More Yukon

We left Alaska a week ago and are slowly making our way back across the Alcan once again.  We made it through the bad construction zone/ worst part of the Alcan which is the 100 miles in the Yukon by the Alaska border.  At least we hope it was the worst -- as we meet people on their way to Alaska they are reporting a bad 30 some mile stretch out of Dawson Creek.  So we might get it again at that end of the Alcan. 

We met up with the grizzly bear around the Kluane Lake area.  He was busy eating and digging close enough to the road that I was able to get a picture.  The drive through this area is probably the prettiest part of the whole trip.  If the road wasn't so bad it would be perfect.  The fireweed is in full bloom.  It blooms from the bottom up and supposedly when it blooms at the top that means summer is over and we've seen a lot of it blooming close to the top. 

We are in Whitehorse and should be in Dawson Creek by next weekend or at least very close. 

Glaciers

We got some close up views of some glaciers while in Alaska.  The top picture is Exit Glacier in Kenai Fjord National Park outside of Seward.  Its a bit of a hike to a platform that overlooks the glacier.  The glacier melts and runs into the Resurrection River which runs to Resurrection Bay in Seward and on to the ocean.  The bottom picture is Matanuska Glacier which is along the Glenn Highway northeast of Palmer.  It melts and runs to the Matanuska River which is mostly mud with some rushing water. 

We have left Seward and spent time in Palmer, Glennallen and now Tok.   We will be back in Canada tomorrow.  We have decided to take the Alcan all the way back to Dawson Creek.  We were planning to head south through British Columbia by way of the Cassiar highway but recent reports we've gotten say its bad.  We'll keep trying to get updates because its supposed to be a beautiful drive.  We do all agree that the last 100 miles of the Yukon before you get into Alaska are very bad.  Oh Yeah! we get to go through it again -- hope we get through without damage -- but I'm not feeling very lucky this time. 

Alaska Sealife Center

We finally made it to the Sealife Center in Seward.  They have seals and sea lions swimming in big tanks.  You can see them above the water and below the water.  This sea lion loved to swim up to the glass and check us out.  He would wave his flipper at you once in a while but we didn't see him do it.  The sea birds were amazing.  These were some tufted puffins.  They are fabulous swimmers.  We watched them from below the water as they dived way down in search of fish.  They would shoot straight up to the surface like rockets. 

The center also had king crab, octopus, urchins, all kinds of salmon, jellyfish, sole, halibut, rockfish, hermit crabs, barnacles and the list goes on and on.  They even had things that looked like starfish that you could gently touch with a finger in open tanks.   They felt squishy.  They also have an outdoor viewing platform overlooking Resurrection Bay.  We happened to catch sight of a sea otter swimming and eating close to the center.   

Seward, Alaska

 

We are staying in Seward for awhile visiting Jim's cousin.  We have been helping in his candy shop in town -- dipping chocolates -- and trying not to eat them.  Seward is an ocean port so cruise ships stop here.  The motto for the town is "Alaska starts here" because from here you can go up to Anchorage and then on in to the interior.   The whole town is surrounded by snow covered mountains.  Below the snow its the brightest green you have ever seen since this area is considered in a rain forest.  We can attest to the fact that it rains or drizzles a lot here.

4th of July is celebrated here with a marathon called Mount Marathon.  Racers run up the mountain -- you can see the trail going to the top -- and then back down into town to the finish line.  They run and climb up a mountain goat trail.  The mountain is over 3000 feet high and they start at sea level.  They come back down bloody and muddy.  The winner did this feat in 41 minutes -- amazing.  On July 5th there was a reality tv show shooting footage of 20 international teams doing this same race.   It was part of some kind of 7 day race across Alaska that included rafting, trekking, running, etc. with the finish being the Mount Marathon in Seward.    It will be interesting to see if we ever see this show televised.