Part Four - the Return From Alaska

Shannon and I flew back to Vancouver through Seattle, spent the night and drove east in our popup camper across British Columbia into Alberta, where we explored Jasper and Banff Parks.

Mount Edith Cavell and Angel Glacier, Jasper Provincial Park

Lake Louise, overrun with tourists

Banff, with Mt Rundle overlooking the town

After a night at the luxurious Blackfoot Hotel in Calgary we then returned across the US border into Glacier NP.

Black bear munching at the roadside

The fine clear weather that had blessed us so remarkably at Denali then turned sour: rain, sleet, hail and snow chased us out of Glacier and south toward Yellowstone.

Mammoth Hot Springs on a cold, cold day

Tatanka

Undine Falls

The crowd waiting faithfully for Old Faithful to show

Beehive Geyser was a better display

The weather added drama to Geyser Basin views

Sunset over Yellowstone Lake

After a few nights camping we headed south again, passing through Grand Teton NP.

We spent one night at Dinosaur National Monument before continuing east to visit my daughter Amelia and her family outside Ft Collins CO, and then one final night of camping at Lathrop State Park before arriving home again.

Spanish Peaks in the background

THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE HOME!

Going to Alaska - Part Three

DENALI

Griz and cubs.  Animals are THE big draw on the road tour into Denali.

As we drove up the long dusty road into Denali NP our driver/guide often stopped to show us the sights; all passengers were invited to call out when they saw wildlife and to add its location -- "Stop!  Squirrel, two o'clock" was heard.

 The grizzlies, she reminded us, were in hyperphagia, eating everything in sight as they prepared for winter, consuming 30-, 40-, even 50,000 calories a day.  And, she said, they've not been anywhere near a cruise ship buffet.

She went on to relate the story (tour guides in my experience are just full of ... stories) about a Denali Park Ranger who suddenly came face to face with a grizzly and in the shock of the moment, fearing for his life, forgot everything he had been taught about bear encounter survival tactics.  No, he did not run.  He burst into song, rendering a full-throated rendition of You Are My Sunshine at top volume.  The bear apparently didn't care for his singing, and it wandered off.

Mountain Goats

Moose

The mountain itself was the real point of it all of course; at 20,320 feet elevation the tallest in North America

Breath-taking.  Majestic.  Awe-inspiring.  Adjectives are inadequate.

Caribou

Two days later we rode back to Anchorage on the dome train

We spent several fun days exploring Anchorage and finished off with a delightful dinner at Simon and Seafort's Saloon and Grill, overlooking the Pacific Ocean.

On to Part Four - The Return Leg

Going to Alaska - Part Two

Ketchikan

We took a guided tour of Ketchikan and the lady told a touching story about this local landmark:

She told us how, when the Tatsuda family was shipped off to the internment camps for Japanese citizens in 1942 following the outbreak of WWII, local people kept their store open for them, ran it at a profit, and when the Tatsudas came home after the War, all the profits were returned to the family.  Great story.  Warm fuzzies.  Only ... it's not true.

http://www.sitnews.us/Kiffer/Tatsuda/051916_tatsuda.html

North toward Juneau

Part of our coach tour of Juneau took us to Glacier Gardens in the Tongass National Rainforest:

This is what results when a heavy equipment operator has too much time on his hands -- he stuck a tree back into the ground upside-down and discovered that they could make interesting Flower Towers.  To me they just seem weird.

But not as weird as one of our fellow passengers, an old curmudgeon who, when our young guide girl mentioned that the Tongass forest was being expanded, hollered, "Whatta you need all them trees for?  Cut 'em down!  Use 'em."

??!!

Later we visited the majestic Mendenhall Glacier:

Nugget Falls

See the tiny red canoe?

Fuzzy Telephoto

After Juneau we stopped in Skagway.  Free WIFI in their library.

LOL

And then on to Glacier Bay National Park the next day.  There are one thousand named glaciers there, all receding at a frightening pace.

The Captain allowed sightseers out on the bow

Trees lend a sense of scale against this massive glacier

Some extend many miles back into the mountains

Saw one Grizzly Bear way over on shore

The day after Glacier Bay we disembarked in Seward AK and traveled up to  the tourist village that Holland America/Princess Line built at the entrance to Denali National Park, the highlight of the entire 6,000 mile trip.

Click on to Part Three

Going to Alaska - Part One

Mt McKinley/Denali, shot from the dome train

Alaska -- it was of course a long way to travel.  Starting from Durango we drove west, planning to spend two nights with friends Steve and Donna Bierut in Groveland near Yosemite.  Unfortunately they were not able to join us but Shannon and I still managed to enjoy Yosemite, hitting spots we had not been to previously.

Half Dome from Glacier Point

We drove north from Yosemite to Lassen Vocanic NP....

And on to Crater Lake NP.

Wizard Island way over there

That Amazing Color!

Then we visited my cousin Christine in Bandon OR.

Windy Beach at Bandon

Next we visited friends from the Ft Defiance days, Sean and Kaori Donohue, at their home in colorful Portland OR.

Fantastic Japanese Gardens in Portland

Zen Rocks.  I won't clutter up the blog with all my pics of stone lanterns.  Love stone lanterns!

Kaori, Sean, and Shannon at the historic Pittock Mansion

Multnomah Falls, east from Portland along the Columbia River

Then on to Vancouver BC.

In Vancouver we boarded the Holland America Noordam (above Shannon's head) for the cruise up the Inside Passage to Valdez AK.

                                     Click for Part Two

ALASKA

Tour canoe at Mendenhall Glacier

This past Monday Shannon and I returned from an adventure of almost six weeks and over six thousand miles of driving, visiting ten national parks in the US and Canada, with the highlight being Denali.

20,320 foot tall Denali "the high one" in Athabascan native tongue

The shot above is from 30 miles away.  I'm still culling through almost a thousand photographs we had taken along the long, long way.  More to come.