At the Botanical Gardens show (Southwest Anchorage), the entry was more pleasant due to the beautiful smile and hat we saw there  

And a gorgeous glass salmon we ALMOST bought from one artist there (darn):

And Glenn sampled the Reindeer hot dog (chewy):

Heading out of Anchorage south to Whittier, the mountains greeted us:  

On the last leg of the trip to Whittier, you must go through a railway tunnel (The Anton Anderson Memorial Tunnel, the longest vehicle-railroad tunnel in North America)  that has been retrofitted as of June 2000 to allow one-lane of cars to drive through, right on the tracks.  It is a 2-1/2 mile tunnel that seemed to take FOREVER to go through, due to the close rock walls & the incredible length of the tunnel.  Glenn and I were both more than a little claustrophobic:

Whittier is a small fishing town with cruise ship traffic.  It was a secret base during WW II, everyone lived in a single large building (called the Buckner Building) in town in the 1940's:  

Now a newer "Begich Tower" 14 story building houses the Whittier residents (some in the neighboring Whittier Manor), but Whittier retains its reputation as The Strangest Town in Alaska (with a book by that name).  

Here is a new hotel being erected, not a common occurrence here, as Whittier experiences little growth (the way the residents like it):

We went on a 26 glacier cruise with Phillips Cruise line on the Klondike Express Catamaran, very professional, comfortable, and worth it.  

First several Piedmont glaciers (these come to the foot of the mountains).  Glenn has skillfully video taped much of our tour, the camera performed admirably too..

Small icebergs began floating past as we went further into the College Fiord towards the tidewater glaciers, where we also saw so many "rafts" of otters (what they call the family groups).  These otters average 3 feet long, float on their backs, with their babies on top.  They also use their chests for smashing shells to eat the delicacies inside:

Tidewater glaciers, the most impressive, form a shelf at the edge of the water and calve icebergs.  The weather had cleared so the colors were awesome...(note Heidi is wearing her new sweater!)

We saw plenty of seals on the ice near the tidewater glacier, note the beautiful coloration of the ice...

Getting into plenty of ice getting near the best tidewater glacier, The Surprise Glacier..

Countless waterfalls & greenery we enjoyed along the way:

Next to the Surprise Glacier, a rookery with thousands of birds swirling near the rock face and the waterfalls>

The captain brings back a piece of glacier ice hundreds of thousands of years old, we could drink the ice water or chip a piece off to try to keep:

Thule/Okvik Bering Sea -

Cook Inlet Archaeology Artifacts are: 1) lamp, 2) polished slate rod, 3) projectile, 4) projectile point, 5) scraper, 6) engraving tool, 7) adze blade, 8) microcore, 9) microblades, 10) stone saw, 11) baked shale, 12) Ulu (semi-lunar knife), 13) notched stone sinker, 14) projectile point, 15) eyed needle, 16) notched stone sinker, 17) shell beads, 18) split rib wedge, 19) labret (lip decoration), 20) pigment, 21) bead, 22) bird bone awl, and 23) sharpening stone or abrader:

Below is a carving of a human head, found with many whale bones beneath it.  It is treated as a sacred artifact.  Photo of where it was found, and more details on the plaque:

Northwest Coast Archaeology, these artifacts are: 1) drill, 2) dart harpoon head, 3) arrowhead, 4) knife blade, 5) bowl, 6) incised decorated pebble, 7) pipe bowl, 8) needle, 9) spoke shaver, 10) chopper, 11) micro core, 12) microblade, 13) micro blade burin, 14) scraper:

Interior Archaeology artifacts are: 1) scin scraper, 2-4) Projectile points, 5) arrowhead, 6) Tube, 7) scin scraper, 8) chithoe to scrape hides, 9) grooved adze, 10) projectile point, 11) microblades, 12) microcore (sharp microblades would be struck from carefully prepared microcores):

Prospector's tools in miniature ivory carvings:

Labrets (worn through a slit near the mouth for status/prestige):

An interesting browse through his shop.  Here's a real Moose Poop Lamp for sale there:

A small community 3 blocks long (a few casual restaurants, bars and motels) with a great reputation for flying visitors around the summit of Mt. McKinley, and a staging place for mountain climbers.  The general store is the hub of activity, with plenty of "local color".  What a hoot of a place:

This burl wood is very common, it grows these knots because of arsenic content in the ground, absorbed by trees..more on that later:

On a side road, we found the KTNA radio station that was the site used for Northern Exposures radio station, in use and transmitting just as you saw in the program:

We opted for luxury at the Talkeetna Alaskan Lodge, glad we did.  Great views, nice room, good food:

This is the only view most folks ever get of Mt. McKinley.  The next morning we would get up close and personal with it:

(outside the dining room window at the Lodge):

Back yard of the Lodge:  

The only gas station outside Talkeetna, worthy of a photo:

FLIGHT around MOUNT MCKINLEY

We had the option of the Red route the night before (still daylight, remember), which required oxygen due to the altitude, but there would have been no glacier landing.  So we opted for the next choice of the Green route at 9 a.m. as scheduled, which was awesome:

Glenn got the right side of the plane to use the video cam, I had the left:

A view of the lodge below, then the greenery soon gave way to moraine (crushed rock from the glacier that causes brown muddy looking rivers) and snow:

The view of Mt. McKinley and the surrounding mountain range was nothing short of breath taking, as seen from Heidi's left side of the plane seat:

Below is the "landing strip" on the Ruth Glacier where another plane about our size has already landed.  We'll be there soon, landing uphill!  Eeks!

We're on the glacier, which is snowy underfoot but walkable.  We're all told not to stray too far from the plane, as there can be crevasses one could disappear into (there were 8 of us).  Our pilot told us his boss gets real mad if he comes back a few passengers short.  Below are the views from where we stand.  Our pilot is in the brown wearing the cap.  He was skilled, calm, informative on emergency measures, humorous, and educational - the perfect guide.

There actually was a small building there on the rocks above the Ruth glacier, this can be rented out for overnight stays.  We didn't opt for the details.  It looks no bigger than an outhouse to us:

The other reason the pilot wanted us close-by was that an eerie fog was settling over the glacier, as you can see.  This could prevent glacier landings for some hours, or strand us on the glacier for awhile.  

So we hopped back in the plane and off we went back, now Heidi's seeing what Glenn saw from the right side of the plane on the way out.  Here you see frozen blue lakes and dark glacier ice, changing to moraine, then back to greenery that supports animal life.  What a great way to see Alaska, from the air.  Often moose can be seen wading through the shallows of the lakes, though we didn't this day:

Back on terra firma at the K-2 office at the airstrip, what a trip!!  We've never felt more alive.

The only way to really see Mt. McKinley, believe me.

(mile 188.5 on the Parks Hwy, between Anchorage and Fairbanks)

An attraction in itself, this was built as one's man dream hotel.  However, he did not create enough fire exits and could not pass inspection, nor was he willing to "deface" his creation to bring the building up to code.  So it was abandoned before it even opened.  Still an amazing bit of Roadside Americana.

 

and breathtaking views just across the highway:

(11 miles North of Denali State Park), 

HEALY, AK

http://www.thetoteminn.com/

A surprise in the lobby - a musk ox shot in the 1950's by permit, preserved in a glass display:

Okay, the bug count is now high, judging from the front of our rental car:

The Interpretive Center had an antique snow machine, and a miniature fish catching boat on display, we saw the full size ones that work quite well to catch fish:

This single span railroad bridge (701 feet long), the only one of its kind in the WORLD, is still in daily use.  Here we are behind the Interpretive Center with the bridge in the background:

Drying salmon for the dogs to eat:

An annual lottery called The Ice Classic to guess when this tripod structure will fall through the ice on the Tanana River in the spring, the winning ticket last year was almost $300,000 with a May 2 correct guess.  You can buy tickets at numerous locations in Alaska.  Information at:

http://www.nenanaakiceclassic.com/

DOWNTOWN FAIRBANKS (Golden Heart Park)

A beautiful welcome to the city of Fairbanks, this 18-foot bronze statue of the 'Unknown First Family', by Malcolm Alexander, is the centerpiece of Golden Heart Park and is 'dedicated to all families past, present and future, and to the indomitable spirit of the people of Alaska's interior'.

MUSEUM OF THE NORTH

A sweet face behind the healthy plants for sale:

Twiggins from the Enchanted Swamp

(Partners Skunk Cabbage and Mountain Flower)

make endearing critter faces they nestle amongst natural twigs, seeds & feathers as wall hangings.  Heidi now owns a musk ox Twiggins:

On an industrial side street, we found this interesting little factory/store that takes sections of logs and turns them into nesting bowls called Family Tree bowls (or sibling bowls) because they are all related.  We watched the whole process from the store, through large glass windows.

www.woodbowl.com

Another worker moves a large cage into place, and operates a lathe at different depths to cut out the curved, shallow bowls that shoot off the log against the cage:

Then the bottoms are smoothed on another machine:

Now some bowls are polished to a higher finish:

They also make bird baths and many other usable items from the wood.  Some bowls are pre-laser-etched with logos, animals, or "Alaska", or you can bring a photo to be etched on a personalized bowl.

The rest of the wood is recycled into chips for landscaping

Lacey Street Theater

http://www.icemuseum.com/

We watched an informative short  film called Freeze Frame about the World Ice Art Championships in Fairbanks.  The exceptionally clear ice (called "Alaska Diamond" comes from a manmade algae-free pond that is spring-fed, making it perfect for such competitions.  1500 blocks of ice measuring 4 feet cubed are harvested by volunteers each year (4 million pounds) for this and other competitions around the country.

Two Eskimos and a seal, a giant slipper:

And a live demonstration by an ice sculptor of a small squirrel:

We met both Santa and Mrs. Claus and had a long discussion with them about what they do.  

Glenn had no smile till I heard him say: "How do I mail this home?"  This is the ultimate plush polar bear:

And we even got to meet one of the Reindeer (shedding this time of year, notice again the velvet still on the huge antlers):

They also send Christmas letters to boys & girls and adults too ("Home of the Original Letter from Santa"):

from Prudhoe Bay to Valdez

We officially visited the "Alyeska Pipeline Visitor Center" north of Fairbanks which had some excellent information about it.  

Pump & driver assembly photo, for all you guys & gals that like to see how these parts work:

The pipeline is 800 miles of 48" diameter pipe.  It can sustain an 8.5 earthquake.  It is constructed above-ground (to protect the permafrost, and high enough for migrating animals to pass underneath), and below ground where safe.

The zig-zag pattern of the pipeline is by design.  This keeps the pipeline from separating during expansion & contraction, an innovative design thanks to James Maple, Structural Engineer.  The pipeline received honors from the American Welding Society for the superior work:

Can I take this home too? (actual piece of the pipeline, cut out in the shape of the state of Alaska).  We did buy several SMALLER versions of this:

Gosh, this photo is more humorous than Heidi intended!  Okay, this is the part that was pushed through the pipeline to test it (really!)

Chena Hot Springs Road from Fairbanks to Chena Hot Springs 

We came upon this herd fenced in near the road and were amazed at the prehistoric appearance of these strange creatures, a cross between a longhorn cow, a musk ox, and a buffalo.  We later learned they were YAK.  What a treat!  They were not to be found on our return trip along this road that afternoon, so we had grasped the window of opportunity we had and were delighted to have seen them.

The mothers, juveniles and babies were all so different. 

 Several of the juveniles were play fighting which was quite entertaining.

The largest year-round ice structure in the world, using 1000 tons of ice and snow, harvested on site from Beaver Pond at Chena Hot Springs.  

Built & maintained by 12-time world champion ice carver Steve Brice and his fiancée and staff, this was an unexpected and delightful surprise for both of us.  Pete Renshaw was a highly informative and friendly tour guide that shared many details to make the experience unforgettable:

http://www.yourownpower.com/Ice/Museum/

I have photographed with a flash (white photos), and with a night photo lens to show off the color (at the expense of clarity, but you will appreciate it for the colors), not to mention the camera lens frosting over for obvious reasons!

Note the arched cathedral ceiling and architecture, presided over by a rearing polar bear.  The chandeliers are faceted ice crystals lit with LED fiberoptics (that emit almost no heat) that change color every 60 seconds to mimic the aurora borealis:

Here is the wedding chapel (a podium surrounded by a balustrade, all of ice) which is used for weddings and renewal vows..

There are 5 separate chambers where we found four-poster beds with caribou skin coverings, tables, and other furniture:

An igloo, inside & out

Full-size Knights fighting on horses, next to a huge chess set:

The Ice Bar - all made of ice, including the martini glasses and two vodka luges (the favorite is the fish luge, where vodka is poured in the tail and comes out the mouth at the perfect chilled temperature

Even a fireplace flanked by tables and stools covered in caribou skins:

An article about the Museum, showing the vodka fish luge:

Steve & his fiancée (this is she) conducted a workshop before we arrived, creating this Ice Maiden.  They have created customized stainless steel tools just for ice sculpting.  Note the workbench and hanging apparatus for all the tools, all made of ice.  This is so cool, in more ways than one!

She proceeded to make several martini glasses while we watched amazed, using the cylinder of ice you see in the first photo, attached to the machine they designed.  She knows just when to stop at the base of the bowl of the glass, and start the stem.  Note the shape of the martini glass, but it is frosted:

Now she hits it with the hair dryer customized tool, and voila!  A martini glass ready to use:

......along with all the others she has made, enough for a party!

(440 acres, 60 scenic miles from Fairbanks, at the end of the Chena River)

...followed by a relaxing dinner in the adjacent restaurant, then a drive back to Fairbanks by late afternoon.  

There are many other activities such as hiking, horseback rides, dogcart rides, bike riding, a full spa, and in the winter there are skiing trails and Aurora Borealis viewing areas and "Watch" cabins to be close to the aurora viewing space.

http://www.chenahotsprings.com/

He has appeared in the movie "White Fang" as numerous characters, and has traveled on cruise ships to finance his preferred way of life.  On one such ship, he found his story knives were selling for an unusual reason to the Japanese tourists.  A bride is presented with an ornamental knife at her wedding.  If her husband proves to be unfaithful, the knife is to be used to kill...HERSELF.  Hmmm, what's wrong with THAT picture?

A Story Knife is an implement used by an Eskimo girl to trace stories in the mud or snow while she is telling a story.  We did purchase one, and his book "Klondike Mike of Alaska" which he signed for us.  We both felt like we'd touched the Real Alaska.

All over Alaska, we saw these bulbous growths on wooden poles and wood made into fences & railings.  We learned that these burls occurred to due arsenic in the ground absorbed by the tree that filled wood cells, then new wood cells would grow around it, get blocked by the arsenic, until it created these growths.  It is made into fun and unique items we enjoyed.  

The Knotty Shop (6565 Richardson Hwy, Salcha AK) is 32 miles south of Fairbanks on the Richardson Hwy that was advertised as having many items made from this wood.  It was closed when we arrived, so we snapped a few photos of the creations out front (elk, cow, Dahl sheep, mosquito  - ouch!, bird or another mosquito; rhino?.  Perhaps another time we'll get a virtual photo tour for you of the inside!

Paxton Lake (a real Mirror Lake), only a few cabins beside it for fishing:

Mama & baby moose foraging in the river:

  Those postcards you've seen of Alaska?  They're REAL.

  Wildflowers, mountains, sky.  What more could a person want?