When we were waiting to get on the plane to Alaska, I got a
little teary, because – this trip was a long time coming! At one point in my
life, I realized I’d visited a lot of states, and I set a goal of going to all
50 states. Kris only had a few more than I did to go, so the last two years we
hit his four to prepare for both of us hitting our 50th state on the
same trip – Alaska! It lined up with our 20 years of marriage, too. Alaska was
even better than I thought it would be, because I saw and did things I have
never experienced before.
Day One
We flew Alaska Air into Anchorage. I can’t say enough good
things about this airline. They also rescued us when our flight was cancelled
out of Mexico. They have USB chargers AND outlets! When you usually fly
discount airlines, even the seats seem luxuriously sized.
We used Turo for the first time, because all of the rental
car company prices were ridiculously high. (The lowest, Budget, wanted $1900.
Turo was $600.) We were early users of Airbnb and Uber, and we love them both.
Our driver Antonio met us at the airport, was super friendly, and turned the
car over to us. Turo is amazing! Wonderful! So easy and so much faster and
cheaper than car rental companies! As we drove away, we saw that the low tire
sensor was on. We also wondered if our personal insurance actually covered it
if we got in an accident. Great questions now after the fact. I googled it and
we didn’t have service, like much of the time while we were driving in Alaska.
We texted Antonio to see if the sensor was bad, but he said
he just bought the car three weeks ago and didn’t notice it was on. We found a
gas station with air, and Kris went in to buy a tire gauge. (He also came out
with a Choco Taco for me, which I’d never had. You can see why he’s my
favorite.) All four tires were low, but one was particularly low. The sensor
didn’t go off even after we filled them. After this, we started most mornings
by putting air in that tire, since it lost 5-10 pounds a day. Kris also noted
that the front two were nearly bald. But still TOTALLY worth the savings!
We headed to Palmer, Alaska, to stay at the Pioneer Motel.
Along the way we saw an exit for Thunderbird Falls, and since we had just
traveled 13 hours, we were dying to stretch our legs. We went on the mile walk
to the falls, and it was lovely. We checked in and at the receptionist’s
suggestion, drove to Hatcher Pass/Independence Mine, which was about 15 minutes
away. We drove on windy mountain roads where any wrong move would end in your
death, which is the kind of road that always takes you to the best places. The
end was stunning – mountains and wildflowers and fittingly, a class painting
the scene!
From our motel, we walked to the Palmer Ale House to eat and Matanuska Brewery to have a drink. When we sat outside at Palmer Ale House, looking at the mountains, the sun beating down on us in 70 degree weather, we toasted to our 50th state. Quite the happy place.
Day two
We checked our tires and drove to Matanuska Glacier Tours on
Glacier Park Road. When we got about three miles away, we went on a road that
was a dirt path. I didn’t think it could be it, but it seemed the right way.
Then we came to a bridge that was made of cables and boards. I did NOT want to
drive across it, but Kris was sure it was the right way, so he barreled on over
and it was fine. He didn’t even hesitate. The next bridge held us too. They
fooled me! We ended in a parking lot and checked in, and then we drove two more
miles on rough, rocky roads to the start of the glacier. We put on our helmets
(required) and along with five other people and our guide, went to hike on the
glacier.
Just seeing the glacier from afar was amazing, since we’d
never seen anything like it. Also, I don’t look at pictures of anything before
I go, because I like to be surprised, and I certainly was!
We first walked through the really sticky silt mud, which
had the consistency of that slime that is a liquid or a solid based on moving
it. In nature! We then stopped to put on crampons so we could walk on the ice
easily, and they were great and made me resolve to get yak trax for running. We
were walking on uneven ice and dirt mixed, and Kris said exactly what I was
thinking, “This is like hiking on the lava flow in Hawaii.” Similar experience!
We moved onto the glacier and they showed us how deep the
crevasses were by putting a pick axe in it, we peered into deep crevasses and
heeded her warning to not fall in them, and we hiked about three miles up and
around the glacier. We marveled at the blue ice. We ate ice off the wall of it,
filled up our water bottle and then drank it, and looked at the caves formed by
it. Then we turned a corner and were amazed by a glacier pool surrounded by
cliffs of ice. It was one of the prettiest sights I’ve seen. I couldn’t get
over it.
After that, we drove the four hours to Seward. I love seeing
mountains and water, and it was mountains and water for so much of the way.
They have tons of places to stop and take pictures and hike. A long portion of
it before Seward is right along the water, with falling rocks signs and many
places where you can accidentally plunge your car into the water, but no one
did. Thanks Kris!
We got an Airbnb in Seward, and it was a tiny cottage just
outside of town. It was adorable and made me want a tiny house, but
entertaining in it would be hard because you would all have to sit on the bed
like in a college dorm.
We went to the Seward Ale House and Seward Brewing Company,
and both were lively and people were friendly and happy to talk to you about
fishing and traveling.
Day three
We walked around the waterfront in Seward, while we waited
for it to clear so we could hike. (Salmon everywhere.) At 11:00 a.m., we
started our hike – Harding Ice Field hike, which is 8.2 miles round trip, and
took us about 6 hours total to complete.
Another day in Alaska, another day to see something I’ve
never seen! This hike was absolutely incredible. First, there’s a giant glacier
you can see and walk toward. Next, there are so many waterfalls coming down
from it. Then, you climb up to and over those waterfalls you could see…and walk
over snow…and all along the way, there are salmon berries and plants you
haven’t seen and millions of wildflowers. You’re looking at waterfalls,
wildflowers, and a glacier ALL AT THE SAME TIME. It’s enough to make a
hike-lover’s heart explode. Plus, it was a challenging hike because it was
steep. Two people told me this was their favorite part in Alaska, and I can see
why. It was so wonderful. At the end, we were the only people there, and it
felt like we had the entire mountain to ourselves.
We had dinner at the Resurrection Lodge, looking out at the
mountains, again!
Day four
This was the day I was most looking forward to, because I
wanted to kayak among icebergs. But first, we filled our tires with air, got
coffee at the Mudd Hutt, and had breakfast at the Porthole food truck, which
was so good and so popular with tourists.
We used Liquid Adventures – the Bear Glacier kayak trip.
Along with our guide, there were four other women on the trip. They were all
friendly and fun, and one was our server the night before. We suited up in dry
suits, took a van to the dock, and rode on a super fast jet boat out to the
glacier. Along the way they stopped to show us puffins (I was so excited, as I
really wanted to see them), otters (they were giant), mountain goats (just
standing on what looked like horizontal cliffs), and eagles. We drove for about
45 minutes along sheer, tall cliffs with caves, colors, trees, and apparently
wildlife all along them. We sat outside. Then we had to go inside, because the
boat pilot, who was driving as fast as he could, had to maneuver along a shore
with huge waves that were crashing against the cliffs, and then had to dodge
icebergs that were in the waves and water! I was doing a lot of clutching Kris’
arm. Kris said it was like a video game, and the pilot said, yeah, I played a lot
of Mario Cart when I was younger.
We got out and it looked like a different land. We could see
a glacier, giant castles of blue ice, and icebergs all around us. The guide
talked about safety and how we couldn’t get that close to the giant ones in
case they calved or rolled, and while I understood they had to keep us safe…she
also pointed out a guy who lives there who rents yurts and has kayaks for
guests to use on the shore, and I thought that would be pretty cool too. But
how do they get there if not for a jet boat? She didn’t know.
We got into our kayaks and had to break through a little
line of icebergs to get into the lagoon. When Kris and I would pass icebergs we
would hit them with our paddle or hands, and it was just like ice cubes in a
glass. The water was completely still, and as we kayaked toward the lagoon, I
couldn’t believe how beautiful it all was – the glacier, the water, the
mountains around us covered with snow – all of it. Kris was in the back of my
kayak and he kept paddling as I took pictures, knowing that none of them would
do justice, but were just for the memories.
We got into the lagoon and among the icebergs. One had an
arch that was pretty, and I took a picture of it. After we passed it, we turned
as we heard it break and crash into the water! Kris said it was the last
picture anyone took of it. We paddled around looking at the bluest ones, the
different shapes, the huge ones in the distance, and just enjoyed being there.
The guide fed us a brownie and hot chocolate, and we could hear the icebergs
cracking and popping and once crashing in the distance. We also heard a lot of
gulls, because they kept crying at us. It was sunny, calm, and pretty. Kris and
I ate some ice off of one. Why not? We weren’t going to be here again.
After awhile, the guide said we had to go back, but I wasn’t
ready. I could have stayed there much longer.
As Kris and I were paddling by an iceberg that was the
length of a car, it started rolling. I yelled, “It’s turning! It’s turning!” so
the other people turned around, and right by us, it completely rolled over and
we absorbed the waves. So great.
We paddled back and saw two seals in the water. We had to
paddle hard against the current, because I didn’t want to get sucked into where
the waves were. The jetboat sped up, and we got on. He said we should come
inside for the beginning, because it was choppy. He sped into the waves, and
just as I thought we were going to catch one and have it crash us into the
cliffs, he expertly rode it the other direction and out into the calmer ocean.
I later asked him if he’d ever had anything bad happen, and he said once he
took a 20-foot wave that went completely over the boat, but the boat was fine,
and the biggest thing to worry about there was an iceberg coming in through
your windshield.
I sat outside the rest of the way and enjoyed the sun and
the mountains. We bid everyone goodbye. It was such a great tour.
We decided to take a quick hike to Toncina Point on that
trail, because we were closer to that than where we were staying. The roads
there were dirt, the signs warned us they were not maintained, and they were
full of vehicles! We had to pay $5 to park, and then we went on a 3.2 mile hike
to the water. Happily, since it was about 5:30 p.m., there were very few people
there, and we had the point to ourselves. We saw tons of salmon in the water.
Fishing in so huge here, but there were ‘no fishing’ signs by those salmon. They
were clearly the smartest ones.
We stayed at the historic Hotel Seward, and by historic they
mean you have a shared bathroom (kind of like camping?!). I wish our Airbnb
would have been available, but we did walk to the Flamingo (very good, great
atmosphere and food and ironic moustaches, very popular), and Yukon Bar
(packed, live music, fun place), and then as we headed home, as if it couldn’t
get any better, there was a rainbow. Oh, Alaska!
Day five
Tires, Mudd Hutt, and then we drove to Girdwood, Alaska. We
were so lucky with the weather all week, with sun most of the time, but the
forecast was it was going to start raining at 1:00 p.m. and not stop for two
days. We walked the Bird to Gird trail and caught the 11:00 a.m. Alyeska Tram,
and I’m glad we did! It’s a ski resort, so we went super high, and then once up
there, we could hike even higher. We went on tiny little paths above the clouds
and had amazing views. Some of the paths were so tiny it made me nervous and
think about crawling. We weren’t sure the tram was going to be worth it, but it
was.
We ate strombolis (with reindeer sausage!) at Girdwood
Brewing Company, which had outdoor fires and gorgeous mountain views and tons
of people. While we were there, it started raining, and we headed to check into
our hotel, the Brown Bear Saloon and Motel. Staying here sounded fun and
quaint, but it was not. In retrospect, I would have stayed in Girdwood.
Now it was really raining, and we did the
drive-along-the-coast-on-windy-cliff-roads that was charming the other day and
now was nerve wracking. Also I had to worry about our tires. We walked across
from the motel to Turnagain Bay, where some people were fishing, but we
couldn’t walk very far. It was still raining. We decided to go into Anchorage
to walk around and check it out.
Once in Anchorage, we checked out King’s Brewing Co, went to
Grizzly’s Unique Alaskan Gifts area, and had dinner at 49th State
Brewing Company, where I ate a yak burger for the first time. Good – I don’t
think I could tell it from beef. We went to walk around more, but it was
raining pretty hard, and we realized we were the only people on the streets
that were not homeless.
Day six
We flew Anchorage > Seattle > to home sweet home and
our boys and my parents. It was a spectacular place. Now I have to come up with
some new goals!
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