FRIDAY'S FOTO

Alaskan landscape yields photographs that look more like paintings
Alaska is an incredibly beautiful state.

FRIDAY'S FOTO--THE FLOWERS OF COPPER RIVER, ALASKA

Beautiful flowers from the Copper River area in Alaska
I thought the bright, happy colors might be a
nice remembrance of what spring and summer
look like.

FRIDAY'S FOTO

Since Kilahuea Volcano on Hawaii's Big Island is so much in the news lately as it is active now
and spilling lava down to the populated areas surrounding it,
I thought I'd share some of my photos in the next weeks.
Here is the caldera, quiet yet steaming.
It was, in 2012, a sleeping giant.

FRIDAY'S FOTO



In honor of our upcoming birthday on July 4, 2013.
The American Bald Eagle, our National Bird
I took these photographs in Ketchikan, Alaska



FRIDAY'S FOTO



This is not the moon.  We were on an Alaskan glacier. 
The black backgound are the mountains through which the glacier flows.
Breathtakingly beautiful.  Being there is almost a spiritual experience.



FRIDAY'S FOTO



Some Alaskan scenery looks more like a painting than a photograph.  Isn't this magnificent?



FRIDAY'S FOTO

Flying into Anchorage over the rugged mountains, I saw, for the first time, the pristine snow, the flowing glaciers, and the enormity of the land.  Truely AWESOME.

OUR LAST STOP IN ALASKA--KETCHIKAN

Just when I think I’ve been wowed enough in Alaska, we sail into our last port, Ketchikan, located in the heart of the Tongass National Forest, the nation’s largest at 17 million acres. I’ve been writing about ice and snow. Ketchikan sits in the middle of a temperate rain forest. The yearly rainfall is 162 inches! It rains almost 240 days a year. In the higher altitudes there is ice, but it leads to grassy wetlands, rivers, and lush forests that are homes to a myriad of animals, fish, and birds. So abundant and fertile is this land that the original people, the Tlingit tribe, had no word for starvation. WOW!

We enter downtown Ketchikan passing under the arch proclaiming it the Salmon Capital of the World, and it is home of all five species of salmon who depend on the streams and waters of the Tongass for spawning, leaving their roe on the gravel.

With a Walking Tour Map obtained at the Visitor Center, we walk this town which essentially climbs up the mountain. The original streets were either wooden planks or steps. This is a town of people working hard as fisherman or guides catering to the tourist trade.

THIS STREET IS MARRIED MAN'S TRAIL. LOVED THE NAME.

The most amazing point on our tour is the fish ladder in Ketchikan creek. As we climb so do the salmon, and there are fish ladders to help them in their struggle to get to the top to spawn. Yes, the gravel beds of Ketchikan are the end of the salmon struggle, and incredibly they are so thick in numbers that the shallow streams are black with them. Rob and I stay at the ladders a long time, mesmerized watching those who did not enter the ladders try to jump to the next level.

In this video, you can see how turbulent the water is moving down the mountain while those black blips are salmon trying to go against the forces to climb up to the spawning grounds. It’s an awesome sight—very sad, I think.

At the top where the fish are thick, young boys, today’s Huckleberry Finns, are barefoot in the water with fish nets or quick hands, some even shedding their jeans to wade in their underwear trying to catch the salmon. As with all of Alaska, we’re in another world, and it’s beautiful to watch.

The boy in the striped shirt actually DID catch one with his hands!

We take a tour of the Deer Mountain Tribal Hatchery and Eagle Center where we see how the fish are studied, bred, and released. They release more than 300,000 fish annually.

This also is an eagle rescue center, and there are several magnificent and regal birds in residence.



Across from the hatchery is the Totem Heritage Center, a museum dedicated to the preservation of the totem poles including original unrestored examples. Many were carved by native artists in the heyday of totem pole carving in the middle of the 19th century. This center, too, is fascinating, and the self-guided tour allows us to really get a good look at the carvings and learn some of the symbols native carvers used.


Walking back downtown, we come to Creek Street

which became the red light district in 1903 when the City Council ordered the bordellos to relocate across the creek from the town. At one time there were thirty-eight bordellos here. When the city outlawed prostitution in 1953, Creek Street became a mixed residential and commercial area. It was here I finally succumbed to an urge and bought a piece of the Orocal jewelry I’d seen in Anchorage but resisted. Beautiful! But I saw another example of Alaskan humor.


It was a little sad walking back to the Coral Princess knowing we were leaving for Vancouver. We’d been told that our next trip to Alaska should begin at Kodiak or Sitka where we’d see a totally different Alaska. I’d like to do that. I’d also like to come back and spend a few winter weeks in Anchorage. Just to see what it's like. You never know.

This is an awesome place. Spend as much time here as you possibly can to experience as much of the diversity as you can. America is beautiful, and you really don’t want to miss this!

travel trips vacations "Third Age Traveler" "third age" "senior travel" "travel blogs" blogs U.S.A. Alaska Ketchikan Princess "Coral Princess" salmon water fish nature rivers "fish ladders" "Huck Finn" boys houses "Creek Street" shopping photography "travel photos" photos cruises ports
Increase blog traffic

DOWNTOWN JUNEAU AND THEN SOME

After our helicopter ride, we walked around Juneau, Alaska’s capital since 1900. The city, now the third largest in Alaska, began as a gold mine town, and growth really began around 1882. Summer in Juneau translates to 16-18 hours of sunlight!!! That is so cool!


We had the bus driver let us off outside the Paradise Bakery & Cafe, so we could have a cup of coffee and think about our glacial experience. Lo and behold, the décor is to Rob’s liking—Patsy Cline!!!



Juneau has a frontier town atmosphere, and we wanted to wander. We did get to see several passersby we knew weren’t there as cruise tourists!


Outside City Hall there is a mural depicting a Haida view of creation. The Haida are part of the Tlingit nation, the indigenous people.


Juneau has many museums, and in one we visited, there were newspaper clippings from WWII. One was of our declaration of war with Japan, and the others were of entertainers up there to perform for the troops—including Al Jolson, and in Juneau, as everywhere else in Alaska, we got to chuckle at some more Alaskan humor and fun. If Juneau seems far away now, imagine how it was in 1941. Yet these entertainers came up here for the military. Very heartening.



Folks in Juneau get around in floatplanes, and down by the docks they are parked as we park our cars.


Inevitably, Rob and I found our way to the Red Dog Saloon with some friends, Bunny and Tom. Atmosphere, atmosphere, atmosphere! In the territorial days, Gordie Kanouse would meet tour boats with his mule and wore a sign saying, “follow my ass to the Red Dog Saloon.”

Want to eat? Order “The Avalanche, a one-third pound beef patty served with lettuce, tomato, pickles, grilled onions, cheese, bacon and topped with our famous BBQ sauce. Served on a Kaiser bun.” (no, I didn’t) But the highlight was the honky tonk piano player. He was really good, really into ragtime, and really a big talker and joker. NOTICE HIS TIP JARS




And the day didn’t end there. We wanted to get back to the ship to hear a presentation by Libby Riddles, the first woman, in 1985 to win the Iditarod, the famous dog sled endurance race from Anchorage to Nome. A musher since 1976, she tells a fascinating story, but two factoids will stay with me always: sled dogs are mixed breeds, not pure husky, and these dogs have two layers of fur to protect them. Makes me wonder about my insane desire to spend a winter month in Anchorage just to see what it's life. If you visit Libby's website at www.libbyriddles.com, you get an inkling of the strength of this woman. You might even buy a t-shirt emblazoned with this saying, “Alaska—where men are men and women win the Iditarod.” Ha! Ha!

JUNEAU, ALASKA & THE MENDENHALL GLACIER

Here in Juneau, Alaska’s capital, we experienced the highlight of the ENTIRE trip, the helicopter ride to the Mendenhall Glacier. Dressing warmly, we put on the appropriate equipment—special studded boots to grab into the sleek icy surface.
The turbine helicopter ride, my first, was exhilarating and far beyond my expectations; in fact this was something I dreaded but felt necessary. How could I come to Alaska and not helicopter to a glacier?

My smile began and my white-knuckled grip relaxed even as the helicopter left the ground, and we soared over the landscape reveling in the blues, green, whites, and blacks—all vivid and magnificent.


From above we looked down on the alpine ridges and then viewed the deep crevasses and the colors of the ice. The blue is caused by the reflection of the sun on the water. We saw the ice falls where the Juneau Icefield overflows to form the Mendenhall Glacier.




On the surface of the glacier, Rob looked around and proclaimed quite rightly, “This is spiritual.” Each moment was an experience in Nature’s power, artistry, and creativity.



Our guide explained how glaciers form, flow, and shape the landscape. Gingerly, I walked on the glacier while Rob straddled and photographed a crevasse.


The water moving through the crevasses looked like Nature’s own monumental waterslide—a beautiful, natural flow of blue through the white ice and the lines of silt.



Enjoy the images I’ve captured to tweak my memory and to share with you.

travel trips vacations "third age" "third age traveler" "senior travel" photography "travel photos" photos "United States" U.S.A. Alaska Juneau "Mendenhall Glacier" tours cruises "Princess Cruises" helicopters nature ice glaciers crevasses
Online tag generator

SKAGWAY, ALASKA pt. 3

Despite the busy schedule, we still had plenty of time to meander through Skagway, a frontier town with a seven-block-long historic district known as the Klondike Gold Rush National Historic Park. We visited a re-created saloon complete with patrons and Bass Ale in the window.

There the turn-of-the-century shops and saloons are still open for business. Remember that 100,000 people set out for the Klondike, but only 30,000 reached Dawson city. Others, men and women saw right gold right in the little hamlet of Skagway, and their entrepreneurial spirit mixed gold miners with painted ladies,

(WE SEE THIS LITERAL "PAINTED LADY" AS WE WALK DOWN THE STREET)

con-artists and gamblers. Skagway was modern with electric lights and telephones. It boasted 80 saloons, three breweries, many brothels, and just about anything that could possibly separate a man from his money.

Rob and I knew where we would separate ourselves from some of our money—The Red Onion Saloon—at one time the classiest dance hall in Skagway.

It had an upstairs bordello of ten rooms, small but extravagantly decorated. There were three exits to each room as well as hole cut in the floor with a copper tube connected to the cashier’s desk. A discriminating client, after a few drinks downstairs and perhaps some dances, could choose from ten dolls displayed behind the bar, each one representing one of the ten girls upstairs. When the client chose, the bartender would lay the doll on her back, indicating she was busy. When her money moved down the tube to the cashier, the bartender placed the doll in the upright position. She was back on the available list.

Very efficient, wouldn’t you say! Today we can take a 15 minute “brothel tour,” but we pass in favor of some brew and time enjoying the Red Onion décor!

SOME MORE PICS OF SKAGWAY

HOW'S THIS FOR A SNOWBLOWER!!!

Today’s Skagway is interesting but quite different. A modest home costs $250,000. In the winter, the population drops to 400. In fact, about 4,000 Alaskans of a population of 686,000 spend the winter in Hawaii each year. Despite the climate, the people of Skagway know how to have fun. They are in the Guinness Book of Records for Having the Most People Participate in and Egg Toss. On July 4, 2008, they had 1162 people participate!

Can you tell we enjoyed our time in this place? It brings a smile just to remember and write of it.

travel thirdagetraveler "senior travel" vacations trips "United States" Alaska Skagway "Red Onion Saloon" "gold rush" cruises "National Parks" brothels bars "Bass Ale" pictures "travel photos" "Guinness Book of Records" eggs
Increase blog traffic