assembly.  We also walk to the old octagonal shaped Russian Orthodox church.  All of these sights are unspectacular.  The city hall building, like many buildings. are drab and uninteresting.   Alaska is not memorable for its architecture.

Our time is running out so we get back on the ship before the mid-afternoon departure.   After showers and naps, we get dressed for the final formal night on the ship.  Dinner is good and we swing by to hear our favorite onboard crooner.  After a few songs, some of which we’ve already heard, we retire to our stateroom.
 

I also need to mention that L’ lived up to her other nickname (trouble) at dinner.  She reminded our waiters that my birthday was approaching.  To honor the occasion, they returned to sing me a song  and to sing both of us a song to celebrate our honeymoon.  It was, uh, cute.
 

We docked in Skagway early in the morning.  After breakfast, we got off the ship.  There is a bald eagle preserve in the area that we wanted to check out.  After comparing the cost to get there as estimated in Lonely Planet, for a slight premium, we booked a raft float tour through Princess.   This started in the late morning which gave us a little time to wander around Skagway.

As we walked into town, I commented that I bet a place like this has a fudge store.  It just had that look to it.  When we got into town there were friendly folks on the corner to help you find things in town.  I asked the nice woman if there was a fudge store.  I was in luck- there were two!  We wandered around the town and made sure to stop for some fudge (which turned out to be disappointing).  Skagway felt like just a tourist shopping trip and was not particularly interesting.  Our main adventure was the bald eagles and that was up next.

There was a lot of overhead to get to the bald eagle preserve, but it was worth it.   Once we made it there and had lunch, for about an hour and a half, we floated in a large raft down the Chilkat River.  The guide does all the rowing and steering- we are just passengers.  There were six of us in the raft.  We saw 10-20 bald eagles, including one take off from its nest.  It was very neat.  Seeing all these birds in the wild was spectacular. 

The weather was cool and mostly overcast, but with all my laers on, I was comfortable.   We were not getting in the water since it’s a chilly 40F.  We didn’t even get wet.
At the end of the float, they had hot chocolate and cookies waiting for the group (about 40 of us total).  My kind of rafting.
On the ferry back from Hanes, we had another run in with wildlife.  There was a humpback whale that was using its tail to confuse fish.  It does this by crashing its tail into the water surface.  We watched this for several minutes before it was out of view.  Soon we departed the ferry and returned to the ship.  We showered, went for dinner, caught some music onboard, and went to sleep.

Today was another day at sea, but more scenery was on the agenda than yesterday.  We would be cruising in Glacier Bay National Park.  The bay formed as the glacier receded.  It’s been doing that for at least 100 years.  I was surprised to learn that John Muir of Yosemite fame came to Glacier Bay in the late 1800s.  

Visibility today was mediocre because of the fires in Alaska and the Yukon (otherwise known as Canada).  We would be within a quarter mile of the Margerie Glacier so we’d still be able to see it.  The surrounding mountains were pretty and we can only imagine how spectacular it would be on a clear day.

The ship was in front of Margerie Glacier for a couple of hours and everyone was watching it and hoping to see it calve.  We lucked out and caught two large ice chunks calve off.  It really does sound like thunder.

By the afternoon, the ship had finished cruising around the glacier and we headed back the way we came.  From Glacier Bay we were on our way to our first port of call, Skagway.

After two full days in Denali, it was time to depart.  After some last minute arrangements so the bus picked us up at our hotel, we were on our way.  It was another clear day and we could see the mountain from the bus.  We stopped at Talkeetna Lodge late in the morning.  It’s not near anything, but we picked up some more passengers and had a short break.  The view out the deck of the lodge was spectacular on such a clear day.

We arrived in Anchorage in time for lunch and then we’re on our way to meet the ship at Whitier.  There is a single tunnel that we need to be at at 4:30.  It reverses direction every half hour so we have no need to rush.  We stop for a couple photo opportunities and then arrive in Whitier.  It’s sunny which we’re told is exceptionally rare.

We board the ship quickly, find our room, and then go for dinner. Following the emergency drill, we go to the room to unpack and sleep.   We sleep in and catch up on sleep. 

It’s fogged in and we’re at sea all day.   This is perfect for us- we sleep in, eat, take a nap, eat, catch the evening show, and go to sleep again.  We’re able to explore the ship and get acclimated to life on the cruise ship.  We’re finally rested and ready for tomorrow’s big day-sailing in Glacier Bay.

We spent a couple days in Denali National Park. 

The park operates on a shuttle bus system that goes down the only real road in the park.  It is closed,  for the most part, to private cars beyond the first few miles so everyone needs to book a bus ride in.    We purchased our bus tickets for both days the night we first arrived, so we just needed to be at the pickup point at the scheduled time.

On our first day, we had a ticket to Toklat River, about 6.5 hours round trip.  We opted for a little bit later start of 9:30am so we could catch up on a little sleep and be able to enjoy our time more.  We were only marginally successful in that endeavor.  For the 9:30 bus, we needed to be at the Wilderness Access Center (WAC) at 9:15am.  Since the buses from our hotel leave at :15 and :45 of the hour, we would need the 8:45 bus.  However, we wanted to stop at the park visitor center to inquire about hikes.  This meant we needed the 8:15 bus from our hotel.  Allowing time for breakfast, getting ready and packing up, we had to get up at 6:15am.  Another early start.

The visitor center was only slightly useful.  We learned that Denali is different from other national parks.  There are almost no official trails, despite the park being the size of the state of Massachusetts. We got a few suggestions, but nothing real clear as far as hiking.

We picked up the bus at the WAC.  After what seemed like just minutes, we saw a moose 10-20ft from the bus off the road.  It was a good start to the day and it would only get better.  We had lots of animal sightings during our two days here- grizzly bears, caribou, Dall sheep, a red fox, golden eagles, snow shoed hares and even a lynx (we’re told very rare).  I got most of the animal photos on day 2 when I brought the telephoto lens (my sherpa continues to insist I carry all my camera gear).

Day one was a good introduction to the park and we did a little hike up near Polychrome Mountain.  This included walking on tundra (which was recommended to us by the park ranger).  It’s spongy and your feet sink in several inches with each step.  Because it was cloudy, Mt. McKinley was not visible.  It’s amazing that a mountain over 20,000 feet tall could be completely obstructed, but it was. 

On our second day, we had the 7am shuttle to the Eilsen Visitor Center (eight hours round trip).  Most importantly, the sky was clear.  Aside from more great animal sightings today (moose, bears, wolf, Dall sheep, red fox) the highlight was Mt. McKinley.  It really is spectacular and  I took tons of photos including a bunch to stitch together for a panorama. 

Since it was such a clear day, we extended our bus trip to Wonder Lake which has a drive along the mountain range.  On the way back, we got off again at Eilsen and checked out the visitor center.  We did one of the two official trails around there.  Anybody who knows L’ knows which one we picked – the steep one.  It rose about 1000 feet in about a mile.  A good workout and we did it in much less time than the sign predicted.

We picked up a bus at the visitor cent and rode back.  We finally got our pizza dinner around 8pm.  Then we went back to our room to shower, pack, and get some sleep after another long day.

We’re finally off on our honeymoon!

Our direct flight left at nearly 8pm and we finally arrived at our hotel in Anchorage just before midnight.  Since I went to work today, it made for a very long day (we gained one hour from the time change).  We got to sleep as quickly as possible, but we were far from rested.  We spent less than 7 hours at the hotel and chekced out early in the morning.  It was a short cab to the train station.  We were riding the Alaska Railroad to Denali.  The A.R.R. was completed in 1923 and was government funded.

The ride to Denali was long, but pleasant.  We snoozed a bit and took in the scenery.  It was a typically cloudy day, so we had no views of Mt. McKinley.

The train arrived in Denali by mid-afternoon and we took the shuttle bus to the hotel.  After our bags arrived, we walked to the Wilderness Access Center of Denali National Park.  Here we took care of our Denali bus tickets for the next couple days.   This made sure that our trips into the park were arranged and that we didn’t have to deal with the lines and decisions related to ticket purchases  during valuable sightseeing time.   We stoped for dinner on our walk back and then collapsed in our rooms from the 24 hours of travel.

About a month after our wedding, we spent a weekend up in Napa Valley.  It’s a reasonable drive for a weekend and gave us some relaxation time.  We left after work on Friday (or my work), stopped in St. Helena for dinner, arriving at our B&B as it was finally getting dark.  On Saturday we went to the winery that was built like a European Castle.  The tour was neat and the wine just okay.  We bought one bottle of a tasty dessert wine.  Following lunch, I proceeded to take an afternoon nap.   I got up in time for dinner.

On Sunday we got some exercise hiking in Bothe-Napa Valley State Park.  We finished around lunch time and grabbed some unsurprisingly mediocre pizza.    We did another round of wine tasting  which was very disappointing.  For twenty bucks, none of the wines we tasted was even as good as the ten dollar bottles we buy at Safeway. Oh well.  We then headed home.

The weather was nice and warm (since June was unseasonably cool)  which was a pleasant change.  Here are the pictures:

http://www.sanjoseabrams.com/photos/NapaJune2009/index.html

Loyal readers know that we went to Yosemite back in April.  It’s been a crazy few months since then.  With a move and a wedding, there’s been precious little time to update the blog.  I had some time last weekend to sort through pictures from recent adventures.  They are slowly making their way online.

The Yosemite weekend was great.  It was my first time in Yosemite Valley, despite having lived three hours away for all these years.  We are truly spoiled to live so close to such a spectacular place.  I can see why photographers the world over trek there and go through way too many rolls of film.  We stayed in the Yosemite Lodge which is highly recommended.  The walls are thin, but the location can’t be beat.  You can see the tallest waterfall in North America from your doorstep (This is not an exaggeration).    We did our reququisite hiking (including an "advanced" hike that L’ lead me on to Sierra Point).   The weather was cool, but comfortable, and it was a needed break from a very unpleasant couple days. 

I took about 400 pictures over just a couple days.  Many of these were panoramas and multiple shots of similar subjects. I tried to whittle it down to just the highlights.  I’ve also made several of the panoramas and posted those online.  Links are below.

Photos:

http://www.sanjoseabrams.com/photos/YosemiteApril2009/

Yosemite Falls:

http://www.sanjoseabrams.com/photos/YosemiteApril2009/YosemiteFallsPano1/yosemite025_stitch.html/

Yosemite Valley and Falls:

http://www.sanjoseabrams.com/photos/YosemiteApril2009/YosemiteFallsPano3/yosemite252_stitch.html

Sierra Point (the only place in Yosemite where you can see four waterfalls) 360 degree panorama:

http://www.sanjoseabrams.com/photos/YosemiteApril2009/SierraPointPano/yosemite142_stitch.html

We took a weekend off from our wedding/house insanity to go to Yosemite and celebrate L”s birthday.  I had not been to Yosemite Valley and springtime is perfect for slightly reduced crowds and full waterfall action.  We did a couple hikes and I set a new record for photos- over 300 in two days (many of which are for panoramas, but still).  With so little free time between now and the wedding, this trip report will be short and I’ll only put a couple of the photo highlights.  Full album to come later

Inspiration point (Half Dome in the middle, El Capitan on the left, and Bridalveil falls on the right).

Yosemite Falls (mainly the Upper Yosemite Falls, but you can see part of Lower Yosemite Falls):

(Travel back to California; posted January 5th, 2009 from San Jose)

Today is mainly a travel day.  I get up before L’ which gives me time to do some last minute packing and check in with the family back east.  While I’m checking the news on the computer, L’ gradually moves around on the king bed until she is stretched diagonally across it.  She’s shorter than I am, yet somehow “needs” the whole bed (not to mention the whole blanket).  

We check out of the hotel, fill up the car, and get to the airport.  We have time to get a horribly over priced lunch at the airport ($15 for a tiny pizza, garden burger, and soda!?) so we’re not grumpy for the flight.  After our final agriculture screening, we board the flight to SFO (why would I have fruit with me?  Clearly, they don’t know me, unless rasinets are now officially considered fruit). 

Our fantastic Hawaii trip now becomes a cherished memory and our whirlwind, over booked lives resume all too soon.

Mahalo for reading about our adventure.

Jump to the Day 9 photos.