Alaska!!!
Prince William Sound (click on picture for more detail)
Alaska Railways (click on picture for enhanced view)
Complete story and pics coming soon!
Alaska!!!
Prince William Sound (click on picture for more detail)
Alaska Railways (click on picture for enhanced view)
Complete story and pics coming soon!
We headed to Alaska straight from Vancouver, BC Canada. It was a short flight up to Anchorage and the land of the midnight sun. We really didn't have a specific plan in mind, we just had 3 days to cram as much living in as we could. Boy, did we accomplish that! We got to know Alaska's rail system really well. It is very efficient and highly functional.
This is in direct opposition to train systems in the lower 48. These are basically short run people hailers or long run freight lines. In the lower 48, people don't travel by train. The same is certainly not true up in the frozen north! There are few roads, so your methods of transportation are strictly limited. You either train, boat, or fly, if you really want to get anywhere.
Private planes are very common and it is not surprising to see them parked in people's yards like second cars in the lower 48. Folks don't even give a second thought to hopping in a Cesna, or jumping on a train, to get where they need to go. Most of Alaska is still wilderness, and this is as it should be.
From the trains you can see lots of wildlife as you slowly cruise by. We saw bears, one of our trains had to slow for a mother and its cub to cross. We also witnessed goats, moose, eagles, and other various native species on our trips. The trips were far from random. We used Anchorage as our hub and tried to absorb as much of the southern coast as we could.
This involved trips to Whittier, and Prince William Sound. Once to these sea ports, we went on boat trips through National Parks and to fabulous glaciers. We went in late May, which is ahead of both the main tourist, and the mosquitoe seasons. While we missed the spectacular blooms the region offers during the summer months, we really enjoyed our freedom of movement, which can be very limited during the peak times of June through August because of the crowds.
Whittier was an amazing town. Created mainly as a fishing site by the Russians, it became home to thousands of soldiers during WWII and a key military base in the region. Due to the harsh climate, the entire city was built as an indoor operation. Quite unique. Now they rely mainly on tourist travel to keep them alive. Since the army pulled out, only a scant few stay year round. The population swells to serve the tourists during the oh-so-short summer months.
It offers plenty for the traveler to see and marvel. Lots of little (emphasis on little) shops and curiosity sites. It was the only place we have traveled that we saw anyone walking their pet reindeer! It was so inspirational, we bought a book that had just been written about it.
More.....