Leaving Kodiak...and Alaska

Big disappointment - we never made it on a bear viewing flight - the weather just wouldn't cooperate. Monday's storm apparently set an all-time record for rainfall on the date (lucky us) and it didn't get a whole lot better on Tuesday or Wednesday either. At least the rain wasn't blowing sideways at 35 knots as was the case on Monday.

We did get out and about our last couple of days on the island...returning to some of the nice hiking locations we had discovered the first day, but the combination of rainy conditions and cold temperatures (highs about 54 each day) made it a challenge to be outside.





The woods were especially pretty in the mist and the rain. The mosses and ferns on the forest floor will give you an idea why Kodiak's motto is "Alaska's Emerald Isle". Like the original Emerald Isle (Ireland) the reason there are 40 shades of green is that it's particularly well watered. Rains here about 65% of the time, and our timing was bad...too late in the season I'm afraid. Need to return earlier in the summer when the chances for some sunny days increases.





Dodging the rain along a stretch of remote beach. The salmon were still running, and we saw an occasional fisherman but no bears. Did see several Bald Eagles going after an easy meal, however. Their piercing calls as they swooped down to snag a fish were pleasant on the ear. The Alaska State motto (at least for tourism marketing) is "The Final Frontier", and after spending 10 weeks here we must agree that it's well chosen - really an amazing place, and one that we hope to return to.




The Alaska Marine Highway ferry (MV Tustumena) heading out on its weekly run connecting the Alaska mainland to the islands of the Aleutian chain. From Kodiak he'll go all the way out to Dutch Harbor on the island of Unalaska, about 500 miles from here, before turning around and heading back the other way. Must be a miserable trip - the boat isn't particularly large and the big swells in the Bering Sea probably toss it around like a cork, especially this week with the big storm system still active. Wouldn't want to be on board at any rate - you'd need industrial strength dramamine just to be able to hold down your breakfast.


One of the rainy mornings we spent going to all of the little museums in town, including the Baranof Museum near the waterfront. Named for our old friend Alexander Baranof, this particular structure is the oldest surviving building from the days of Russian occupation in Alaska - built in 1792. It started out as a warehouse for the storage of Sea Otter pelts, and later became a private residence for many years after the Americans moved in. Although Baranof is the man most responsible for the Russian-American company's commercial success in Alaska his treatment of the indigenous people, especially the local Alutiiq natives, was especially brutal. For that reason his memory is alternatively revered and reviled...depending upon who you're talking to.




The Baranof Museum on a sunny day. Gleaned this photo from the Kodiak Chamber of Commerce website since ours didn't turn out nearly as well.




And a last look at the domes of the Orthodox church with the mountains beyond. Kodiak really is a gorgeous place. Would like to come back here someday, a little earlier in the summer, and explore it in more favorable conditions.

We left Kodiak yesterday morning and flew down to Seattle by way of Anchorage. Rented a car at the airport and drove down I-5 to McChord AFB where we spent the night. Up early this morning to reclaim the car in Tacoma and then drove home to Vancouver... where it's sunny and about 90 degrees. Never thought we'd be coming BACK to Vancouver to find the sun, but there you go.

We both thoroughly enjoyed our time exploring Alaska. It's one of those places we've always wanted to see and it certainly didn't disappoint. We've already talked about trying a Space-A flight from McChord to Elmendorf someday - maybe even during the winter to see the Northern Lights - but that's still a ways off in the future. Suffice to say that we love the place and have to rank it next to New Zealand as the most spectacular place we've ever visited.

And...I can now say that I've visited all of the 50 states, having saved the best for last.

More Kodiak

After exploring the area north of town we turned the car around and drove to the end of the paved road in the opposite direction....about 45 miles by the time we reached the end. Once past the airport turnoff about 5 miles from town the traffic petered out considerably until it was just like driving around New Zealand again - hardly anyone on the road and world class scenery wherever we looked.



The scenery reminded us of Ireland, or maybe Scotland, with all of the shades of green. There is a price to be paid however - this is one of the rainiest parts of Alaska.

The salmon were running (as usual) in all of the surrounding rivers and streams. Believe they were Cohos (Silvers) and the locals were out in force, lining the banks of some pretty remote streams, as you can see from the photo below. Wasn't exactly "combat fishing" like you see around Anchorage, where they're literally elbow to elbow along a productive stretch of water, but pretty crowded nevertheless by local standards.

We were told that there are lots of bears around - the big Kodiak grizzlies that the place is famous for - but they tend to shy away from human contact, so if a group of fishermen occupy a particular spot the bears will just go somewhere else. And that's the thing about this place - there are plenty of "somewhere elses" for the bears to go and feed to their hearts content. The reason they grow to such mammoth sizes (fully twice as big as their inland cousins in places like Denali) is the quality and abundance of their protein-rich diet. It's also why (apparently) they co-exist with people so well. With plenty of fish to eat they never associate people with food (or as food for that matter), nor are people considered a threat except in unusual and specific circumstances...mothers with cubs for example.





Check out the size of the fish the guy in the bottom right of the photo is carrying - it's as long as his leg!

Continued along Pasagshak Road for another 15 miles, just enjoying the scenic panorama, when we came upon just about the last thing we expected to see on Kodiak Island - a group of surfers enjoying the waves inside a broad bay along a stretch of black sand beach. All were wearing wet suits (the water temp is around 46 deg) and apparently having a great time. We stopped to sit on the sand and eat our sandwiches as we watched them for a while when I noticed something flopping around on the beach below us. Walked down and it turned out that the beach was littered with Silver salmon who had either missed the turn somewhere along the line or were just too tired to continued the journey to spawn. They hadn't yet morphed into that weird humpback and beaked appearance they adopt at the last stage of spawning, but were still sleek and pretty...just tired. So...the surfers could surf for a couple of hours and then collect dinner on their way up the beach to their cars. Amazing place!




Collected one of the live ones and walked him down to a nearby stream outlet...which is where I figured he was trying to get when he beached himself, but to no avail. He gave a couple of half-hearted flips of his tail when I put him in the water, then slowly went belly up. So much for my National Geographic wildlife rescue moment.





That dog sat patiently at the edge of the surf for at least 45 minutes waiting for his master to paddle in. Those wetsuits must be really thick - the water was freezing.


Continued the drive another few miles when we rounded a corner and happened upon another sight I never expected to see on Kodiak - a herd of Buffalo grazing by the side of the road. Also saw herds of cattle and wild ponies moving about on what appeared to be an open range. At the very end of the road is the Kodiak Lauch Complex - a small missile launch facility similar to the one at PMRF in Hawaii but much smaller. Guess they occasionally shoot satellites into a north-south orbit, as well as targets fired downrange to be intercepted by missiles fired from Vandenburg, Kwajelein, or PMRF.




Saw about 30 or 40 scattered about, as well as a few calves like the one above on the left - born just this Spring no doubt.





And about 200 yards further along we encountered this herd of ponies grazing next to the road.





On the return trip I chanced to look over and see this Bald Eagle perched in a tree. Our entire Alaska trip has at times seemed like a prolonged National Geographic episode, but never more so that this day driving around Kodiak Island.

As we drove around we noticed a large Coast Guard facility just west of town. Turns out that Kodiak is home to the largest CG base in the US with about 2000 personnel assigned. Saw a couple of cutters, and they no doubt have at least one C-130 and a long range rescue helo to patrol the waters of the North Pacific and the Bering Sea stretching all the way out to the end of the Aleutian chain...about 500 miles away. Must be tough duty if the weather we're seeing today is any indication. Had a very nice Exchange though.

Kodiak is the second largest island in the US - only the Big Island of Hawaii is larger - but most of it (like Alaska itself) is only accessible by air or by boat. We pretty much drove all of the roads in the vicinity of the city of Kodiak in half a day, which leaves about 95% of the island yet to be explored. Still hoping for a chance to do a bear viewing flight while we're here but right now the weather isn't cooperating. Started raining again yesterday afternoon and today there's a nasty Pacific storm lashing the island....winds are about 35-40 knots and it's raining sideways. Not a good day to be out so we're hunkered down for the day.

Kodiak - First Look

We managed to drop the car off at the shipping terminal in Anchorage without too much drama, and then caught a taxi over to the airport for the flight to Kodiak. Everything went smoothly until just before landing - the pilot was forced to wave off the first approach due to high winds and poor visibility, but after a 10 minute delay and a bit of bouncing around in a holding pattern we tried it again and eventually managed to touch down more or less on time. Was raining buckets as we taxied to parking, and it continued to come down in sheets as we wandered around the parking lot trying to find our rental car (not the most organized rental agency I've ever dealt with). Finally pulled into our B&B a little after 5:30 PM...much relieved to be off the road, checked in and out of the rain.




The view from our apartment looking out over the Channel. Turns out that our host is the local Harbormaster, and the house (as you can see) is right on the edge of the waterway. We can watch the fishing boats come and go, as well as the float planes on final approach for landing in the harbor. It was pretty dramatic last night with the storm raging.


The storm blew itself out over night and we actually woke to blue skies, so after breakfast we jumped back in the car to do some exploring. Initially drove around the downtown area to get our bearings and generally get oriented. It's another pretty little place - in fact I'd have to say after a quick look around that it rivals Sitka as the absolute prettiest place we've seen in Alaska.




Holy Resurrection Church is the oldest of all the Russian Orthodox churches in Alaska - still serving the needs of the local Alutiiq native population after more than 220 years.




This one also had a Seminary adjacent to it. The sight of the characteristic onion domes against the backdrop of the bay and the mountains really makes for a pretty scene.


After a couple of circuits around town we headed up to Fort Abercrombie State Park, located about 7 miles northeast of town on a picturesque point of land with a commanding view of the straits leading into Kodiak harbor. It was an old WWII artillery fortification that was established (in a hurry) after the Japanese attacked and later occupied a couple of the islands at the far end of the Aleutian chain in the days after Pearl Harbor. There was a real concern that they would island-hop their way towards Anchorage and mainland Alaska, so the Army beefed up the local defenses to thwart the Japanese strategy. Never saw any action, and the big guns are long gone, but there are still some reminders of those days in the form of some old block houses and gun emplacements that dot the landscape in and around some of the prettiest hiking trails you could ever hope to see. Here are some photos:



The trails wound their way along a coastline that looks like something out of Northern California - or maybe the coast of Maine - beautiful on a sunny day.













One of the old gun pits, located right next to one of the campgrounds in the park.
















There was also a pretty little lake in the center of the park - Lake Gertrude I think it was - and well-maintained trails that meandered all over the place. It was one of the prettiest State Parks we've ever seen anywhere.







Checking for Salmon in the lake. A little too late in the season apparently - the run had already finished.

Our hosts mentioned that the area was a good place to hike when it was stormy too - guess the crashing surf and the rain whistling thru the spruce trees are especially dramatic when it's blowing a gale. Looks like we may get to find out for ourselves if that's true...the rains are forecast to move back into the area tomorrow, and there's a sizeable Pacific storm scheduled to arrive on Monday.

We actually explored more of the area south and west of town later in the day, but I'll save that discussion for the next post.

Seward

We departed Homer on the morning of the 29th and drove across the peninsula to Seward. It was such a nice, sunny day that we made an all-day meander out of it.



Lots of pretty views across Cook Inlet towards the Katmai Peninsula, where there are several snow covered volcanic peaks ... all of them still active. Not sure but I think this one is Mt. Redoubt which last erupted in 2009, apparently affecting air traffic in the region for a few weeks as the ash settled. Saw at least 2 others a bit north and south of this one - all appeared to be dormant at the moment.

Stopped in the little town of Kenai for lunch, and then walked around their "Old Town", ie the site of an old fort and another Russian Orthodox Church. This one had a small chapel adjacent to it - apparently built over the graves of two Russian Orthodox saints. There was a cliff trail down to the beach nearby so we hiked down and walked a bit to burn some calories before pressing on to Seward.



It was a pretty little place to walk around on a sunny day


It was still sunny when we arrived in Seward and, hearing that the forecast for the next couple of days was rainy, we dumped the luggage and hustled out the door to see some of the sights before the return of the wet weather. First stop was Exit Glacier just down the road from us. It's one of the few places in the state (or the world I guess) where you can walk right up to the edge of the ice. The road in paralleled Resurrection Creek and wound its way for about 8 miles thru some very pretty forest before ending at the National Park Visitor Center. From there it was a one mile gentle walk along a wooded path to the glacier itself. The photo below doesn't really do it justice, but the sun was directly above the ice by the time we got there the first day and washed out any hope of a sunny shot. The photo is actually from day 2...not as pretty but still a good look at the glacier coming down out of the massive ice field above.

The only other place we've ever seen a glacier this accessible was in New Zealand - at the Franz Joseph Glacier on the South Island. That one is even more accessible than this one - literally right next to the main highway along the west coast.

The park service posted a number of signs marking where the foot of the glacier had previously been - in intervals going back to the year 1815...really demonstrated just how much it's retreated in the past 200 years, and the markers for the years 1985-2009 show how things have been accelerating.



Exit Glacier from a nearby viewpoint




And a couple of tourists


As forecast the weather turned sour the next two days. We still managed to get out and about but any hopes of getting in a hike had to be abandoned. Seward was another pretty little town - reminded us a lot of Skagway the way it was laid out. An Indian village on the site had been long abandoned by the time the gold rushers arrived in the area around 1895 to cache their supplies before making the overland trek to the gold fields of the interior. The town wasn't formally established until 1903 when Alaska Railroad officials arrived and started laying track north towards Anchorage. Guess the big attraction was that Seward has one of the few ice free ports this far north in Alaska, so establishing a rail head here was something of a no-brainer.




Downtown Seward looking South towards Resurrection Bay. The bay got its name from our old buddy Alexander Baranov who, around 1795 or thereabouts, was surveying this coastline on his way from Kodiak towards Sitka when his ship sought refuge from a storm in this bay. The date was the feast of the Resurrection (Easter) according to the Orthodox calendar, so the bay was named in honor of the date.

Seward has a very nice Sealife Center down at the foot of the harbor, and we stopped by one day for a couple of hours to get out of the rain. Turned out to be pretty nice. Lots of viewing tanks highlighting all of the various Alaska marine critters... fish, birds and mammals, including some very good exhibits on King Crabs and all of the various types of Salmon.




This is a Puffin - saw a lot of them during our cruise thru the Marine Sanctuary near Homer on the way to Seldovia last week but couldn't get a decent close-up picture. This little guy volunteered to remedy the deficit.




Walking along the seawall next to the bay. It really was a pretty town, but unfortunately couldn't show itself to very good advantage because of the wet weather.

Left Seward earlier today and drove back up to Anchorage where we're spending the night. Will be dropping the car off tomorrow morning at the Port and then catching a taxi over to the airport for the short flight to Kodiak, where we'll be staying for 6 nights as the car makes its way by ship to Tacoma. Believe it or not, it was actually a LOT cheaper to ship the car both ways than it would have been to rent one while we were here.

Hoping that our luck changes with the weather in Kodiak - would really like to book a flight around the island while we're there, both to see the bears and to just enjoy some of the prettiest scenery in Alaska.