Adventures in Alaska: Kenai Fjords National Park

26 July – Kenai Fjords

What a different landscape!! Today we took the 4 hour boat ride out of Seward to the Kenai Fjords Glacier Lodge, at the base of the Pedersen Glacier – the only lodge inside Kenai Fjords National Park. We’ll be here for the next two days, exploring the ecoystem surrounding this coastal habitat, and hopefully seeing some very different plants and animals.
Kenai Fjords contains the many fjords created by the Harding Ice Field, a 700 square mile area of ice that has caused dozens of glaciers to push through into the sea. The geology of this area is what caused the formation of the ice field – the Pacific tectonic plate subducted under the North American plate millions of years ago, creating such mountain ranges such as the Alaskan, Brooks and this Chugach Range. The proximity to the ocean allows for a weather pattern that produces vast amounts of precipitation; in some years, the Harding Ice Field gets over 100 inches of snow. The pressure caused by the accumulation of this much weight is what created the ice field, and like a tube of toothpaste being squeezed, the ice is getting pushed out through the mountain channels in the form of glaciers.

A fjord is any bay created by a glacier and filled in with water – it’s a remarkable ecosystem that is uniquely suited for an abundance of wildlife. At times during their creation, the glacier pauses and sediment from the glacier is deposited at a certain spot; this means some bays such as Aialit Bay where the Kenai Fjords Glacier Lodge is located has dramatic depth changes because of undersea shelves – at points the depth goes from 700 meters to 35 meters, then back down to 700 meters. Upwelling from currents makes for strange pockets where sometimes hunks of ice accumulate.

Additionally, minerals carried by glaciers feeds these coasts, and the nutrient rich water is ideal for algae, jellyfish, plankton, and small fish. This in turn drives up the larger marine mammal and sea bird populations.

As we drove out of Seward harbor, we first saw a small group of sea otters. They just stared curiously, but were unafraid even when we drifted to within 25 feet of them. It interesting that they were the first animal we saw, since the establishment of Seward and the very first arrival of Russian traders in this area was driven by the desire for sea otter pelts. Otters have some of the warmest, softest hair in the world – they can have up to 1 million individual hairs per square inch (in comparison, humans might have around 100,000 hairs on their entire head).

We stopped to see Spire Cove which look like fingers sticking out from the sea. They're leftover from the time when glaciers retreated from the bay, carving out the many inlets and leaving interesting formations. From there, we saw several sea birds, including cormorants and horned puffins. Puffins are funny looking birds – easiest to describe as flying potatoes. They flap furiously to keep in the air, but amazingly they “fly” just as well underwater while trying to catch fish.

As we continued out of Resurrection Bay, we were surprised by a pod of about 7 orca. They started a few hundred yards away from us, but as they came closer they suddenly started to breach. Our captain Shawn said in the 10 years he’d been here, he had never seen a male breaching so we got lucky. About three of them jumped out of the water two or three times each – it was a great show.

Our next stop was to the Holgate Glacier, to see the incredibly blue ice. As we drew close, we could feel the cool air coming off the top, known a katabatic wind. A few small pieces came off but we didn’t see or hear any of the major calving.

Near Holgate, we saw a strange cloudy area in the water; getting closer, we realized it was a smack of jellyfish (love that it’s called a smack!) – moon jellies. There were thousands in the grouping, all clustered together feeding on whatever was in the water at that point.

We got to the lodge right by Pedersen Glacier soon after 2pm and walked the half mile to the lodge. From here we can see lower Pedersen Lagoon, and across from that, Pedersen Glacier on the lagoon's far side. After checking into our room (Puffin), we went on a canoe ride into the lagoon. It was drizzling, but the lodge provided us with wading boots and waterproof pants. The lagoon itself is really calm brackish water – fed on one side by a small channel into the bay for salt water, and by a stream of glacial melt on the other bringing in fresh water.

We saw several more marbled murrelets and pigeon guillemots (some of which took off flying by running across the water and furiously flapping before taking off – reminding me of a B-52 bomber in their lumbering gravity-defying way – showing us their bright red feet). We also saw several harbor seals and two sea otters.

We made it back to the lodge in time for happy hour, where they were serving “glacieritas” – margaritas served over glacier ice that had been harvested by one of the naturalists. (I had a soda water over glacier ice. Refreshing!). The group is very friendly, many of whom were interested in our project, which was nice to hear!

27 July – Kenai Fjords

It was a wet, wonderful, active day today in Kenai Fjords! We had breakfast here at the lodge, with the wide picture window looking out into Pedersen Lagoon. On clear days, you can see the glacier in the distance but that morning was drizzly and a bit foggy. Even so, it's a beautiful view - we even saw a young black bear walking past the window!

We did the Pederson Glacier hike for the morning activity –  we took the kayak across Pederson Lagoon (after stopping to see a sea otter with her baby) and hiked about a mile through the rainforest (and rain) to Upper Pederson Lagoon.

Not much view of the glacier from
Upper Pedersen Lagoon

It was really cloudy/foggy and we couldn’t see the glacier at all. The weather in this part of Alaska is normally very wet (we’re in a rainforest), and they usually get rain 200 days each year. But they had recently been going through a dry spell (and a heat wave), which is really not a good sign for the health of this ecosystem. So we were actually glad that it was a drizzly, cloudy morning.

But it was interesting to see the different types of vegetation that changed as we got closer to the glacier – it has receded almost 1500 feet in the past 100 years so the areas closer to the glacier are really mossy, gravel/rock-strewn, and have no larger trees or brambles. Our guide, Benny, is a bird expert, and he gave us some interesting insight to being out here in the Alaskan backcountry. He thinks of ‘wilderness’ as being more a state of mind than a place, which then makes it easier to understand wilderness if you don’t have the ability to actually go there and experience it for yourself.

We went back to the lodge for lunch, dropping our wet things off in the drying room (a room heated by the residuals from the generators and kept at around 100 degrees – which easily dries all our wet items in just an hour or two. Genius!).
In the afternoon, we went on the Addison Lake hike –which was great for seeing the different types of salmon which come up to spawn. Guide Grace took us along with George and Susan (the couple from Florida that we met on the boat ride over). We canoed across the lower lagoon and hiked about an hour across to Addison Lake, where we dragged another canoe into the water. It is just about the time of year for spawning, which means they have been using all their energy to get ready (thus turning basically into zombie fish which will soon die).
Salmon are interesting because they are born in freshwater, swim into the ocean to live for 2-6 years, then swim upstream against the current to return to the lakes and ponds where they were born in order to lay their eggs. In their ocean stage, salmon all look fairly uniform – a silvery color. When they are ready to reproduce, their colors and bodies change; the males get their distinctive hooked mouths, they change to their bright red-orange-green colors, and the bodies of some species build up muscle to help them make it up the rivers to their lake birthplaces. Once they spawn, they die, and their bodies return to the pond to feed the multitude of organisms that thrive there – including their babies. In Addison Lake, we saw Chum, King, and Sockeye salmon.

We also saw a black bear in the distance, a harbor seal, a bald eagle, and a family of swans in the lake. On the way back to the lodge, we decided to do some audio recording which means we had a “quiet paddle” and for a few minutes even stopped paddling and just sat silently listening to nature. It was really cool to hear the rain pattering on the lake, the cries of the sea birds who were excited about a chum ball dropped by one of the boats, and the occasional splash from different diving birds, seals, otters, or fish. To the side we could hear the running of several small waterfalls feeding down into the lake. It was definitely something special and helped us notice things we most likely wouldn’t otherwise have noticed.

28 July – Kenai Fjords to Cooper Landing

This morning we woke up to sunny skies and a clear view of Pedersen Glacier. We went on the Slate Island kayak tour – after an early breakfast, we split up from the main group and had a tour with guide Randy, Jeff (an employee of Alaska Wilderness) and his girlfriend Jen. It was nice having a semi-private tour – we talked to several of the guides who were all so supportive of our project and willing to help us out.

Randy took us out 2 miles to Slate Island, where we were able to kayak partway into a couple caves.

Slate Island sea cave

Because we went first up the eastern side of the island, we got a wonderful view of Aialik Glacier right when we reached the end of the island.

The first peek of Aialik Glacier

There was a small gap between the main island and a smaller outcropping, and we could just see the first peek of the glacier between the gap. Randy maneuvered us through the narrow gap, where the current shot us out the other side and into full view of the glacier. We could hear the rumbling of the calving glacier, and the air was definitely cooler on that side of the island.
Being down on the water and looking up at the huge glacier was deceptive – it felt as though we were really close, but we were still about 3 miles away from the base of the glacier!

On the northwest corner of the island, we found a bald eagle nest on a spruce tree; we waited a few minutes and a bald eagle came soaring into view and landed on the highest ledge above the tree. In the water we saw hundreds of tiny (quarter and dime sized) moon jellyfish, with one or two lion’s mane jellyfish thrown into the mix.

It was a smooth, easy paddle back to shore – overall a beautiful morning. We left the lodge at 2 to return to Seward on the sightseeing boat. First we stopped in a small bay across from the lodge to see a huge smack of moon jellyfish. It was much larger than the one we saw on the ride in, and the water was so clean and clear that we could easily see through the water and notice the gorgeous patterns in each individual jellyfish.

Along the intertidal zone we saw dozens of sea birds – including both tufted and horned puffin, pigeon guillemot, cormorants, glaucous gulls, and kittiwakes. Along an outcropping, a small group of Stellar sea lions had hauled out – most likely just to rest.

Crossing Resurrection Bay, we were greeted by a humpback whale. Humpbacks come to this part of Alaska to feed on the rich bounty of krill fed by the glacial waters, some coming from as far away as Baja California, Hawaii, and Japan. They typically dive for around 6 minutes, and we watched it dive twice – when it does, it flashes his fluke (tail fin) – each humpback can be identified by the individual bumps and ridges in the tail.

Right before coming in to Seward, a huge, bright rainbow appeared, right next to Paradise Glacier. It was the perfect way to end a great expedition.

29 July – Kenai Peninsula to Anchorage

A nice and relaxing day today! We spent last night in Cooper Landing, mainly because Seward is so expensive. But we decided to drive back to town this morning to see Exit Glacier. We had breakfast at the Train Rec (the small grouping of renovated train cars that is a landmark in Seward), then went out to the Exit Glacier Visitor Center. We picked up the Discovery Backpacks for the Junior Ranger Program – there’s one for art and another for science – a great idea to get a more in-depth experience at Exit Glacier. And it’s for all ages even though it is geared for kids, but I personally think everyone should do it in order to enrich their experience in the Park!

We joined the guided hike to the base of the glacier, stopping at various points along the way. It was disheartening to see the signs posted for the terminal ends of the glacier during different years in the past – in the last 100 years, it has receded over 1,000 feet and is melting faster and faster. There’s even a small structure built in the 1980’s that was meant to be the end viewpoint of the glacier – today, you can’t even see very far because the view is completely obscured by alder, birch, willow, and pine trees. And even if the vegetation were removed, the glacier is so much further up the valley that it wouldn’t give a very good view.

We stopped near the end of the trail to open our Discovery Backpacks – we decided to do the art activity, which instructed us to create a piece of work based on what we saw. Gemma and I used colored pencils while Anil made a watercolor, all of the view to Exit Glacier. It was actually amazing how much detail you observe when you take the time to truly look  - seeing the different colors in the earth, the trees, and especially in the glacier itself was amazing.

On our hike back, we saw a little vole darting across the trail. It was the only wildlife we saw, despite the fact that the main trail to Exit Glacier was closed because of a black bear sow and her two cubs that were roaming around the area.

After stopping at the post office and having a quick lunch, we went to the Alaska Sealife Center based on several recommendations. It’s a great little aquarium, reminiscent of the Monterey Bay Aquarium, but focusing on the marine diversity particularly in the Kenai Fjords area. It was particularly interesting to see an up-close view of the horned and tufted puffins, since they’re so skittish in the wild and hard to get close to.

On our drive out of Seward and up the Turnagain Arm, we stopped at one of the pullouts to see the view of the arm. It was a low tide, but not the right time for the Bore Tide so we didn’t see the dramatic change in sea level. Even so, it’s a beautiful drive, and it was hard to say goodbye to the Kenai Peninsula!

Adventures in Alaska: Denali National Park

22 July – Denali

It’s difficult to describe the vastness of the 49^th state, Alaska. It’s huge and wild and imposing. It’s home to 8 National Parks, including 6 which are more than 3 million acres. And a vast portion of the state lies north of the Arctic Circle, making it particularly vulnerable to climate change. So of course, it was high on my list of places to visit.

Anil, Gemma, and I all had around a 4 hour layover, in Seattle, so we decided to meet downtown and see the Klondike Gold Rush National Monument. Because of delays I ended up only having about an hour at the visitor center, but it was enough time to learn a little bit about the mad dash for gold in the Klondike and have our own mad dash to earn our Junior Ranger badges. And one cool thing about their badges is that they are numbered, much like the miners who registered during the Gold Rush! I'm Junior Ranger number 13528! We then flew another 3 hours to Anchorage, arriving a bit after 9PM. We rented a car and drove to Wasilla for the night. It felt strange, since we had plenty of light to look across the lake even though it was 11:30 PM!

We're in the 30% Club!

The next morning we woke up early and drove straight to Denali National Park. The weather is unusually warm, and it was a shock when we turned a corner and saw Denali looming in the distance. We were lucky, because what we didn’t know at the time is that only 30% of visitors to Denali actually get to see the mountain -since it’s so high, it has its own microclimate so even in nice weather it is often hiding behind mist and fog. Denali, meaning “The High One” or “The Tall One” in Athabascan, reaches up 20,310 feet. It was originally called Mount McKinley by a gold prospector who named it after then-presidential candidate William McKinley, who was a champion of the Gold Standard. Unfortunately, he was assassinated before he was ever able to visit the mountain named after him.

The National Park was established because of the work of Charles Sheldon, a hunter who came to Alaska to hunt the Dall sheep and soon realized that if the area wasn’t protected, that this magnificent wild place would be lost to the many miners, hunters, and railroad workers who were abusing its resources. Because of Sheldon's efforts, Mount McKinley National Park was signed into law in 1917 by Woodrow Wilson. It was later expanded (from 2 million to 6 million acres) and renamed Denali National Park and Preserve in 1980 by Jimmy Carter. And in 1995, President Obama officially changed the name of the mountain back to Denali.

We stopped first at the Visitor Center, looking at some of the exhibits and watching the film ‘Backcountry Hiking in Denali’. We then met our bus which took us to Kantinsha, the farthest end of the road, 92 miles in the heart of Denali. Private cars aren’t allowed into the park past mile 15 – only shuttles and buses, which is one of the reasons why we decided to stay inside the park and why we chose one of the most remote lodges.

Savage River, mile 15: the end of the
road for private vehicles. The rest of
the road is only open to Denali buses

The bus ride in took about 7 hours, with several stops for wildlife and scenic views along the way. The first hour or so was lovely but a fairly uniform landscape of hills and trees. At this point in the journey, there was very little wildlife – not even birds or squirrels. 

Polychrome Overlook

We did stop at the Polychrome Overlook, at mile 46. A short hike takes you to the crest of the hill, which gives a good view of the valley and the Polychrome Glaciers and the Toklat River.

It was a beautiful day, and unusually warm weather mean there was an abundance of wildflowers - especially fireweed, which turned the hillside purple.

Surprisingly, the very first animal we spotted was a solitary grizzly bear, wandering around on the hillside several hundred yards away. Because of the remoteness of Denali, the rules in the park surrounding wildlife are strict to keep you safe - humans need to stay 300 yards away from bears - the length of 3 football fields. But considering a brown bear can run upwards of 35 miles an hour, they can run that 300 yards in less than a minute.

All told, we saw 7 grizzlies, 4 moose, and many caribou. Additionally, we saw golden eagles, a merlin, and several ptarmigan – including a family that was startled by two grizzly cubs and one flitted around as though it was injured, trying to lure the bears away.

Guide Joke: Why can't you hear a ptarmigan
going to the bathroom? Because of the silent "P"!

High on my bucket list was seeing a real live moose,
and Denali did not disappoint!

We arrived at Kantishna at around 7:45pm and quickly cleaned up at in our room – it's kind of nice and convenient that the lodge is a keyless property, mainly because it is so remote and there aren’t many people here. We had dinner at 8 and were completely exhausted by the time we got into bed at 11, even though it was still light outside.

23 July – Denali

A fun but tiring day! We were up by 6, and wandered around the property in the morning before breakfast. Anil and I went down to Moose Creek, but were quickly chased away from fear of mosquitoes. After breakfast, we geared up and got ready for our guided hike – marked as ‘strenuous’ even though it was only 6 miles. But it was up to the top of Busia Peak (pronounced “boo-shay”), a 2,500 ft elevation gain. To get there, we had to put on thigh-high waders to cross Moose Creek, then slogged through some muddy, soft tundra to get up the mountain.

Along the way, we saw fresh tracks and scat from moose, caribou, grizzly bear, and lynx.

It was a steep climb through both Alpine and dry tundra, at times bushwhacking through alders and scrabbling through mud. 

We made it up to the peak in about 2.5 hours, enjoyed the view of the Alaska Range while we had our lunch, then speed-hiked back down since we wanted to be back in time to hear the sled-dog presentation. 
Clearly, they love to run and were chomping at the bit to get started!

Even though we missed the first part of the talk, we were able to see the demonstration where Emmitt Peters Jr, the son of a former Iditarod winner, ran 6 dogs around the property by hitching them to a quad bike. During the Iditarod, the sled could be between 800-1000 pounds, but when they are in training they pull almost 1,500 pounds.

After relaxing for a bit, (when it started raining HARD), we had dinner then went for the Mosquito Talk. Guide Emily is a mosquito enthusiast, and did her best to get us to appreciate mosquitoes... and surprisingly, she succeeded.

There are actually a few redeeming qualities about mosquitoes, and a few facts that we learned that made them not as awful as we originally thought. Did you know? All mosquitoes primarily vegetarian, surviving on nectar for sustenance. Male mosquitoes stay vegetarian their whole lives, and it’s only the female of some species who needs blood when her hormones kick in and she needs to reproduce, using the extra nutrients to help produce eggs. And only certain species of mosquitoes are virus vectors, with each virus surviving in different species.

Mosquitoes are beneficial in environments like Alaska; because they feed on nectar, they are pollinators for many of the plants (and the sole pollinator for a specific orchid!). They help feed animals such as birds, dragonflies, frogs, bats, and spiders; one researcher calculated that 50% of the migratory birds would disappear if we got rid of all the mosquitoes.

Most surprisingly, mosquitoes can actually influence the migratory habits of animals. Did you know? The favorite animal for blood-sucking mosquitoes is.... the caribou. Young caribou have been known to die from blood loss. Caribou have thick hide and fur, so one of the few body parts vulnerable to mosquito attack is the nose -  some caribou have even asphyxiated because their nasal passages have been so clogged by mosquitoes. Because of this, caribou may change their migration path – given the choice between an area with no mosquitoes but predators, versus a safe path but filled with mosquitoes, the caribou would choose the mosquito-free route. This lures predators such as wolves, who will change directions to follow their dinners.

So yeah, mosquitoes do play an important part in the Alaskan ecosystem, and do in their own way benefit the environment. While there aren’t as many as I was expecting, there still are a ton – and they are dang annoying. And P.S.: I’ve been using a combination of repellants but mostly oil of lemon eucalyptus – and it seems to be working surprisingly well!

After the mosquito talk, the rain lightened up to a light drizzle and we decided to go to Wonder Lake. It’s less than a 10 minute van ride down, and since all of us were tired, we knew we wouldn’t be gone long. We didn’t see any of the beavers that sometimes show themselves, the often-smooth surface of the water was ripply because of the wind and rain, and the Alaskan Range (including Denali) was hidden behind clouds. So we only stayed a few minutes then came back to the lodge for bed.

24 July – Denali

This morning, we decided (on the advice of guide Michelle) to take the medium hike to Willow Ridge. Her main selling point was because of the experience coming down from the ridge - there’s no trail so hikers have to make their way through the tundra, experiencing the spongy bounce and doing a bit of bushwhacking. It's an 800’ elevation gain during the 3 mile hike, and the rain from the day before (and the slight drizzle during the first half of the hike) makes for a very wet and muddy time. As the guides say, just embrace the wetness – that’s the true Alaskan experience! Plus, it’s just a lot of fun.

Much like the Busia hike, we saw many plants, including several kinds of wildflowers and berries. We snacked on the crowberry, blueberries, and cloudberries that we found along the trail, following the 4 to 1 rule (for every 4 berries you see, eat one and leave the rest for the bears).

The most fun part of the hike was the trip down, tromping through the tundra. There is no trail, so we spread out (so as not to etch a path) and made our way across about a mile to get back to the van. Tundra is basically a treeless ecosystem with long, cold winters and short, usually cool summers. There is low precipitation and persistent winds, plus a layer of permafrost underneath which prevents deeply rooting vegetation such as trees. The permafrost also means a permanently water-saturated soil, limiting the number of plant species that can survive there.

But the tundra is amazingly diverse. There are tons of organisms that not only survive, but thrive. The ground is a thick, dense layer of spongy vegetation, with different berries, bushes, and low-laying shrubs. There are patches of area where the permafrost has melted, and either gullies and muddy ponds or dips form, or taller trees have taken root. And walking on the permafrost is like jumping on a soft mattress or trampoline – you bounce across, smelling the fresh scent of wet grass and the lemony-herbal aroma of labrador tea.

We looked our hardest for a wood frog (to no avail), but we did see several spiders and even one huge, gorgeously colored fat caterpillar. We returned to camp after finishing the hike, and quickly cleaned up.

We were tired, but wanted to try the gold-mining activity, learning a bit about Kantishna’s role in the mining business. Back in the late 1800 to early 1900s, miners came out during the Klondike Gold Rush to mine the hills and streams in and around Kantishna. Prospectors could stake out a claim on a plot of land and record it in the miner’s office here in Kantishna, and for a while the area was booming. But it was a rough life, and difficult to get supplies in and out, and the boom only lasted a few years.

We did a little gold panning ourselves, and I actually found a teeny tiny speck of gold! Don’t sneeze, or you’ll blow it away.
We met 11 year old Alexis during the gold mining, a friendly girl who was traveling with her grandparent but who was by herself since they didn’t want to do any of the afternoon activities. She ended up hanging out with us for the rest of the afternoon, and we taught her about the Junior Ranger programs and did the Jr. Ranger book with her. She seemed excited and willing to do it, and hopefully she’ll get her badge and continue collecting badges at all the parks she travels to!

Then we went on the Fanny Quigley Cabin Tour – about a mile and a half down the mountain near the end of the Denali Road was the the second and final cabin of Fanny Quigley, one of the original gold miners who lived in the Kantishna Valley in the early 1900s. Fanny was a tough, independent, hard-working woman who, after her husband ran off with his nurse, lived alone year-round in the small cabin. Her only neighbor, Johnnie Busia, lived about a mile down across the Moose River, which in the dead of winter might as well have been a million miles away.

Before heading back to Kantishna Lodge, we drove on to the End of the Road, the furthest point in the road to Denali. There are 6 million acres of land within Denali Park and Preserve, but this is the only road access into the park. The majority is pristine wilderness, to an extent that is difficult to fathom. That's one of the reasons why we wanted to fly out of the park, for that aerial overview to give us the scope.

After dinner, Gem and I walked around a bit (we saw a snowshoe hare – turned brown for the summer), then talked to Shelley, our guide from the Willow Ridge hike. She invited us to the staff kickball game at the air strip later that night, but we were exhausted so we didn’t go (kind of a bummer, as we were later told it was interrupted by a mother moose and her calf). But we did chat for quite a while, and she seemed really interested in our project and wants to help in any way she can!

25 July – Denali to Seward

We had to wake up reaaaaallly early this morning to get our plans settled. The bus back to the park entrance was leaving at 6:30AM, so we needed to make sure we were going to fly out since weather might cancel the flights. Regardless, we had to get our bags onto the bus by 5:20 since we weren’t going to be able to fit them on the little plane.

But we did get word that we were good to fly, and it meant a lazy, slow morning (yay!) So even though we woke up at 5AM, we were picked up at 9:30 to go to the airstrip. We attached a Gopro to the tail of the plane (after some stressing and trial-and-error), and took the 50 minute scenic flight back out of the park. It was a beautiful view, looking across the panorama into the wilderness with very little sign of humans. The best part was seeing three giant bull moose which we swooped around and saw twice, plus we flew up near a rather large herd of Dall sheep on the side of a cliff (that was actually below us on the mountain.)

After landing we shuttled back to the Denali Train Station, picked up our bags, and had lunch at the Visitor’s Center. We posted a few post cards, then started our long (7 hour) drive down to Seward, on the Kenai Peninsula. The nice thing about Alaska is there aren’t many roads and the highways aren’t too congested, so it was easy to find our way. Along the route we did see one bald eagle sitting atop a tree, but it was a little far away so hopefully we’ll see more when we’re in Kenai Fjords!

After crossing through Anchorage, we skirted the Turnagain Arm into Kenai. This is a shallow inlet that is famous for the Bore Tide – the dramatic changing of the sea level during low tides, so hopefully we’ll be able to see it when we return in a few days! We had a lovely dinner near the hotel (very fresh Alaskan halibut, salmon, and king crab), then off to bed since we were all so exhausted!

The Sun and the Sea: Chile - Part IV

1 July – Coquimba 
We’re here in our beachfront hi-rise here in Coquimba, relaxing in the apartment before our big eclipse day tomorrow. This morning we woke up before the sun and Victor, our favorite driver, picked us up at 6:30 and drove us about an hour from San Pedro de Atacama to Calama. We flew to La Serena, arriving at around 11:30. (Coincidentally, on our flight was John, the engineer that we’d met at ALMA and who is in the process of moving from San Francisco to Seattle.) Part of the stress of the day was figuring out getting a bus to get us from La Serena to the Elqui Valley to watch the eclipse, and how to fight the traffic to get back. Supposedly, there were already 85,000 people in the area and they were expecting 250,000 on the day of the eclipse (and normally there are only around 20,000)!

When we got to La Serena, it was surprising how much eclipse promo was around! There was even a news camera filming people getting off the plane, and there were TONS of carabineros around. From the info in the airport, we realized the place we were staying (Coquimbo) has 100% totality for over 2 minutes, and the busses into Elqui Valley were expensive and getting really hard to find. From the weather reports, it looked like there wasn’t going to be too many clouds, and our Airbnb apartment is right across the street from the beach (over which the eclipse will be happening). So we decided not to stress and just stay in the area.

Street murals in Parque Coll

After dropping off our bags, we walked down the beach and found a restaurant for lunch – we had fish sandwiches and fresh pineapple juice. Then we walked up to the main road and caught the bus to La Serena, the neighboring town about 10 miles north and where Mario lived for a few years in the 80’s. We walked up through Parque Coll to the old city, which had a bit of the old colonial European atmosphere in the architecture. La Serena is the second oldest city in Chile, after Santiago (and we’re staying in the next city over – Coquimbo, which was the working class city).

Because of the eclipse, in the main town plaza there were tons of artisan market stalls set up and lots of tourists wandering around. Street performers and musicians were on almost every corner, and it was really fun watching one intersection with a family of drummers who danced around in the streets around the cars – and there was a dog who looked like he was with the family who barked and chased the cars that interrupted the family’s performance - but only did it while the family was drumming, never when they took a break!

We wandered through La Recova, the old market (which had changed since Mario’s day – no longer a fruit market but instead a tourist artisan mall). We decided we wanted to buy food for a picnic lunch, as well as groceries for dinner and breakfast. The first market we went to was old and rundown – only a few shelves had products and it looked empty and deserted. Scary! We bought very fresh bread, salami, and cheese from the little shops in the area, then found a supermarket where we bought a ton of groceries/snacks for the next few days.

Now we’re relaxing at home and we’re all excited that we don’t have to wake up early! The only thing on the agenda tomorrow is the eclipse, and we’ll just either go up to our roof or go across the street to the beach!

2 July – Coquimbo
Eclipse Day!
This morning we took it easy, sleeping in and relaxing around the house even though we don’t have wifi. At around 11:30, we went out to walk around on the beach; it was a slightly hazy but an otherwise clear day, cool and breezy. The beach right outside our apartment complex is nice and not very crowded, with people walking about a half-mile further up to where a local radio (or maybe TV?) station has set up some tents and a stage.

As we walked up, we noticed a crowd gathered around on the sand so we went to investigate – it turned out to be a group of native peoples who were there to perform a blessing. Representing 5 different native cultures (Ayamara, Mapuche, Rapa Nui, Diaguitas, and Likan Antai), a small group of people chanted, drummed, and went around the circle performing blessings with water and smoke.

The head of the group (who stressed this was not a performance but was a blessing for the people) talked about how they were connected to Father Sky, Mother Moon, and the Grandfather Ocean; during the eclipse, the old sun is dying and a new one is being born. For us, it is a time of renewal.

At the end of the ceremony, the elder came and gave us a hug, telling us he was so happy that we were there since the ceremony is meant to bring people together and he was glad that foreigners took part. It was such a cool experience, and definitely made the entire day that much more special!

The main masses were further north, in La Serena...

We had lunch of a completo italiano (a hot dog with red, green, and white – tomatoes, avocado, and mayonnaise) from a food truck, a Chilean staple according to Mario and Victor. Then we went back to the apartment to get ready for the eclipse. We packed a picnic and sat around, thinking we’d go down at around 4:30 to watch the big show. But at the last minute we realized the eclipse was starting much earlier - the moment of totality was at 4:30, so it was lucky we were just going across the street. We rushed out to the beach around 3:30 and set everything up just as a tiny sliver of black appeared on the sun. The area we chose was much calmer than the mass of people about a quarter mile up the beach, so it was the perfect place to watch.

We all had solar glasses, plus I had a pair of solar binoculars that cousin Nancy sent (Thanks, Nancy!!), which were GREAT to look through. Gayle brought a bottle of wine that she brought (that she’d gotten in Italy) to celebrate her retirement, and we had salami and cheese, olives, and crackers.

We're ready for the Big Show!

We tried taking pictures all the way until totality, but it was amazing how bright the sun was even with just a sliver showing. And it was so much fun during the totality – people were cheering, laughing, and chanting (“Chi-Chi-Chi! Le-Le-Le! Viva! Chile!” - which made us all laugh since really, as Mario pointed out, the eclipse has nothing to do with Chile...).

4:38 PM, July 2, 2019

They're so confused...!

We didn’t really feel the huge temperature drop that everyone talks about because it was already kind of cold, but the dog that was hanging out with us went to sleep next to us. And on the walk back, we noticed the flowers by the apartment had all closed!

We’re now back inside relaxing and trying to heat up – it’s cold in the apartment so we have the space heaters going, and for a little bit we even had the burners on the gas stove on to try to get some heat. Brazil and Argentina are about to play in the semi-finals of the Copa America, so we’re excited to watch (Chile-Peru plays tomorrow)!

3 July – Coquimbo

The murals of Paihuano

Spent the entire day in the Elqui Valley today! Woke up early and walked down to the bus to go to downtown La Serena, then took another bus into Elqui Valley. We luckily got seats, since the aisle were also pack with people who had to stand for the entire ride. Mario’s brother Marco met us at the square in Vicuña, where it was obvious many many people had camped out for the night. Marco’s daughter Rosa and granddaughter Sophie were there as well, and we drove through the valley to see the sights.


First we stopped in Paihuano for a quick break through the square. Elqui Valley is known for the many vineyards and pisco distilleries – it’s in a narrow valley with many grapevines and avocado trees growing up the sides of the mountain, but it’s winter now so the vines all look dead.


We stopped in Monte Grande to see Gabriela Mistral’s hometown. Her gravesite was closed, but we saw her childhood home and the school she started. Mistral is famous for being one of Chile’s most famous poets, as well as being the first female South American (and second Chilean) to win the Nobel Prize.

Lunch was at a lovely outdoor restaurant – empanadas and fresh pineapple juice – delicious!! We wanted to get some food into us because we were going to start our wine/pisco tasting. First stop was Mistral Distillery to check out their pisco, (had a taste, which I thought reminded me of whiskey – it’s made from grapes and is technically a type of brandy). We tried to buy some of their special eclipse blend, but the people right before Mario bought the last one.

So we went further up to Pisco Elqui, where we stopped at a small artisanal distillery Doña Josefa, where they handmake small batches of organic pisco on the premises. They showed us around the small distillery and let us try three different kinds of pisco – the 40%, the 45%, and the special eclipse blend (43%).





We also went to Cava de Valle, a small vineyard for the winetasting (but I thought all the wines were way too sweet). We then drove out to Peralillo, to see a farmer near Marco’s in-law’s house – he grows mainly avocados and mangoes, and doesn’t use any pesticides. He was really proud to show us his farm and the many different trees that he grows, as well as samples of the different rocks and fossils that he'd found in the area.

Around the corner were his in-laws, with a huge outdoor living space and a barbeque set us for us. Marco’s brother-in-law made us some of the best bbq chicken and steak we’ve ever had!

We got back to the bus station a bit after 7 but there was a huge line of people trying to get back to La Serena. The Chile-Peru soccer match was starting at 8PM and all the taxi drivers were going home to watch – so for a while it was a bit scary trying to figure out how we were going to get back. Finally we realized there were two types of travelers – those with tickets and those without (who just lined up and got on whatever bus came next). We bought a ticket for the 8PM bus, and the driver drove like a maniac back to La Serena (good thing I fell asleep because it would have been a scary ride!), I'm sure to get home in time to see the end of the game (which sadly Chile lost). We crammed into a taxi back to the Airbnb and conked out - it was only 9:45, but we were exhausted!!

4 July – Viña del Mar
Travel day today! We got to the bus station in Coquimbo at around 9AM only to discover there were no busses going to Viña del Mar – pretty much everything was being diverted because of the eclipse traffic, and it was hard finding any 5 seats on busses going out of the city. Finally we decided to take a detour and get a bus to Santiago instead, and then take a connecting bus to get across to Viña del Mar.

It wasn’t easy getting a Santiago ticket either. The first few places didn’t have enough seats, then we were told the next available busses weren’t until that afternoon. Finally we found one for 12:30, so we bought tickets for it. And luckily, it came early so we ended up leaving at around 11:30. Buses in Chile are actually quite nice – many of the long-distance ones are double-decker, with comfortable seats and a restroom. Ours even had an attendant, who passed out snacks and folded blankets. Screens came down from the city, and the bus showed different movies – Thor Ragnarok, Blade Runner 2049, and the start of Overboard... all in Spanish, but you needed to have your own headphones to listen. And at various stops along the way, vendors will get on and sell hot snacks – Mario bought some alfajores from one, and we all got empañadas from another – then get off at the next stop.

... but at least the all-glass elevators
were cool!

We arrived in Santiago about 6 hours later, only to find out the connecting bus left from a different station. We lugged our suitcases around 4 long blocks away, then made it just in time for a bus to Valparaíso, the town next to Viña del Mar. It was about a 2 hour ride, then we took an Uber to our Airbnb to Viña. It’s a nice apartment, but when we got here there was no water and no wifi. Eventually we got the water turned on but the hot water didn’t really work so it was a very fast, very cold shower...



5 July - Viña del Mar

The long, narrow house overlooking the sea - just like Chile!

Made it to Isla Negra, Pablo Neruda’s home! Wow – so easy to see how he was inspired! We left this morning in search of food (which we never found), so it was another day of snack meals. We found a driver to take us around for the day, so we headed off and went straight to the museum/house on the beach. Pablo Neruda bought the house in 1938 from a Spanish Sailor. Because he loved trains and ships, he added to the house until it looks much like the inside of a ship or the inside of a train. The house itself is long and thin – much like Chile, with sweeping ocean views from almost every room. He has amazing collections of figurehead, ships, bottles, masks, seashells, and other treasures.






In 1973 after hearing about the military coup, Neruda took sick and was later transported to a hospital in Santiago. He died 4 days later. His body was brought back to Isla Negra to be buried in 1992 at his request:

The view from Neruda's gravesite

"Compañeros, enterradme en Isla Negra,
frente al mar que conozco, a cada área rugosa de piedroa
y de olas que mis ojos
no volverán a ver..."

"Companions, bury me in Isla Negra
in front of the sea I know, to each wrinkled area of stones
and to waves that my eyes
won’t see again..."

We left Isla Negra and drove back to Valparaíso for a seafood lunch, then went up into the hills to see all the street art. The hills are steep and the streets wind around sharp corners; we took one of the funiculars up to see the view of the harbor, then walked around a few of the hills. Valparaíso is famous for its street art, and it seems as though any blank wall is quickly discovered and covered. It's fun and colorful.





   

Proof: I've been to Viña

The streets were really reminiscent of San Francisco...!

















On our way back to Viña del Mar, we stopped at the flower clock ('You haven’t been to Viña if you don’t take a picture of the clock!' – Mario). Back to the apartment to relax before packing for Santiago tomorrow!



July 7 – Santiago
Saturday was basically a travel day, so we didn’t do much. We spent a lazy morning at Starbucks using the wifi (Mario and Victor needed to find a way back to Iquique and Gayle needed to confirm her change of flights – both had a difficult time but succeeded in the end). There we met Will, a physics professor from the US that came to Chile to start his own department at the local university – nice, friendly guy! We took a bus from Viña del Mar to Santiago, dropping our bags off at the bus station so that we wouldn’t have to worry about them the next day. After checking into our Airbnb, Mario and Victor had to get their own bags since their flight out the next morning was at 7:30 AM. While we were waiting, Stacey and I walked to the local grocery store to look around and buy a few snacks, then went back to the apartment to wait for the boys.

Final dinner with the Boys...!

It didn’t take them too long, so we all went out for a final dinner in Santiago – we went to a nice local restaurant – Julio y Medio, walking distance from our house. I finally tried the lomo a lo pobre – Victor’s favorite dish of steak, french fries, grilled onions, and two fried eggs. Back in the day, when workers were paid, they’d go out and order this dish to show they had money (and to eat well for that day). It was HUGE – I only ate about ¼ of it, but it was delicious!




The boys left early this morning, so we took our time leaving the apartment and went out to find breakfast (a totally unsuccessful search.

Me, hangry since nothing
opens for breakfast in Chile

Weirdly, nothing is open – maybe because it’s Sunday, but all the shops and restaurants seem closed!) We quickly grabbed a bite at Starbucks, then went to the Museo Chileno de Arte PreColombino – the excellent art museum that features works by Central and South American peoples of the past. There were great pieces from the Mapuche, Mayans, Inkans, and Chinchorros, among others.

With a few hours left before needing to go to the airport, we walked down to the Mercado Centrale, then back to the Plaza de Armas for a quick sandwich lunch. Then we went to La Moneda because Professor Will told us there were nice shops downstairs – turns out there is an entire 3-story art museum, so we wandered around a bit in the design, photography, and silver exhibits.

Gayle’s flight is 2 hours before ours, so we have plenty of time in the airport. Luckily we’re in the Delta lounge and it’s fairly empty – a nice relaxing way to unwind before our flight home!

July 8 - Mexico City
With a looooong layover in Mexico City (arrived at 5:30AM and didn't fly out until 8PM), Stacey and I decided to book a private guide to take us around the city. And we were so glad we did! Monica did an amazing job showing us around the old downtown area, giving us the history and stories of the various buildings.

One of the more interesting facts that I had no idea about is that Mexico City is basically built on a lake, and that it's sinking. At a rate of about 1-6 centimeters every year. Essentially, the Aztec capital city of Tenochititlán was here (starting around 1325) on an island in the lake. When the Spaniards conquered the city in 1521 they said, "We're takin' that place! And we're gonna prove we're awesome by building a bunch o' junk there!" So they did.

They built a gigantic cathedral - Cathedral Metropolitano de Mexco, over the Aztec Temple Mayor. But they did it on unstable soil. So it's all warped inside - a huge pendulum hangs from the center of the dome with a pointer at the end, and you can track how it's moving.





The first thing you see when you enter is the Altar of Forgiveness - a huge, gilded monstrosity where supposedly people condemned during the Inquisition came to ask for forgiveness before being executed. One of the more interesting things about it is the Jesus Christ sculpture, notably different because 1) it's black, and 2) the knees are oddly bent. Monica told us a story about a priest who was devoted to the statue and would kiss it's feet every day; one day someone tried to kill him by putting poison on his feet. Miraculously, the Jesus pulled up his knees when the priest tried to kiss him, preventing him from being poisoned. In addition, it soaked up the toxins, causing it to turn black.

See the faucet?

On the side of the Cathedral is a statue of Pope John Paul II made of keys, whom the Mexicans loved. The sculpture shows that the people gave him the "key to their hearts" so the artist had people donate keys to incorporate into the statue. But in Spanish, 'llave' means both 'key' and 'faucet', and since the artist didn't specify, there were also a few faucets donated which were then incorporated into the statue.

Templo Mayor

We walked around the Cathedral down Calle de Tacuba to the site of the Templo Mayor, where Aztecs (who called themselves Mexicas - thus the name Mexico) once sacrificed slaves to the gods. The heads of the victims were put on a pole to intimidate anyone who might think of rebellion. They've found these disembodied heads under some of the buildings along this street.

Temple Mayor was once a 40 meter high temple, most likely first built around 1325, but it was destroyed by the Spaniards after they conquered the city in 1521 so that they could build their cathedral. Jerks.

We continued our tour, learning a bit about Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera. We saw the school where Kahlo attended (and where she met Diego Rivera, who was 20 years older), then went to the Department of Education building where most of the interior walls are decorated with Diego Rivera murals. It's a beautiful courtyard, and you'd never know from seeing it from the outside.

Rivera's Day of the Dead, 1924

I learned so much about Rivera's imagery and beliefs - he often painted the struggles of the working class and the greed of capitalists. He was particularly critical of the military, the rich, and the clergy. It was especially exciting for Stacey to see the originals of some of the works that she teaches in her class.

Need a fake Stanford diploma?

We then walked down past the Inquisition Building to the Customs House, in front of which escribanos would help the illiterate people who would come to get letters written. To this day, there are stationary vendors and supposedly places where you can get forgeries of documents like diplomas made. Across is the square where the executions took place; on one side is the Church of Santo Domingo.

Plaza and Templo Santo Domingo

Inside is the Señor de Rebozo, the statue of an almost-naked, tortured Jesus. In the 16th century, a nun came and felt sorry for him, so she prayed to him every day. When she got old and sick, she couldn't go anymore. One night during a big storm, a beggar came to her door and she gave him some food and a woolen scarf. The next morning, they found her dead, and her woolen scarf was on the statue of the Jesus that she was so devoted to.

Lunch was at a fabulous local restaurant that Monica knew, with fast, cheap pozole.

The House of Tiles

We wandered around the streets, seeing some of the homes of the richest people who used to compete on who had the grandest home. One, an 18th century palace known as Casa de los Azulejos - the House of Tiles - was gorgeous... and weirdly is now a Sanborns (restaurant/department store)!

The most glamorous Sanborns...!

We decided to take a small break, so we went up to the cafe in the Torre Latinamericano for the great view of the city. From there we could see the gorgeous dome of the Palacio de Bella Artes as well as the park and the pedestrian street that went across downtown.

Another view of Casa de los Azulejos

Palacio de Bella Artes

We had to go see the art deco interior of the Palacio de Bella Artes, so even though the museum was closed, we went in - it reminded me of Metropolis. We couldn't see the famed Diego Rivera mural though, since pretty much everything is closed on Mondays.

So instead, we went to the post office. Why? Because it was GORGEOUS. 

Just LOOK!


Of course I had to buy a postcard just to send!

Must be good!

The final thing on our agenda was: street tacos. (Really, it was the only thing on our list that we had to do). Monica took us to the most famous ones - and they really were great. As she says - you know it's good if there is a line.

Since they only served beef, I was the only one who wanted one - but I had to try it. And it really was delicious - you order and eat it standing on the street, then pay afterwards. We did end up going a few doors down to get pork ones for Stacey, which were also delicious. A great way to end the day, and a great way to end a fabulous vacation!!




mmmmmm. Better than plane food!