Alaska Trip

*ridiculously long entry*

Hello boys and girls! I've been too busy to update. But now I've got my photos sorted out (sorta) and I'm gonna put up some pictures of the places I've been to. Alaska is really big, and everything in it is big too. More descriptions as we go along...

Day 1 - Portage Glacier and Alyeska

Portage Glacier is about 1 hour's drive away from Anchorage, and after we boarded the coach we were treated to some really nice scenery as we headed South.



Some of the mountains and glaciers we passed on the way to Portage. There are lots of small waterfalls, lakes and of course, Turnagain Arm (the body of water that surrounds Anchorage to the South/Knik Arm is North).






See that RV (I just found out it stands for recreational vehicle!) in the foreground? I wanted to rent one of those and drive around Alaska, but it was way too expensive. Would have been cool though, cos you can find a nice spot almost anywhere and just stop there for the night.

-------

Let's do a little introduction to glaciers before we get to Portage Glacier! Adapted from the Chugach National Forest brochure: Glaciers are large bodies of ice that form on land, remain year-round, and are moving. They are commonly referred to as rivers of ice and there are 100,000 of them in Alaska!!! -faint- They were everywhere, so we gave up trying to count how many there were.

Q: Why are glaciers blue?
A: Glacial ice is formed under pressure, creating ice with few cracks or air bubbles. When sunlight hits the glacial ice, most of the colors of the spectrum are absorbed - only the blue wavelengths are reflected to your eye. On overcast days, clouds filter colors such as reds, oranges and yellows, making glacial ice appear a more intense blue.

-------

And back to the story. Here are pictures of Portage Glacier. Its quite big, but it used to be bigger. Global warming and all...






Kenny, me and the captain with a fake life buoy - its actually quite heavy.






The wind was so strong, half the time I was being blown to bits. That explains the standing-hair syndrome (SHS) and slit-eye syndrome (SES).

With the coach driver, don't know his name.

After this we went to the Begich-Boggs Visitor Center to see some exhibits about Portage Glacier and Prince William Sound (glaciers and wildlife). This was actually interesting. The exhibits were nicely designed and informative and they've got a huge ice worm cushion! As their name suggests, ice worms live in glacial ice and are so sensitive to heat that if a human finger touches an ice worm it may die instantly from the heat.










After we were done with the Visitor Center, we went outside to walk along Portage Lake. There were a few icebergs floating in the water, which had calved off the glacier.














Following this we took the coach to Mount Alyeska, which is on the way back to Anchorage. It's located within the ski resort community of Girdwood, which incidentally is one of my favourite places so far. It's surrounded by 7 permanent glaciers, and in the winter this place has really good skiing but unfortunately the snow has melted by now. However, they still have a really cool tram ride up to the top. The peak is still covered in snow. If you hike up the mountain (which I plan to do), the tram ride down is free! I also wanted to do tandem paragliding but there wasn't enough time.












This here is the Alyeska Prince Resort - very high class and is pretty famous. Looks like a Tibetan monastery if you ask me!






Then back to Anchorage where we went grocery shopping for our trip to Denali!

Day 2-4 - Denali National Park and Preserve

Today we took the McKinley Explorer (rail) to Denali. The train was very high class. It had 2 levels and a fully domed roof so you can see out all around except for a very narrow strip of roof in the middle. The lower levels have table booths for meals and a bar cum gift shop. The upper levels contain the seats and a small drinks bar. Very different from the trains in Europe! That's probably because the rail car I took belongs to a tour company, not the rail company. The Alaska Railroad cars are at the head of the train, followed by the rail cars of 2 different tour companies. Interesting setup. Some nice scenery along the way but mostly the train was too s l o w. Really wished it would speed up.








When we got to Denali we had dinner at a restaurant called the Overlook Bar & Grill. KK had halibut with roasted potatoes while I had seafood pasta with halibut, shrimp and salmon. Yummy~~~ Regret not taking photos.


I was looking at this funny clock when I realised it tells the temperature, not the time!

After dinner, we took the shuttle to our hostel. The Denali Mountain Morning Hostel turned out to be the nicest hostel I've ever stayed in! They have cabins with either dorm/private style accomodations. Our tent cabin was right by a creek with blue-gray water which made a very pleasant gurgling sound. There were lots of snow-capped mountains around too. And their kitchen cum lounge is soooo nice. Full of pots and pans and cups and cutlery, with a plushy couch and dining table for people to hang out or read a book. There are books for reading (they have a book exchange scheme going on where you can leave a book in exchange for one on the shelf), and they even provide free rice and pasta! There's soya sauce, sugar etc etc. Toilets were clean too and you're supposed to clean up after yourself. I like the system.




In the morning, we went to Jeff King's Husky Homestead. I'm a big fan of dogs, huskies in particular, so I was really excited because the first thing that greeted us was a puppy holding session! I held this really cute grey puppy with the saddest eyes. Unlike the other puppies who were screaming (yes, not barking or whining), this one was really quiet and adorable. Couldn't bear to let him go :(







It was time for the long shuttle bus ride into the park. To protect the park, only one road was cut into it and only the park shuttle buses are allowed to drive in. The ride was 8 hours roundtrip, which makes for sore bums. But in return for that, we did see beautiful scenery, and lots of wildlife - caribou, moose, Dall sheep, grizzly bears, snowshoe hares and ground squirrels. Pictures don't do justice to the place!










Moose and caribou shed their antlers every year, not necessarily both at the same time. Each of these things can weigh around 18 pounds!




On Friday morning, we went white water rafting. I was so excited! I was deciding whether to do the class I-II or III-IV rapids, and also whether to let the guide row me around, or do the paddling myself. I opted for class III-IV, and paddling. Tee hee luckily I did that. Think I would have been bored to tears on the class I-II. And really, its not all that hard as long as the guide is there. They provide you with dry suits so you don't get wet at all except for the face and hands. It's really cold though, but fun. This one guy puked! I heard something about someone not feeling well behind and turned around just in time to catch sight of his brown liquid projectile go straight into the river. Swimming anyone?

-pictures later for this segment-

Some souvenir shopping rounded up our stay in Denali. Not enough time at all :(

Day 5 - Anchorage Downtown Market & Festival and Drive down South

Started off the day by going to pick up our rental car, a PT Cruiser. American car - not used to it! You don't pull the handle to open it, you press a button on the handle. Anyway, after a BK breakfast, we went to the weekend market, my favourite place in Anchorage. Lots of cool stuff, books, souvenirs and FOOD :D

Decided to take a drive down South. The drive has been rated among the top 10 scenic byways in the US. It was really nice. Glaciers were all over the place. Mountains and waterfalls and lakes and trees everywhere.












Visited the Wildlife Conservation Center. It is the coolest place where abandoned animals are brought and showcased. The animals that can be are rehabilitated and released into the wild but those that are dependent on humans are kept there and visitors are charged an entrance fee to keep the place going. Money well spent! They have elk, caribou, deer, bears, owls, eagles, porcupines and musk ox. Not sure if I missed out anything...


Some guy gave me a carrot to feed the elk with. Elk are really really beautiful animals. Very docile, graceful and elegant-looking with soulful eyes. The fur on their antlers is very soft and nice to touch!



This is a musk ox. They are farmed for qiviut (musk ox wool) , which amazingly enough, is 8 times warmer than sheep wool. I tried it, and a very thin layered scarf really made my hand feel instantly warm.




Porcupine. A lot uglier than I expected!






Ted Stevens Airport - Domestic Terminal


No more time, so we had to head back for Kenny to buy some souvenirs and then head off to the airport. We were pressed for time so it was a hurried goodbye but KK if you read this thanks for flying up here! I had a great time :) See you in Singapore.