{"id":11055,"date":"2022-08-29T09:00:58","date_gmt":"2022-08-29T16:00:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fromabirdseyeview.com\/?p=11055"},"modified":"2022-08-29T08:53:21","modified_gmt":"2022-08-29T15:53:21","slug":"north-to-alaska-part-3-the-final-days-and-some-observations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fromabirdseyeview.com\/?p=11055","title":{"rendered":"North to Alaska – Part 3: The Final Days and Some Observations"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Bob Sparrow<\/p>\n

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Another ‘no-photo’ of Mt. Denali<\/p><\/div>\n

After our seventh day at sea, not seeing whales, dolphins or sea lions, we pull into Whittier<\/strong>, which is the port for Anchorage<\/strong>, for our three days on land where we won\u2019t see moose, but will see a bear and some eagles. \u00a0Actually, I enjoyed the land portion of our trip more than our time at sea.\u00a0 The three days on land gave us a real sense of what Alaska is all about.\u00a0 The cruise part visited three coastal ports, Ketchikan, Juneau, <\/strong>and Skagway<\/strong> which are all fairly similar \u2013 tourist towns filled with bars and gift shops; and the rain in every port didn’t help! Perhaps being able to take the scenic train ride out of Skagway might have made a difference, but for now my YouTube<\/strong> train experience will have to do.<\/p>\n

The two-day, 417-mile trip from Whittier to Fairbanks<\/strong> starts with a train ride to about the halfway point at McKinley Princess Wilderness Lodge<\/strong>.\u00a0 From there we take a bus on a four-hour \u2018wilderness tour\u2019 that the driver\/guide made really interesting and informative.\u00a0 This is where we saw a bear fairly close up as well as several caribou and a few bald eagles.\u00a0 We stopped along the way and had a native Athabaskan<\/strong> give us a lecture on all the plants that surrounded us and how each was used for a different medicinal purpose.\u00a0 The next day we were on a bus through Denali National Park<\/strong>, staying at Denali Princess Wilderness Lodge.\u00a0 That evening we went to a dinner with a show that describes the climbing of Mt. Denali in song \u2013 it was quite good.<\/p>\n

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Sled dog farm along the river<\/p><\/div>\n

The next day we went on a riverboat, which was probably the highlight of the trip for me, as we stopped to visit a sled dog farm and heard from the trainer and watched a demonstration of the dogs pulling a sled on wheels \u2013 they are truly amazing dogs!! On land we stopped at an Athabaskan village where we heard a presentation about life amongst this native tribe \u2013 very interesting!<\/p>\n

We then move on to Fairbanks and on our last night of the tour we are told that, if the clouds go away, the \u2018Northern Lights\u2019<\/strong> would be visible around midnight, so we asked the front desk clerk to give us a call if they were visible . . . big surprise, no call.<\/p>\n

Some observations <\/u><\/p>\n