Seward to Colorado

We camped for 2 nights and stayed in a cabin for 2 nights in the beautiful port town of Seward. We took a scenic boat tour to Kenai Fjords National Park and saw Humpback whales, killer whales, porpoises, sea otters, sea lions, seals, puffins, rocky islands, icebergs and calving glaciers! Seeing a family of killer whales swim under our boat, a pair of humpbacks lunge feed out of water right next to the boat and hearing the thundering crash of house sized ice fall hundreds off the glacier face into the ocean were awe inspiring! Jacob scrambled up the seeming vertical Mt. Marathon and was so sore that he could barely walk up to the face of the Exit Glacier.  We had rented a cabin in celebration of a succussful tour and layed in the comfy bed nearly all day listening to rain on the roof and leaves. We took the train to Anchorage, where we got tattoos and piercings and boarded the plane home. We arrived back home to Colorado excited to see our family, friends, Charles and home. We could not have dreamed of a better trip and the 60 days that we were gone seemed like they went by in a flash of time. We feel so lucky to be able to live this life, our minds feel clear, our bodies feel healthy, we are so glad for all of the people that we know and are in constant awe of the beauty of the natural world. The tour has ended but since "each day is how we spend our lives" we know that this is neither an end nor a beginning, it is another experience in our lives.

Valdez to Whittier to Seward

We took the ferry from Valdez to Whittier on a cloudless day, a rare treat! We saw numerous icebergs calved from the Columbia Glacier. We steamed through a pod a humpback whales, looking directly down on them from the boat railing as they breached, a baby even jumped out off the water as we went by! From Whittier, we hitched through the tunnel and camped in Portage below numerous glaciers. We rode to The tiny town of Hope and watched fishermen catch so many pink salmon that they grew tired of taking fish off their lines in a matter of minutes.  We figured there would be bears around since fish carcasses covered the banks, but were surprised when a dark shadow standing on the side of the road by a fishing pole turned out to be a black bear! We feared for our lives as we pedaled the shoulder less highway along Alaska's busiest highway of salmon crazed fishermen. We got to camp with the Chisholms and then finished our riding by coasting into Seward. 1500 miles, 2 months out, so many great experiences!!!

Paxson to Valdez (185 miles on the Richardson)

We made it to Valdez!! We have had good weather along this route, seeing the Chugach, Alaska and Wrangell mountains. We followed the Aleyska pipeline down to Valdez. We are continuously sadden at hearing that some of our favorite roadhouses have or will be closing their doors! It is hard to find good workers and to get people in who just don't want to use the toilets they said. In the Copper River valley we battled against the swarms of Mosquitos with only one sighting of a moose. We made the climb up to Thompson Pass, one of our favorite sections. We had wonderful weather staring at Worthington glacier and the surrounding lush, green mountains. We even got to spend the night at the top of the pass at Blueberry Lake campground. It is one of the most beautiful campgrounds on earth! As we made our way to Valdez we meet the most amazing family who took us in and made us feel like we were apart of their family. We got to go kayaking in the Valdez Glacier Lake and sailing in the Valdez Bay. We are thankful for all the wonderful people that we meet along the way!

Denali Highway

We have just finished riding the Denali Highway, a 135 mile dirt road that biects the Alaska Highway system by paralleling the Alaska range. The label "highway" is a misnomer, since the road has a recommended speed limit of 30 mph, which is followed by the few brave souls that drive it because it is covered in potholes, is only open from June through September and there are only 4 lodges. This section has shown us Alaska's bipolar weather, from numb toes to sunburnt cheeks, rainbows and hail, thunderstorms and sunsets, fog and endless rain.We have been getting a little cabin fever from having to wait out numerous storms in the tent,one of which we were in the the tent for 18 hours while it poured and the bottom of our tent was like a waterbed but we stayed totally dry and are finishing books daily. On that particular morning there was a mother moose feeding her calf outside our tent! We watch storms roll across the open tundra (some we out run and some we get pounded by, today we got drenched by rain with hail) dry out when the sun shines through holes in the clouds, crank up steep hills, slap mosquitoes, read books, chat while riding side-by-side, stop at every roadhouse for pie, clean the caked up mud off everything and coffee and stay up late to watch sunsets...we feel so lucky to be able to live this  life!

Denali National Park

Just back to town after a week in Denali National Park.  We did a combination of bus riding, bike touring and day rides to see experience the park.  A weather anomaly left all 20000 ft of Denali  free of clouds for 3 full days, and record setting 85 degree heat! Our animal sightings were worthy of a nature documentary: 3 grizzlies feeding on the hillside above our campspot before all 3 standing up to look at us, a lynx that just sat down on the road in front of the bus, a grizzly walking down the side of the bus, hundreds of migrating caribou, bull moose so close we could hear it chewing and splashing in the water, a grizzly laying down in a stream and shaking off like a wet dog, a caribou running in front of our bikes for a mile down the road, golden eagles soaring with a chick, another being dive bombed by a raven, ptarmigan pairs with chicks, Dall sheep, crying loons, as well as  many interesting travelers and park rangers. What a amazing place; no better biking in the world!

Denali National Park

We rode 2days to the lovely town of Talkeetna and while dining on smoked salmon dip and crab bowl (roughing it) we checked the weather and were devistated to learn that rain is forecasted for the days we scheduled to ride in Denali National Park! So we jumped on the train and went straight up to tThe Park. We are heading in for 5 days and planning to do a combination of touring, day rides, hikes and scenic bus rides.

Glennallen-Wasilla-Talkeetna

We left Glennallen with only glimpses of the Wrangells behind us, knowing there would be spectacular views as we paralleled the rugged Chagach Mts on the Glenn Hwy.  These 3 days of riding left us being quite sore as we rode uphill for 50 miles up 3000ft viewing glaciers, like the Matenuska, descending through multile layers of mountains.  This section also tested our mortality, in that it contained a section of curvy 2-lane roads with heavy traffic and zero shoulders! The upside of climbing passes is the downside, 70 miles of flying down into the lush temperate crop lands of Palmer & hamlett of Wasilla,  (in)famous home of Sarah Palin, but more importantly our friends B&B who treated us to the luxury of civilization; warm showers, great food, comfortable sleep and stimulating conversation.  We then turned North toward Talkeetna and Denali.

Tok to Glennallen

Leaving Tok we have ridden some very pleasant, rolling terrain following meandering rivers going through lush green forests of Aspen, Birch, Willows and Spruce as we came into the famous Copper River Valley (known for its Salmon). We did get a peek at the Wrangell Mountains but the views have been somewhat limited, as we have experienced some rainy days and nights. We didn't see too many animals in this section but we did see a moose, trumpeter swans, snow geese, snowshoe hares, and grouse as well as chatting with fellow travelers and Alaskans. We rented a tiny cabin for the night, in Glennallen, so we can dry out after a cold and wet ride into town.We have hit over 650 miles now!!! The picture below is what Glennallen should look like...

Kluane Lake to Tok, AK

In the past 17 days we have seen 11 bears, 2 moose, a mad mama grouse, baby owl, numerous bald eagles, and many other bikers headed to South America. We have had amazing weather, with today getting our first biking rain storm. We had to warmup in the porto potty together because the rain was coming down horizontally. The last 100 miles of Canada were pretty rough roads with course asphalt, no shoulders, and a-hole semi drivers. Alaska welcomed us with a nice paved road and a quaint little lodge at Border City. Between the border and Tok were clouds, bogs, permafrost, Tetlin Wildlife Reserve, many many lakes, and the backside of the Wrangell St-Elias mountains. We can see mountains for miles in both directions. We have meet the most amazing people along the way. Many bikers headed South and many retired RV'ers who think we are "strong and courageous" for doing the Alcan on bicycles. Unfortunately we do not have access to the pictures on our camera, so we will have to upload them later. We are in Tok for tonight to do laundry, get caught up on calories, and hang out for the solstice!

Grizzlies, glaciers and lakes

We have now biked from Haines to Kluane National Park in the Yukon, right next to Canada's highest peak, the Yukon's largest lake and the highest density of Grizzlies in the world. We are really enjoying the biking and the mountain views are just awe inspiring. Every day new snow covered mountains with glaciers come into and out of view as we ride. We saw 4 grizzlies yesterday, all of which were too close for comfort. One walked by our picnic pavilion as we were eating dinner and we didn't even notice it until someone yelled "bear" and we looked up and it was 10ft away from the pavilion! When I made noise he looked straight at me! Another one, Chels would have hit if she didn't brake as it crossed the road! Two others were on the shoulder so we crossed to the other side of the road and snuck by. It seems scary but they could are less about us, they just want to eat flowers and grass. The weather has been great and we have had a tailwind pushing us the entire way.

Haines to Haines jct

After 4 days of riding in the most spectacular mountains ever, we made it to Haines junction. The mountains are covered in snow and glaciers (we basically rode on the backside of glacier bay national park). We rode from the ocean through the river valleys up a couple of passes and into lake country. Words cannot describe how awesome te mountains are. Haines jct is quite small with no grocery store. We sent 8 days of food from home and good thing we did!! While we took a little rest, we climbed a hill side to stare at the mountains, 100 yards up the road we saw a Sow and her cub cross the road. We have been having a wonderful time! Pictures to come due to technical errors.

The map of our trip