tom's alaska adventure part II
Sep 14th, 2012 | 11:02 AM
#1
Original Poster
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 668
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tom's alaska adventure part II
LAST TUESDAY
we decide we cannot part with the alyeska hotel and arrange to stay another night. we drive down toward seward early to get to the sealife center for a while before we get on a boat. the sea life center is interesting-the are some walrusses getting a bath--a pettting zoo for various forms of sea life,a movie about resurrection bay.
we then get on a boat. it is the tour of resurrection bay--it is stormy and the captain doesn't want to leave the bay..so we see some wildlife--a number of bald eagles sitting there looking eagellike--sea otters, a number of birds. and we finally do see a humpback leap our of the water for us. pretty great! we bought the food option of the boat which wdas probably not needed-- the soup and coffee would have been adequate. again it's raining off and on. .
we decide to go back to girdwood for dinner. so there are a number of options--but we are tired and eat at the hotel, which was fine.
WEDNESDAY.
We go to the wildlife conservation center on the way to the sterling highway..the high point of this is the elk section. it is the rutting time for the elk and the males are belowing to each other (or are they belowing to the females?)--"bugling " it is called by humans. pretty powerful to hear. the animlas are in large enclosures--nothing lige a zoo, which is nice.
we continue on to the tern lake cutoff where there is a salmon viewing area. and i stop to take a wonderful photo with the clear water, blue sky and the mountain in the background reflected in the water. and then on to cooper landing.. this is heaven for people who fish. we stay at the princess lodge for a very reasonable price ($135) and have a fireplace in our
room.
THURSDAY
We get up to go for a hike. we go to the russian River trail about 10 miles down the road toward homer....we hope to get to some falls at the end of the trail, where it is rumored we will see salmon jumping up the falls. the hike is pleasant--a bit more than 2 miles-and we do get to the falls and see some salmon doing their thing. it is really inspiring. they jump and they jump and they rarely seem to make and then they jump some more. we were told to try to get there by 9-which we did. others were going down when we were leaving--dont know how long the salmon put on the performance. we didnt see any bears --which apaprently do come for breakfast at times.
then off to homer, after lunch at the princess. we talk to the waitress-this place is shutting in the middle of sept--everyone is going somewhere else obviously--our wAitress is going back to minnesota--DRIVING!
the drive to homer is nice and not crowded. 3 hours or so if you don't stop...we stay at land's end. htis is a funky hotel in a wonderful location. we had a water view room (and a little balcony) for $150. we eat at the hotel restaurant. my brother is a big fan of the halibut.
FRIDAY
we get up, watch the spectacular sunrise over the mountains and the water, and explore the town. there is national wildife refuge on the main drag in town. they show interesting movies about the bay and about the wildlife in the islands. very informative. and there are displays about the history of the area.
we also go to the pratt museum. this has a display about the valdez oil spill--which impacted homer as well as valdez.(and probably seward too). it was ironic that when we were there there was news about new drilling in the bay around homer. the pratt also had movie about a place where you can fly in to watch bears and there has been an effort to get the bears used to people and not scared of them.
SATURDAY
we drive to achorage--which takes about 5-6 hours from homer. get dinner at a local restaurant and get on a plane and bid farewell.
we decide we cannot part with the alyeska hotel and arrange to stay another night. we drive down toward seward early to get to the sealife center for a while before we get on a boat. the sea life center is interesting-the are some walrusses getting a bath--a pettting zoo for various forms of sea life,a movie about resurrection bay.
we then get on a boat. it is the tour of resurrection bay--it is stormy and the captain doesn't want to leave the bay..so we see some wildlife--a number of bald eagles sitting there looking eagellike--sea otters, a number of birds. and we finally do see a humpback leap our of the water for us. pretty great! we bought the food option of the boat which wdas probably not needed-- the soup and coffee would have been adequate. again it's raining off and on. .
we decide to go back to girdwood for dinner. so there are a number of options--but we are tired and eat at the hotel, which was fine.
WEDNESDAY.
We go to the wildlife conservation center on the way to the sterling highway..the high point of this is the elk section. it is the rutting time for the elk and the males are belowing to each other (or are they belowing to the females?)--"bugling " it is called by humans. pretty powerful to hear. the animlas are in large enclosures--nothing lige a zoo, which is nice.
we continue on to the tern lake cutoff where there is a salmon viewing area. and i stop to take a wonderful photo with the clear water, blue sky and the mountain in the background reflected in the water. and then on to cooper landing.. this is heaven for people who fish. we stay at the princess lodge for a very reasonable price ($135) and have a fireplace in our
room.
THURSDAY
We get up to go for a hike. we go to the russian River trail about 10 miles down the road toward homer....we hope to get to some falls at the end of the trail, where it is rumored we will see salmon jumping up the falls. the hike is pleasant--a bit more than 2 miles-and we do get to the falls and see some salmon doing their thing. it is really inspiring. they jump and they jump and they rarely seem to make and then they jump some more. we were told to try to get there by 9-which we did. others were going down when we were leaving--dont know how long the salmon put on the performance. we didnt see any bears --which apaprently do come for breakfast at times.
then off to homer, after lunch at the princess. we talk to the waitress-this place is shutting in the middle of sept--everyone is going somewhere else obviously--our wAitress is going back to minnesota--DRIVING!
the drive to homer is nice and not crowded. 3 hours or so if you don't stop...we stay at land's end. htis is a funky hotel in a wonderful location. we had a water view room (and a little balcony) for $150. we eat at the hotel restaurant. my brother is a big fan of the halibut.
FRIDAY
we get up, watch the spectacular sunrise over the mountains and the water, and explore the town. there is national wildife refuge on the main drag in town. they show interesting movies about the bay and about the wildlife in the islands. very informative. and there are displays about the history of the area.
we also go to the pratt museum. this has a display about the valdez oil spill--which impacted homer as well as valdez.(and probably seward too). it was ironic that when we were there there was news about new drilling in the bay around homer. the pratt also had movie about a place where you can fly in to watch bears and there has been an effort to get the bears used to people and not scared of them.
SATURDAY
we drive to achorage--which takes about 5-6 hours from homer. get dinner at a local restaurant and get on a plane and bid farewell.
Sep 19th, 2012 | 02:51 PM
#4
Joined: Feb 2004
Posts: 6,134
Likes: 0
Perhaps he's just hoping that more people will read it. I did with the second post. It takes time to write a trip report and it's usually done in order to be of help to others. One of the reasons I don't do trip reports is because with few exceptions most people don't actually read them. Too much work with too little reward IMO.
youngtom2910,
I also enjoyed the Pratt Museum as did our young granddaughter. Alaska's a great place.
youngtom2910,
I also enjoyed the Pratt Museum as did our young granddaughter. Alaska's a great place.
