Re: ZR-1 Alaskan Adventure Travel Log
 

My plan was to change the oil once, and I did it today. I went to a SuperLube in Anchorage. They had Mobil 1 and I added a bottle of ZDDP. They even had the correct oil filter in stock.

Jim

Re: ZR-1 Alaskan Adventure Travel Log
 

I agree completely. The vastness and scale of the mountains cannot be captured with a camera. The entire surface of the mountains around the glacier was shattered rock, "waiting" to be transported to the valley below. The tectonic forces that created the Alaska Range are continental in scale. Mt McKinley is a monolith of granite. It formed from a volcano below the surface of the earth millions of years ago. Since it is a lot harder than the surrounding continental plate, as the Pacific plate slides under the North American plate, Mt McKinley is pushed up more than the surrounding material to form the tallest mountain in North America.

Jim

Re: ZR-1 Alaskan Adventure Travel Log
 

I think it was about 50 air temp out on the glacier. The funny thing is that your mind is thinking snow but you are standing on solid ice. The surface is wet from the sun melting the surface, but it freezes quickly again in the shadows. The surface is very rough.

Jim

Re: ZR-1 Alaskan Adventure Travel Log
 

Great pics and write up!
Thanks for sharing!

Re: ZR-1 Alaskan Adventure Travel Log
 

On Monday we stayed in the Denali area for a second day. We took an all-day guided bus tour of the only road in Denali National Park. It was a fantastic day. The Park is an amazing place. Because the National Park Service has designed the park with only one road and that road is only accessible to guided bus tours and very limited use by hikers and campers, the wildlife and scenery in the Park is unsurpassed in the park system.

The buses are not very fancy which adds to the adventure:
http://i407.photobucket.com/albums/p...e/DSC_0288.jpg

Here is a picture of what is called a braided river. The wide alluvial plain of glacier run off becomes the course of a meandering river when the volume of melt water deminishes. As silt is deposited, the stream changes course many times making the pattern:
http://i407.photobucket.com/albums/p...e/DSC_0233.jpg

Wildlife in Denali is visible to someone with sharp eyes. The bus driver/guide would stopped when anyone spotted something. Here are three Dall Sheep that are grazing high up the slope to try to avoid the wolves:
http://i407.photobucket.com/albums/p...e/DSC_0255.jpg

We spotted this golden grizzley bear with one of her two cubs:
http://i407.photobucket.com/albums/p...e/DSC_0144.jpg

This antelope was grazing near where we saw the bear:
http://i407.photobucket.com/albums/p...e/DSC_0174.jpg

The main attraction of Denali National Park is Mt McKinley. At over 20,000 feet, it is the highest mountain in North America. Most visitors to the Park never see Mt McKinley because of the clouds.

We were very lucky to get an unobstructed view of the mountain from the park road:
http://i407.photobucket.com/albums/p...DSC_0308-1.jpg

Just a few minutes later the peak was obscured and by the time we got to the Visitors Center, the mountain was hidden.

Jim

Re: ZR-1 Alaskan Adventure Travel Log
 

The end point of the Denali National Park tour is the Kantishna Roadhouse, where we had lunch. We decided that instead of riding the bus for five hours back to the Park entrance, we would fly back and do some sightseeing on the way:
http://i407.photobucket.com/albums/p...e/DSC_0738.jpg

We took off from Kantishna and flew across the relatively flat central area of Denali towards Mt McKinley:
http://i407.photobucket.com/albums/p...DSC_0765-1.jpg

As we approached Mt McKinley, the pilot took us above the clouds at about 10,000 feet and we saw McKinley again This is the north face of the mountain, called Wickersham's Wall, named for the first man to try in 1903 to climb McKinley. This view is only the top third of the mountain above the clouds:
http://i407.photobucket.com/albums/p...DSC_0823-1.jpg

We got very close to the peak:
http://i407.photobucket.com/albums/p...e/DSC_0121.jpg

And then we circled around to the east side where the main glaciers are that were the route for the first successful effort to climb:
http://i407.photobucket.com/albums/p...DSC_0892-1.jpg

After we explored McKinley, we returned to the park entrance. Along the way we witnessed the splendor of more mountains:
http://i407.photobucket.com/albums/p...e/DSC_0195.jpg


Jim

Re: ZR-1 Alaskan Adventure Travel Log
 

Wow, is that awesome! Seeing McKinley is rare from the ground.

And then you got to see it from the plane too.:dancing

Re: ZR-1 Alaskan Adventure Travel Log
 

Jim -

These posts are absolutely awesome. Please keep them coming all the way back home!

Very much appreciate them.

You are the best!

Scott

Re: ZR-1 Alaskan Adventure Travel Log
 

On Tuesday, we left Delani and headed south to Anchorage. The day started out cloudy with a little rain. The route runs on the west side of Denali National Park and the scenery is wonderful:
http://i407.photobucket.com/albums/p...e/DSC_0092.jpg

We stopped in the town of Talkeetna, which is the base for a lot of tour companies that operate in the Park. The Mayor of Talkeetna is a cat (by a write-in vote). We tried to find the Mayor, but it was rumoured that he was asleep under the General Store:
http://i407.photobucket.com/albums/p...e/DSC_0273.jpg

We did find an Alaska Railroad Locomotive on display:
http://i407.photobucket.com/albums/p...e/DSC_0347.jpg

In Trapper Creek, AK, we stopped at Wal-Mikes, a icon in southern Alaska:
http://i407.photobucket.com/albums/p...DSC_0175-1.jpg

When we arrived in Anchorage, Lyndi visited with a long-time friend while I took care of some logistics. I changed the oil, washed the Z, and did some shopping.
http://i407.photobucket.com/albums/p...e/DSC04760.jpg

In Anchorage, our accomodations were on Elmendorf Air Force Base. Being retired US Navy has its benefits:
http://i407.photobucket.com/albums/p...e/DSC_0015.jpg

Jim

Re: ZR-1 Alaskan Adventure Travel Log
 

On Wednesday, we stayed in Anchorage and took a train from Anchorage to Whittier and then boarded an excursion boat for a tour of the glaciers on Prince William Sound.

The Alaska Railroad is a state-owned company that provides passenger and freight service from Anchorage to Fairbanks, Whittier and Seward. We found the passenger trains to be very comfortable and well run:
http://i407.photobucket.com/albums/p...DSC_0008-1.jpg.

The route from Anchorge to Whittier runs east along Turnagain Arm and through two tunnels at Portage. Along the route, we passed a marshy area where all of the trees were dead. During the severe earthquake of 1964, the ground southeast of Anchorage dropped eight feet. After the ground shift, the salt water of Turnagain Arm infiltrated the ground water and killed the trees: We did spot an American Bald Eagle sitting in one of the trees:
http://i407.photobucket.com/albums/p...e/DSC_0179.jpg

Across one of the tidal ponds we had great views of the Chugach Mountains:
http://i407.photobucket.com/albums/p...e/DSC_0220.jpg

Here is Lyndi on board the excursion boat. In the background three glaciers are visible:
http://i407.photobucket.com/albums/p...e/DSC_0954.jpg

Here are some more of the glaciers we saw:
http://i407.photobucket.com/albums/p...DSC_0640-1.jpg

http://i407.photobucket.com/albums/p...e/DSC_0699.jpg