August 25, 2005 GMT
Seward - Alaska
Seward is positioned approximately 150 miles south of Anchorage and so we anticipated an easy ride down, however the clouds filled and the rain came down...very very hard, similar to an English hail storm but harder....the rain was really cold too!! John didn't have his gore-tex liner in his jacket or trousers of his suit and got soaked. We finally stopped for John to get the liner in his jacket and for us both to get our water-proof gloves on.
<IMG SRC="http://pic4.picturetrail.com/VOL784/4062504/8448420/114075328.jpg">
Dark & Stormy weather reminded us we were nearer the Arctic.
We'd been advised of 'this' great camp site by the manager of a hotel in Anchorage and were looking forward to it-the one we found turned out to be a public site just off the road with one toilet that was shared with the public. To add to our circumstances, an elderley genetlemen turned up just after we'd set-up our tents to say that the pitch we were on was his pitch. It transpired that there was some genuine confusion over how the camp ground rules worked and we agreed to share the pitch between the three of us. Not quite what we had hoped over-all but a satisfactory resolution. Never-the-less we finished setting up camp and got through to the next morning after a decent chinese in the evening.
<IMG SRC="http://pic4.picturetrail.com/VOL784/4062504/8448420/114075361.jpg">
Our Luxury Campsite ....just off the beach.......and just off the road !
Next morning we decided to go on a Kenai straight boat tour having spoke to our new camp-freind. This was a mad spontanious decesion and we only just made the boat with a minute or two to spare.....What a day!
<IMG SRC="http://pic4.picturetrail.com/VOL784/4062504/8448420/114075377.jpg">
A native sea otter shows us how to 'take it easy'.
Most of it was spent under the semi-sheleted deck of the upper part of the boat which just provided enough shelter from the wind and rain but we got to see a considerable number of whale blow holes, tails and fins.....and finally we got to see the whole head and upper body raised above the water...incredible!! ....
<IMG SRC="http://pic4.picturetrail.com/VOL784/4062504/8448420/114075410.jpg">
The first signs of whale activity.
<IMG SRC="http://pic4.picturetrail.com/VOL784/4062504/8448420/114077204.jpg">
A few puffins in flight.
<IMG SRC="http://pic4.picturetrail.com/VOL784/4062504/8448420/114075436.jpg">
Further signs...two whales.
There I was poised with camera but with the delay for the digital shutter I have an image that looks like the whale has been erased after the photo was taken...John found this highly amusing. To add insult to injury I aksed a fellow amatuer photograpgher if he'd managed to get it, to which he showed me three good pictures!! We were also taken to a glacier where you can hear and see large chunks of ice fall into the sea, and also saw some sea otters & seals.
<IMG SRC="http://pic4.picturetrail.com/VOL784/4062504/8448420/114077345.jpg">
The erased head shot !
<IMG SRC="http://pic4.picturetrail.com/VOL784/4062504/8448420/114077239.jpg">
A glacier wall we encountered on the boat tour.
In the evening we ventured into town and found the Yukon bar which was, well, full of charcter and charcters. If you take the general English image of an American locals small town bar where fights break out over the colour of somebodies hair, this was it. The singer, one man and his guitar..and mouth organ, a sort of local Bob-Dylan-cum-Adam Ant, was as full-on as any-one we've ever seen, announcing in his own style that every-one was 'messed-up'. Having said that, it was the best bar in town, and the anticpated fights didn't break out. It was good fun.
We met up with a couple of fellow BMW riders on our campsite the following day whilst re-packing and working out what we didn't need anymore and could send home. They were from Colarado, one, Kent, was very impressed with the list of accessories we'd managed to fit onto our bikes. We met them again in the evening.....in the Yukon bar. This time our guitar man was supported by a drummer and two other guitarists....who created a fuller sound.....By the end of this evening and much banter about bikes, John and I have taken to to calling the 'Yukon' in the style that generally seems to suit most Alskans from the Yukon.....pronounced Yuuuuu-Kon in a deep gutteral chant-like manner, hopefully you have the picture. We plan to mett up with the guys again in Colarado in September.
On the 23rd John sends home 6kg of luggage as we leave the camp-site & Seward, whilst Mike tried to establish which of his mouth-wash, shoes, jeans etc can be sent home-this decsion gets postponed for another day. As we leave, we head into town with the intention of a large breakfast, only to discover that it was so late in the day, that we were onto the lunch menu barring a few bits & pieces. We make the best of it and head towards Denali via Anchorage.
<IMG SRC="http://pic4.picturetrail.com/VOL784/4062504/8448420/114077303.jpg">
A calmer Seward later that day....
Seward - Alaska
Seward is positioned approximately 150 miles south of Anchorage and so we anticipated an easy ride down, however the clouds filled and the rain came down...very very hard, similar to an English hail storm but harder....the rain was really cold too!! John didn't have his gore-tex liner in his jacket or trousers of his suit and got soaked. We finally stopped for John to get the liner in his jacket and for us both to get our water-proof gloves on.
<IMG SRC="http://pic4.picturetrail.com/VOL784/4062504/8448420/114075328.jpg">
Dark & Stormy weather reminded us we were nearer the Arctic.
We'd been advised of 'this' great camp site by the manager of a hotel in Anchorage and were looking forward to it-the one we found turned out to be a public site just off the road with one toilet that was shared with the public. To add to our circumstances, an elderley genetlemen turned up just after we'd set-up our tents to say that the pitch we were on was his pitch. It transpired that there was some genuine confusion over how the camp ground rules worked and we agreed to share the pitch between the three of us. Not quite what we had hoped over-all but a satisfactory resolution. Never-the-less we finished setting up camp and got through to the next morning after a decent chinese in the evening.
<IMG SRC="http://pic4.picturetrail.com/VOL784/4062504/8448420/114075361.jpg">
Our Luxury Campsite ....just off the beach.......and just off the road !
Next morning we decided to go on a Kenai straight boat tour having spoke to our new camp-freind. This was a mad spontanious decesion and we only just made the boat with a minute or two to spare.....What a day!
<IMG SRC="http://pic4.picturetrail.com/VOL784/4062504/8448420/114075377.jpg">
A native sea otter shows us how to 'take it easy'.
Most of it was spent under the semi-sheleted deck of the upper part of the boat which just provided enough shelter from the wind and rain but we got to see a considerable number of whale blow holes, tails and fins.....and finally we got to see the whole head and upper body raised above the water...incredible!! ....
<IMG SRC="http://pic4.picturetrail.com/VOL784/4062504/8448420/114075410.jpg">
The first signs of whale activity.
<IMG SRC="http://pic4.picturetrail.com/VOL784/4062504/8448420/114077204.jpg">
A few puffins in flight.
<IMG SRC="http://pic4.picturetrail.com/VOL784/4062504/8448420/114075436.jpg">
Further signs...two whales.
There I was poised with camera but with the delay for the digital shutter I have an image that looks like the whale has been erased after the photo was taken...John found this highly amusing. To add insult to injury I aksed a fellow amatuer photograpgher if he'd managed to get it, to which he showed me three good pictures!! We were also taken to a glacier where you can hear and see large chunks of ice fall into the sea, and also saw some sea otters & seals.
<IMG SRC="http://pic4.picturetrail.com/VOL784/4062504/8448420/114077345.jpg">
The erased head shot !
<IMG SRC="http://pic4.picturetrail.com/VOL784/4062504/8448420/114077239.jpg">
A glacier wall we encountered on the boat tour.
In the evening we ventured into town and found the Yukon bar which was, well, full of charcter and charcters. If you take the general English image of an American locals small town bar where fights break out over the colour of somebodies hair, this was it. The singer, one man and his guitar..and mouth organ, a sort of local Bob-Dylan-cum-Adam Ant, was as full-on as any-one we've ever seen, announcing in his own style that every-one was 'messed-up'. Having said that, it was the best bar in town, and the anticpated fights didn't break out. It was good fun.
We met up with a couple of fellow BMW riders on our campsite the following day whilst re-packing and working out what we didn't need anymore and could send home. They were from Colarado, one, Kent, was very impressed with the list of accessories we'd managed to fit onto our bikes. We met them again in the evening.....in the Yukon bar. This time our guitar man was supported by a drummer and two other guitarists....who created a fuller sound.....By the end of this evening and much banter about bikes, John and I have taken to to calling the 'Yukon' in the style that generally seems to suit most Alskans from the Yukon.....pronounced Yuuuuu-Kon in a deep gutteral chant-like manner, hopefully you have the picture. We plan to mett up with the guys again in Colarado in September.
On the 23rd John sends home 6kg of luggage as we leave the camp-site & Seward, whilst Mike tried to establish which of his mouth-wash, shoes, jeans etc can be sent home-this decsion gets postponed for another day. As we leave, we head into town with the intention of a large breakfast, only to discover that it was so late in the day, that we were onto the lunch menu barring a few bits & pieces. We make the best of it and head towards Denali via Anchorage.
<IMG SRC="http://pic4.picturetrail.com/VOL784/4062504/8448420/114077303.jpg">
A calmer Seward later that day....
