Alaska

June/July 2003

Roy and I flew from Pittsburgh to Seattle, caught a shuttle to Belingham, and spent a couple of days with Duff, Linda, Laurel, and Kaylah McDaniel. They put us on the Alaska Ferry for a 3-day cruise up the Inside Passage to Skagway. In Skagway we rode the historic White Pass and Yukon Railroad, getting off at a flag stop to spend a night at the Forest Service's Laughton Glacier cabin and a day hiking on that glacier. We were supposed to fly from Skagway to Juneau to connect with a flight to Anchorage, but Wings of Alaska flies only VFR out of Skagway, and our flight turned into a low-level tour of the Lynn Canal fjord from Skagway almost to Juneau and back to Skagway. So we revised our flight reservations, took the morning ferry to Juneau instead, and joined Ron and Jane Simono in Anchorage a day late. Ron and Jane took us to Kennecott for the weekend, with strolls in the historic mining town and hikes on Root Glacier and nearby trails. After returning to Anchorage we spent three nights camping in Denali, hiking and looking at animals from the park busses. We then joined Shawn Butler and some friends of hers for two days sea kayaking among the glaciers of Harriman Fjord.

It was a fantastic trip. We couldn't have imagined better hospitality, the weather was great, and everything clicked into place.  Except for the bit where Alaska Airlines tagged us for extra security -- fie on them!

Alaska Marine Ferry

More ferry pictures

 

 

 

 

Lighthouse

 

Camping on deck

 

Laughton Glacier

More Laughton glacier pictures

 

  Hiking at Laughton Glacier north of Skagway

 

White Pass & Yukon RR

More railroad pictures

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kennecott

More Kennecott pictures

 

  Hiking on Root Glacier at Kennecott 

 

Denali

More Denali pictures

 

Dall Sheep  

Grizzly sow and two of her three cubs

 

Harriman Fjord

More Harriman Fjord  pictures

 

 

 

Sea kayaking at Surprise Glacier

 

Up to Mary Shaw Home

Electronic mail: mary [at] shaw [dot] org
Sorry, but I can't put a mailto link in here because the spammers will harvest it. To contact me, edit the pieces together in the obvious way.

Snail mail: Shaw-Weil Associates, 414 South Craig St PMB 307, Pittsburgh PA 15213

Copyright © 2003 by Mary Shaw. Use of any portion of this site to generate spam or other mass communication is forbidden. Last revised: July 28, 2003.