Alaska cruises are once in a lifetime opportunity and hence very popular. Massive icebergs and whales are the images that conjure up when one think of Alaska cruise. Who would not want to dine, relax and admire the surroundings with the astonishing sights as your background? To top it all off, you are leaving behind the stress of regular hotel check in / checkout and coordinating transportation, it is like crucial components of a vacation all packaged in one. Continue reading
Category Archives: Whittier Alaska
Alaska – Season Ending?
It is not the end it is only the beginning! Saving all year to come to Alaska, it’s been a dream for a long time to visit this last frontier. Don’t wait any longer, you can start your planning now, Alaska Denali Tours is ready for you.
Take a cruise to Alaska through the inside passage with a few exciting stops in remote locations – but not so remote like Juneau, our capital city, only reachable buy Ship or Air. How about a flight to Fairbanks a tour your way down to Anchorage, staying at all the best locations, such as Denali Backcountry Lodge deep inside Denali, or tour the town next to Denali Cabins. Next, stop in the Talkeetna Alaskan Lodge and grab the Alaska Railroad for a fun filled train ride to Anchorage where you can visit the Alaska Zoo or our unique Museums -best shopping by the way! Then again, you can continue on to Seward and visit the Alaska Sealife center and also go dog sledding all in the same day.
How about going backwards and end your cruise to Alaska in Whittier or Seward. Stage yourself on the train to Anchorage – shop a little – catch the Anchorage Denali Express to one of the remote Denali Lodges. Jump on the train bound for Fairbanks to do some gold panning in an active gold mine – the Eldorado, ride the Riverboat Discovery before catching your plane home or a flight further north to the Arctic. I see no end to the choices,
what are you waiting for!
Spotting the difference in Alaska Birds
Alaska is home to a wide variety of birds and with 471 species positively identified, Alaska is a popular destination for birders the world over.
Let’s start with the Gulls. Quick differences in Arctic Terns (the longest flight migratory bird) and Bonaparte’s Gulls – The Gulls have black heads and bills, whereas Arctic Terns have black heads and orange bills. The distinguishing plumage between the Herring Gull is black primary feathers (the wing tips), whereas the Glaucous-winged Gull has gray to white primaries. It is important to keep in mind that these two species interbreed and hybridize in Alaska
Mew Gulls are common on the Kenai Peninsula and in Denali National Park. They can be easily distinguished from other gulls by their small size and their yellow to yellow – green legs.
Let’s move on to the Eagles. Golden Eagles are typically seen in mountainous areas, whereas, the Bald Eagle remain along coasts, rivers, and lakes. Rarely, if ever, are Bald Eagles spotted in Denali. The younglings of the two are a little more challenging. In Golden Eagles, look for two distinct, small white patches on the underside of the wing. An immature Bald Eagle has a mottled white and dark underside on its breast and wings.
Ptarmigans are often spotted while visiting Alaska. The Willow (the Alaska state bird) and the Rock Ptarmigan are found in lower elevations of tundra, especially in shrubby areas of Denali National Park. The male Rock Ptarmigan does not possess the reddish colors to its summer plumage like the male Willow Ptarmigan. The White-tailed ptarmigan is usually found in the tundra above tree line, and often on high, rocky slopes. It can be distinguished from other Ptarmigan species by its white tail, which remains white in all seasons.
I hope I have stirred your curiosity to learn more and to visit Alaska’s birds….Only 461 to go!
Glacier Tours
For a moment, I recalled Tolkein’s description of the Mines of Moria as we went through the tunnel into Whittier. Rock faces surrounded us as we drove through what is probably one of the largest tunnels I have ever seen. When we emerged on the Whittier side, a small patch of blue sky greeted us in an otherwise gray expanse. Not to be daunted, we made our way to the Major Marine Tours office to check in for a day cruise.
Our first question to the kindly lady checking us onto our vessel was if we could see the fabled glaciers of Prince William Sound on such a gray day. She told us that because of the geography and water currents around Whittier, most days are cold and cloudy. That weather is what created the glaciers, and in that weather the glaciers shine a bright radiant blue.
Glacier Tours
We soon left the dock and entered the glassy, green waters of the Sound. A small otter frolicked nearby.
The first glacier we saw was a small cirque or spoon glacier high on the mountainside. It was majestic to be sure, but nothing to prepare us for massive Blackstone Glacier. Towering a few hundred feet into the air with jagged blue peaks jutting into the clouds like gothic spires of an ancient cathedral, the glacier stood sentry over us. Sudden crashes brought our gaze down to the water where we watched chunks of ice the size of cars splash and churn into the water. We stayed for only a short time but it felt like an eon.
As the boat headed back to Whittier, we could only sit and ponder the massive river of ice. The sky brightened and sun touched the spray as the boat carved through the sea.
