Category Archives: travel

On Sunday, August 7, we headed south from Anchorage to meet our cruise ship, Holland America’s MS Statendam.  The route we took was along what National Geographic has deemed one of the world’s fifty ultimate road trips, the Seward Highway.

Along the way, we stopped just long enough to take a mini cruise to the Portage Glacier, with its stunningly beautiful blue glacial ice and the surrounding mountains with myriad cascading waterfalls at nearly every turn.  The water in the Turnagain Arm, where this glacier is located, had a greenish-gray cast from “glacial flour,” pulverized stone so fine that it stays in suspension in the water rather than precipitating out to the bottom.

The tops of the nearby mountains were shrouded in ghostly wisps of clouds that flowed over the rock and cascaded silently down the slopes, some of which were barren granite while others were clad in emerald vegetation.

This one stop alone was well worth the trek to Alaska, the cold damp, the cloudy skies, and the interminable rain that had marred much of our visit to date.  Even though poor conditions continued to nip at our heels while a fine, chilling mist descended upon us, the photographic opportunities still managed to overcome.  No direct sunlight was needed to capture the chillingly cool blues of the ice field, and only minimal post processing was needed to bring out a true and accurate representation of what we beheld that cold summer day.

Presented below is a small sampling of the sights that opened up to us on this excursion.

Saturday was Road Trip Day as we made our way via tourist bus from Healy just outside Denali, through Denali, and back to Anchorage by way of Wasilla.  You know Wasilla, I’m sure, as it was a former mayor of Wasilla who brought international attention and fame to Alaska’s much-envied educational system.  But I digress.

The skies didn’t exactly open up to a sea of cerulean blue, but at least it quit raining for most of this segment of our journey.  Unfortunately, Mount McKinley was still hidden by overcast in the distance, and refused to make even the hint of an appearance.

By the time we got to Houston the rains had started up yet again.  No.  Not that Houston.  The other one.  In Alaska.  Just north of Wasilla, home of Alaska’s most famous Wasilla High School graduate.  But I digress . . . again.

At any rate, we rolled back into Anchorage around 6:00 P.M. and, with the foresight and intelligence thrust upon us by virtue of the fact that neither of us had ever attended Wasilla High School, we had reservations at our favorite Anchorage eatery.  This was our third trip to The Glacier Brewhouse, having gone there twice before on our first stay in Anchorage earlier in the week.

Now, if you’ve been following this blog for any length of time, you know that any restaurant that beckons us back three times in one week has got to be a lot better than merely great.  The Hearty Alaska Seafood Chowder here is an absolute winner.  Their pizzas are among the best outside my own kitchen.  Their White Chocolate Truffle Cheesecake is by far one of the best restaurant cheesecakes you’ll ever try.  And on top of all that, they brew their own beer—this meal had me trying their exquisite India Pale Ale.

Here are a few shots taken of our road trip and our meal at the Glacier Brewhouse:

The weather in Healy was the worst we’ve encountered yet on our trip through Alaska.  Low clouds shrouded the nearby mountaintops.  Rain ranged from nearly constant to merely frequent.  Mount McKinley, or Denali as it’s sometimes called, was completely hidden.  Nature’s colors were muted beneath the solid overcast and, unfortunately, my pictures reflect that.  Despite all that, the trip to Denali National Park and Preserve was a fun one.  Along the way we even saw one mama moose and her calf, although I didn’t try to photograph them through the windows of the moving bus.

The visitor center at Denali National Park was one of the better such venues I’ve seen, with a lot of interesting displays and information on everything from the geology of the park to the abundant flora and fauna.

As for our accommodations, we stayed at the Princess Denali Wilderness Lodge, which is run by Princess Cruises.  It’s a charming place, with a log-style veneer, comfortable beds, and the usual amenities.  The only real complaint I would have is that the walls and ceilings are far from soundproof, and the people residing above us walked to and fro with the gentle footsteps of a stampeding herd of angry bull elephants, in heat, on a bad day, with thorns in their feet.  Meanwhile the plumbing let us know in no uncertain terms each and every time a neighbor was flushing their toilet or jumping into the shower.  My recommendation is to make sure you ask for a room on a top floor.

Despite the challenging lighting and resulting muted colors, below are the photographs I took of this segment of our journey.  Interestingly, there was enough light to take shots well after 9:00 P.M. despite the cloud-darkened skies.