Feeding whale a fishing bonus

Returning to Seward after a day's halibut fishing last week, we found this feeding humpback whale in Ressurrection Bay about three miles from the dock. We lolled on the surface for about 20 minues as the whale alternately dove and rose up (shown here) as it fed on the krill and plankton in the water.

Grizzlies on Parade

The bears were out in Denali Park last week. My son, his wife and daughter were here visiting from Virginia, and my daughter-in-law wanted to see a grizzly, so we headed out to Teklinika Campground in Denali National Park for three nights.

My son, my mother and I rode the Wednesday bus and saw eight bears. My wife and daughter-in-law rode a late bus on Friday and saw 16 bears. Both our groups spotted this sow with her two bouncing cubs.

Halibut biting in Seward

I took a little time out to go fishing these past couple days, in Seward, which is my favorite honey hole for Pacific halibut. My son is home visiting on a two week leave from the Army, so we packed up the motorhome and headed down for a couple of days. Our wives and the granddaughter took a day cruise to view marine wildlife and glaciers while we went fishing.

Our boatload of five fishermen limited out on halibut, two apiece. Tony Tapia of Rosamond, Calif., shown here, hauled in the biggest fish of the day--an even 100 pounds when we got it back to the dock a couple of hours later. Besides the limit of halibut we hauled in a number of cod and ling cod as well. All the lings had to be thrown back because season doesn't open until July 1. Throwing back a four-foot-long fish is enough to make some people cry.

Summer in Alaska means road work

Road construction in Alaska is complicated by a variety of factors, among them the weather and the distance from "civilization." Our weather means that most roadwork must be done from early May to late September, the height of the visitor season. The remoteness of some of our roads means that it's often more efficient to tear up several miles and rebuild over a period of three years or longer. There's almost always at least one such project going on every summer.

This year's biggest project is on the Glenn Highway about 100 miles northeast of Anchorage. DOT is fixing a hazardous part of the road by blasting a notch through a mountain and straightening a series of blind curves. All this means that the road is closed every night this summer from midnight to 6 a.m., and that drivers wanting to pass through here when it is open will find very long lines waiting for a pilot car. Be prepared to wait 20 minutes or more when you see the flagger.

Brewing up a glacier storm

Thunderstorms are relatively rare in Alaska; generally we might see only one or two each summer near our home. And when we do experience thunderstorms, they're pretty mild in comparison with those that strike in more southern states.

This one rolled passed us while we were camped at Matanuska Glacier this past weekend. Matanuska Glacier is about 100 miles northeast of Anchorage on the Glenn Highway. You can drive even big rigs right down to old glacier moraine and dry camp as we did here. From there, the face of the actual glacier is just short walk away.

Glacier Park, as it's called, is private land and there is a charge for camping here. This year it is $15 per person, $12.50 for seniors and $10 for military personnel. There are no hookups; only outhouses and a few picnic tables.

Polka with Alaska's best

When you're traveling around Alaska, keep a lookout for anything advertising a performance of Alaska Blaskapelle, a German band that will have you dancing in the aisles. If you find a performance, plan to attend if at all possible.

Alaska Blaskapelle is a group of about 40 professional and advanced-amateur musicians from Anchorage and the Mat-Su Valley, of which about 10 or 12 are used for each performance of good German music, mostly polkas, waltzes and marches. The band has at least as much fun as the audience. Wearing lederhosen and playing mostly brass instruments, they have been described as a heavy metal band dressed in leather. They are also extremely proud of the fact that the last scheduled rehearsal was in 1986.

Seriously, though, these folks are really good. And if you're in the audience and want them to play something special, the band responds much better to a round of beer or perhaps Jagermeister than anything like a cash tip.

Figuring out the cost of gas

Americans driving the Alaska Highway in Canada for the first time almost always come away thinking they paid more for gas than they actually did. Converting liters to gallons, then Canadian currency to U.S. dollars almost always shows something less than most people think, though it is probably higher than you are used to paying.

First of all, there are 3.7 liters in a U.S. gallon, so to determine the number of gallons you used, divide the number of liters purchased by 3.7.

The currency conversion is a bit trickier and can change on an almost daily basis, depending on currency exchange rates worldwide. Last summer (2006) a Canadian dollar was worth about $0.90 in U.S. currency. Thus the posted price per liter looked higher than it actually was. The most common price we saw last summer was $1.219 per liter. Multiply this by 0.9 to come up with a value in U.S. currency, $1.097 U.S. per liter.

To reduce it to a simple formula using last year's numbers, do it like this:

(price per liter) x (liters per gallon) x (currency conversion rate} = (cost per U.S. gallon in U.S. dollars)

or 1.219 x 3.7 x 0.90 = $4.06 U.S. dollars per U.S. gallon

Reports from the highway this year have gas in Canada running about $1.169 per liter and as of this morning the conversion rate was 0.94. Using those numbers, 1.169 x 3.7 x 0.94 = $4.07 U.S. dollars per U.S. gallon. Thus there has been little change in gas prices over last year insofar as U.S. residents are concerned, even though it looks like gas in Canada is a nickel per liter (18.5 cents Canadian per U.S. gallon) cheaper than last year.

What time is it in Alaska?

An early morning phone call got me out of bed yet again this morning. Somebody who thought AK in a postal address meant Arkansas called to offer me great deal on sopmething I didn't need. For the record, AK means Alaska and AR is Arkansas.

That begs the questions of time zones. Geographically, Anchorage and Fairbanks are five hours earlier than the East Coast, Juneau is four hours earlier, and Nome is six hours earlier. However about 25 years ago politicians decided this was unacceptable and created a single time zone for Alaska. Now almost all of the state is four hours earlier than the East Coast and one hour earlier than the West Coast.

Before this big event, Alaska had five time zones--geographically it still does. Now, however, all but a few barren islands at the far western end of the Aleutians are in the same time zone. A couple of those islands are actually on the other side of the International Date Line. This single time zone occasionally creates some interesting events--like two sunrises in the same 24-hour, midnight-to-midnight time period at one of our northwestern communities.

Mostly, though, we just wind up dealing with the inconvenience of telephones ringing at 4 a.m.; calls from people who have little knowledge of geography and who probably learn some exciting new four-letter words when they blow us out of bed. In the summer, though, it doesn't make much difference what time it is; it's always daylight outside. Winter, however, brings other problems. Our very short days don't lighten until nearly noon in the western part of the state.

Wildlife possible at any time

One of the real thrills of living and RVing in Alaska is that you can unexpectedly run into wildlife--often BIG wildlife--at almost any time. This young moose, maybe 500 pounds or so, showed up in our yard at about 9:30 last night.

He's probably a two year old that was just chased away by his mother and is out on his own for the first time. Fully grown in four or five more years he will probably weigh upwards of 1,200 pounds.

RVers in Alaska, particularly boondockers, are regularly visited by various creatures. We have, over the years, watched bears, moose, caribou, a wolf and a host of smaller critters from the comfort of our various rigs.

Moose, like this little fellow, are generally pretty mellow, though you should watch yourself around a cow with calves. Best bet with moose is to watch the hair on the hump on their back--if it rises and bristles, the moose is getting nervous and you should back off. Caribou are rarely a problem. Bears, on the other hand, can create rather more tense situations. Keep your distance from bears if at all possible, and by all means avoid sows with cubs. If confronted by a bear, back away slowly and keep talking to it; do not turn around and run under any circumstances. Also, it is dangerous, not to mention illegal, to feed any wild animal in Alaska.

Shifting Gears: KPH vs. MPH

Driving to Alaska means you have to first drive through a large part of Canada, a real treat. However, Canada is a separate country with differing customs, and, for about 30 years now, the kilometers of the metric system instead of the miles that Americans are so familiar with.

Generally when you enter Canada you will see a sign something like this one, which gives at least a brief glimpse of the differences. The basic thing to remember is that kilometers are shorter than miles so there are more of them. The ratio is approximately 100 kilometers equals 60 miles.

Decades ago my father taught me a fairly simple way to figure things out in my head. His words were, "Multiply the number of kilometers by six and drop the last digit." For example, if a sign indicates your destination is 350 kilometers away, multiplying by six yields 2,100. Drop the last digit and you have 210 miles, a figure that is correct within a kilometer or two. Or if a speed limit sign in a school zone says 30 KPH, this formula will yield 18 MPH.

Alaska's Best 4th of July party

Driving to Alaska, one of the first chances you have to enter the state is to turn south off the Alaska Highway at Whitehorse and drive a hundred miles or so to Skagway at the head of Lynn Canal in southeastern Alaska. Skagway is where the Klondike gold seekers got off the ship and hiked over the Chilkoot Trail to the headwaters of the Yukon River. Today much of the town is part of the Klondike Gold Rush National Historic Park. Many of the buildings still in use are a century or more old.

Skagway goes all out for the 4th of July. There will be traditional games and contests, a parade involving many of the residents, and uninterrupted fun from mid-morning until well into the evening. And even though Skagway is in that part of Alaska that is cloudy, cool and damp most of the time, you'll probably get lucky with the weather. A local saying holds that there are two seasons in Skagway, the 4th of July and winter.

To make your visit to the region even more meaningful, July 1 is Canada Day. You can join the festivities in Whitehorse near the restored sternwheeler on the bank of the Yukon River, then head south to Skagway for the 4th. It's a great way to meet local residents and to enjoy this part of Alaska and Canada. If you watch carefully, you'll probably see many of the hardiest party goers from Canada in Skagway a few days later.

Tour the Canadian Rockies

Driving to and from Alaska offers you a wide variety of options when crossing Canada. One of the best of these is stopping to explore both Banff and Jasper national parks, both on the Alberta-British Columbia border. On our last visit a couple of years ago, we saw dozens of elk, deer, black bear, mountain goats and bighorn sheep right next to the roads running through the parks. These are great parks for wildlife viewing.

But, the real treat when visiting these parks is to drive along the spine of the Canadian Rockies on the Icefield Parkway between the cities of Banff and Jasper, about a 160 miles on a road also known as Highway 93. The views are absolutely stunning, and you'll find yourself pulling over frequently just to soak it all in. Best to allow a full day for this drive. Be aware, though, there are a couple of long, steep stretches on this road. Otherwise it is a first class highway in all respects.