Rick, Bill, Dennis, Erick, Angela, Sabrina-Fairbanks

Thanks to our trip sponsor China Airlines!

Rick and Bill's Alaska Adventure

The State of Alaska hosted Mr. Rick Monday and Mr. Bill Thissen of ICRT Radio for an amazing adventure tour in September 2008. Here are trip highlights.

Our sincere thanks to China Airlines for their support and sponsorship, ICRT Radio, CAL Tours for their support to the Liberty Times to participate, and the Alaska Travel Industry Association for hosting the group, and all of the great folks in Alaska's tourism companies that welcomed us and made this a great trip..

Visit the Alaska Photo and Culture Exhibition at the Sun Yat-Sen Memorial Hall from October 24 - Nov 14 to learn more, and be sure to visit the Alaska booths at the See America Pavilion at the Taipei International Travel Fair Oct 31 - Nov 3.

Advance Trip: Denali National Park

I arrived Alaska September 7 with our photographer Mr. Dennis Chin for a few days of photography before the main group arrived. We went into the Denali National Park and spent two nights at the world-class Kantishna Roadhouse lodge (www.kantishnaroadhouse.com)near Wonder Lake. We had great wildlife viewing of Grizzly Bears, moose, caribou, snowshoe hares, beavers, ptarmigan, and more. Views of Mt. McKinley were amazing.


Mt. McKinley & Wonder Lake	Grizzly Bear, Denali National Park	Caribou, Denali National Park

Main Group

ICRT Radio's Rick Monday and Bill Thissen along with Angela Chuang from the Liberty Times and Sabrina Fan from AZ Travel Magazine arrived on 12 September.

Day 1: Bear Viewing, Lake Clark National Park

We had a bear viewing day trip by float plane to Redoubt Mountain Lodge (www.RedoubtLodge.com) on Crescent Lake in Lake Clark National Park. Our professional pilot Stu with Rust's Flying Service (www.FlyRusts.com) flew us out to the lodge in a trusty de Haviland Beaver floatplane, a workhorse of the Alaska bush pilots. Our local guide took us out in a small boat to explore the lake where we had about 10 different bear viewing encounters, mostly individual bears out feeding. We were able to get as close as 10m to the bears because we were in a fast boat!


Redoubt Mountain Lodge	Brown Bear, Lake Clark National Park

Day 2: Anchorage and Girdwood - Alyeska Resort

Easy day, starting with a hearty breakfast (Eggs Benedict anyone?) at the Snow City Cafe in Anchorage. We visited the Alaska Native Heritage Center in Alaska to learn more about Alaska's 11 native groups and heritage. In the afternoon we drove down the scenic Seward Highway along Turnagain Arm to the town of Girdwood. At the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center (www.AWCC.org) we had some close encounters with moose, elk, bison, bears, and musk ox. At Crow Creek Mine (www.CrowCreekMine.com) we were able to learn about gold mining and view historical buildings and artifacts from the gold rush days and we met some folks who had been prospecting for gold who proudly showed us their gold nuggets that they found at this active mining area. We had a world-class dinner at the Seven Glacier Restaurant at the Alyeska Ski Resort (www.AlyeskaResort.com), where both the restaurant and the hotel have been recognized as 4-Diamond by AAA, a very prestigious accomplishment. This world-class restaurant (with reasonable prices!) is loated at the top of Mount Alyeska and dinner includes a complimentary tram ride. The restaurant offers specacular views of (you guessed it...) seven hanging glaciers in the surrounding mountains.


Moose, AWCC	Crow Creek Mine	Photo courtesy Alyeska Resort

Day 3: Seward - Cruise Tour, Kenai Fjords National Park

We took the scenic Alaska Railroad (www.AKRR.com) from Anchorage south to the port of Seward. Our cruise tour adventure on Kenai Fjords Heritage Tours (www.KenaiFjords.com) took us out on the tranquil (at least the brochure says tranquil...) sea to visit Holgate Glacier and the neighboring Surprise Glacier in Kenai Fjords National Park. Right out of port we saw a cute otter posing for pictures, and on the way back from the glaciers we had two chances to view the famous Stellar Sea Lions.


Angela and Sabrina, Holgate Glacier	Holgate Glacier Ice Close-Up	Kenai Fjords Tour Boat at Holgate


Otter, Resurrection Bay near Seward	Crew Catches some Ice	Stellar Sea Lions, Kenai Fjords NP

Day 4: Seward - Exit Glacier, Kenai Fjords National Park

We visited former Iditarod Dog Sled Race champion Mitch Seavey's Iditaride Kennel. How about those cute husky pups! At the SeaLife Center we learned about Alaska's sea creatures and had some close encounters with puffins and harbor seals. We did a bit of hiking at Exit Glacier just 15 minutes outside Seward by car where you can hike right up close to the glacier.


Husky Pups, Iditaride, Seward	Angela & Harbor Seal, SeaLife Center	Exit Glacier

Day 5: ATV Adventure, Denali National Park

We drove hard from Anchorage, had a hearty blueberry pancake homestyle breakfast in Wasilla, and continued on up to Denali National Park to check in at the Princess Denali Lodge. Afternoon fun included a stop by beautiful Lake Otto in Healy and some ATV fun with Denali ATV Adventures (www.DenaliATV.com). The ATV rides are great fun, but watch out for the mud puddles!


Angela - ATV Daredevil	Angela and Sabrina - ATV's are Fun!	Beautiful Lake Otto, Healy

Day 6: Mt. McKinley Airplane Tour and Tundra Wilderness Tour, Denali National Park

In the morning we went into Denali National Park on the Tundra Wilderness Tour. Access to the park is limited to one road, and most visitors enter the park on group bus tours such as this. We viewed a Moose buck at about 150m and some other wildlife up close to the bus such as snowshoe hare and ptarmigan.

Mt. McKinley Airplane Tour. In the afternoon we had good weather for the ultimate adventure - a Mt. McKinley airplane tour with Talkeetna Aero Services out of Healy (www.TalkeetnaAero.com). This has to be the most exciting adventure I've ever been on. Our pilot David took us up in a twin engine aircraft to about 6,500m for close up views of Mt. McKinley, the highest peak in North America. Mt. McKinley has two summits, the taller South Summit at 6,194m and the North Summit at 5,934m. Mt. McKinley is known as Denali - "The Great One" in the Athabascan Alaska Native language. Mount McKinley is actually the largest mountain by visible mass and height because Mt. Everest rises out of the Tibetan plateau giving it a vertical rise of 3,700m compared to Mt. McKinley's vertical rise of 5,500m. Our pilot David was truly a great pilot who safely brought us up close to the mountain while providing a detailed overview of the mountain, it's special geography and features, as well as climbing history, routes, camps, and checkpoints. It was truly amazing to be within a few hundred meters of this huge mountain, to see the craggy rock faces, wind blowing snow across summit peaks, and see up close where the brave climbers pitch their tents and camps on their climbing route to the summit.


Moose in Tundra, Denali NP	Snowshoe Hare, Denali National Park	Talkeetna Aero Services, Healy


Halfway to Mt. McKinley	Approaching Mt. McKinley Summit	South Summit (L) & North Summit (R)


Close to Summit	Cloud over South Summit	Moose in Healy near Airport

After this long day we drove about two more hours north from Healy to Fairbanks. We were happy to have dinner at the famous Pump House restaurant in Fairbanks right on the Chena River. This restaurant is a historical site, located on a gold mining pump house. In our books it is most famous for the desserts!

Day 7: Fairbanks - Aurora Viewing and Gold Rush Heritage, Fairbanks

In the morning we visited Gold Dredge No. 8, a historical site with a tour of the historical gold dredge and overview of the mining operations, a gold panning experience, and a hearty Alaska-style all you can eat lunch (our favorite part of the day).


Gold Dredge No. 8 - Fairbanks	Bill's gold panning coach	Lunch! at Gold Dredge No. 8 - Yum!

In the afternoon we drove out to Chena Hot Springs (www.ChenaHotSprings.com) and had a tour of the Ice Museum with its amazing ice art and ice bar (tasty martinis available!) and the renewable energy facilities. After dinner we enjoyed the hot springs. Later in the evening from about midnight to 2:30 am we enjoyed a long display of the Northern Lights, the Aurora Borealis. Very nice display of green aurora with many shapes dancing all across the sky.


Chena Hot Springs	Ice Art Museum, Chena Hot Springs	Chena Hot Springs


Aurora - Chena Hot Springs	Aurora - Chena Hot Springs	Aurora - Chena Hot Springs

Day 8: Fairbanks - Museum of the North and Riverboat Discovery

Last day! In the morning we visited the Museum of the North and then spent the afternoon aboard the Riverboat Discovery (www.RiverboatDiscovery.com), an authentic stern wheeler. This is a great tour along the beautiful Chena River that includes a stop at a model Alaska Native village (with good presentations on Alaska Native culture), a floatplane exhibition with a floatplane landing and taking off right near the riverboat, and many other fun activities. Ahoy Mateys! All aboard with Captain Rick for a riverboat cruise you will NEVER forget!


Otto the Bear - Museum of the North	Captain Rick - Riverboat Discovery	Riverboat Discovery - a Stern Wheeler


Riverboat Discovery Floatplane	Riverboat Discover - Alaska Native	Tanana Chief Riverboat - Fairbanks

After a fine dinner at Pike's Landing restaurant (www.PikesLodge.com) right on the Chena River we flew back to Anchorage and on home!