A visit to Alaska, the 49th state

By Jim Bridges / Signals features writer

Nancy and I had a trip to Alaska on our "to do" list for some time. We finally decided to quit talking about it and booked a trip through Princess Cruise Lines — four days on land and seven days on the cruiseship Diamond Princess.

It all began with a flight to Fairbanks where we stayed at the Princess Lodge. Next morning we boarded a sternwheeler boat for a trip on the Chena and Tanana Rivers. Our three-and-a-half-hour cruise gave us a good look at life along the river. A bush pilot demonstrated a short takeoff from a grassy landing strip in a single-engine plane. He circled and set it down in the same short space. They utilize wider than normal "tundra" tires that are not fully inflated so as to make softer landings. Later a similar plane equipped with pontoons demonstrated a take off and landing beside the boat.

Next we stopped at Trailbreaker Kennel, the working kennel of husband and wife mushers Dave Monson and Susan Butcher. She won the grueling 1,100-mile Iditarod Dog Sled Race from Anchorage to Nome in 1986, '87, '88 and '90 and came in second in 1989. Sadly, Susan lost her battle with cancer on August 5.

The boat docked at Old Chena Athabascan Indian Village for a glimpse into their history and culture. Dixie Alexander, renowned Athabascan beadwork artist, was at her summer log cabin home to demonstrate her work. Our guide modeled a beautiful parka that took six months to make and is valued at $16,000. Dixie was honored when The Smithsonian commissioned her to produce a chief's jacket, based on a traditional Athabascan Indian design, for permanent collection at the Museum of American History in Washington, DC.

In the afternoon we visited El Dorado gold mine, a working mine in the heart of the discovery field where the first gold strikes attracted miners from the Klondike. After a demonstration of panning we were given a "poke" of concentrate (dirt) from the sluice and a guarantee that everyone would leave with "some" gold. Both of us panned and found gold flakes. The combined weight was 13 grains valued at about $23. Nancy had it put into a 14k gold locket.

On the way to the mine we stopped at a Trans-Alaska Pipeline visitor center.

Our next adventure was a train ride from Fairbanks to Denali aboard the Midnight Sun Express. Princess Tours' fleet of 10 ultra domes includes some of the largest passenger railcars ever built. Introduced to Alaska in 1988, their full-domed glass ceilings have the largest curved glass panels ever built for a railcar and are ideal for viewing the natural breathtaking beauty of Alaska. We rode on the top level, which seated two persons on each side of a table.

Denali Princess Wilderness Lodge, where we spent two nights, is located one mile from the Denali National Park entrance. An early morning tour took us deep into the six million acres of untouched wilderness that comprise the park, which is larger than the state of Massachusetts. There is only one road into the park. It begins as a blacktopped surface but eventually goes to gravel and also becomes quite narrow. In compliance with the rules of the National Park, school buses are used. During the six-hour trip we saw caribou, a grizzly and cub, a huge moose, Arctic ground squirrels, dall sheep and a bald eagle. The most unusual occurrence was when a wolf came walking along the edge of the road around a curve and towards the bus. We stopped and it walked by much like a dog would have done. On the way out we saw it again. Considering the fact that there are only about 120 wolves in the park and they are divided into three dens, this was a real treat. Our driver extended the trip several miles in hopes of being able to see Mt. McKinley but it was shrouded in clouds from its own weather system. In Denali there is a helicopter sightseeing service with a sign that reads "Flightseeing."

The final leg of the land portion of the tour was an all-day train ride aboard the Princess ultra dome coaches from Denali to Whittier. As we passed through Whittier, we saw one neighborhood where at least a dozen houses in a row all had single-engine planes parked in the back and all shared a common grassy landing strip. Alaska has more private pilots and more privately owned aircraft per capita than any state.

The train came to a stop at the docks where we boarded the Diamond Princess cruise ship, a large ship that carried 2,900 passengers and a crew of 1,100. If there is one thing that defines cruise ships it's food — good food and plenty of it.

On our first full day aboard the Diamond Princess we cruised the College Fjord. Next day we cruised in Glacier Bay National Park. A park service boat came alongside and several park rangers/naturalists came aboard and narrated our stay in Glacier Bay. We spent the day on the open deck and stayed warm by layering and using blankets furnished by the Princess. The park includes some 12 tidewater glaciers that "calve" into the bay. This spectacular show occurs when water undermines some ice fronts and great blocks of ice break loose and crash into the water. We happened to be looking at the right spot and saw a calving.

Skagway was the first port of call. We had no tours scheduled so we went ashore for a day of shopping. It was so warm we wore short sleeve shirts. Regardless of the outside temperature it was always warm enough on board the ship to wear shorts and/or short sleeve shirts.

The following day we docked at Juneau, the capitol city of Alaska. That morning we boarded a catamaran for a humpback whale-watching cruise. The twin-hulled catamaran is well suited because of its stability and smooth ride. There were seats for all inside with plenty of windows. Those wanting to get a better view went topside where it was quite chilly. A naturalist on board told us to look for "spouts" and then watch for the signature dive when the fluke (tail) rises out of the water. Since they are mammals, they come to the surface to breathe. Upon reaching the surface, air is expelled from their blowhole as condensation spouts. Humpbacks can measure from 40-50 feet in length and weigh from 25-40 tons. We were thrilled to see a female, a calf and an escort on one sighting.

In addition to the whales, we saw porpoises and then hundreds of harbor seals sunning on an island. As we continued searching for whales we neared another island and the captain pointed out two bald eagles in a tree. We were well offshore but the huge birds with their white heads stood out like two golf balls in the rough. After the trip there was time for shopping. That afternoon we attended a lecture in the Princess Theater by Libby Riddles, the first woman to win the Iditarod Dog Sled Race, in 1985, and one of the youngest winners. She lives in Alaska and maintains a 40-dog kennel. We got to meet her after the lecture when she autographed her books.

The last port of call was Ketchikan. For this stop, tendering was required. The boat dropped anchor and we went ashore in tenders, smaller boats that accommodated over 100 passengers. It was raining as we disembarked. Big surprise! The average yearly rainfall is 13 feet. We toured the largest standing collection of totem poles in the world. Following that we went to a lumberjack show. A contest was held between two teams of lumberjacks who competed in various chopping skills, climbing and log rolling. By using our umbrellas we were able to move around the downtown area and shop.

The final day was spent at sea traveling from Ketchikan to Vancouver, BC. Several orca whales were sighted as well as hundreds of porpoises.

Interesting comments from guides: Anchorage has one-half the population of Alaska. The country is divided into boroughs; the Ketchikan Gateway Borough is "affectionately" referred to as the KGB. In Ketchikan they trap some of the average yearly rainfall of 13 feet in cisterns and filter it for use in the homes. The average price of a two-bedroom home in town is $200,000; out of town it could run $700,000. Bald eagles sometimes roost on steeples and are known as birds of "pray." Alaska — where men are men and women win the Iditarod. Nome - home of fast women and beautiful dogs.

As we passed the town of Cantwell on the train ride to Whittier our guide told this story. It was in the '90s before Cantwell had electricity. Then came cable and a local bar installed a big screen TV. During a broadcast of "America's Most Wanted Top 10 Fugitives" a customer saw a familiar face. It was the bartender. The FBI was notified and agents went to the bar. They ordered drinks, verified the bartender was their man, cuffed him and placed him under arrest. The mayor met the agents and showed them around town. One agent told the others, "He looks familiar." After checking, they found he was also on the 10 most wanted list, so he was arrested. The story goes that the town wanted to change its image and one suggestion was that they change the name to Can't Hide Well.

If you have the opportunity to visit Alaska, do it. You'll be glad you did.

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