The Hammonds: July 2008

Carol alluded to the spectacular trip we had a few weeks ago with Maama and Popop. Well I finally made it through the photos so we can now enlighten the world about our adventure (I know you've all been waiting).

We started out on a Friday afternoon after a reasonably organized departure heading south on the Parks Highway toward Anchorage. It was a little rainy but mostly just cloudy and overcast. You can get some great views of Denali (Mt. McKinley) on the Parks Highway but alas the clouds did not oblige. We stopped briefly at a very cold and windy Denali National Park (entrance near Healy) for a quick refuel and photos with the Balto sculpture (famous Iditarod dog). The clouds continued but it was still a reasonably picturesque drive to our fin al stop which was just outside of Talkeetna at the McKinley Princess Lodge. This turned out to be a great spot complete with crackling fire, good food and most importantly...a kids play area. We got some grub, played a bunch and finally crashed into bed but not before looking out to see one last possible glimpse of the mountain. .. no luck this time.

The next morning we set off for Hatcher Pass which is a dirt road off the Parks through some beautiful mountains north of Anchorage. As we approached the turnoff, we could see that the clouds were not going to cooperate with us today as visibility stopped at about 50 ft. (elevation). We decided 70 miles on a dirt road to see gray didn't sound like all that much fun so we opted for the classic Alaskan parent rainy day punt...the indoor water park. We had actually never been there before and had promised the kids that one day we would visit the magical place and they were pretty excited when we told them that today was the day their aqua adventure would be realized. They had a great time and I think we'll definitely be back. That night Maama and Popop graciously watched the kids while Carol and I went to a great restaurant (The Beartooth - really really good food) and the new Indiana Jones film. The movie was good--not amazing or groundbreaking but definitely satisfying and Harrison Ford does pull off the old adventure thing pretty well.

Day 3 started with a drive to Whittier for a glacier cruise. I was a little worried about the clouds as Whittier is a historically cloudy place but we were pleasantly surprised when the clouds cleared just in time for the cruise. Carol went with Maama and Popop while I took the kids to Portage Glacier, a nearby wildlife refuge and a pool for a little dip. Whittier is a funky little town on the Prince William Sound originally started by the Army to get supplies to and from Alaska. There is a long one-lane tunnel to get there that cars and a train share so arrival time attention is critical. There actually isn't that much in the town, but the cruises are great. I've been on a cruise out of Seward and kayaking out of Whittier in Blackstone Bay and while they were both inspiring, I think overall Blackstone Bay is the better of the two. Kayaking is also recommended if you can swing it as there really is something unique about getting down on the water with the ice flows. Anyway, the cruisers had a great time and the kids really enjoyed the animals at the refuge and swimming is never a bad idea with my kids.

Day 4. We now headed east along the Glenallen Highway. It is a spectacular drive on the north side of the Chugach mountain range. The highlight of the drive is probably the huge Matanuska Glacier about 100 miles out. You can hike up on the glacier if you can endure a muddy and sometimes frankly scary trail. The toughest part of the trail was probably the 57 puddles along the way that Owen was magnetically attracted to but we eventually made it to the glacier. We hiked up on the glacier a little and stared down into the big crevasses. It really is amazing to see the mass of the ice as well as the different colors from the years of pressure. Beth was quite the adventurer once we got out on the glacier and kind of started running off on her own. Carol and I were not happy about that and I went running after her. In the process, Beth found out that ice can be sharp. She got a pretty good slice on her thumb complete with authentic Hammond blood. Somehow my kids have the idea that any injury involving blood automatically escalates the panic level 800 times. Fortunately we had a professor there from The University of Utah School of Medicine to explain to Beth about platelets and the clotting cascade. This did appease/distract Beth long enough for sanity to return. I highly recommend having a professor present at all times specifically for this purpose. Thanks Maama!

We continued east after the glacier, ate at a great little lodge on the highway and arrived at Thompson Pass. Thompson Pass is the dramatic beginning of the descent of the Richardson Highway into Valdez which is the terminus of the oil pipeline and the location of the now famous Exxon-Valdez oil spill. It's a pretty dramatic spot with a huge elevation change and a bunch of waterfalls pouring down on both sides of the road. We had a little halibut for dinner and jumped in bed.

The next morning we headed north on the "Rich" (Richardson Highway) for Copper Center and the the McCarthy Road. This is a a 60 mile dirt road along an old rail line bed to the town of McCarthy and the original Kennecott Mine. The mine is one of my favorite spots in Alaska and has a great history. Being from Utah, I was also familiar with the name as Kennecott Copper was a longtime resident of the Salt Lake valley (now Rio Tinto) and excavator of the now famous Bingham Mine.

The Alaska mine is an impressive engineering feat in that essentially this huge infrastructure was created from nothing in the middle of frozen Alaska. The original structure was built with materials brought in on horseback as the rail wasn't put in until the mine was in full operation. At one point the mine and surrounding area was the biggest population center for hundreds of miles around boasting a power plant, heated water, and a modern hospital which actually performed the first radiographs in Alaska. Eventually the mine closed as the price of copper fell, but much of the infrastructure remains. The reason for building the mine in the middle of nowhere was that the copper content in these rocks was so high. You can still find rocks with copper just walking around and Beth and Isabel decided that would be their new mission for our entire stay there. The copper is of course contained in ore and has to be extracted, so Maama volunteered her lab for that and I think they're extracting it right now in Utah!

We got to stay in a great hotel (seen above) while we were there which I highly recommend. It's a little pricey, but the rooms are nice, the food is great and the location can't be beat. It's right at the mine (all other hotels are at least 5 miles away in McCarthy) which really gets you a lot more time on site. We had been to the mine once before but camped down by McCarthy which meant a lot of our time was spent 5 miles away. The best part about the hotel, however was the incredible french toast they made in the morning. I since found the recipe online and it is heavenly (not all that healthy, but not that many heavenly recipes are). I think I at an entire pan of the stuff (I then ate another pan after I found the recipe).

Our last day was supposed to be a nice relaxing ride home with a leisurely lunch at Copper Center. We did have the lunch at Copper Center but the rest of the day was far from relaxing.

We checked out of the hotel and jumped on the shuttle down to McCarthy. We loaded up the car and started back along the dirt road. I had been told before going that flats were a problem on the road and to make sure I had a spare. With spare intact, we confidently and ignorantly departed. We made it about 20 miles down the road when my tire pressure monitoring system light went on. I had Carol glance at the tire and indeed it was done. I pulled over and I whipped on the spare with Popop in record time. I was quite a bit more nervous at this point as the spare was not full size and quite a bit weaker than the regular tires. My monitoring system was also out with the spare on, so I had Carol check the spare every few minutes. We made it another 20 miles and I thought we might actually make it but the car started skidding a bit in the back. Again I asked Carol to check the spare and she said it was fine. The skidding got bad enough, however that I decided to get out and check the other tires and sure enough, flat number two had arrived.

This was not a happy moment.

I took several seconds to hold back the curses, get a little frustrated and then we got out and got the second tire off. It was obvious we were stuck at this point, so the thumb came out and the second car that passed by picked me up. I went into Chitina, got the tire repaired, and hitched a ride back. The whole process was actually pretty speedy and everyone was amazingly helpful. Fortunately the rest of the ride up the Richardson Highway was beautiful and reasonably uneventful (bathroom emergencies and some tired kids, but no more car stuff - thankfully).

We got home late and tired but happy. We had a great trip, the kids were troopers and it was so much fun to have Maama and Popop there to be with...great great memories!

More photos here.

It's hard to beat an Alaskan summer! We had our annual summer office party a couple of weeks ago at Chena Lakes which is a great recreation area about 30 miles south of Fairbanks. It was a beach/boat/culinary affair and it seemed that everyone had a great time. Culinary treats included the ever popular burgers and dogs along with some heavenly sides and desserts. The kids spent most of the day on the beach with the other kids making sand structures (not sure you could call them castles) and having waterfights. We also made it out on a boat that one of the families had graciously rented (we did circles most of the time due to some unique rowing techniques) and fun was had by all. I think the highlight had to be Ernest rolling down the beach (like you roll down a nice grassy hill) into the water. I was so disappointed not to get a photo when I saw him go in but then was pleasantly surprised as he enjoyed it so much he repeated the feat about 4 more times!