Life after Alaska

Since our last Alaskan Port we have been through British Columbia, Alberta, Montana, South Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin and are now in Illinois. By far the most beautiful places since leaving Alaska were Jasper National Park and Banff National Park. While in Jasper National Park we saw several Elk, most were females but a few were majestic looking males with large racks. I was impressed by the Columbia Glacier. It is deeper than the Eiffel Tower is tall. THAT is almost unimaginable. When we arrived at the Columbia Glacier it was snowing very lightly but by the time we left (45 min. later) in was sunny.

Jasper National Park - Elk

Columbia Glacier

When we left Jasper National Park for Banff National park it took us over 7 hours to go 150 miles because we kept stopping. Of all the stops we made one of our favorite's was at a place called "Mistaya Canyon". The canyon was formed by the water rushing through a narrow rock crevice and eroding the walls. Over the years the water has cut deeper and wider into the rock causing what we know as a slot canyon. We are very familiar with slot canyons having spent so much time in So. Utah. The BIG difference between here and there is you could not, nor would you want to be down in THAT canyon.

Mistaya Canyon - 1

We stopped at Lake Louise in Banff National Park. If you have never been to Lake Louise you just can't imagine how turquoise blue the water is. If I remember correctly the color is caused by glacial sediment that is suspended in the water catching the sunlight. We hiked up to a viewing platform to get a view and pictures of the lake from a higher elevation. Because the trail is vertical there were not very many people there so it was very quiet and so tranquil. We decided to drive up to Moraine Lake since it was on our way back to the motorhome. I'm really glad we did. This little lake was just as pretty as Lake Louise but on a smaller scale. The best part was as we left we were able to see a Grizzly Bear. It was kind of sad to see it had a radio transmitter in one ear and a tag in the other but it was still "wild". And it looked so healthy!

Lake Louise

Moraine Lake (that is the true color of the water)

Banff National Park - Grizzly

Once we left Banff National Park we both seem to be overcome by an urgency to get back to the lower 48. It was like we were going home after a long vacation. On our way through Montana we were able to catch up with our friends, Roger, Sharolyn and Kelly. They were headed north and we were headed south so we met at a park in Harlowton, Montana. It was so good to spend time with them. It was like seeing family. We did go to Mt. Rushmore, the Crazy Horse Memorial and the Badlands while we were in South Dakota. That was has been the extent of our sightseeing.

Mt. Rushmore

Artist's rendition of finished carving

Crazy Horse Monument

We have been looking for the fall colors and for the most part they have eluded us. While we were in Lanesboro, Minnesota we did see some really pretty trees but only one here or there, not the hillsides we had been hoping for.

Fall Colors

We still have some opportunities between here in Illinois and Columbus, Ohio, where we will spend 3 weeks visiting our Daughter, Skye, Son-in-law, Jason and grand babies, Colin and Rylee. NOW that is what I have been looking forward to since we crossed into Montana from Alberta.

It is hard to believe but it has been almost 30 days since we left Alaska. We are back in the swing of our normal days and missing the adventures of Alaska, but are looking forward to new adventures in the lower 48!

KETCHIKAN - PART 2 "THE SKIFF"

The "skiff"

Chip's Silver Salmon

Look at that smile!

I was trying to stay dry and warm. I had the dry part down but the warm part, not so much!



THE LAST CHAPTER OF OUR ALASKAN ADVENTURE

While we were talking to the camp host she mentioned that you could rent a skiff for the day very reasonably. A skiff is a small aluminum boat with a 25 hp outboard motor. That sounded like a fun thing to do, especially since Chip had wanted to go out fishing again even before we arrived in Ketchikan. Because the season here in Alaska is winding down there are not as many opportunities to charter boats and the ones you can are expensive. The skiff was a nice alternative and 1/4 the price. I was excited at the thought of being able to be on the water and go out exploring the shoreline. We were told of a place to go where we could possibly see bears. :-D The day we made our reservations the weather was clear and sunny and we should have dropped everything and went out right then and there but we made the reservations for the next day. AND when we woke up in the morning it was raining! No worries we were prepared! We packed our lunch, Chip got all his fishing gear together and we made sure to have our rain gear with us. We were on our way to our last adventure in Alaska. We checked in and followed the guy down to where our skiff was waiting. Only problem was it would not start, not a good thing! So rather than get the "very roomy" 16 footer we reserved we had to take out a "less roomy" 14 footer. That's ok at least this one ran! That's pretty important, don't you think? Chip and I were both expecting a short lesson on how to start the engine if it died, put it in forward or reverse or what not to do in this little "life boat" but the guy started the boat and left. JUST LEFT.......... We laughed and figured we would know what to do if we needed to! So we loaded all our stuff into the boat, untied from the dock and proceeded to get the feel of the throttle and the way the boat handled. We were about 1/2 way out of the no wake zone when Chip looked for his tackle box. You guessed it! We left it in the other boat! Back to the dock we went. Chip saddled up to the dock very smoothly, I got out and ran over to get his tackle box. NOW we were really ready! Did I mention it was still raining and getting colder? As we were heading out to where we were told the fish were Chip needed to get his fishing poles ready so I took over driving. The first thing I did was to lean on the throttle and about threw Chip overboard. I laughed, he didn't! Hey, I have never driven a boat with a hand operated motor before. It took me a while to get the direction down too. I was weaving like a drunken sailor and kept turning the throttle too far and would lurch forward. I finally was able to get the boat under control, kind of, and we were off. Chip had his poles rigged and was ready to catch fish. So off we went to where the fish were supposed to be. It was not hard to know where we were supposed to be because there were LOTS of other boats there also. We trolled by all these expensive deep sea fishing boats with their rigging all set for "the big one" and here we are in our little "skiff". Low and behold one of the poles bent and started bobbing. FISH ON!!! Chip started reeling and reeling and reeling. I think the fish actually started towing us around behind it for a minute. Luckily the boat came equipped with a net. That was my job! Chip over powered it and brought up a nice silver salmon. That is the salmon of choice now because they are just started their run. It was at least 20 inches long and maybe 14 lbs. The fish is in the net and Chip is trying to get the hook out of its lip. The fish of course is trying for all its worth to get away. So Chip is trying to get hold of the fish, it's trying to get away, the hook comes out on its own (yay), and then the fish flops off the little bench to the floor right at my feet splattering blood all the legs of my rain gear and the inside of the boat. I am sitting on the back of the boat with my feet in the air, off the bottom of the boat; Chip is leaned over trying to pick it up (what people must have been thinking, hahaha). He finally gets control of it through its gill and holds it up for a better look. What a nice size fish! Then he lets it go. It took a second for it to start swimming after that traumatic event but it did swim away with gusto to live another day, hopefully! The smile on Chips face after that was priceless. He never really expected to catch any fish especially a silver salmon but he did. That smile made the entire trip worth every minute of rain and cold we were enduring! Chip got his poles set and once again I took hold of the throttle, turned it and about threw Chip off his seat. Luckily this time he was sitting and not standing. Do you think anyone could tell we were novices at this whole "skiff" thing? We can both drive a 50 foot house boat like no one's business but this little 14 ft skiff was giving me problems. As we crisscrossing the body of water where the fish and lots of other boats were we watched Eagles flying, fishing and could hear them calling. It was awesome. Of course when an Eagle swooped down for a fish just behind our boat I could not find the bird in the lens of the camera to get it to focus so I missed the shot. And because I was fighting with the camera I miss it all together. Chip saw it though so at least one of us did. We sat by a lake for what seemed hours over a 3 day period in Wrangell waiting for just such an opportunity by an Eagle that was always there but never saw it. Now we see it and I can't get a picture of it. DARN! On one pass through the bay we were busy watching a pair of Eagles when both Chips poles went off together. He wasn't sure which pole to start reeling first. He wanted me to reel one but after getting bit by a Fish and Game officer in Lake Powell once I wasn't going to do that again. In case you had not guessed I didn't have a fishing license. So he managed to get them both in and had caught 2 black rock fish, they are also mistakenly called Black Bass. By the time we made our last pass it had been 4 hours, Chip had caught 1 silver salmon, 1 pink salmon, 3 black rock fish and a minnow. I am not kidding that little fish was about 5 inches long and tiny. How it got hooked on Chips lure is a surprise to me. NOW was the time to go exploring, WRONG! We had gotten so cold from the continuing rain and decided since Chip was just getting over a 3 week cold we would not push it, so we headed back in. Once we got back to the dock we realized we had to put the boat back in between the other 2 boats where we got it from. (I am glad I was not driving NOW) When did they build that dock behind where we got out little boat, that wasn't there when we left was it? Chip started heading for the little slot between the new dock pilings and the floating boats that were not staying put. He nosed our boat in, slow and steady...... By now a dock hand was standing on the dock ready to help us when we got close. Chip had to readjust our direction so he put the boat in reverse and turned the engine. SERIOUSLY when did they add that dock behind us??? We were both on the defensive now trying not to hit that new dock. I had the ore pushing and Chip was trying to use the engines power. The dock hand is patiently watching! All of a sudden our little boat lurched backwards and right into the new dock piling leaving behind a clean spot and barnacles in our little boat. WHAT THE HECK JUST HAPPENED??? You would think we have never driven a boat before! Well, Chip lost his balance trying to get the boat out of reverse and into forward when he slipped and fell into the throttle throwing us both off balance and sending the boat precariously close to hitting the prop on the bottom. On the up side if we went in the water it was shallow! Finally getting control of the "yacht" we were in we were headed in the right direction. Now the deckhand was standing in one of the other little boats next to where we had to go so he could get closer to us and be able to guide us in. He took an ore and with very gentle pressure guided the nose of our boat into its proper spot. Now you know he wanted to laugh, actually I think I saw a little chuckle come out when we were fighting for our lives. Hahahaha We sure laughed when it was all over and are still laughing about it! I think that was the best $100 dollars we spent the entire trip, well maybe not the ENTIRE trip but our Ketchikan stop anyway. That took our minds off how cold we had gotten for a minute anyway. And to top it off the weather started to break. Why didn't it clear up 30 minutes earlier? Oh well, now we know how to drive a "skiff" (kind of) and we will have to do this again sometime! It sure beats paying hundreds of dollars to go out on a boat where you can get out of the weather, someone else has control of where it goes and when it is docked and where and you just get to sit there and enjoy the scenery. After all what fun is that??

GOOD BYE ALASKA............ WE HAD THE MOST AMAZING TRIP!!!!

I hope you have all enjoyed it with us through our blog and pictures!!!

PS: If you ever go to Alaska have a good set of rain gear and rubber boots along, just in case!

Our last Alaskan Port ~ Ketchikan ~ Part 1

Our Chariot

Downtown Ketchikan!


Look quick it's sunny!

Even pretty under a cloudy sky!

reflective pond! Prettier under sunny skies!

So pretty!

Waterfall from outside the plane.

"don't slip, don't slip"

~~AS WITH ALL GOOD THINGS, THIS TOO MUST ~~

~~END~~

What an absolutely awesome trip we have had.

Could we be any more blessed to have seen the sights we have seen or to have met new friends along the way?

Thank you God for such an amazing world we live in.

Our last port of call in Alaska was Ketchikan. It was a last minute decision to stop there while we were in Wrangell. We just weren't quite ready to let this amazing state live without us even for a week. Our time in Ketchikan was fun. We didn't do all that much but what we did do was good. We spent 6 nights there in a state park about 8 miles from town. It was called Signal Creek Campground at Ward Lake. The lake was teaming with salmon at the end of their journey. Even though they were getting near the end they were not giving up. All day long they would jump and jump and jump. I wonder if they were jumping and saying "YAHOO we did it". After watching their plight over and over at every port we stopped at IF I were a salmon I think that is exactly what I would do. My goodness what those fish go through just to have offspring, I would rather have my babies the old fashioned way. ;-) Seriously, we watched some salmon trying to get up stream and over and over they would jump to go over some rapids and rather than make it to the water they would go head first into rocks and bounce off. It really was very sad to watch! So we didn't for very long! And I am not going to dwell on those sights because for every salmon that didn't make it up that waterfall/rapid area there were 1000's that did! Those are the ones who were strong enough to find the way and their offspring will be stronger for it. The strong will survive, right?
We went on a float plane trip through the Misty Fjords (fee-ords). When we arrived by bus at the dock where the plane was moored there were 2 beautiful yachts. We had heard one of them was Paul McCartney's but no one would confirm or deny that. Other than it flying a British flag there were no signs that it belonged to him, like musical notes on the stern near the name or even the name. Of course if you are trying to remain anonymous you would not name her, The Abby Road! That would be a dead give a way. The plane we flew in was very nice. It seated 10, 5 on each side with their own windows (nice) and was comfy. We had to wear headphones with microphones so we could communicate. I took mine off at one point and was surprised at how noisy it was without them. We were in the air a little over an hour flying over acres and acres of beautiful inlets, tree covered mountains and water streaming off the mountain sides. They call them waterfalls but they were a straight line of water rolling over the mountain rather than cascading. I guess we are spoiled by Hawaiian Waterfalls. We saw Eagles soaring below us but never did see any bears or whales. I could not help wondering if they ever see whales from above. I think that would be an awesome sight. The country side was beautiful especially from the air. There are hundreds of little ponds of water reflecting the cloudy sky and at times spots of blue in between. Anywhere there was a flat spot there was standing water. The trees were a dark hunter green and looked so healthy. Not like the acres of bark beetle infested trees we see in So. Cal. and have see along the way. It appears there is no place that is unaffected by the bark beetle. The plane flew over islands that didn't look any different than the main land. A rock covered with trees! Actually the trees grow right down to the water's edge. I would think the salt water would kill them! We did land on the water at one point and were allowed to get out of the plane and stand on the floats. It was here that we did see what I would consider a real waterfall. It was actually a double fall and was very pretty. From a comment the pilot made I assume the fall isn't usually quite a large as when we saw it. He said "there must have been a lot of rain here last night". I was wondering if it ever stopped raining. We were standing on the floats in the rain and had been flying in the rain all morning, so......... Standing on those floats I couldn't help thinking "don't slip, don't slip". We were out there about 20 minutes and then were off again. This time the pilot actually used the plane like a boat and ran along for a while on the surface of the water. It was only for a couple minutes but it was great to be moving along at the waters level and see the height of the canyon walls. They had to be over 600 ft high. Before long we were back in the air and on our way back to Ketchikan. The entire trip from take off to landing took 1 hour and 30 minutes. We were back at camp in time for breakfast! What a way to start the day!

We are leaving Prince Rupert this morning and headed to Jasper, Alberta. We will we out of touch for a while but............

When I write next I will tell you all about our day on

"THE SKIFF"