After our glorious experiences in and around Denali, we embarked on a whirlwind tour of Anchorage and the Kenai Peninsula. The tourist season is winding down and many attractions and campgrounds have already shut down in preparation for winter.

North of Anchorage we visited the Transportation Museum of Alaska which has an eclectic range of historical pieces, including trains, buses, heavy machinery, snowmobiles, ATVs, boats, planes, and helicopters. In addition, it had a collection of other odds and ends like old telephones, gasoline pumps, and radios. It was quite the assortment of items! Even though the museum was officially closed, a volunteer agreed to open it up for us and give us a private tour in exchange for a small donation to the museum. We all enjoyed walking around and seeing all the things that they had on offer. We were even able to climb up into the train cars!

At the wacky and eclectic Alaska Museum of Transportation and Industry

Next we stopped in Anchorage to resupply before heading toward Whittier for a glacier cruise in Prince William Sound. On the way we passed several closed campgrounds before finding one that let us camp for free. We are definitely in the shoulder season!

The glacier cruise was spectacular. The day started out rainy and overcast, but the clouds lifted enough for us to enjoy the scenery. The cruise promises views of 26 glaciers. I lost track of the count, but that number seems to be about right. In addition, we saw sea lions, otters, bald eagles and kittiwake water birds. It was a good way to spend a rainy day!

The port at Whittier

A bald eagle leaves its perch

Glacier ice

On the way to and from the tiny coastal town of Whittier we got to go through one of the coolest tunnels we’ve ever experienced. It was a one-lane tunnel that is 6.5 miles in length. That ONE lane services road traffic in both directions as well as providing a thoroughfare for trains too! The traffic is controlled with an automatic metering system that only allows cars (and trucks and buses) to enter the tunnel going eastbound, for example, every 30 minutes. Then traffic going westbound gets their turn and somehow the trains get worked into the schedule. Quinn thought that it was great that we were allowed to drive on top of railroad tracks. It was pretty amazing.

We went back to the free campsite from the previous night and did some short glacier-view hikes nearby. We also were able to see some silver salmon spawning in the streams along the boardwalks and viewing platforms there.

Enroute to the western side of the Kenai Peninsula we had the opportunity to do a longer hike (~4.5 miles round trip). There were reports of lots of bear activity in the area so we were very aware of our surroundings as we walked. Indeed we saw bear droppings on at least 4 occasions along the way (and 2 of them were quite fresh). Fortunately we didn’t see any bears, and now Quinn knows how to identify bear scat (the abundance of cranberries is a fairly obvious hint).

The destination of the hike was near some waterfalls and they were lovely. Even better was seeing the salmon swimming and jumping UP the waterfalls on the way to their spawning grounds. That nature is amazing is nothing new, but for us witnessing this scene with the salmon was a special experience.

Salmon negotiating the rapids on the Russian River

Jen and Quinn on the viewing platform

When we finished our hike the skies had cleared and there was an abundance of blue over our heads. We’d read that the views from the town of Kenai were spectacular so we drove straight there to check it out.

We were not disappointed. In fact we found a commercial campground right on the bluff overlooking the Cook Inlet. From there we could see 4 snow-capped volcanos across the inlet from us. The view of the water below and the sunny skies above worked together to feed every nook and cranny of our souls in the way that only exceptional scenery can really do. In fact we loved it there so much that we decided to forgo a visit to Homer and the rest of the western side of the Kenai Peninsula and spend the whole next day just enjoying the view and the beach right in front of us.

Sunset from Kenai

That’s exactly what we did. In fact we sat on the beach for the entire afternoon that next day while Quinn played in the sand. Every once in awhile some otters would cruise by on the coastline on the their way in or out of the Kenai river. We didn’t see any whales, but apparently there is at least one pod of beluga whales in the area. We wrapped up the afternoon by watching the edge of the water get closer as the tide came in and washed down Quinn’s sandcastle. It was a perfect afternoon.

Not the warmest beach we’ve been to, but still fun!

Another great sunset from our bluff-top campground

The next day we drove to the southeastern side of the peninsula to Seward. There we did the short hike to see Exit Glacier. The visitor center there was closed for the season, but there were plenty of other people visiting the glacier that day. The glacier was beautiful and it was even more impressive that the length of it used to extend 7 miles closer to Seward as recently as 200 years ago!

Hiking near Exit Glacier

Afterwards we visited the home of Jason and Teresa and their family. We were introduced to them through DoGoodAsYouGo.org as enthusiastic supporters of overlanders and volunteers in the educational field. They both have years of experience teaching and living in communities in rural Alaska (aka “the bush”). We really enjoyed talking with them and Quinn was unexpectedly able to participate in their son’s birthday party so we all had a great time.

The next morning we’d hoped to meet up with someone from the Qutekcak youth center in Seward. Unfortunately the timing of our visit coincided with an enormous effort on the Qutekcak native tribe’s part to get official recognition from the U.S. government. It meant all hands on deck for that activity, which involves lawyers and lots of preparation for the big meeting where they will plead their case to the deciding body. That meeting is taking place THIS week and they are working very hard on their final preparations so they don’t have time to meet with us. Like I said, it was unfortunate timing. If we could stay around for another week we could probably find a better time to meet with them, but we are not able to do that as we have already purchased expensive tickets for a southbound ferry that prevents staying longer. We wish the Qutekcak tribe the best and hope that they are successful in this important endeavor.

To ease our disappointment, we went out to a really great breakfast at a restaurant housed in an old train dining car. The ambiance was wonderful and the food and service were top notch. The cold, pouring rain outside helped us to appreciate the warmth inside that little haven.

We drove north then back toward Anchorage and saw snow on the ground next to the road. Snow! Yikes! Winter is here already even though autumn just began. The locals have been talking about termination dust — the arrival of snow on the mountain tops that signifies the end of summer. We didn’t realize that it also meant the start of winter!

Brrr! Time to head south!

Also along the way we were treated to sightings of some beluga whales along Turnagain Arm. It’s amazing that they come that close to the shore (and the road). We parked in a turnout off the road and just sat in our van and watched them for awhile. Bliss!

Since Quinn hadn’t had any pool time in awhile, we opted to stop at a commercial waterpark in southern Anchorage. We’d been warned that the admission price was a bit expensive, but we still had a bit of sticker shock when we arrived. It cost us about 4 times the admission cost of the recreation centers that we visited throughout western Canada, and the offerings weren’t up to the same standard. Nevertheless we had a good time and Quinn enjoyed playing in the water.

We woke up this morning in Anchorage to snow on the ground and still falling from the sky. Time to head south! But first we have to drive east (and a bit north) some 770 miles to Haines, Alaska, where we plan to meet our southbound ferry for the Inside Passage.