The most exciting part of our 13-day tour was the float plane excursion to Katmai National Park to see grizzly bears feeding on migrating salmon. A platform protects viewers at the main waterfall site, but rangers often need to guide visitors away from bears wandering elsewhere. We took the opportunity to tour nearby Valley of 10,000 Smokes, the eerie site of a catastrophic 1912 eruption larger even than the record-setting Krakatoa blast.
Then by a combination of rail, ferry, rental cars, and tour boats (Claudia did all the planning) we visited Valdez (terminus of the Alaska pipeline), the abandoned Kennecott copper mine complex in the Wrangell-St Elias National Park, Cordova, the “Million Dollar” bridge, and a host of awesome glaciers. Wildlife was plentiful--humpback whales (one even breached like you’ve seen on TV), cute and playful sea otters, moose (or whatever its plural is), Stellar sea lions, Dall sheep, bald eagles and more. The blue-white glaciers were exciting to watch as they calved giant blocks of ice, particularly if you approached by small boat. First, if you were lucky, you would see the block break loose, then you’d hear the rifle-shot report, followed by a wave forcing the boat to rock.
Such a visit reminds us once again that the American West (including Alaska) has a beauty riveling anyplace in the world. We recommend it.
