Alaska, a land trip during the summer of 2023

(The float plane that brought us to the bear reserve on Kodiak island)

Sandee and I have always been adverse to cruises, and thus Alaska did not get much priority on our schedule. 2023 had a relatively open schedule, so we endeavored a land tour in July.

We tried to do a “Bear cruise” on a former small 8 person research ship, but were in May informed that the ship needed maintenance on our booked week.

So we went to a bear resort instead.

(This Mom and cubs in the Inuit managed bear reserve 

on Kodiak island was on the last 3 days of our trip but 

they were cute cubs so they start this blog)

You will have to follow our story via the pictures below, which are not reflecting the time sequence of our travel schedule. Thus to get that described first will make the memory lane story under the pictures not as confusing.

We landed in Anchorage and spent a few days, then took a rented car to Seward and took Kenai Fjords boat tours. Returning to Anchorage we boarded the tourist train to Fairbanks with a pitstop in Talkeetna. In Fairbanks we visited a reindeer farm and walked a few hours with the reindeer together with other visitors, many of them families with young children. We flew back to Anchorage and took a plane to Kodiak island where we recovered a few days in Kodiak the town before flying to the Kodiak Brown Bear Center & Lodge by float plane after which we returned home. So now forget the sequence and indulge me by following my meandering thoughts.

(Even in Alaska climate change shows a decline in gletschers, on the two

Boat tours we took in Seward both brought us to the same gletscher in 

The Northwestern fjord)

(When we were driving to and from Seward, we took a detour and took 

a cable car that in the winter brings skiers up to get a view from above. 

The number of people we met there high up was minimal)

(These sea stacks in the Gulf of Alaska were too steep for wildlife with exception of

Birds ofcourse and if you ever take a boat tour from Seward you will see them 

just when you exit Resurrection Bay into the Gulf)

(One of many scenic views from the car on the way to Seward)

(Alaska has many little mountains like above, making it difficult to traverse)

(Besides our road-trip to Seward and surroundings, the train trip from Anchorage to

Fairbanks is an absolute must, even cruiseschips sell this trip as an add-on)

(The panorama wagon - most expensive ticket - is an absolute must and provides

 expansive views, although your camera and the window glass fight each other)

(Back to Seward, where we took with 12 people a whale sighting tour and they

showed up gorging themselves on the abundant krill)

(A close up shot)

(On the train we took a pitstop for 1 night in Talkeetna as we had booked a 

Helicopter flight over Denali mountain. This was the Talkeetna inn where we

stayed. Unfortunately the weather above the mountain was to turbulent and the

tour was cancelled. That night we had dinner and the diner on the table beside

us apologized. She turned out to be the owner of the helicopter company.

Small town for sure)

(We had a full day to kill in Talkeetna, a town with a population of 

a thousand people and 96sq mile/ 250 km2 large. But the town itself 

filled with tourists to see Denali and buy souvenirs has maybe 1 mile 

square surface and less than 100 people residing in the downtown area

which is surrounded by forest, where the other 900 residents are

hiding. The tourist information center housed a cute museum with

the history of logging and the railway construction eons ago)

(Just the two of us at the open caboose where I took my pictures)

(Like this shot)

(Arriving in Fairbanks -a large town with 33000 residents a university and

hospital for center Alaska we found all through town these vent pipes, 

which turned out to be providing fresh air to the underground “utilidor”.

The Utilidor is home to the underground cityinfrastructure for utilities and

communication systems. The city created a public art project for local artist

to paint these vents)

(While a few days in Fairbanks we had to visit the Running Reindeer Ranch

started by Doug and Jane, last name withheld, whose 12 year old daughter Robin 

asked for a horse. Mom and Dad considered that the wrong environment and they settled 

for 2 Reindeer, Ruby and Moon. The rest is history and now people flock from 

everywhere to walk with the reindeer)

(It was fun to get close up to these tame animals and take pics. Sandee 

Particularly enjoyed watching the children interact with these ungainly

and not particularly good looking beasts)


(Oh and here is the story of our booked VRBO in Seward, which promised 

us to be the only guest in this private home with a bedroom and a dining room)

(Well it turned out to be a small bedroom with the table and 2 chairs as the 

dining room area. Only to be used for her breakfast, while we were not allowed

 to sit outside the bedroom in the adjoining living room nobody used as the owner

lived upstairs. That was another lesson learned)

(This was the second time we saw the Northwestern fjord glacier on 

another boat tour)

(During our whale tour we also had this encounter with sunning seals)

(This ship was our dinner cruise trip in Seward mooring at Fox Island where

we “enjoyed” our buffet style dinner, run by a chef owner who also runs a hotel in Seward.

 His previous 3 restaurants in the lower 48 had created burn-out. Here he finds solitude in a vast wilderness.

The small island offers guests nothing but solitude and some walking trails)

(Just before we flew to the Bear Resort we stayed a few days in Kodiak, the main

town on Kodiak island. There are four churches in Kodiak, this one is the Holy 

Resurrection Church from 1794, a Russian orthodox cathedral for a minority

 population of Russians who stayed after Alaska was bought from Russia.

I could not find how many Russians celebrate mass on Sundays, but in 2001

His Grace Bishop Nikolai elevated this church to Cathedral with 200 people in

attendance) 

(Here we are on the small whale tour in the Gulf of Alaska)

(And this was the best part of the tour after seeing the whales: otters! Hundreds 

of them floating and lollygagging around)

(This one was curious about us)

(Oh and yes there were puffins)

(Could not resist to show you another pose)

(And then we flew from Kodiak to the anther side of the island: the 

Bear resort. Kodiak is as large as the island of Cyprus so it takes more

 than an hour to get there. But the views from the plane are magnificent)

(We are on the descent to land in that lake, Karluk Lake, high up so 

that salmon has to fight their way up only to be met by hungry bears)

(The Bear resort has 4 1-bedroom cabins with all the amenities you might want. The main hall has besides the dining area, couches and binoculars and a bear library. Every day the max 8 guests have walking or boating trips. And the meals are extraordinary. Then again it is not cheap to get and be here)

(Our guides gave all the bears names, this one liked to pose and fought off approaching brothers)

(As you can witness here. All to protect an area for him or her to fish)

(Part of the lake has a colony of bald eagles, we saw more than 20)

(Some of our guests fished for salmon, depriving bears and eagles of food)

(During one of our walks we were confronted by a bear, which we had to scare calling

bear, bear while waving our hands. It worked, he looked one more time and disappeared)

(Mosquitos were a daily pest during our walking tours to reach other sides 

of the lake looking for bears. This for example is how we found mother and cubs)

(New guest arrived and it was time for us to return to Kodiak town. It takes 2 

float planes to bring the next 8 guests)

(Another picture of this wonderful island taken on the way back)