Alaska

Itinerary

Jul 10 (Sun) Chicago - Anchorage

Flew from Chicago direct to Anchorage which was great (about 5 1/2 hours) and arrived 1:10pm (three hour time difference).

Checked into our hotel in downtown (Hilton Anchorage) and did a short hike along the river.

For dinner we walked to Humpy's Great Alaskan Ale House. The four of us ordered the infamous "Kodiak Arrest" which was featured on Man vs. Food. The four of us did manage to eat it all.

Jul 11 (Mon) Anchorage - Matanuska

After breakfast we checked out of the hotel and headed to the Matanuska Glacier Area which was about 110 miles.

Luckily we left plenty early for our Glacier Hike Scheduled for 2:30. We ran into some serious traffic delays. We found that when they do construction they often close one side of the road for long distances and funnel traffic to one open lane. I think we got stuck for over half an hour waiting our turn on the one lane highway.

The weather was very overcast, hazy, humid and we had some rain along the way. We stopped along the road for a few pictures along the way.

Road Side Pictures on our way to Matanuska

Matanuska Glacier Hike

In the afternoon we took an amazing hike on the glacier. The weather was cool and very overcast but, we got lucky and did not get rained on during our hike. The hike was guided and they hike you out to the glacier were you then stop and put on your cramp ons. They had us walk around on the ice to get a feel for the grip of the cramp ons. They worked very well and very recommended if you plan to hike on the glacier. The glacier (Jake thought it looked like a hot fudge sunday!) was captivating. Once we got on the glacier the guide stopped us again to practice climbing up and down hills in our crampons. They give you great stability, you just need to trust them to grip. Also, he spent some time pointing out the dangers of the many crevasses we had to cross. They look pretty innocent as they were filled with water so, looked like just a small puddle a few inches across but, they are actually many many feet deep. So, you have to be careful watching for them and stepping over them. We hiked out to a glacier pond for some more amazing photos and we the guide had us try drinking the pure water melting from the glacier. Ice cold and pure. Lots of pictures ...

This hike was one of the coolest I have ever been on. Rating: *****

After the hike we headed to our cabin. This was a great place called Tundra Rose Guest Cottage . A nice two bedroom and kitchen cottage on a great property. Mountain views were stunning. It also had a fire pit (wood and kindling provided) and an on site restaurant. Rating: *****

This was the first night we got to experience the endless summer days of Alaska. Even at midnight, one, two in the morning it was still light out. The sun never completely sets this far north. Really cool.

Jul 12 (Tue) Matanuska

Hiking

We had breakfast at the on site Grand View Cafe.

In the morning we took a drive looking for some hiking. Found a nice trail, took a small hike and since we are in grizzly country, we practiced good hiking skills by clapping, talking and periodically a blow on the whistle all to let the grizzly's know we are there. You make noise (especially around turns to you don't surprise a grizzly. That is usually why the attack.

Matanuska White Water Rafting

Then off to an icy white water rafting trip. This was booked through the same place Nova where we booked the glacier hike. So, this time, instead of crampons, we suited up in full dry suits. The river is fed from glacier melt and the water is a very cold 34 degF, barely above freezing. Once we got to the river, the guide gave us instructions on paddling and, most important, what you do if you fall off the raft and how you haul someone back into the raft. Our raft guide was excellent and we shared the raft with a couple of guys from England. The white water was not too big (compared to our white water rafting in Montana) but it was still tons of fun. We all (except Kathryn) took a turn "riding the bull" where you sit at the head of the raft on the tube, grab hold of the rope and head straight into the oncoming waves. One of our English friends got bounced off the raft during his turn. They call that a "swimmer" and it was pretty exciting. The water was moving fast so quickly he was far in our wake. So, he started swimming toward us and we all paddled backward to slow us down. He we pulled back into the raft with no harm done. A little later when it was calm we were all invited to try a dip in the river. We all tried it (except Kathryn). It did not seem like the dry suit helped a whole lot, although I am sure it. When I went in, the cold was such a shock I pretty much instantly wanted back onto the raft.... Unfortunately, we didn't get any pictures. We really couldn't take our own pictures on the raft and the person who shoots photos for Nova from the bank had a camera problem and didn't get any photos of us on the raft. Oh Well. Matanuska White Water rafting rating: *****

Tundra Rose Cottage Views

Here are some pictures from our cottage. We took advantage of the fire pit and had a great time just relaxing and enjoying being in Alaska. Notice the slightly darker picture with the moon in it(far right third row). I took that picture around midnight.

Jul 13 (Wed) Matanuska - Denali

Views along the drive in the Matanuska area

Today is another travel day (our longest... Alaska is a big place!) We left our cottage in Matanuska and started heading toward Denali National Park. The drive was about 260 miles (~5hrs). So on our way we stopped for lunch in Wasilla (made infamous from Sarah Palin). Notice that the humidity makes a lot of the pictures hazy (infortunately). I did take some time on some of the photos to enhance the pictures and did a decent job of removing some of the haze in some of the pictures.

Independence Mine

After lunch in Wasilla, we took a detour to visit the Independence Mine an abandoned gold mine. It was a pretty cool stop. The most intersting was the entrance to the mine. Working in the mine was very uncomfortable. I forget what the sign said but the temperature remains around 40 something degrees and 100% humidity year round. Independence Mine produced over 150,000 ounces of gold from 1936 - 1943 worth a value of $5.5M (today $78.5B) and at it's peak employed 204 people. Rating: ****

Outside the Denali National Park entrance we stayed at the Denali Grizzly Bear Resort it was OK with two bedrooms, kitchen and living room but, construction was pretty spotty. Rating: ***

Jul 14 (Thu) Denali

Denali Jeep Tour

Early in the morning we took a jeep tour deep into Denali National Park. The road is only open to tour busses (not for us) and the jeep tours. The hope was to get great views of Denali and see some nice wildlife too. I think there were about 14 jeeps with one guide in the lead and another at the back. We could all communicate via radio. This was a pretty cool excursion and we did get some great Alaska scenery but, the day was very over cast and our hopes for some spectacular views of Denali were dashed. We were also a little disappointed as we barely saw any wildlife, no moose, no elk, no bears so, along the way. The drive was neat and got some great open space views giving you an idea of Alaska's vastness. But, considering the high expense, missing out on Denali views and little wildlife I would rank this: **.

Hiking in Denali National Park

We had lunch outside the park and then headed back in to do some hiking. After not seeing any wildlife on the jeep tour, we got to see a moose cow and her two calves up close grazing right by the side of the road. Cool. Then, we did some nice hiking in the park. Saw some beaver sign and actually a little later the busy beaver himself swimming in a pond.

All in all another great day in Alaska.

Jul 15 (Fri) Denali - Talkeetna

A Final Hike in Denali National Park

Before leaving the Denali National Park area we decided to do one more hike along another trail near the park entrance. Just a couple of pictures from that hike

Then we headed to our next destination. Talkeetna. The drive is only about 150 miles from the Park entrance and Talkeetna is actually the town climbers stay in when attempting climbs on Denali. The climbing season is early spring so, no climbers there when we were. Talkeetna is a really cool small town. Somehow, just as we got into town it felt like a hippie town but not sure why. We made our way to our stay which was called Main Street Suites and is above the Wildflower cafe. Sure enough, restaurant staff out back smoking in the parking lot! Marijuana is legal in Alaska but, probably not out in public...

This was my first disappointment for lodging. There was some serious restaurant trash around forcing our windows to be shut tight. Worse, they had a funky heater in the living room that gave off a bad deisel fume smell. After a while I went downstairs to asked to be moved to the other suite (only two above the restaurant). Unfortunately, the other suite was booked. I then called around Talkeetna and did not have much luck in finding any place else to stay. So back downstairs to complain again. They brought up a fan and we opened the door (away from the trash bins) and aired the place out. Not happy. By the next morning the smell was mostly gone but still lingered. Rating: *

Anyway, we had dinner downstairs at the restaurant and famously, Jake (20 at the time) tried to order a beer but his mom gave him up! After dinner we just walked around town and down to the river. So, a pretty quite day today.

Jul 16 (Sat) Talkeetna

Talkeetna River Rafting

Today we had another fun excursion. This was another rafting trip but, not white water, this was just a casual float down the river. We boarded a bus with the hippie dude guides and one (who said he lives in a tent by the river) apparently does not believe in deodorant. He was nice enough but he stunk! When we got to the landing, and were milling around we were sure to stay down wind of our new stinky friend.

Fortunately, he was not our raft guide. We had a really cool guide and the float was very mellow and very nice. Him and Jake had a lot of music and music festivals in common so they hit it off well. Floating down the river was another way to take in the vastness of the Alaskan wilderness. Rating: **** From a distance we did get to see some bald eagles. But, again, we were shut out from seeing Denali due to more overcast skies. The river float has some really spectacular views of Denali (actually closer than the park entrance to the mountain) so a little disappointed in that. But, turns out, Denali is only in view about 30 day of the year. Apparently it attracts clouds all year round. So, we didn't feel too bad.

The picture is of Mount Denali as it looks from the river when not obscured by clouds (not from our trip, this photo was from the rafting company from another day!). Just imagine a day floating down the river with a view of Denali towering over the landscape... I might have to come back for that!

Jul 17 (Sun) Talkeetna - Seward

Town of Telkeetna

Today we spent some time walking around the quaint town of Talkeetna and we all found different places to get a sandwich for lunch. Was really nice morning. I took some pictures of the town before we got on the road again.

Drive to Seward

We had a long drive down to the coastal town of Seward. Seward is pretty famous for their fishing. The drive was about 240 miles and 2 1/2 hours. However, the drive was very scenic and we made some stops along the way to stretch and take some pictures. We did get stuck in another major traffice delay. This was due to a wild fire near the road that closed one lane. But, the scenery was worth the drive!. Note- it was again a hazy day which messed with taking clear pictures. I tried to get the haze out of some the pictures using photo shop.

Once arriving in Seward we checked into our hotel and walked around town. Found a place for dinner then back to the hotel.

Jul 18 (Mon) Seward

Harding Ice Field Hike

Today we had Kayaking on the agenda. Unfortunately, we woke up to a pretty windy day. We walked down to the Kayak Tour and inquired. It was too windy to be out on the ocean in Kayaks so they had to scrub the tour. Our back up plan was however, excellent. The Harding Ice Field Hike and Exit Glacier was plan B. Both hikes were great. The Harding Ice Field to the top would have been a very long out and back trek so we opted for turning around at the look out. The look out was a great place to relax with other hikers. Some even gave us some good beef jerky to munch.

Exit Glacier Hike

After coming down from that trail, we headed over to the Exit Glacier hike which is a much shorter hike with the end of the trail right next to the Exit Glacier. Made for lots of great photos.

Jul 19 (Tue) Seward - Anchorage - Saint Charles

This was our last day. We had a long drive back to the Anchorage airport (126). It didn't help that somehow in entering the Anchorage area I made a wrong turn and got us side tracked. This made it a little exciting getting to our gate on time!! But, we made it with time to spare.

The flight home had a stop in Seattle (dinner at the airport) but everything went smooth and we arrived back home around midnight (losing three hours on the return)

Just a final couple of pictures from Brit's camera on our drive back to Anchorage.

Summary

The weather in general was OK. Being so far north you would think it would be cooler but in July the humidity is high and it can get pretty hot and sticky. The unfortunate thing was the days were always so hazy it made for hazy photos. And, as is common, overcast skies kept us from getting views of Denali.

I didn't talk much about the places and things we ate. I did not take notes during the trip and only went back to do this blog the summer of 2018 so a couple years later and I did not remember those details. We did have our share of fresh Alaskan Salmon, Alaskan King Crab and Reindeer sausage (farm raised Elk).

Everyone agreed this was an amazing trip. Alaska is huge (lots of driving and we were only in a small fraction of the state) and full of nature.

The Mantanuska Glacier area was fantastic. Rating: *****

The Glacier Hike was Great. Rating: *****

The white water rafting was excellent. Rating: ****

The Independence Gold Mine (near Wasilla) was cool. Rating: ***

Denali National Park was cool but, due to cloud cover never got to see Mount Denali and did not see any wild life on our Jeep Excursion. Rating: ***

Talkeetna is a great little hippie town. Rating: ****

Talkeetna rafting was really nice unfortunately, again due to cloud cover no views of Mount Denali. Rating: ****

The drive down to Seward had some great views.

Due to high waved the kayaking was canceled.

Hiking the Hariding Ice Field and Exit Glacier was fantastic. Rating: *****

Overall rating: ***** !

State Fact Sheet

Alaska Interesting Facts

Aurora borealis (northern lights) can be seen an average of 243 days a year in Fairbanks. The northern lights are produced by charged electrons and protons striking the earth’s upper atmosphere.

Alaska is less than 50 miles from Russia.

While it is legal to shoot bears in Alaska, waking a sleeping bear for the purpose of taking a photograph is prohibited.

The average temperature for Fairbanks in the month of January is -1 degree Fahrenheit.

The highest temperature recorded in Alaska was 100 degrees Fahrenheit in Fort Yukon in 1915.

The lowest temperature recorded in Alaska was -80 degrees Fahrenheit at Prospect Creek Camp in 1971.

Alaska accounts for 25 percent of the oil produced in the United States.

Of the 20 highest peaks in the United States, 17 are in Alaska, including the highest peak in North America (20,320 ft. above sea level), Denali.

Alaska contains more than 100 volcanoes and volcanic fields which have been active within the last two million years.

Alaska is the only state that does not collect state sales tax or levy an individual income tax (some cities have sales tax, however).

The fishing and seafood industry is the state’s largest private industry employer.

The largest salmon ever caught was at the Kenai River. It weighed in at 97.5 pounds.

There are more than 3,000 rivers and 3 million lakes in Alaska.

Alaska’s largest lake, Lake Iliamna, is roughly the size of Connecticut.

Alaska has more coastline than the rest of the United States combined (more than 34,000 miles).

Alaska has more inland water than any other state (20,171 square miles).

Alaska is the only state to have coastlines on three different seas: the Arctic Ocean, Pacific Ocean, and Bering Sea.

The state bird of Alaska is the willow ptarmigan.

During the Klondike gold rush in 1897, potatoes were so highly valued for their vitamin C content that miners traded gold for them.

The only battle during World War II that was fought on American soil took place in 1943 after the Japanese invaded the Aleutian Islands.

The state sport of Alaska is dog mushing, which was once the primary mode of transportation in most of Alaska. The Iditarod dog sledding race is the state’s largest sporting event.

More than half the world’s glaciers can be found Alaska.

About 5 percent of Alaska is covered by the 1,000-plus glaciers in the state.

Alaska has the lowest population density in the nation at one person per square mile.

If New York City had the same population density as Alaska, only 16 people would be living in Manhattan.

Bennie Benson designed Alaska’s flag in 1926 at age 13. It would become the official state flag upon Alaska’s adoption into the Union in 1959.

Outsiders first discovered Alaska in 1741 when Danish explorer Vitus Jonassen Bering sighted it on a voyage from Siberia.

Barrow, 800 miles south of the North Pole, has both the longest and shortest day. When the sun rises on May 10, it doesn’t set for nearly three months. When it sets on November 18, Barrow residents do not see the sun again for nearly two months.

Each year Alaska has about 5,000 earthquakes including 1,000 that measure above 3.5 on the Richter scale. Of the 10 strongest earthquakes ever recorded in the world, three have occurred in Alaska.

Giant vegetables are common in Alaska due to the extremely long days in summer. Alaska has grown a record cabbage weighing in at 94 pounds.

The Pribilof Islands are home to the largest seal colony with over one million seals.

About 52 percent of Alaskans are men – the highest percentage of any state.

Most of America’s salmon, crab, halibut, and herring come from Alaska.

Alaskan Kodiak and Polar Bears can grow to 1,400 pounds and 11 feet tall. Moose can grow to 1,350 pounds with antlers spanning up to 6 feet wide.

It is illegal to whisper in someone’s ear while they are moose hunting in Alaska.

Prudhoe Bay, on the northern Alaskan coast, is North America’s largest oil field.

The Trans-Alaska Pipeline moves up to 88,000 barrels of oil per hour on an 800-mile journey to Valdez.

Alaska has no plants poisonous to the touch. Poison ivy and poison oak are found in all other states.

The nation’s two largest forests are located in Alaska. The Tongass in Southeast includes 16.8 million acres and Chugach in Southcentral has 4.8 million acres.