Anchorage, Mt. Denali, and Prince William Sound, Alaska

During the late 1980s, I lived in Ketchikan, Alaska for 5 years doing my Ph.D. research. I was so busy with research and the birth of my first child that I never had a chance to get to Denali National Park or Prince William Sound in the Northwest part of Alaska.  These areas have been on my Life List for a long time.  My partner and I got a chance to take a cool tour called "Jewels of Alaska" by Insight Vacations this year. During September while we were in Alaska, we got to bus, train, fly, and boat to some really unique spots in Alaska.  

We flew into Anchorage from Las Vegas.  We spent the first and part of the last day in and around Anchorage.  The murals in this town are culturally sensitive and pretty cool.  I was surprised at how hip the little town is even though it has not changed that much since I was there 30 some years ago.  I got to taste a "reindeer dog" which I found out is not wild, but domesticated caribou.  It was pretty yummy.

We immediately left on the bus the next morning for Talkeetna.  For years, I had heard about this little town...near Mount Denali.    It did not disappoint.  The "downtown" of this little village was 2 blocks proper, but wow-- the art and shopping were spectacular.  We stayed for a couple of days near the town at the Talkeetna Lodge.  This is where I got my first look at Mt. Denali (renamed from Mt. McKinley to the proper native name).  There was only two restaurants at the Lodge, but we sat out on the porch and watched Mt. Denali reveal itself with an order of clams that were yummy.  Only 30% of the tourists in Alaska ever get to see this mountain as it is always shrouded in clouds.  We were lucky enough to have 3 clear days before the rain set in.  

Mt. Denali and clams

While we were at the Talkeetna Lodge, we booked a trip to fly into and land on Ruth Glacier of Denali Mountain.  This was not cheap, but a memory of a lifetime.  That is really what we are looking for on these travels.  

Top of Denali Mountain-actually a mile away

Standing on Ruth Glacier

Glacial scenes from the plane

After leaving Talkeetna, we travelled by train up to the town of Denali right outside of Denali National Park.  Though the highway runs from Fairbanks down to Anchorage, this was the mode of travel before cars.  We really enjoyed the lunch service and looking out from the back of the train. 

We arrived in late afternoon to Denali and the National Park, staying at Denali Lodge, which overlooked the valley.  We went to dinner at the 49th State Brewery in Cantwell, just north of Denali.  If any of you have read Into the Wild, this is the town where McCandless started his Alaskan part of the his journey to find the Magic Bus.  The actual bus has now been moved to University of Alaska, because so many people tried and failed (and had to be rescued) to find the bus.  However, the Brewery had a facsimile of the bus that was used in the movie.  The food was spectacular, but the beer--oh my, I had a margarita beer, which was life imbibing a beer and margarita. Don't judge me:-)

"Into the Wild" bus at the 49 State Brewery used in the movie

Margarita beer at the 49th State Brewery

My favorite day of this trip was taking the National Park bus into Denali National Park.  You cannot drive, and therefore must take the bus.  In all my years, I have always been the one traversing the landscape looking for the flora and fauna.  But this time, I got to be the observer in the bus.  This bus trip, which lasts for about 4 hours was mind boggling.  In the course of half an hour, I saw wild caribou, grizzly bear, wolves stocking caribou, arctic ground squirrels, a wolverine loping across the landscape (very special), Dahl sheep, and Ptarmigans.  Pretty spectacular.

  

Caribou in Denali National Park

     

Glacial valleys and Arctic squirrel in Denali National Park

After Denali National Park, we headed by bus, down to Prince William Sound for the 24-glaciers Cruise.  It is hard to describe the magnitude of a glacier.   They are as large as a building and can be as wide as a valley.  All I know is that I am always humbled when I see them.  Glaciers may not exist in the next century with global warming, so I feel as if I am seeing history before my eyes.  

Surprise Glacier, which often calves in front of the boats

This was our last day in Alaska.  Unfortunately, neither I or my partner felt very well.  One of our compatriots was coughing for the entire tour.  We ended up both getting COVID.  In retrospect, if we would have known what was going to happen would we have gone?  Absolutely.  We took a hike up in Denali National Park, and along one of the large rivers we came upon a sweatshirt that someone had left.  I think this sums up what we think about Alaska.  We will be back.  

A Quick Stop to Colorado

 Colorado and Maroon Bells Wilderness

August 2022

The end of summer always coincides with a visit to my home state of Colorado.  This year, we were coming from Honolulu, so we overnighted in Seattle before continuing on to Denver.  How delightful to know that the mussels we ordered for our dinner would be fresh and delicious.  I will likely mistrust any shellfish, for the rest of my life, unless I can see the waters of the Pacific Ocean from my table.  

Seattle mussels

We flew from Seattle to Denver to arrive for a family reunion.  My youngest daughter was able to make this event as she was working there at the time.  So fun to see all my cousins, Aunts, and Uncles.  We were pretty tired, but managed to find a fantastic Nepalese restaurant that my vegan-minded daughter could enjoy.  

We took a pilgrimage ride down to Colorado Springs to hike in the Garden of the Gods with cousin and daughter.  Big mistake to go to this place on a Sunday.  It was crazy crowded, but we managed to get a good little hike in and lunch after.  Lesson learned-come very early and expect to park far away.  I included an old picture of what Garden of the Gods looked like in the early 1900s.  I guess I should not complain:-)

The next day, we took off for Glenwood Springs.  It was our launching spot for the Maroon Bells Wilderness.  Though we did not visit the famous swimming pool and hot springs in this town, it was right next door to us.  To be truthful, it was just too hot to go to the swimming pool.  We opted for a hike later in the evening to visit the gravesite of two famous western outlaws; Kid Curry and Doc Holiday.  The graveyard that they are purported to be in is a hefty 1/2 mile hike uphill from near the center of town.  We later learned that Doc Holiday likely died of tuberculosis and penniless as it was a pauper's grave.  What I liked about their graves is that people have left alcohol and other small items that each of the outlaws might have liked.

Doc Holiday's grave above Glenwood Springs 

We drove to Aspen, and parked at the Aspen parking lot for the Maroon Bells bus. 

Enjoying the Aspen lifestyle

This was not cheap.  It cost us $25 for the bus ticket and $40 to park.  But if any of you have been to Maroon Bells Wilderness as a child, you will know that it was almost destroyed by cars and tourist abuse.  We gladly paid for the privilege of seeing that ecosystem recover and noted that the hiking trails were not over-crowded.  It was a perfect day into the wilderness.  Not to hot or cold...well maybe some pretty aggressive deerflies  (note to self-bring bug spray next time).  

The Maroon Bells took my breath away and reminded me of the thoughts I had as a child...of how magical the place was.  It was one of the places that began my journey into ecology.  My partner was pretty blown away by the beauty as well.  We spent about half the day there and then the flies drove us away.  

Such beautiful trails in the Maroon Bell Wilderness

We motored back to Aspen and the spent the afternoon with the rich and famous.  Colorado you beautiful and wild girl.  I will never stop coming back.  Thank you for the privilege of knowing your wildness.  The next morning, we hopped back in the car and drove to the airport.  It only takes a few days, but this State always fills my soul.  

Oahu, Hawaii--New and some Free and not-so-free Things to Do

 Many of you know that the Hawaiian Islands are a second home to me.  I have spent many years working on the islands, and my partner is actually from Oahu and the Big Island.  So, we try to come "home" at least once a year.  This year we accepted a little "job" of taking care of our friends two very mellow dogs for five weeks on Oahu.  

Now usually we are rushing around in one week trying to do everything, visit everyone and get it all in.  But, this time, I just relaxed into "what do you want to do today?" We have  an electric car to get around the island thanks to our dog owners, so we have at least a 45-mile range.  We figured out that there are quite a few things that you can do here on Oahu for free...and this is a good thing, because it is expensive here.  

We started off with a visit to Ala Moana Magic Island right at the top of Waikiki.  Now Waikiki is the crazy beach with 1000s of people, kind of like a perpetual spring break crowd there...so we drove a little farther away from there where most of the locals go for picnics and family gatherings.  Magic Island is right next to the harbor and the Ala Moana Hotel, so you can often see famous people's boats and yachts that come in. I usually recommend staying at the Ala Moana Hotel to friends and family, as it is not in the middle of Waikiki, and  I like the beach (though man-made) there because it is easy to walk to from the parking lot, and if you don't want to swim, you can take the walk around the "island." 

On Friday nights, you can sit from the porch of our house that we are staying in and watch the fireworks that go off like clockwork at 8 p.m. from the Waikiki Hilton.  We bought a nice bottle of wine from the grocery store on sale, and took in the fireworks while cooking ono (fish) that had been caught by our dog owners (we promise not to eat all the fish in the freezer Earl and Kate:)

I have always wanted to drive up into the Manoa Valley- in the back of Waikiki, to the Tantalus Lookout, in Puu Ualakaa State Park.  You drive up Nutridge Street to get there (hint: Macadamia nut trees once grew here).  Technically it is a  forested cinder cone that frames the Manoa Valley on the left side.  You can actually do quite a hefty hike from that point, but we opted to drive up to the view of Waikiki from the back.  We take the dogs on two walks each day.  We are way up high in the back of Waikiki.  The dogs actually climb each day to the Wa'ahila Ridge State Recreation Area.  The view out to the ocean and Manoa Valley is pretty spectacular.  

We have also made the pilgrimage to the North Shore; including Dole Plantation for Dole Whip (frozen smooth pineapple ice cream) and all things pineapple, and the Haleiwa Shopping Center (which is not free, but always yields delightful finds).  My good friend Annie came with us, and was able to direct my partner to a ni 'ihau shell bracelet that I have wanted a long time, for our 12th anniversary.  The shells for this bracelet are gathered from the "Forbidden Island" of Ni 'ihau (because it is privately owned).  They are so tiny, that it takes a large number of the white, yellow, red, and green shells even to make up a bracelet.  Imagine how many shells it takes to make a lei.  It is a very local thing, but highly valued for the intense work in collecting and stringing the shells. Jewelry and leis rom these Ni 'ihau hakelelani shells have been valued for a long time here in Hawaii. Both Hawaiian Queens Kapi 'olani and Queen Emma wore Ni 'ihau necklaces and leis to be presented to Queen Victoria of England. 

We finished our day at the North Shore with a visit for shave ice at Matsumoto's Shave Ice. It is one of the best stops you can make after a hot day.  My flavors over the shave ice were mango, strawberry, and lilikoi (local word for passion fruit), and underneath ice cream.  There are many places on all the islands to get shave ice, but Matsumoto's is the best- in my humble opinion.  

 We are slowly making our way to the 5 State Botanical Gardens (SBG) this time around.  I am not sure why I have never visited these gardens, but they are spectacular.  For the most part they are free.  We started off at Koko Crater SBG on the east side of the island, which has some of the most beautiful Plumeria varieties.  The smell of these trees takes your breath away.  To me, they smell like a combination of lemon tree and Gardenia blossoms.  There is nothing like it in the world.  

We travelled to see the Wahiawa Tropical SBG near the North Shore of the island.  This is where my partner was raised, and when he was growing up, there was only grass to walk on in the garden.  Now there are pathways through this luscious green tropical garden.  I saw flowers and plants that I have never seen before from all over the world.

For Father's Day, we went to the Hula Grill, a very famous restaurant right in the middle of Waikiki.  If you ever get a chance to go there, order the calamari steak.  I have never tasted better calamari.  We also had tiki drinks that made me smile. A Hula-rita and signature Mai tai. We ended with Hula Ice cream pie.  Sometimes you just don't skimp.  

We are about halfway through our stay here on Oahu. I have a few more things I want to do and explore, including 3 more State Botanical Gardens, afternoon tea at the Moana (means ocean) Surfrider Hotel, snorkeling, and the boat out to the USS Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbor National Park.  It has been raining for the last week, so this really churns up the ocean and causes murkiness when you want to snorkel to see the  fish.  We will try for this next week.  Until then, Aloha from Paradise.