Everywhere you turn in Alaska there is fascinating wildlife. Mostly you see them running away from you because they don’t want to hang around with humans. We did have a couple of close encounters. In Denali, we met a caribou that sort of danced and ran in front of our bus for about five minutes. Another scarier encounter was on the Winner Creek trail in Alyeska. As we were hiking we turned a corner and all of a sudden I was staring down a giant bull moose just a short distance away. He stood there for a moment and I thought “oh, oh!” Then he saw Ray and took off. Whew! We saw a lot of Alaskan animals up close near Anchorage. They were living on farms and in research centres. Mostly because they were abandoned as babies and saved by park rangers. I fed Rocky the moose willow branches. Ray was super close to a rehabilitated grizzly. And guess what else we met?—Santa’s reindeer in training! I know Santa lives at the North Pole, but some of his reindeer seem to live near Fairbanks and Anchorage Alaska. Just in case you are already thinking of Christmas, Running Reindeer Ranch in Fairbanks has a “secret” cookie recipe. Do you think it might be Santa’s favourite? You are Always in my Prayers. Love Mom. Running Reindeer Ranch Cookies
• 1/2 cup white sugar • 3/4 cup brown sugar • 1 cup butter • Mix well • Add: • 2 eggs • 2 teaspoons vanilla Mix well Add: • 1 cup of flour • 1 teaspoon baking soda • 5 cups oatmeal • 1 cup dark chocolate chips • 1 1/2 cups coconut Optional: 1 cup walnuts Divide dough into 24 roughly equal balls. Flatten balls and shape them into cookies. The dough will rise a little but will not change shape significantly. Bake at 350 for 10 minutes or so
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There are still more than five producing gold mines in Alaska. So, it's fair to say chasing gold is still a big deal. At Goldaughters, in Fairbanks, we had our first lesson in panning for gold. Dad was pretty good at it, but I’m pretty sure some of my specks of gold floated away. These days most of the gold is collected in the mines, but there are still some miners staking claims and panning. I held a giant nugget worth over $18 000 dollars! We visited a couple of abandoned mines—one gold and one copper. Independence Mine mined gold until the 1950s. Set above the Hatcher Pass it was easy to imagine the miners enjoying this beautiful location. However, it was also easy to imagine how remote it would be in the winter. The miners' children had their own school right there. The coolest thing about visiting the Kennecott Mine is that we had to get there by small plane. The Kennecott Galcier was massive! We are loving our adventures. Stay safe. You are Always in my Prayers. Love Mom. If you travel to Alaska you may not encounter a wild bear, but I can guarantee you’ll have an ice encounter! Whether you are drinking a glass of freshly squeezed glacier water or exploring the great outdoors, it’s never far away. While staying in Valdez we were fortunate to take a cruise on Prince William Sound heading toward the Colombia Glacier. We passed by humpbacked whales, sea lions, porpoises and sea otters. The sea otters were my favourite. They float on their backs snacking on their most recent catch. As we got closer to the glacier we passed by some of the bluest icebergs I have ever seen. I’m glad our Captain knew what he was doing squeezing in between the icebergs. When we got as close as we could to Columbia Glacier we stood in awe on the deck listening quietly for the crack. Then it happened—crack, splash and the glacier calved. A new iceberg was born. We are learning so much. Stay Safe. You are always in my prayers. Love Mom. Definitions according to NSIDC
Glaciers are made up of fallen snow that, over many years, compresses into large, thickened ice masses. Due to sheer mass, glaciers flow like very slow rivers. Some glaciers are as small as football fields, while others grow to be dozens or even hundreds of kilometres long. An Iceberg is a piece of ice that has broken off from the end of a glacier that terminates in water. The breaking off of icebergs, known as calving, is a normal part of the life of a glacier-fed ice shelf, even when the icebergs calved are massive. Even smaller than North Perth, the town of Valdez has about 4000 residents. This beautiful little town is right on the water and surrounded by some of the world’s tallest coastal mountains. One thing the residents take very seriously is their fish.
When we arrived we headed straight to the Solomon Gultch Hatchery. The pink salmon are just starting to run. We could see a few sneaking up the ladder into the hatchery. They will lay their eggs there. Once they hatch and are a little bigger they will be released. They release 250 million pink salmon fry (baby salmon) a year. What’s big already though is the halibut! May through September Valdez hosts a Halibut Derby. In the evening we can walk along the doc and check out the giant halibut Hanging on hooks. The largest so far this summer is 170 lbs (77 kg). Do you think that will be the winner? We should check back and see. Bears are in the area…I think they are looking for a tasty salmon snack. Stay safe. You are Always in my Prayers. Love Mom. Denali National Park & Preserve covers six million acres of the Alaskan wilderness. What we have covered by Dome Train, bus, hiking, and by raft hardly touches a speck of this. The land is harsh and the winters here are extreme. Almost half of the park is covered in permafrost Only one-third of the visitors that come to the park catch a glimpse of Denali. It is the highest mountain peak in North America. We got up at 5:30 a.m. and were rewarded with a spectacular sighting. Shortly after it was covered in clouds. So, if you were a sleepy head you didn’t see Denali today. There is a lot of interesting wildlife in the National Park. Today they were mainly running away from us😄 Hopefully, I will get some pictures before we leave Alaska. We did get some great flower photos. Some of the plants that grow here are the same as we have in North Perth, but some are different. You can see purple Fireweed on the North Perth trail. However, we don’t have cotton grass. Can you imagine how these two plants got their names? Hopefully, my camera catches a few animals tomorrow. Maybe we’ll get close to a moose! You are Always in my Prayers. Love Mom. What better than hanging out with Alaskan Sled dogs? Well, hanging out with Alaskan sled dog puppies! These adorable month old pups could one day be part of the elite racing dogs of Trail Blazer Kennels (TBK). TBK was the home of lead dog Granite and his owner, and four time Iditarod, Susan Butcher. Granite who started out as the runt of his litter became a hero of the Iditarod Trail. He even has a book written about him. The Iditarod is an annual sled dog race in Alaska. It is 1000 miles long through brutal winter conditions. And as if those cuddly puppies weren’t enough doggy love, we met another group of sled dogs today—the canine rangers of Denali National Park. These are working dogs. They have been hauling supplies and protecting the wilderness in Denali since 1922. In the extreme Alaskan winters sled dogs are more reliable than snowmobiles. You never have to jump start a sled dog and their clever sled dog brain has saved many human park rangers. During the summer teams train pulling ATV’s and metal contraptions with wheels. We can only imagine how these incredible animals move in the winter. Maybe we will have to come back one day. You are Always in my Prayers. Love Mom. For More information on the Canine Park Rangers check out :
We arrived in Alaska past midnight last night. The sun still hadn’t set! This time of year it's light out pretty much 24 hours a day. Our cabin has very dark blinds to fool our minds into thinking that we should go to sleep.
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