Skagway: Hollywood's Alaska

Today we took a Fast Ferry from the gorgeous coastal town of Haines to the tourist trap of Skagway. Don’t get me wrong, Skagway is also a beautiful coastal town. It’s just that tons of cruise ships port there, and the town is swarming with tourists.

At first look Skagway appears to be nothing but gift shops. The whole town is fixed up in an old west look that appears to be a Hollywood movie set. The only flaw seemed to be a graffiti problem.

While we walked around we came across a tour led by a park ranger. We started listening, and I became fascinated. Rather than just look through shops, we got the chance to learn some real history of the town.

I learned that the town has always been somewhat of a tourist town. Well, at least a town for travelers. During the Klondike Gold Rush, men came in the thousands as they headed up to Dawson City, Yukon. A tent town quickly developed in Skagway, and merchants came in to sell to all the visitors. They even painted the hills around with ads—the graffiti.

When merchants realized that people were more likely to buy from established businesses, they built wooden facades in front of the tents. The town was a fake from the beginning. To this day, facades are made to hide unattractive warehouses like this one.

When real buildings were constructed, they were constructed quickly, and moved from place to place. One famous building, The Red Onion Saloon, was put in backwards at its new home on Broadway. It still stands that way today.

That brings us to the story of the women. Very few women came through the area at the beginning, but those who did made a profit. One sold pastries, opened a hotel, and then started a shuttle business. She did very well, and her descendants still live in the town today.

Most women made money the old fashioned way, “negotiable pleasures.” The Red Onion was one of those businesses. As you can see, Adolfo and I enjoyed the services there. Fortunately, their only negotiable pleasures today involve food and liquor.

Before we left town, we went for a hike up to a real lake. It seemed this was the only way to get away from the tourists. When we returned at about 7pm, the entire town had shut down. The cruise ships were getting ready to leave. We were happy to board our ferry and head back to the more quiet and authentic little town, Haines.

Fishing Frenzy

Pink salmon are spawning in Valdez, Alaska. These persistent fish come in the thousands to Solomon Gulch to spawn and die. It’s a sad life for these fish, but a very exciting time for everyone else.

Watching the scene was fascinating. We drove out on Dayville Road past a fish hatchery to where many people were gathered. Most were looking into the water along the bay. The tide was out, so many were standing in the mud flats. The water was filled with fish swimming upstream to a cove where a waterfall and a large glacial stream emptied. A bridge lined with very excited birds separated the cove from the bay area. The birds swarmed over the area, watching the fish and the humans attentively.

We walked down the mud flats to where the people were gathered. Many carried fishing poles, and others removed hooks from fish or cleaned the fish. All were working quickly and with gusto. Within seconds of throwing a line, each fisher was able to catch a salmon. Sadly, it wasn’t because the salmon were biting; instead, the salmon got hooked when simply swimming by. Most had hooks in their backs rather than in their mouths.

The water’s current was heavy, and I was impressed that so many fish made it to the end after fighting the current, the people, the fishery, and the birds. I gained a great respect for these intrepid fish.

We returned to the area at night. As we drove along the bay, we saw that many bald eagles were circling above. Others were perched on the mud flats looking over the water. They were getting into the action. We took a few pictures and headed to the gulch.

Cars were parked all along the side of the road and people were pointing at the edge of the water. I jumped out of the truck to ask what was happening. A woman told me that there were several bears. Adolfo quickly parked, and we ran to see a grizzly and her three cubs. They, too, were getting in on the fishing. Within a short time, though, the mother became overwhelmed by all the people and decided to cross back to the forest. She quickly ran across the street just to find that her cubs were not following. She stood on the side for some time waiting for her cubs. Two followed a little later, but the third was taking its time. The mother was beginning to cross back when the third cub shot out looking very proud with a big fish in its mouth.

*Photos of bald eagle and bears taken by Adolfo Isassi.

Love at First Sight

We drove into Homer, Alaska after hours of weaving past super green forests, wildflower-lined roads, and turquoise streams on the Kenai Peninsula.

Homer is a fairly small town packed with tourists. When we approached Kachemak Bay it became very clear why the place is so popular. A long spit stretches across the bay and the most beautiful blue water spills onto the beaches on both sides.

Snow covered peaks of the Aleutian Range towered over us from across the water, and glaciers spilled down off some of these mountains. We took a campsite right on the beach where we watched wind surfers glide by.

We spent the next few days walking along the spit, driving around town for the best views of the glaciers and mountains, and looking through little stores and pubs along the spit. One of these was the Salty Dawg Saloon, a conglomerate of an old schoolhouse, post office, and water tower.

We were amazed to see bald eagles perched on poles and large groups of otters floating in the ocean water. When the tides went out, we walked along the beach collecting perfectly smooth rocks, shells, and driftwood.

Both of us loved the area. By our third day we were researching the cost of real estate in the area. We both know Homer probably gets unbearably cold and dreary in the winter, but we couldn’t help dreaming about the prospect of living with this beauty every day.

Tiny Texas

"Oh, you’re from that tiny state down south" she says when I tell her we are from Texas.

This is not the first time we've been teased about the size of Texas. I guess Alaskans find it a bit fun to pick on Texans. And rightly so. After all, everything seems bigger in Alaska. The mosquitoes are huge. The mountains are colossal (Although I never saw it, Mt. Denali is over 20,000 feet tall). The glaciers are immense. Potholes (Frost Heaves) are unmanageable. Alaskan days in summer are way longer than Texan days, too.

Texas prides itself on wildflowers. But here the wildflowers are larger, more colorful, and last all summer. Even their lupine flowers put Texas bluebonnets to shame.





On the other side of the story, though, Alaska has nothing on Texas’ 4th of July celebrations. After all, in Alaska there are no fireworks because the nights are too light. Alaska’s cities are tiny compared with Dallas, Houston, and so many other Texas cities. Fairbanks didn’t have a single skyscraper. And the trees are embarrassingly tiny in much of Alaska. The scrawny spruce trees are stunted because of the permafrost ground. Finally, Texas prickly pear flowers are unbeatable.

To the surprise of many Alaskans, I respond to their teasing by saying, "Yeah Alaska is much bigger than Texas, but I would much rather drive across Alaska.”

Of course, there are no roads that span across Alaska.

Beautiful Kenai Fjords

We arrived in Seward on a rainy day and couldn’t see much of the gorgeous landscape. Still, everyone was talking about cruises through the Kenai Fjords. Normally we ignore such things because we are trying to extend this trip by saving money. But, Adolfo’s birthday was coming up, and photos of all sorts of wildlife and glaciers got our attention. We decided we’d splurge for his birthday if the weather cleared up.

On his birthday Adolfo woke up early to look out the windows. It was sunny. We jumped into our warmest clothing and headed to the port to buy tickets for the 9-hour tour through Resurrection Bay, the Kenai Fjords, and on to Northwestern Glacier.

As we left Resurrection Bay, we sailed past small coves, cliffs, and spires. Determined trees and wildflowers grew at the top of spires, and waterfalls draped down the sides of cliffs. The coves looked like perfect areas to explore with a kayak. Perhaps we can so that someday.

Seals sunbathed in some of the coves, sea lions in others (Blow up photo to see). On top of a tall spire we saw a bald eagle looking over the ocean for its next meal. A black oystercatcher looked out as she guarded her nest, and puffins flew in every direction. One cliff seemed to be the home of mini penguins. The captain explained that penguins only live in Antarctica and that these are murres.

An otter floated along beside our boat. He didn’t seem affected in the least by the 150 passengers pointing at him excitedly. Instead, the otter folded his arms over his chest and bobbed up and down with the current.

A group of dall’s porpoises chose to entertain us when they saw the boat. They swam to the bow of our boat and raced beside us as all the humans ran to see the “mini-orcas.” Again, the captain explained that these are porpoises and that orcas are actually of the dolphin family. He was able to show us the orcas later when we came upon a group of them.

Our destination was Northwestern glacier on Harris Bay. The entire area was lined with tidal glaciers. I’ve seen these types of glaciers in documentaries discussing global warming, but seeing the real thing is so much more powerful. As we sailed through the area, we saw more and more ice floating in the bay until we were finally surrounded by ice. A sea lion rested on one larger piece of floating ice.

The caption sailed the ship right to the edge of the Northwestern Glacier, luckily we dressed in our warmest clothing because it was quite chilly. The glacier has a stunning blue color under the white snow. When the captain turned the boat’s engine off, we could hear the glacier.

As the ice calved, we listened to the cracking and thundering. In some cases, large chunks fell into the ocean then floated back to the surface. Other pieces spilled down like waterfalls. We could hear much sound that must have been from calving on areas of the glacier that were not visible to us.


I tried to capture this experience with a camera, but it just cannot be done. The memories will have to suffice.

Guess Who's Coming to Dinner

While in Fairbanks, we were told that we should visit Chena River State Recreation Area. Adolfo liked this idea since it got me away from the stores. So, on our third day we woke up early. I put on shorts to work on a bit of a tan and Adolfo wore short sleeves.


Adolfo and I got out of the truck and began to hike at our normal speed. Within seconds we realized we were being eaten alive. My legs were covered with mosquitoes. Adolfo’s arms were covered, too. Determined to continue, we decided to hike briskly. As long as we kept moving, the mosquitoes left us alone. Unfortunately, there were areas where fallen trees made us slow to climb over or under the trees. The mosquitoes seemed to know this; they were waiting.

We made it half way through the trail before we gave up and returned. It just wasn’t worth the blood donation.

Wonder Lake in Denali. (Blow up photo to see mosquitoes.)

In Denali National Park we were told that Wonder Lake was a beautiful place to tent camp. So, we decided to head to Wonder Lake for our last two nights in the park. We took the 5-hour bus out to the lake. It rained most of the way. As we entered the Wonder Lake area we noticed that people were covered from head to toe with mosquito nets and rain ponchos. It looked like a HAZMAT zone.

The second we stepped off of the bus we realized that we were dinner. The mosquitoes made clouds around us. I quickly put on my mosquito net, but Adolfo tried to rough it (within an hour he had his on, too).

Resisting the less-than- macho mosquito nets, Adolfo fiercely swats at mosquitoes.

It rained all night, and we chose to spend most of our time inside our tent where we could kill all mosquitoes that got in and torture those who couldn’t get in.

Instead of staying a second night, we took the first bus out in the morning. In fact, the camp cleared out. As the bus pulled up, a soldier stationed here in Alaska exclaimed, “Get me out of here.” My sentiments exactly.


Adolfo and I resort to taking photos inside the tent.