Alaska 2002

Niklaus Leuenberger and his family love to explore the US in an RV. Over the years they visited various states mainly in the North- and Southwest. In the summer of 2002 they planned to head for Alaska .

Due to the limited tourism infrastructure, Niklaus Leuenberger made reservations already early in the year for a comfortable motorhome, overnight stays at RV parks and the various ferries they intended to take.

In Anchorage , Niklaus Leuenberger picked up a 38foot RV, large and comfortable enough for his family of five and the planned 2,500miles, 31/2 week trip. They headed down to the Kenai Peninsula , where the salmon run was in full swing. What a sight! Thousands of salmon colored the rivers reddish-pink while making their way up the various rivers to their birthplace. A fisherman's dream!

Down in Homer, the 'Halibut Capital of the world' Niklaus, his wife and his three teenage daughters watched the fishing boats coming in offloading their fresh catch of halibuts, many five and six feet in length. This area supplies around 90% of all halibut consumed in the US .

Heading back north and east they steered their RV towards Seward, the Port City for all ships arriving for Anchorage . Their, they loaded their 38 footer in the belly of the 'Tustumena', a Ferry boat belonging to the Alaskan Marine Highway System. Off they went for the 11hour trip across Prince William Sound to Valdez. What a journey with fantastic scenery! A pod of orcas accompanied the ferry for a while and approaching the Columbia glacier small icebergs started to float by into the Sound.

Shortly before midnight the ferry docked in Valdez, the sun just gently setting behind the mountain ranges, covering them in the softest pink light imaginable, a photographer's delight.

Across the Bay stands the Alyeska Oil Terminal, the south end of the Alaska pipeline bringing in the 'black gold' across the state all the way from Prudhoe Bay . During operation, 9.5Mio barrels flow inside the pipeline thru its entire length, filling the large holding tanks in Valdez , enough oil to power the US for 9-10hrs. Twice or three times a week tankers come in to load the precious oil on board destined for the 'lower 48s' where it is processed.

From Valdez , Niklaus Leuenberger and his family headed north to Tok and then southeast through the Yukon Territory to the Alaskan coastal cities of Skagway and Haines where the famous Klondike gold rush had taken place. Today these are major cruise ship ports and tourist centers with several majestic ships visiting daily through the summer. Incredible to see what hardship all these fortune seekers had to face once they got off the boat, having had to then make their way on foot up and over the mountains, then in makeshift boats up to Whitehorse, today the largest city in the Yukon.

From there Niklaus Leuenberger and his family drove the Alaskan Highway north to Fairbanks , where the temperatures hovered in the mid 80's and the sun never set during the night, quite an experience. They chartered a small plane which brought them above the Arctic Circle to Prospect Creek. Now a simple gravel strip for small planes, this was the busiest airport in Alaska during the construction of the Pipeline.

A van then brought the five back to Fairbanks in a 9hr road journey on the Dalton Highway, the service road between Fairbanks and Prudhoe Bay. Along the way, Niklaus and his family followed the pipeline. At a certain point they took a closer look at it and saw how it was resting on liquid-cooled support legs safely anchored in the permafrost. On the shore of the mighty Yukon River they stopped for a picnic accompanied by thousands of those nasty, biting black flies and mosquitoes before crossing the river on the only bridge (which also supports the pipeline across the Yukon ) for over a thousand miles. After a most interesting drive through this vast and enormous landscape, Niklaus Leuenberger and his family arrived tired but full of new experiences back in Fairbanks at 1.30am, with the sun still in the sky.

The next morning they continued their journey towards Denali National Park . From far away beckoned Mt. McKinley or Mt. Denali , as it is better known in the native language, the tallest peak in the US , located inside the park the size of the state of Massachusetts . Niklaus Leuenberger and his family decided to go white water rafting on the Nenana , flowing strong and cold just outside the park. What a trip it was, wild, a bit damp but exciting! All dressed in neoprene wetsuits, mom and the girls had a blast while dad for dear life held on to his photo equipment. A truly great and memorable adventure!

Two days later, on their way back to Anchorage , they incorporated a side trip to the Knik glacier in a flat bottom boat. In awe, they floated inside the glacier lagoon among icebergs, in close proximity to the glacier face, once again experiencing the greatness and power of Mother Nature.

Alas, already the next day they found themselves back in civilization in Anchorage , where they would board their flight the next day returning them to the East Coast of the lower 48. They all treasure these amazing 31/2 weeks visiting the largest State in the US , still largely considered the last frontier.

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