Chugach State Park, near Anchorage, has been hyped by many publications that it is better than some national parks so, of course, we cannot pass it up. We decided to hike its popular trail to the Flattop mountain without knowing much about the trail. It was a beautiful trail (3 miles round trip with 1200+ feet elevation gain) with panoramic views everywhere. There was some rock scrambling before reaching the top. We were afraid that Bryden may not be able to do it or too afraid but he did well and it was fun for him to climb up all the rocks. We did zigzags on the way down so it didn’t post any problems either. Everyone gave it a thumb-up!

Here is a link to the whole hike with pictures and videos along the way. It is highly recommended but wear good shoes with good traction. It also helps if one is not afraid of height. We also saw some other trails in the nearby mountains. We will have to come back and visit this park again. Here are some pictures.

Here were 3 pictures taken at Seward. The first one was taken when we got to Seward the 1st night. We fell in love with Seward because of its beauty.

The 2nd one was the next night. This reminded us the disappointing week we were at the Inside Passage when it rained all week.

The 3rd one was the morning of the 3rd day. The cloud gave the place a dreamy quality that revealed its beauty yet kept a mystery that beckoned for more.

All pictures were taken along the harbor facing the same mountain range yet they conveyed and evoked something different.

Beauty is everywhere; we just have to know where and how to look.

Yet, it happened again. Almost every long trip we took we had one incidence that we cannot find a place to stay due to either a popular weekend (2006 at Arches National Park during Memorial weekend) or some events (like 2002 at Darwin, Australia during some junior olympics events) There was a 200-mile Fireweed bike event ending at Valdez on Saturday. Along the way, we saw a lot of bikers and their supporting crew cars. It didn’t strike me that would be a problem for us until we got into the Valdez. The whole town was booked. Even all the campgrounds were full. We finally found a campground which didn’t have assigned campsites but just a big open area for people to pitch a tent. It was rainy and cold so we ended up staying in the car because we also had to catch a ferry at 7am next day. Many others slept in cars as well. It was almost like a Woodstock but much smaller scale: uncomfortable but memorable. Kids were excited to sleep in the car for a change.

I have always aware of the danger of bears, but more so the brown bear, also known as Grizzly, than the black bear. There were the two killings at Glacier National Park and Lake Louise have installed electronic fences to protect their campers from bears.

At Chilkoot campsite near Haines, there was some write-ups about that area as bears and fishermen both try to catch the same thing, salmons. We were a little apprehended about camping there but the campground host said that it was okay because majority the fish has not arrived yet.
As we moved on to Kluane National Park at Yukon, we wanted to do a hike and I asked the ranger about the hike we wanted to do and the ranger said there hasn’t been any sightings of bears on the trail we wanted to do but a mile away on another trail parallel to our trail, there were a couple of reported bears. I felt a little better until I got the trailhead and saw the “In Memory…” sign…earlier at Haines, I have purchased bear pepper spray as I have begun to worry about bears more but this memorial plaque really bridged the reality and stories: people did died here and a bear did it. We decided to hike it anyway based on what the ranger had said but we had never made so much noise while hiking, sung so much or so loud. Just prior to the viewpoint, we encountered some bear scats that seemed to be new which heightened our anxiety plus we hadn’t seen anyone else on the trail. Luckily soon we came upon an opening with the great view. We took some pictures quickly then headed back. I think we shouldn’t have hiked the trail given there weren’t anyone else there although we did finally run into another family on the way back.

We then went to a campground nearby and saw another sign which scared us again. We didn’t want to take a chance so we had to drive another one and a half hour to get to another campsite. There were 3 other fellow campers who I ended talking to did the same as us, skipping the earlier campsite. Safety is first. Later on I talked to a local who told me that although brown bears seem to be big, black bears are the one to worry more because they will eat you. Stay away from all bears! Although there are tons of great hiking trails here, we will start picking the more popular ones. A healthy fear of bears is good so we don’t end up doing something stupid.

Beautiful scenery along the highway.

As we travelled on Alaska Marine Highway’s ferries, I noticed many boats have a national forest ranger on board as a source of information for the Tongass Forest and each upcoming port. They also gave presentations on wildlifes and things to do.

Some rangers are college students doing a summer stint, moonlighting on the ferry, 7 days on then 7 days off. The job demand the knowledge of wildlifes and cultures plus an opportunity to develop good presentation skills. On top of all, one gets to see wildlifes (pretty good for getting paid to do this when others have to pay a lot) and meet other travellers.

I thought this would be a highly desired job so it might be difficult to get but it is not probably due to that one has to be away from one’s family for 7 days at a time. I would do it if I were still single and young. I will remind my kids this option when they get older.

We have decided to visit Sitka as a day trip but left our van behind to save some cost of transporting it. I assumed the ferry terminal was in downtown given cruises often appear to dock at the downtown harbor. Well, I was wrong. In almost every town, the ferry terminal is miles away fron downtown.

It was another wet and soggy day with drizzle all day long and, unfortunately, there were no public buses, just tour buses and cabs. Sitka was interesting with a mixture of Russian and native cultures. We hiked in the Sitka National Historical Park where Russians and natives had battled in the 1800′s. Many totem poles dotted the trail each with a story. The trail also had lots of salmonberry. Yummy!

As we waited outside of Totem Square Inn entry for our taxi, getting a temporary relief from the rain, wet and cold, I noticed the hotel front desk woman kept looking at us. I was expecting that she may ask us to leave anytime. A few minutes past, she finally came out and I was expecting the worse but, instead, she asked if we would like to come into the lobby and wait where it was warmer. She also offered us coffee and hot tea. We would not have needed the hot drinks as her kind gesture already did.

Ever heard of 4 blind men and an elephant story? Each blind man touched a different part of the elephant concluded that an elephant was something different. We haven’t encountered many mosquitos, actually very few, here in Alaska; we encountered far many more mosquitos at Washington and British Columbia. Perhaps we are lucky given that there are lots of rains, lakes, ponds, and puddles of water here in Juneau and Glacier Bay. But to report Alaska has less mosquitoes would be like a blind man saying an elephant is a snake or a tree trunk or a fan. My travel blog, in many ways, only represents events in hours if not minutes of observations and can be misleading. For example, I noticed that despite abundant of rains, moss and lichen here, there were very few mushrooms here compared to Washington and British Columbia. Intrigued by this fact, I asked a ranger and was told that it was too early for mushrooms and later on during the summer, this place would be full of mushrooms. Or almost daily showers we encountered here is actually a dry season this year.

Many of us conclude about something after some observations, some minutes and some years. Perhaps it is the lack of the patience or the desire of quickly confirming already biased guesses or opinions leads us to do so in our daily personal and professional life but, typically, the longer time yield better results. Many come here to see a bear, a moose or a whale but in our haste, we often take a glance and conclude that there aren’t any. But if we sit and quietly observe for a while, we will often see the richness and abundent of life around us. We were lucky to see a moose and a calf today around a pond, hidden behind bushes or a couple of delicate mushrooms just sprouting.

Many have predicted that Glacier Bay would be void of glaciers in another 20 or 30 years but in this beautiful landscape where glaciers have advanced and retreating rapidly a couple of times the last 400 years, we may be in a retreating cycle before the next advanced cycle, assuming the global warming hasn’t altered the pattern yet. In the short lifespan of a human, we will probably never know the answer. Even if the glaciers here are all gone for 1000 years, then perhaps, for 1000 years, this place will be enjoed by people as the Yosemite Bay.

Want to piss off your customers and leave them stranded? Just ask Glacier Bay Ferry.

We had a plan to visit Glacier Bay National Park for a couple of days and had decided to ride the Glacier Bay Ferry as boats or planes are only means to get into the Park. We booked the ferry a couple of months ago to be sure that we can get to the Glacier Bay National Park and not to have worry about that leg of the trip. As we were in Juneau the day before the ferry ride, on a whim, I decided to check out which port does the ferry run from and how earlier we have to get there then I saw this sign (on the left) posted. Great, all our planning actually backfired; now, we didn’t have a way to get to the Glacier Bay NP, so much for advanced planning.

I called the Glacier Bay Lodge and told them our dilemma that we cannot get to the lodge. They suggested that we can fly into Gustavus and gave us a few airlines numbers to call. I called them and was able to find a flight into Gustavus around the same time the ferry would have run but ran into a big roadblock trying to find a flight out of Gustavus on Sunday (July 4th), nobody flies on the 4th. After all, it is the American Independence Day. We were left with a choice flying out Saturday afternoon or Monday morning. We ended up picking Monday morning flight at 6:30 and hopefully can catch our ferry ride on Monday 8am. We will see how it will pan out. The lodge decided to provide us one extra day of stay for free; that was nice. However, I think leaving people stranded was not good. Later on when I asked about getting refunded for the ferry at the lodge. Although the lodge was helpful in doing, it gave me the impression the Ferry and Lodge were operated as the same entity which I didn’t think it was. They thought they have paid for my airfare but I did. Anyway, we had fun riding the airplane in as I learned that the reason they have seats available was they flew a float plane just for 5 of us. That was wonderful. My kids loved it; they called it “Mouse plane” and don’t ask me why. . We had a great view of the Inside Passage from Juneau to Gustavus.

We took a boat cruise to see the tidewater glacier at the Glacier Bay National Park. Click here to see Our Glacier Bay Cruise. We saw bears, eagles, puffins, otters, humpback whales and seals. It was great however I think it was too expensive still at $200 per adult and $100 per child even for Bryden. The glacier was impressive but have retreated a lot and not enough icebergs floating on the water. I think we will have more chances at Prince Williams Sound and Kenji Fjord NP later.

In the end, I think we would probably have been better off not plan at all and just see what were available when we get here. I was surprised there are not as many people here at Glacier Bay National Park even for a holiday weekend. It is expensive and hard to get to. Most people see glaciers from cruise ships so not too many people come in on their own. A worker told me they get only about 20,000 (4000 at the lodge) visitors staying here on land. That is surprising but also creates an intimate environment that people often stay for days and mingle, exchanging stories and sharing our adventurous soul. I like it.

Finally we arrived at Juneau late last night and had to drive in the dark (first time I have to use the headlights the whole trip) and look for a place to stay. Six hours later, I drove to downtown Juneau to get some breakfasts as we were out of food.

And there stood 4 gigantic cruise ships at the downtown Harbor, towering over everything. So after 20 days on the road, endured hours of driving, unknown places, camping food, over-friendly camping neighbor who hugged and kissed Kadia too many times (became creepy), numerous mosquito bites, we arrived at the same places as other thousand tourists who probably have a little more comfort and much shorter trip to get here, thus, travelling in style. No wonder cruises are popular.

The weather is chilly, rainy and cloudy that we cannot see much here and is predicted for the whole time we will be around (about a week) so a liittle disappointed. This reminded me that a hundred years ago that people would take days or weeks to go to see Yosemite from Bay Area and I wonder what would they felt if the weather were bad for the whole time there that they cannot see the Half Dome. We are lucky to be able to drive there whenever we want. I guess we are travelling in style as well. As an evidence of the point, I ended up in McDonald and got everyone breakfast without having to hunt an animal or pick berries.

How about camping on ferry? That was stylish! Click to see our ferry ride.