Alaska - The Last Frontier
Alaska is so big, it was hard to decide where to go. We spent almost three weeks there and the trip was divided into three parts. First, we took a cruise on a small ship that started in Ketchikan and ended in Juneau. There were just 70 people onboard, and we slept on land each night, slowly working our way north. Overnight accommodations were basic, but we loved spending time in the small towns. I was a daily runner in those days, so I would lace on my running shoes as soon as I got off the ship and get in three to five miles before dinner. The small ship allowed us to go into narrow waterways where the large cruise ships could not. We watched glaciers calve and saw bears and other animals roaming on the hillsides. Oftentimes, a native Alaskan was on board to explain cultural aspects of the indigenous peoples of Alaska. I was particularly surprised to learn that in southeast Alaska, Tlingit people and Haida people are born into their identity through a matrilineal clan system. One’s identity is established through the mother’s clan. All Haida and Tlingit clans are organized into two major tribal subdivisions: Eagle and Raven. If you are born an Eagle, you can only marry into the Raven clan and visa versa. Also, among some Alaskan indigenous peoples, including these tribes, children are raised by their extended families rather than laying primary responsibility on nuclear families. The cultural belief is that children will be raised more objectively with less opportunity for them to become spoiled if, for example, their male role model and disciplinarian is their uncle rather than their biological father. This is such a dramatically different perspective from parenting habits in our culture, but it kind of makes sense.
Upon arriving in Juneau, we disembarked and walked around this capitol city, where it was cold, rainy and very foggy. We were supposed to take a flight that evening to Anchorage in order to join our Backroads bicycle group, but the visibility was too poor and the flight was canceled. We spent the night in a hotel and arranged for a flight the following morning. In the meantime, a huge cruise ship came into port and a couple of thousand people got off and started walking around. Wow! A very different experience from our small ship. All the bars and restaurants were packed with people. We decided then and there that we would never take a cruise of that size. We have many friends and family members who love the big ships, but I’m glad that we agree………it’s not for us!
When we got to Anchorage, we had missed the van taking the cyclists to Palmer where the Backroads bicycle trip was to begin the next day. Our only option was to take a two-hour taxi ride to Sheep Mountain Lodge where our group was staying. The owners were kind enough to provide dinner for the taxi driver who then drove the two hours back to Anchorage. Fortunately, our trip insurance paid for the hotel in Juneau and the taxi ride, the longest and most expensive taxi trip we have ever taken.
Bicycling in Alaska is an adventure on many levels. We realized that many Alaskans have found a home there because they were looking for an uncrowded place in which to live. We occasionally saw huge No Trespassing signs along roads where there was almost no traffic anyway. One chilly morning, we came to a restaurant in the middle of nowhere. It was large and my husband and I and another cyclist walked into an empty dining room. The owners eagerly greeted us and were obviously disappointed when we ordered hot chocolate and nothing else because we had eaten a huge breakfast at the lodge. We chatted with them; they were originally from Vallejo, CA, then moved to Glen Allen (population 411). They said that it got too crowded for them there, so they bought this restaurant about 20 miles outside of town. We couldn’t figure out how they could possibly have enough business to survive there, but their desire to live away from populated areas was like other Alaskans we met along the way.
There were 22 cyclists on this trip and riders spread out each day depending on how fast they could or wanted to go. One day I found myself riding alone – there was a group quite a way ahead of me and another about the same distance behind – but I was on my own pedaling up a long, steep hill. At the top of the hill, I stopped to take out a tuna sandwich then gasped when I saw a bear walking across the road, perhaps 100 yards in front of me. He didn’t appear to notice me, and I packed up my tuna sandwich quickly. The wind was in my favor, thank God, because I really didn’t want to rejoin the group behind me, which would require me to ride up that hill again! He lumbered off into the forest while I waited for the cyclists to catch up to me. I was careful to stay with a group of riders for the rest of the trip.
One of the highlights of the bike trip was flying from tiny Chitina airfield near Copper Center to McCarthy aboard a high-wing Cessna plane for a bird’s eye view of the vast Alaskan wilderness. Once landed, we were driven to Kennicott Glacier Lodge. That evening we took a walking tour where we learned about the history of copper mining in this location from 1910 to 1938. Forty buildings remain from the original boom town, and when people departed, they left behind trinkets and artifacts which were fascinating, even spooky to see. The next day, we strapped crampons on our boots and hiked on Root Glacier. Our guides frequently warned us to stay away from the edges of deep depressions in the glacier; I only needed to look down once to realize that was not the way I wanted to go!
After one week of extraordinary biking and sightseeing, we returned to Anchorage. The last part of the trip began with an 8-hour train ride to Denali. We were lucky that the day we went into the park, the weather was good, the sky was clear, and we were able to see Mt. McKinley. Later that day, my husband and I decided to take a hike but were warned there were bears in the area. The manager of the lodge gave us bells and suggested we sing the entire time we hiked to keep the bears at a distance. I think we sang every song we knew and jangled the bells like true percussionists, but I was still relieved when we returned safe and sound to our room.
Fairbanks was our last stop. We visited the University of Alaska campus where we saw a GIGANTIC stuffed polar bear in an atrium. He was gorgeous and terrifying at the same time. The parking lot contained many plug-in devices. We had never seen this before but learned from a local that you need to plug in your car when it will be parked for a period of time so that the battery doesn’t freeze. It’s also a plus to purchase a remote-control device that you can use to start your car, while still in your house, about 15 minutes before you intend to leave. Who knew?
We loved Alaska. The scenery is incomparable to anything we have seen before or since. But……. I wouldn’t want to be there in the winter. I learned that, for sure.