Back from Alaska, Photos

We are back from “North to Alaska”.  It was an amazing trip.  We flew by jet, rode boats, buses, motorcoaches, train, bush plane and more.  It was a bit cooler than we thought it would be as it rained most of the time.  The only cancellations were  a flight to see Mt. McKinley (Danali) and the white water rafting in Danali.  I was not very excited about that and was the only person of the 50 or so in the shed smiling when they cancelled.  It was cold, rainy and windy.  The wind was the deciding factor .. something about rafts blowing over.  I can live without that!!

We saw a great deal of wildlife, mostly from a distance.  We had beautiful scenery even with the clouds.  We ate a huge amount of salmon, cod and halibut, my favorite. 

The 4 or 5 hour boat ride, cruise?, in Seward was a bit rough, but I could stand outside most of the time and then come in to get warm.  They cancelled the part to see the glaciers as they had to get out of the bay and the seas were too rough.   I do not like boats as you are learning.  We did see whales, seals and puffin.  Many birds including eagles.  They fed us a buffet with prime rib and salmon.

I really liked the two train rides on the trip.  One from Anchorage to Seward and the other was from Danali to Fairbanks.  We upgraded to Gold Car, so were in a scenic car with an outside deck.  So lovely for taking photos.  On the Anchorage to Seward portion, they even stopped the train for photos of the Dall sheep and eagles.  It was super.

We had an eight hour bus tour through Danali National Park and saw a great many animals and the really open country.  They do not allow personal vehicles in there for the most part so the hills and mountains are very unspoiled.  Hiking is restricted to trails, etc., so pretty well cared for.

Our portion to the Arctic Circle was by van.  About 24 hours on the dirt roads with 7 other folks including the driver/guide.  We overnighted in Coldfoot and Deadhorse.  The hotels in Anchorage and Fairbanks had heavy curtains for sleeping.  In the work camps they had some flimsy mini blinds and it was like trying to sleep in the middle of the day.  Not much time for sleeping, though, so we did take advantage anyway.

I did not sketch much.  I did try the little watercolor set.  So for Scavenger Hunt 276 I used the watercolor set and a Prismacolor Premier 08 pen.

Number 1, blue - Gene’s rain jacket and jacket.  I somehow blurred them all together so it looks like he has on a huge parka of some sort.  Sketched a bit quick.  :)

Number 2, green - the intense green of the North and tundra.  This was near Wiseman, where we had an excellent tour by Jack Reakoff of the actual village, cabins and how they live through the winters there.  About 13 people live there year round.  They eat mostly caribou.  They grow a garden now and put up some of that for the winter.

Number 3, orange - the midnight sun on the whitish buildings in Deadhorse.  Thanks to Bag Blog for the idea of a wash and then the buildings sketch.  I really didn’t finish this one either.

I just went through the photos very quickly and picked out a few from every place.  Well a few was 62, so guess I will put just a few here and then make a link to Picasa for you to see more.  Here is a tease from the 1300 photos I took.  Some of those were already weeded out, so that means there were many more,  not so good shots.  I will make a link to share more on Picasa.  Here you go for the link to 142 photos.

Mountains just out of Anchorage to Seward from the train.

Us at the beginning cruise in Seward.

A Whale on the cruise.

Wolf in Danali National Park, animals have the right of way ... so we wait.  They like the road it is warmer.

Danali village with a rafter as we left on the train.

Road and pipeline, curved to allow for expanding and contracting.

Year round cabins in Wiseman, snow up to roof in winter for insulation.

Caribou at Prudhoe Bay

First oil well at Prudhoe Bay.  Joanna, remind you of any sculptures at UT??

Out airplane from Prudhoe Bay to Fairbanks

River Cruise in Fairbanks

Sled dogs after pulling 4-wheeler to keep in shape for the winter.  Fairbanks.