Leaving Denali and Heading for Katmai

We left Kantishna Road House early for a 5-hour ride to the Denali train depot. We had a new bus driver, Kirstie, who hailed from Australia.

Lame cow moose running away

She was great and seemed even more knowledgeable than our driver the previous day.

A little close to the edge, Kirstie!

We later found out that the knowledge base comes from driving the bus for the past 17 years, and it was obvious that this experience and reaction from the other bus drivers made her the queen of the Denali park road.

A fox hunting for lunch

And Kirstie was also a good neighbor picking up a set of tire chains that had been jostled from another bus, and taking on 12 extra passengers from a neighboring road house when their bus broke down.  And who doesn’t love a true Aussie accent?

The bears stop traffic

About one hour into our journey we spotted a cow moose running away from the road and a large grizzly bear running near full speed down the road ahead of us. Watching the moose, Kirstie called out that it was lame in the right rear quarter.

Mama and her babies

We followed the bear for about 1¼ miles as it raced ahead of us, something Kirstie said that she had never seen. But because the bear was ahead of us, we weren’t able to get any images. Finally, the bear started slowing and left the road.

The kids

We speculate that the bear and the moose had an encounter of some type- either the bear attacked the moose or sensed that it was injured, when we happened upon them. Either way, we got to see something that our experienced drive had not witnessed before.

Caribou relaxing

Further up the road Capt. Larry called out a fox that everyone else on the bus missed. Kirstie backed the bus up and we watched fox, oblivious to our presence, hunt for his lunch. Shortly after watching the fox, Kirstie spotted a caribou laying next to the road chewing its cud. But the best wildlife encounter of trip was three bears, a sow and two two-year old cubs walking along the road and causing a bus jam while all of the passengers snapped photos. It was really cool to watch them for 15-20 minutes. Later on, Kirstie also called out a hoary marmot which ducked into its den before we could record it. It was an amazing ride to the depot and we generously thanked Kirstie for her expert driving and guiding.

The Alaska Railroad runs on time and once again we boarded for the 232-mile ride to Anchorage.

Here comes our train

We were in the domed car and shortly after we left the depot, we had a delicious roast beef lunch. The scenery on this leg of the railroad was even more spectacular than our previous train ride.

So long Jane!

We passed through several small towns and our guide told us about the history and development of these communities. We passed over Hurricane Gulch, the last and highest bridge on the railroad, and so named for the hurricane-speed winds that often blow through the pass.

Lunch is served

We saw some more little communities and listened to our coach guide tell us, in excruciating detail, about all of the plants and ferns that were edible (like this is what we came to Alaska to learn about!).

Hurricane Gulch

As we approached Anchorage there was less spectacular scenery to view, so we think the guide started to make things up to keep us entertained. We had a late arrival in Anchorage and finally got to our hotel around 2100. We had been riding, either on the bus or the train for about 13 hours and we were whipped. We went to a nearby restaurant for some dinner and turned in as soon as we could. Our itinerary called for an early flight out of the Anchorage airport to our next destination, Katmai N.P., our seventh park. We flew Penn Air airlines, an Alaska Airlines subsidiary or affiliate, for the 75 minute flight into King Salmon, AK.

Weighing in for the float plane

Here we took a shuttle from the airport to a lake where we would board a Katmai Air floatplane to get to the park.

Loading everything up

We finally arrived (much to Jane’s relief!) and checked into the Brooks Camp Lodge. Brooks Camp is an old fishing and hunting lodge that was started back in the late 40’s.

We made it

Today it is known as one of Alaska’s premier bear-viewing camps and is especially popular when the salmon are running and the bears are fishing and feasting. Immediately after check-in we had to attend a bear orientation program conducted by the park rangers.

Seven down, one to go!

This was our third orientation which allowed us a chance to compare notes. In Denali, as we mentioned previously, we were told that the bears don’t like to come into areas where there is a human presence, because the bears want to avoid human contact.

Anglers hoping to hook one

In Katmai one of the rangers said that sows will often bring their cubs near humans to protect them from males, and that males will often will kill the cubs to bring the sow back into estrus and it is important to avoid males, sows, and cubs in the same setting.

Where's Millette when you need her?

Katmai instructed us not to maintain eye contact with any bear we encounter (yeah, like we’re going to look away!). In Banff we were told to maintain eye contact, but raise your arms over your head (so they can get after the vital parts!) to look big (we’re talking about a 600-700 lb. animal!) and talk calmly to them to let them know you’re human (and tasty!). In Banff the instructions were to lie down on your belly and play dead, if attacked. Denali the advice was fight like hell.

Fishing for dinner

But after all of this “training” we think that the guide at Lake Clark was the most knowledgeable. He would watch the bears for a while to determine their disposition and then approach them if they showed no signs of stress by his presence.

We can do this!

This approach allowed us to get within 20 yards of one sow, and we never felt we were in danger. We were more at ease close to the bears in Lake Clark than any other park with all of their visitor protections.

They're just thick!

Capt. Larry noted that there were 8 rangers at Katmai tracking the positions of the bears near the lodge and pedestrian pathways and figured the mandated protections were more to give all of those rangers something to do. After the orientation we had lunch and went bear viewing. There is a low waterfall that the salmon have to scale and we headed for the falls to view the bears.

The lodge fireplace

As we arrived, we saw a single bear devouring a salmon. When the bear was finished with its meal, it ambled over to the banks and immediately caught another salmon in the heavily populated waters along the banks of the Katmai River. We watched a little longer and headed back to the lodge. Because the bears roam through areas that are shared with visitors, we found it interesting to see all of the protections that are present to keep the bears separated from the people.

It's late, better hold it in!

We got back to our “rustic” (but comfortable the ad said!) accommodations and turned in for the night. We were surprised at the construction of our cabin which had no insulation in the walls (they close it down in the winter) and the walls were made of wood. Naturally sound permeated the walls and we were advised to be considerate of our neighbors and not flush the toilet after 2200 (better hold that in, Jane). The next morning we were awakened by someone farting on the toilet in the room next to us. Who would have imagined in this day and age? And all of these conveniences for the mere price of $384 pp/day.

The next day we boarded a bus for a tour to the “Valley of 10,000 Smokes.”

Fording a river to the valley

This valley is actually the reason (and not the bears) the park was created in the first place. In 1912 a volcano, later named Novarupta, erupted producing a huge ash and debris field. Volcanic ash was recorded up to 700 feet thick making this eruption the largest to occur in North America in the 20^th century.

Valley of 10,000 Smokes ash field

As a result of this hot ash deposit, the ground and surface waters were superheated producing numerous fissures, fumaroles, and steam vents that appeared to be smoking, hence the name Valley of 10,000 Smokes. This steam vent field dissipated by 1919, and today the valley’s attraction is the natural erosion of the ash field by streams and rivers, much like a mini-Grand Canyon. It was awesome to see.

Erosion of the ash and debris field

On the way back to the lodge we encountered a "bear jam" which occurs when the bears wander into the areas used by humans (hmmmm, thought they avoided that stuff). We were on the other sided of the river and the bridge was closed until the bears moved out. We were only 1 hour away from boarding our flight back to King Solomon and were starting to wonder if we were going to make it. Finally, the rangers signaled an "all clear" and we scooted to the lodge. We checked out of the lodge only to be chased from the beach by bears on 3 instances while waiting for our float plane. We finally made it back to Anchorage to stage for our final national park, Glacier Bay.

Here's some pics of the protective gates we had to pass through to view the bears at the falls. Your tax dollars at work!

 

Doing Denali by Train and Bus

The Alaskan Railroad provides passenger and cargo service between Fairbanks and Seward with short spurs to other towns and villages along this corridor.

Jane gets some train jewelry

The railroad has a modern, well-maintained fleet of cars and passenger service to places like Denali, N.P., making passenger train travel one of the most used means of transportation along this corridor.

Breakfast in the dining car

Our itinerary called for travel to Denali, our next and sixth Alaskan national park, via the Alaskan Railroad.

Mmmmmmmm!

We arrived at the Fairbanks depot by our hotel shuttle and checked in. We had upgraded to a domed vista car and were given a pin to wear that identified us as travelers in that car.

On a curve

The train departed exactly on time at 0815 and shortly after departure, we elected to have breakfast in the dining car which was delicious.

Some beautiful views from the train

After our meal we returned to our seats and had a panoramic view of the Alaskan wilderness. Several historical landmarks were called out along with many moose sightings, and we got to see many small towns that depend on the railroad for their survival. We arrived in Denali, N.P. and got off the train looking for a bus that would take us to the Kantishna Wilderness Lodge some 90 miles into the park.

We found a bus marked Kantishna Roadhouse (KRH), but were told that our bus would be arriving in approximately one hour. The bus left leaving one lady behind with the KRH sign who took Jane’s voucher and luggage tags.

At the Denali Park depot

This caused Jane some consternation, and to make matters worse, we were unable to locate our luggage. We had received really vague instructions as to how the luggage would be handled, and the only markings on our pieces were some blue tags that said Denali. Jane was beginning to panic, so Capt. Larry went looking for our luggage. He found several bins of luggage near the main depot office, but all of them were marked with red Anchorage tags. He then followed a tow truck operator that seemed have picked up a bin from our train, but the driver delivered the bin to all of the others that appeared to be headed for Anchorage. He went back to report to Jane that he didn’t have a clue as to the whereabouts of our luggage. Suddenly the train whistled and started to head south to Anchorage, without any of the luggage that seemed to be marked for that stop and perhaps with ours still onboard. The voucher instructions were clear that there was just one bus to KRH a day and you had to catch it or pay to be flown in. Jane was fretting when KRH sign lady suddenly pulled our luggage from a nearby parked van. To Capt. Larry that indicated that everything was under control, but Jane was still worrying about where the bus was. Nothing to do but wait. Around 1330, about 1½ hours after our arrival to Denali, our bus appeared and Jane was happy again!

We boarded the bus, got settled in, and when everyone seemed ready to go, our bus driver introduced herself as Evie Shields from Golden, CO, daughter of Jim and Mary Greenwell, also of Golden, and said that that was the way the Athabascans, native people of this area, introduced themselves. She said that she adopted this introduction because it showed respect for your elders and she liked that principle.

Willow ptmarigan with chicks hidden

We could tell right away that she was going to be a hoot.

Caribou in the snow

We headed into the park and a very long drive to KRH. As we traveled through the park, Evie related a lot of information about the park’s geology, native peoples in the area, and park history and development. She was a fountain of information and told us she had to study for almost an entire year to become qualified to be a bus driver. She lived in the area in Nenana, about 70 miles north of the park, and it was obvious that she enjoyed her job.

A ground squirrel

We followed the park road to a ranger checkpoint which signaled the end of the paved road. Capt. Larry asked the ranger about where he could obtain the park stamps. We would have two opportunities to collect the stamps at stopping points along the way.

And more bears

About 20 miles further in, the road became a single lane gravel road which also signaled the beginning of the mountain passes. We had to buckle our seatbelts because of the several hundred foot sheer drop offs at the sides of these passes. This made us glad we weren’t driving. We spotted some wildlife with the most notable being a willow ptarmigan with about 10 baby chicks right along the roadside. The chicks scurried for cover as we approached and mama started clucking to keep them out of harm’s way. We watched them for several minutes before moving on. Further up the road we saw some more bears and our first ground squirrel. Ground squirrels, picas, snowshoe hares, shrews, mice and other small mammals are important food sources to mammals further up the food chain that people like to see such as lynx, bear, badgers, marmots, foxes, etc.

Get your stamp here!

We stopped at two visitor’s centers where a checkpoint ranger had told us we could collect two of the park’s 6 stamps. At the second stop, the Eierson Visitor’s Center, we had an opportunity to view Mt. McKinley.

McKinley peaks, north right, south left

Unfortunately, it wasn’t a good viewing day due to the clouds surrounding the mountain and the smoke and haze from nearby forest fires. We look for the peak (actually two peaks- a North Peak at just under, and a South Peak at just over 20,000 peak) but were having trouble locating it until a fellow visitor pointed it out. We were looking way too low and when we got the right elevation we could see the sun reflecting off the snow of the North Peak (we think). We watched for 15 minutes as the clouds revealed and then hid the peaks behind their blanket. We took several photos which are hard to decipher, but we did capture images that showed the peaks.

KRH

Moving on we spotted some caribou in some last remaining snow near the tops of some lower mountains. We learned that biting flies invade the noses of the caribou and lay their eggs in their nares. The larvae hatch and irritate the nasal passages, driving the caribou crazy. They find relief in these snow patches where they stick their noses in the snow for its cooling effect. We saw some more spectacular scenery on the way to the lodge and Evie was lecturing her heart out. She ended by talking about Alaska’s state flag and singing the state’s anthem as we arrived at our lodge, the Kantishna Road House. The lodge is located at the end of the park’s lone road and 91 miles into the park. It took us about 7 hours to make it in. We debarked the bus into a hoard of swarming mosquitoes and checked in. We had dinner and hit the hay early.

The next morning we had a variety of activities to choose from. We elected to ride the shuttle out to a glacier lake named Wonder Lake and hike the 3.2 miles back to the lodge.

At Wonder Lake

Wonder Lake used to be called I Wonder Lake, so named by two explorers who went through the area several times before they found it and journaled “I wonder how we missed this.” On the way to the lake we spotted a bull moose eating in a creek near the lodge.

Bull moose in creek

We left the bus at Wonder Lake and started our trek back. Just before we departed, the guide told us we probably didn’t have to worry about any bear encounters, because they stay away from the roads to avoid human contact. Capt. Larry told Jane that he thought that advice was a lot of B.S. and the bears pretty much went wherever they wanted to.

Learning about mushing

He confirmed this with all of the bear scat and footprints along the road and said if that was true then why do they have to put the lodge garbage in bear-proof bins! We made it back to the lodge and had lunch. Capt. Larry decided that he was going to work on the blog and Jane wanted to go see the sled dog demonstration.

Get along little doggie!

She learned about the races and what it took to qualify, enter ($5000 for the Iditarod), prepare for the races and the race rules.

Panning for gold

The she saw a full team hitched to an ATV for a practice run. What was most interesting was how the dogs are now being bred for different characteristics.

I'm rich!

For instance, huskies don’t like to get their feet wet so they are being cross-bred with labs that have no problem with the water. Dog sledding is a big business in Alaska and last year a lead dog sold for $40,000.

Rum money

After the dog sled demonstration she went panning for gold and was lucky enough to find a gold flake. The lodge laminated it as a keepsake, but Capt. Larry thought it should be cashed in to buy some rum.  We had a delicious dinner and turned in early, because we had to catch an early bus the next morning and a 6 hour ride to catch the train back to Anchorage.

Mountain flowers