Blogs from Girdwood, Alaska, United States, North America

Today we headed Southeast out of Anchorage towards the town of Girdwood and the Alaskan Wildlife Conservation Center. We stopped for coffee and cinnamon roll at Girdwood's Bakery. The small bakery served breakfast and was quite busy at 8am. The flowers outside of bakery were amazing in size and colorful. The drive down to Girdwood and AWCC is on Turnagain Arm, named so because of capt Cook needing to turn around after getting lost. The road follows the water and train tracks parallel the road and water. We watched for bulaga whales but I think they were still sleeping. The AWCC was a private quided tour of the animals and center. The money from tours and visitors help support the upkeep of the animals, many who were orphaned or injured. Some are able to be returned ... read more

In this first blog I intend to lay out exactly what preparations went into planning this trip and our complete packing list and why, since these seem to be the most useful bits of info for any one else who desires to attempt a long term backpacking trip without hiring any travel service to organize your trip, I can not stress enough how much more I enjoy foreign travel when I am in charge of my day to day itinerary, for the amount of time it takes to do your own trip planning, it is repaid a thousand times over in the enjoyment you receive on the road, knowing that this is a trip for Sarah and my self, and not a travel agents! is true freedom, at any point during the trip we will feel ... read more

This was my favorite trip yet. We started out Friday night in Girdwood at 9:30 pm and made our way up the most intense 5 miles of elevation gain of the trip. After that it was mostly downhill. Highlights included several waterfalls, glaciers, snow fields and lakes, scary vertical snow crossings, walking across streams, hiking through wildflowers and plants taller than us, dangerous glacial river fording, sprinkled with a few black bears and a moose. We backpacked 13 miles Saturday and 8 miles on Sunday. After our successful crossing we realized we had absolutely no idea how to get back to our individual rides, because we totally screwed ourselves over with the car/key situation. Yes, the person with the car in Eagle River left his keys in my truck in Anchorage, my truck keys were left ... read more

We had an amazing summer this year and I was not ready to admit that fall was on its way (or more accurately had actually arrived). There were a few trips I still had on my list for the summer and the bike ride from Anchorage to Girdwood and back was at the top of that list. Easily enough I convinced my Tour De Beer Partner, Chad, to join me on a fine Friday afternoon post work. The Seward Highway, especially on the Turnagain arm is probably on someone’s list of most scenic routes in the world. The road curves along the Chugach National Park and Mountain Range on the left, while the right side of the road opens up into the calm Turnagain Arm. Across this enormous body of continuous moving water is another large ... read more

Since we’ll be traveling all day (and night) on Friday, I switched my flex day to today. We woke up, had a delicious oatmeal breakfast and started packing. Rob and I took a load of gear to the cars. When we got back, we all loaded the second round of gear into the canoe. Danielle, Gabbi, Jacqui, and I hike back to the car. It was so fantastic that Rob, Estrella, and Carina invited us to the cabin and shared all of their gear (stove, lantern, cookware, etc.) with us! We really had a wonderful time and were sad to say goodbye. We all expressed hope that we could do it again (in Alaska, New England or somewhere in between). We started the trek back to Anchorage. We had considered a hike on the way back ... read more