Tolsona Wilderness Campground, Glennallen, AK, USA

Thursday, September 1, 2011
Tolsona Wilderness Campground, Glennallen, AK

Hello all, it is Thursday, again, and we are still at the Tolsona Wilderness Campground, near Glenallen. This is an old-style campground, with widely separated spaces beside a good-size stream, out in the middle of almost no-where. We love it and have stayed an extra day here, hoping that the weather will improve so we can take a flight over the Wrangell - St. Elias Wilderness, and the tundra, mountains, and glaciers in it. More on that in the next installment. Now to catch up on what’s happened in the past week...

Wednesday, 31 August 2011:
Tolsona Wilderness Campground, Glenallen, AK

This was the day we were supposed to take a flight over the Wrangell - St. Elias wilderness, but it didn't go due to weather conditions. We woke up to rain and a sky full of clouds. A phone check with the flight service (Copper River Air Service) came back with a no-joy report. We decided to stay an extra day and see if we might have better luck on Thursday. This was a "down" day for us. We walked around the campground (in the rain), and spent several quiet hours playing Russian Bank (a dual solitare card game that is popular within the Hirst family), and reading. Dispite the disappointment with the cancelled flight-see, we really enjoyed the quiet time.

Tuesday, 30 August 2011:
Golden Nugget RV Park, Anchorage, AK, USA

Tuesday morning we did some more shopping in Anchorage and then packed up the trailer to drive up the Glenn Highway to the Tolsona Wilderness Campground. The highway is routed along the north side of the Matanuska River, and passes across the north-western end of the Chucagh Mountain range. The scenery is spectacular in good weather, which, unfortunately, we didn't have. Still, we could see evidence of the passing summer in the changing colors on the tundra, and the mountains and glaciers to the south were visible, though shrouded in clouds. Here are a few images that give some idea of the scope and beauty of the landscape:

Terminus of the Matanuska Glacier, from the Glenn Highway.

Glenn Highway, roadside rock graffiti.

Terminus of the Nelchina Glacier, from the Glenn Highway.

The Tolsona Wilderness Campground is, so far, our favorite spot of the trip. It is remote, out in the country, and built and run by a couple of folks who have done a great job. Our site was beside a busy stream that burbled quietly along, adding a nice background to our coming and going. We walked the campsite and chatted with the owners. There is an interesting collection of old farm and home implements in the office, and it was fun to try and guess their purpose. We were OK but not great at it. And so the day ended...

Monday 29, August 2011:
Golden Nugget RV Park, Anchorage, AK, USA

Monday was a busy day. We did a bit of needed shopping and then headed north from our campground to the Alaska Native Heritage Cultural Center. There we spent a couple of interesting hours watching several athletic skill competitions and wandering through the grounds. The most interesting athletic skill was the high kick -- the competitor crouches on one foot, holding the other foot in a free hand. Swinging the held foot free and upwards, the object is to touch a suspended target, above, and then land back on one foot, in line with the starting position. The record height is greater than 6' (held by the guy showing his form), and it is astonishing to watch. I tried to capture it in pictures; here is the best of my attempts:

High kick, you can almost see his foot...

The outdoor exhibits give an impression of native dwellings, by area and type, and show some of the artifacts of daily life. We had several interesting hours wandering through the museum, both indoors and outside.

Kayak frame.

Meeting house - carved roof post (1 of 4).

Meeting house - carved roof post (2 of 4).

Meeting house - carved roof post (3 of 4).

Shield detail (post 3 of 4).

Meeting house - carved roof post (4 of 4).

I found the figurative carved posts fascinating, I hope you enjoy them as well.

Entrance to Alaska Native Heritage Center.

By then, it was mid-afternoon, and we had a date at Bird Point, on the Turnagain Arm, to see an incoming bore tide.

Chugach Mountains,
view south-east from Bird Point on Turnagain Arm.

This area, and the Bay of Fundy, are the two places in North America where bore tides are seen. This one shows up best when the low tide is lower than -3'. This tide was listed at -2.7' and when it arrived around 6:30 PM the bore was visible but not huge. Here are several pictures from a Turnagain Arm bore tide:

The bore tide arrives (line across center of picture).
It's there, but nothing spectacular.

The bore tide sweeps in a curved line over shallows off Bird Point.

That was it for the day, so we went back to the camper for dinner and a good night's rest.

Sunday, 28 August 2011:
Williwaw Campground (NFS), Portage, AK, USA

On Sunday, we had breakfast and then went for a walk in the sunshine (finally!). It was a beautiful morning and we thought the trail would take us back toward the glacial area, wrong. So after walking the boardwalk both west and then back east, we finally headed back to the trailer. It was still a beautiful morning:

Snow and glacier, south of Williwaw CG.

After our walk, it was time to pack up the trailer and head for Anchorage. We decided that we'd seen Eagle River CG, and didn't need to go back there. We ended up in the Golden Nugget RV Park, in the eastern part of Anchorage, right across the street from Costco and near other shopping. We set up there and then headed downtown to see what we could see. The week before, we'd just missed out on a free tour of Anchorage Port, so we went there first, and got in line for the 1:00 PM tour, waiting in front of the Alaska RR corporate office. After a bit, a big tour bus showed up and we piled aboard. A short drive later, we were passing the port facilities and a new barge dock, part of a major 7-year long expansion and renovation plan. We stopped at the Harbormaster's office for a free hot-dog, an introduction to and brief talk by the Governor of AK, and a few words about the port expansion in-progress. Interesting, but not spectacular...

Dredging the Port of Anchorage.

Container ship port, Anchorage.

From there we drove back into town and the Anchorage Museum. It is new since we were here in 1997, and very well done. We spent several quiet hours wandering through the exhibits of Anchorage history and art and artifacts that give us insight to the native heritage which forms the Alaska experience. Then it was time to head back to our trailer and a quiet evening.

Saturday, 27 August 2011:
Driftwood Inn & RV Park, Homer, AK, USA

Saturday, we did some sightseeing around Homer, walking through the area near the Driftwood RV Park, where we were staying. We saw the usual gift shops and stores, some of them interesting and some not. Finally, it was time to pack up and be on our way. The trip from Homer up to Portage was beautiful, with broken clouds and sunshine on the mountains and valleys along the way.

We set up in the rain at Williwaw Campground near Portage, just west of the Portage Glacier. It is a pretty campground, with extensive walks and a salmon viewing area.

Saturday evening, we had dinner at Seven Glaciers Restaurant, near the top of the Alyeska Resort ski area. Dinner included a ride up the gondola lift, and back down after a wonderful meal. We took time to look around up at the top, and it was as beautiful as we had remembered from our visit here in 1997. Here are some pictures from our visit to Alyeska.

The ride to the top starts here.

The view from the top, Seven Glaciers Restaurant.

The view from our table.

Girdwood and Turnagain Arm, below.

The quick way up and down, Alyeska Resort in the background.

Inside the hotel, looking up the hill.

Looking up the hill from the courtyard.

Friday, 26 August 2011:
Driftwood Inn & RV Park, Homer, AK, USA

We woke up Friday morning, and had a quick breakfast before heading out to drive the East End road from Homer, up the west side of Kachemak Bay. It was a beautiful drive and I got this picture of the mountains and glaciers across Kachemak Bay:

Kachemak Bay with Kachemak Mountains and glaciers across the Bay.

We headed back in time to have lunch at the Fresh Sourdough Express Restaurant, just down the road from the Homer Airport. The owners, Kevin and Donna, are related to friends in Eugene; we had a good lunch and chatted briefly with Kevin before heading back to our trailer to get ready for our afternoon flight with Kay Bay Aviation at the Homer Airport.

There, at Kay Bay, we met the others in our two-airplane party, put on hip waders, picked up our lunch and snack, received a thorough briefing on safety in bear country and headed to the planes. I was fortunate and sat in the co-pilot’s seat. From there I got to watch our pilot and guide, Doug, as he ran through the preflight checks on the Cessna 206 (a six-place, tricycle gear, single engine, high wing plane), talked briefly with ground control, and then taxied out to the runway.

Off we went into partly cloudy skies, and set course for the 2 hour flight from Homer to Katmai National Park. Along the way we got to see a lot of clouds below us, the sun and sky above the clouds, and some mountains, glaciers, and sea-shore along the edges. It was a nice, smooth flight, right up to the coast of the Park. We cruised low over two different areas in Hallo Bay looking for bears and seeing them. Chris (the other pilot) and Doug agreed that the beach to the north looked better, so down we went, right onto the gravel beach. First, Chris landed and parked, and then Doug landed and parked right next to him (at lat/lon: 58.475618, -154.077107, if you want to check it out in Google Maps).

We gathered around Chris and Doug to listen to a repeat of the bear safety talk, practiced crouching to the ground, and checked out the surroundings. We left the planes, walked about 75 yards in single file, north, up the beach and then north-west through a small stream, and inland to the banks of a large creek flowing into the bay (at lat/lon: 58.476188, -154.077970). There, we found our first brown (grizzly) bears, a very large male bear sitting off to the west, and a sow and cub across the stream, looking for fish. We spent the next couple of hours staying in a group right there as various bears wandered up to the creek looking for fish, which were rather scarce right then. After a while, the very large male bear came down the creek to investigate the sow and her cub. She growled at him, and mock charged him several times as we watched. Eventually, he lost interest and wandered away.

Up the bay further, several other bears wandered out of the brush, one very large make put on quite a show dashing through the water trying to catch salmon. While we were there, we saw as many as ten different bears at one time; some close, others distant. At no time were we afraid or apprehensive, it was an unique experience.

To the northwest of us, about 300 yards away, a sow and two cubs came out of the brush, to the edge of another creek, spent a while looking for fish and then laid down for a nap. Unfortunately, they were too far away for anything but binocular viewing. Chris and Doug regaled us with bear tales and lore; we all had a wonderful time there. We even waited for quite a while to see if the sow would nurse her cub there in front of us (they were about 30 yards away), but that didn’t happen.

Finally, it was time to leave, so we gathered up our stuff and walked back to the planes, still able to see this pair by the side of the creek. By the time we got back to the planes, the sow had turned over on her back, and the cub was on top nursing, what great timing. I took pictures of this, and got several good ones.

The flight back was also exciting. We flew over the glacier flowing down from Mt. Stellar, south of Hallo Bay, then along several beaches north of Hallo Bay. Along one of them, we saw four wolves chasing a bear and were able to get some snapshots of them. From there, we circled around for a while looking for more bears (and found them, too). Finally, we headed back to Homer, an uneventful trip; we all were tired from the excitement and glad to land back at the airfield. We took off our hip waders, gathered up our belongings, and headed back to our travel trailer. It was a very good day, indeed!

During this excursion, I had my Canon 40D set up with a 100-400 mm zoom lens, and my G10 set up for wide angle shots. During the time we were at Hallo Bay, I took many pictures covering distances from 3 - 300 yards.

After reviewing the 530 pictures I took on the trip, I've posted a limited selection here. Looking back on the experience, it was, in my view, the capstone for our entire trip to Alaska.

K Bay Air at Homer Airport;
Doug, in the green sweater, is our pilot and guide.

Jack, the other pilot and guide, gives us the
safety talk before we load up and depart.

Ready for take-off.

Kachemak Bay and Glacier, east of Homer.

Homer Town at the top and Homer Spit at the bottom of the picture.

Augustine Island & Volcano.

Our landing strip is the beach at the top left of the picture.
We walked and waded over to the sandy area across the
stream from the two bears at the bottom left of the picture.

Coming in for our landing, just after Jack set down and parked. We
got out of the planes, listened to a repeat of the bear safety
briefing we had back in Homer, and the walked, single file to
our vantage point. It is just to the left of Jack's plane, and
across several small channels to the gravel spit. We
spent the next couple of hours right there.
I treasure every minute of our time in the Katmai.
It was awesome.