Heading Out

We were sad to leave the lovely Chateau lake Louise; we said good-bye to our view, I helped Clare carry her bag to the car, we said good-bye to the hotel; even my little squirrel friends came out to say good-bye. It was a grey gloomy day, well suited to our mood.

The weather put us off of the sight seeing we had planned so we headed for the border via Calgary, which, from what we saw, looks like any city. We crossed the border north of Great Falls, Montana, and even though Caitlin had a pilfered tree and half the rocks in Alaska and Alberta, we managed to get through the border patrol.

We have stopped for the evening in Great Falls and plan tomorrow to make it to see Mt. Rushmore and the Badlands. It involves getting up early, so we'll see. Clare snapped a great picture of the sunset as we drove into town; you can see why they call it big sky country.

Home Soon!

Chateau Lake Louise

As you can see, I am taking to high living quite well, although some of the foreign guests look at me with surprise as I strut through the lobby. The hotel is beautiful, the food excellent and the view from our room hard to beat:

I began my day with a stroll around Lake Louise. It was great. The sun was shining, there was plenty of sticks, and the water was incredibly blue. I was the only one who went in ;-)

After breakfast we went to see another blue lake, Lake Peyto. It was the bluest one ye.

After returning to the hotel for tea (my favorite were the finger sandwiches), we set off again for another water fall. As you can see, Caitlin violated the rules to get the perfect picture.

I also violated the rules. The water was rushing, and, you guessed it, very blue.

On the way back we saw more wildlife--a mountain goat and a grey wolf. Sadly, we didn't get the shot of the wolf so you will have to be content with the one of the mountain goat:

All during our walks today we saw a pretty cool flower blanketing the forest floor. A sign said it had a short blooming life and we probably wouldn't see it. I guess we were here at the right time.

Tomorrow I am sad to say we leave this place and retun to the states. We have a few more things to see on the way out....I better rest up.

Hard to believe our adventure is coming to a close....how will I ever be happy without a nearby stream?

Jasper National Park

We drove from Prince George to Jasper National Park today, home of the famed Chateau Lake Louise. To the right is one of the many pictures from the drive in. For those with neither the time nor inclination to drive all the way to Alaska, we would recommend Jasper/Banff National Park as it has many Alaskian elements--mountains (here, the tail end of the Rockies), wildlife (bear sightings), boreal forests, rivers and streams. I had a great day--a lot of running around and seeing cool things. The river that runs parallel to the road is that surreal shade of blue that seems to be common to the glacially/mountain fed waters.

We saw a very powerful waterfall and canyon. The water was moving fast! We stopped along the river bank so I could run around. Caitlin was busy looking for rocks and fossiles to illegally remove from the park. I helped her. We didn't find any.

If that wasn't enough, we saw the Columbia Ice field (the biggest ice field outside the artic) with an impressive glacier spilling over the edge. We even got to walk on it, but after all the signs about cravasses and the difficulties of rescue, we were a little afraid! Well, I wasn't. It was incredibly cold, but exhilarating. The girls all had inappropriate foot wear on, but I was running like a madman.

At the end of the day we stopped to look for somewhere to stay and the only place that accepted both dogs and smokers was Chateau Lake Louise (see come join us link). It is a very swanky hotel and we are thinking of staying an additional night and just spending the day leisurely exploring the many sights.

Stay tuned.

Whew!

Sorry for the delay in entries...we have been out of WiFi range--gravel roads, wildlife, you know the routine. To catch up....on our way out of Anchorage for Valdez, we saw a car Aunt Julie should buy. Isn't it cool? I barked at it....

Valdez was beautiful, called the Switzerland of Alaska and with good reason--it is among the snowy peaks. I played in thesnow with a dog named Bernie that reminded me of my friend Barley. I heard a lot about the earthquake from 1964--I guess Valdez was the worst hit both with the quake and subsequent tsunamis; in fact the whole town was moved 4 miles a few years after the quake. What Beth and Clare found interesting was how quickly help came after the earthquake even in sucha remote location, how martial law was never declared and how no looting occurred. Seemed like a really different story than Katrina.

After Valdez we set off for Kennecott which is an abandoned mining town. To get there we had to travel down 58 miles of unpavedroad. At one point we even drove through a newly formed river running across the road! We stayed in a cool cabin nearbyand woke early to set out for the abandoned town which is across a river and up the road 5 miles. I think the girls were happy tohear they could catch a shuttle bus on the other side of the river. They left me in the car and set out, and much to my surprise,Clare returned a few minutes later. I got to go on the shuttle bus too! It was so fun jumping over the seats, crawlingunder the seats. I think the bus ride was the funnest part although the town was pretty cool too. Becasue of the remote location, when the vein ran out in 1938 they pretty much left everything behind and just left.

On our way back down the 58 mile gravel road (everywhere in Alaska seems to be off a spur road) we were delayed by road construction. I didn't mind too much as I got an extra walk during the wait, but the other travellers seemed a tad annoyed! "Chicago time" and "Alaska time" seem to be two completely different things. The sign had said the road would open up on the hour. We had arrived at 1:50 but the wait lasted and hour and 10 minutes instead of just 10 minutes.

Now we are in middle of a big drive south. We have made it through most of British Columbia in two days and should reach Jasper and Banff National Parks in Alberta's Rocky Mountains tomorrow - we are resting up in Prince George right now (is my grandfather a prince and nobody told me??)

In Haines Juntion, we saw a church made from an old barracks used during the contruction of the Alaska Highway. The church had a great quilt hanging behind the alter, and Clare thought Josie could whip one up for Boorah. This is the most photographed church in the Yukon; if Father Barry is looking for a change of venue, we will send photos and pertinent details.
We are looking forward to Banff, which is the most visited national park in Canada, and home to the most photographed lake in the world--Lake Louise. I hear there are glaciers, ice fields, lakes, all the things I love. After that we are going to Glacier National Park in Montana, and then home via the Badlands and Black Hills. We expect to get better connections now, so hopefully we can give you more regular up dates!

Kenai Fjords Cruise

The day of the cruise was, of course, grey and a little cold, but Beth and Clare were undeterred. Clare said it was Irelandian weather. They were pretty bundled when they left. They saw a lot of cool wildlife, and I don't understand why I couldn't go. They took some photos, but keep in mind the boat was always on the move, the animals were sometimes on the move, and some things happened so fast or too far away......

So, they saw otters, some weird swimming birds called puffins, mountain goats, sea lions, some with babies, one baby being stalked by a bear, an eagle in its nest with its mate flying nearby, a family of orcas (sorry Julie!) and different groups of humpbacks. The wildlife is abundant and it is great to see it where it belongs.

They also saw some glaciers. The Kenai Fjords National Park contains a giant icefield in the center of a ring of mountains, accessible only by hiking in or being flown in. The glaciers visible from the cruise are those that kind of spill out of this vast ice field. The really are

this amazing shade of blue--something to do with color absorption, reflection and ice molecule structure.

After they returened from the cruise, we headed out of town for Whittier. To get to Whittier, you have to go through a long tunnel that is one lane, shared also with a train, so you can only go in during certain times. We stopped at Exit Glacier on our way, a glacier accessible by road and then a short trail. It seemed like a giant hunk of ice to me! Beth drove like a madwoman to get us to the tunnel on time. We arrived in Whittier around 10:30 PM. It was foggy, with a grey twilight. After going through the long tunnel, this small town in the fog appeared and had a creepy vibe. But just at the time we arrived in the harbor behind one of the inns where we made inqueries there was a pain of humpbacked whales putting on quite a show. With a population of 290, there were only two 'inns", neither of which accepted dogs. We had come to Whittier for the glacial cruise, but decided to leave and catch it in Valdez, the next stop on our tour. We returned to Anchorage and leave for Valdez in the morning.