MMMmmm Reindeer Sausage.....

---

Northern Exposure in Anchorage

Fun Facts about Alaska

Jumping on Alaska Air, I had no idea what the 49th state had to offer. All I had seen was some brief pages in my travel book, a few shows on TV, and had heard stories from friends like Bonnie. Bonnie and I have known each other for 10 years, and when she announced she was moving to Alaska 2 years ago, I had to ask why. Alaska has always seemed so remote, cold, and distant from the fast lifestyle of LA or the changing technologies of the rest of the lower 48 states. I imagined that the variations in 20 hours of daylight to 20 hours of darkness and then adding extreme freezing cold in the winter were just a few of the reasons that would keep me from relocating there.

Then all of the sudden, I started hearing stories from friends, family, and even flipping TV channels to land on an HD Discovery special of Alaska. It seemed like nobody spoke poorly of Alaska. Everyone I knew who had gone there or who had talked to someone who had been there, had only heard good things. There were beautiful fjords and enormous sounds filled with blue glaciers calving into the sea otter filled waters. Majestic mountains towered over towns, above the green hills and colorful fireweed wildflower fields. 5 different types of salmon flooded the rivers with silver, pink, and red colors, making fishing an everyday activity for most locals. Thousands of salmon flocked up crystal clear streams while bears gathered on the riverbanks for their daily meals.

I now realized why I wanted to go and why I was on this plane. John, my roommate, had also wanted to see Alaska but didn’t know too much about it. So he left most of the planning in my hands. For the next week, we were going to try to fit in as many things as possible in the 17 hours of daylight ahead of us.

First Day in Anchorage - Where are my shorts?

We arrived at 12:30, tired, but anxious and ready. Bonnie picked us up in her car and we headed to drop our stuff off at her house. We were greeted by Willow, her black and brown speckled dog that excitedly ran up to us. After a quick tour of Bonnie’s house and her raspberry bushes, we were off to get some food.

Although Anchorage is Alaska’s largest city, it wasn’t filled with skyscrapers, huge resorts, or millions of cars, but it wasn’t exactly igloos and Eskimos either. Anchorage is estimated at population of around 275,000 and is growing every year. Downtown felt like a normal sized city with a few large office buildings, one-way streets, construction, and lots of retail and restaurants. As you drove around, tourism was highly apparent as they tried to force an entire years worth of business into the few busy summer months. We ate at a recommended Glacier Brewhouse, which was an excellent choice. Being in Alaska, we didn’t want to order anything but fish, which turned out to be as good as we had hoped with two amazing salmon and halibut dishes. We then wandered down to the Anchorage Museum of History to check out some of their exhibits. With its new renovation and addition being built, we still had a chance to check out some history of the oil industry in Alaska, read stories on the Inuit lifestyles, touch a sea otter pelt, and see some disturbing photos of whaling.

We dropped John off at the house so he could take a quick nap, then headed off to Alaska Wild Berry Products, a cute little shop that had every kind of chocolate covered fruit you could ever want. They had so much chocolate, in fact, that they boast the world’s largest chocolate waterfall. This was something straight out of Willy Wonka! After I tasted about everything they had and bought too many bags of calories, we headed back to grab John and go out to dinner with some of Bonnie’s friends. Tonight, we were going to eat at Moose’s Tooth, a popular pub and pizzeria and fairly hip hangout in Anchorage. On some nights, they even have big name bands play in their theatrepub, like Cake, Rodrigo Y Gabriela, and more. We finished our Alaskan microbrews and bagged up the remaining unique pizza varieties, then said farewell to her friends Jen, Jodie, Ryan, and Carl. A good group, which we knew we’d see more of on the remainder of the trip.

Denali(Mt. McKinley) and Talkeetna

Now I put this section out of order, because I want to make sure if you stop reading, you at least get this far. If you only did one thing in Alaska in the Anchorage area, I would have to suggest a plane ride around Denali. Denali, or Mount McKinley as most people know it, is the highest mountain peak in North America. It soars an amazing 20,320 feet above sea level and is the centerpiece to Denali National Park. There are 5 large glaciers flowing from its slopes, and all of them are amazing when viewed from a plane. Home to many different types of wildlife, some say this is the best place to see animals including Brown Bears, Grizzly Bears, Moose, Caribou, Beavers, Foxes, and more.

Denali was renamed Mount McKinley after the US President William McKinley in 1896. However, Alaskans still called it by its native name, as some started to view the change as colonial and disrespectful. Later in 1980, the Alaskan Board of Geographic Names changed it back to Denali, even though the US Board still maintains it as Mount McKinley.

Our plane ride was taking off from Talkeetna, a small town on the verge of Denali National Park. This quaint little town is what many people imagine as the typical Alaskan town and lifestyle. In fact, this town was the model location for the popular 90s TV series, Northern Exposure. It is now filled with shops, hundreds of tourists, a few restaurants and an airport. After a nice meal at the West Rib Pub and Grill, I took my Dramamine and headed to the airport.

K2 Aviation was our airline charter company of choice, as we had heard they had the best safety records and the best reviews. We arrived to find out our flight selections were not possible today as the glaciers were too bumpy to land on and the circling flight around Denali was put on hold due to wind conditions. So I took the refunds and we waited for our plane and pilot to arrive. The prices ranged from 185 to 300 dollars per person, but in my opinion, was worth every penny.

After a short wait, we were greeted by our pilot and led to a small 6-seater plane. Now when I say 6 people, it would have been a little cramped with 6. Luckily it was just us 3, so Bonnie sat in front, Kwon in the middle, and myself in the back, giving us all prime viewing locations and flexibility on both sides. We quickly took off, my fingers crossed that it would be a smooth ride. If you know me, I don’t like small planes and this was the first small one I had been on since my skydiving, where if anything had gone wrong, I at least had a parachute.

However, 15 minutes into the ride, I wasn’t thinking about the plane at all. I was darting left and right to look out both windows at the amazing scenery. Denali National Park was below us with fields of preserved land, lakes, and trees. Then slowly we started to notice the scenery changing to white among the green and brown. The glacier ice was dirty at the bottom but I knew from my New Zealand glacier experience that the ice at the top is where the true colors stand out.

Photo snap after photo snap, I kept looking out the windows as the scenery changed from glaciers with deep crevasses to mountainous cliffs and jagged rocks. The white ice quickly became whiter and pockets of melted glacier ice stood out in a bright clear blue. The sun was shining with very few clouds in the sky, lighting up the sides of Denali and the surrounding mountains and peaks. I also must mention that included around Denali are 4 other not so tiny mountains. Mount Foraker, Mount Hunter, Mount Huntington, Mount Dickey, and The Moose’s Tooth all sit between 9,000 and 17,000 feet, making the surrounding scenery even more amazing.

As we circled around the front side of Denali our pilot commented that he was going to try to head around the backside. We agreeably nodded, not mentioning our refund earlier. The wind continued to blow snow off the tops of the peaks, with the dark colors of the mountains mixed with the whites, complementing the blue skies above for perfect scenic photos.

For most of the flight we were speechless, clicking away with our cameras in awe. Our plane ride was mostly smooth, feeling at times that we were no more then 200 feet from the sides of the mountain. Although I’m sure we were farther, the sheer height of this mountain and glaciers made it hard to judge scale. As we headed out of the mountain walls and back towards Talkeetna, we flew over a moose drinking water in a nearby lake. Our amazing one and a half hour flight was over, but my 100+ photos should have more then enough quality memories for framing.

Mountains are beautiful, no matter if you’re in the Colorado Rockies, on the East Coast, skiing in Canada, or hiking in the Sierra Nevadas. But if you really want to get to see something that most people won’t see unless they’re professional climbers, then don’t miss this tour.

Bike Ride - The Great Costal Trail

Little did my roommate know, but our bike ride today was going to consist of a 20 mile ride from one end of downtown Anchorage, across the earthquake damaged coast, up through wildlife filled paths, and around the Lake Hood seaplane base. After renting bikes, John, Bonnie and I rode off around this paved coastal trail, taking photos of the mud flats, moose, and planes flying overhead. The path wasn’t too difficult, being shaded for most of it and only having a few uphill climbs. We took frequent stops, but were in no hurry. Stopping to see a moose off in the forest, Bonnie also pointed out a plant called Devil’s Club. These big plants have short spikes covering the stems and leaves. Get stung, and these spines will leave a nasty rash that supposedly flares up in the sun. Although used for medicinal purposes by the Native Americans of Alaska, I thought it would be best to stay away. Some say the Alaskan Wildlife committee planted them on purpose to keep people on the trails.

After the first 9 miles, we were all getting a little tired. We headed up a long steep hill, then down along a highway to get to a Tastee Freeze for some refreshments. Continuing on, we passed the Lake Hood Seaplane Base, which gave us an opportunity to watch some seaplanes take off and land. This small lake is the world’s busiest seaplane base, handling an average of 190 flights per day.

Finally back in downtown Anchorage, we had some congratulatory beers and ate lunch on the roof of the Snow Goose restaurant and whined in anticipated soreness for tomorrow.

4 Wheeling and looking for Bears

Carl, Bonnie’s boyfriend, was kind enough to invite us out for some 4 wheeling action on his ATVs in the hills, around a salmon filled river, and possibly see a few bears. We jumped on the opportunity, as I’ve never actually driven my own 4-wheeler. After a quick lesson, we headed up Bird Creek through muddy, water filled paths, fireweed lined trails, and among some very colorful mushrooms. Carl’s ATVs were pretty fast with good handling and a ton of fun. Although we never found any bears, Bonnie did manage to catch a salmon with her bare hands. Impressive wild woman!

That night we ate at Simon and Seafort’s. One thing I had heard about Alaska was that the food was fairly expensive during the summer. This place was definitely no exception, with a diverse selection and highly priced menu and specialty drinks. Even with that said, I dove into my first martini with a pepperoni wrapped, blue cheese stuffed olive, and suddenly wasn’t concerned. From Lobster Mac n’ Cheese to Kobe Beef Meatloaf, Simon and Seafort’s menu was filled with unique and intriguing selections. I opted for the Herb Encrusted Crab Stuffed Halibut, which was of course wonderful. With this place also being a local favorite, I would recommend making reservations.

Segway’s and the Northern Lights

One thing about Alaska that intrigued me was the fact that you could see the Northern Lights, or Aurora Borealis. This amazing phenomenon is normally seen in the Fall and Spring months in the Northern Hemisphere. These amazing light shows are caused by colliding solar wind particles and atmospheric gases. These charged atoms then emit their gained energy as light in colors ranging from green to red.

Although we were visiting Alaska at the wrong time to see this amazing sight, the Performing Arts Center was holding a video show of images accompanied by music. This show by Dave Parkhurst was briefly informational, but in the end just a bunch of images slowly fading in and out with music. 5 minutes was pretty amazing, but 35 minutes later we were ready for a nap. I’m sure it’s not quite the real thing, but in the summer this was as close as we were going to get.

After my Segway tour in Wisconsin, I was happy to learn that they had one in Anchorage as well. Asking John if he was interested in doing this, he eagerly replied yes. So we booked a 2.5 hour tour with SegTours of Anchorage. Our guide and owner, Alan, showed us the ropes of starting and stopping and then took us and 2 others over to the park to practice our turns. After a few odd and amused looks from other tourists, we were given the upgrade key to allow our scooters to go faster and turn quicker.

For the remainder of the trip, the 5 of us set off around downtown Anchorage and over to Ship Creek to watch the locals fish for salmon. We continued up the road to the dam to get a better view of the salmon flocking upstream and finally stopped off at Captain Cook’s memorial for sights of the mud pits and Knik Arm. After the 2 hours of Segway riding, it definitely made you want to go out and purchase one, although I recently read that some states are banning them from being used on sidewalks and streets just seem way to dangerous.

Whittier, a town of it’s own

With fishing or kayaking on our minds, we headed to Whittier where our Prince William Sound glacier cruise would be taking off the following day. Whittier is a small town accessible only by boat or by going through a very long, 2.5 mile one way train tunnel, built by the government back in 1943. This tunnel was later renovated to a combination highway tunnel and railway, but still only one way every 30 minutes.

We got a room at the only nice resort in town, the Inn at Whittier. This small town of an estimated 200 residents lies directly on the Prince William Sound. Approximately 80%!o(MISSING)f these residents live in one building, a tall condominium type building next to a school on the top of the hill next to the mountain. The town itself has about 25 main buildings and most of those businesses are for sale. Most of the residents are in the fishing industry, but some cater to the multitude of tourists that travel through on glacier cruises, fishing charters, or oceangoing cruises. This was definitely a unique town.

Unfortunately for us it was raining today, so John and I walked around the city, ate at the Inn’s restaurant, shot some pool in the bar, played some poker, and watched some TV. Although it was a fairly uneventful day, we at least couldn’t complain about the scenery, as a thin spooky fog rolled in, covering the harbor in a mysterious yellow and green glow.

26 Glaciers and a Raft of Sea Otters.

After our previous rainy day, we were ready to see some glaciers and sea life. However, it was raining again today so we hoped to at least see some cool sights from inside the boat. Our tour was with the 26 Glacier Cruise company, which seemed like the most widely used and comfortable. We sat down at our window seats and introduced ourselves to the other 4 people. With a small table and bench, this is the one thing I wish was improved on this cruise. Although once we got going, I noticed I was rarely sitting down at the table. We got small box lunches with a nice variety of items. The boat took off at a quick 40 knots and headed off towards our first glacier. Off on our 6 hour cruise, we were hoping to see more then just water, ice, and clouds.

Not too far into the trip, the host gave out some information on glaciers and the three types. Tidewater glaciers are the glaciers that come down and actually touch the water. Alpine glaciers are the ones up in the mountains. And finally, piedmont glaciers are those that sit at the foot of a mountain. As we headed towards our first glacier we saw sea otters floating in the water. These cute furry mammals float on their backs, normally in same sex groups called rafts. It was funny to pass by these animals at 40 knots, where is all you see is small object that looks like a floating log, until someone yells out, SEA OTTER! Sea otters can survive in this near freezing water because of their dense fur. Their fur is so dense that it can have as many as 1 million hairs per square inch.

The first of the glaciers were great. We came out of the clouds and were all of the sudden looking out at 10 different glaciers. Some of them were up in the hills and some of them dropping all the way down to the water. In front of us sat the largest two, Harvard and Yale. Spread out over the water were hundreds of large to small sized floating pieces of ice. These icebergs really added to my imagery of the great Alaskan atmosphere. The boat finally started to turn around, so we finished up taking pictures and headed back inside. Once the boat actually started going, it got pretty cold on deck.

The next few areas were about the same, sun in areas, clouds in others. Icebergs floated by like giant ice cubes in your summer lemonade. At one point, the crew even dragged one onto the boat, chopped it up and allowed everyone to take a piece as a souvenir, or in some cases I saw kids eating it.

The last of the glaciers was the most special, as this constant glacier in retreat was probably the most active glacier in Alaska. The constant cracking and calving gave this glacier the perfect tourist destination. As we approached within safe distance, loud cracks of lightning-like sound shot across the water. The water was especially full of small icebergs floating around us from their frequent fall. We saw more then a few pieces calve off of the side and thunder into the water below. Although it looked small, the actual height of the glacier wall was around 250 feet. Bus size chunks of dense ice falling from that height, was bound to make some interesting splashes and sights. With our final hour ahead, we turned around and headed back to Whittier.

We jumped on a bus back to Anchorage and met Bonnie at a local gas station. Only one more day in Alaska and we were on our way back to congested, less natural California.

Hiking, Fishing, and Shopping on our Last Day

As our last day in Alaska, we choose to hike up the most popular hiking trail in Anchorage, Flattop Mountain. John and I grabbed some water, ate lunch, and headed to the parking lot. This 1.5 mile trail to the summit wasn’t going to be easy, but I was excited to see the panoramic view of Anchorage from the top. About halfway up, John’s smoking lungs took over and he had to stop. After 5 minutes of trying to motivate him, I gave up and continued to the top by myself. After a steep rock climb, I crawled over a hill to see a rock pile with a tall pole, signifying I had made it to the top. My efforts were not in vain, as the view was definitely amazing. You could see all the way from the corner of the Knik Arm, past downtown Anchorage, and over to the Turnagain Arm. Over in the distance a faint glimmer of Denali and it’s surrounding mountains. It was a great sight and I was just sorry John couldn’t make it to the top to see it.

At the bottom, we decided to head into town and buy fishing licenses, so we could look like typical Alaskan natives. For 20 bucks, the rest of our day was set and we were off to Ship Creek, the only urban combat fishing inside the city limits. After a quick Reindeer Sausage and some souvenirs, we were ready. Now I’m not a master angler by any means, and this became quickly apparent as I got my fly stuck on a log within 10 minutes. After 1.5 hours, both John and I had only managed to catch a plastic bag and metal clothes hanger. Although I had some people take photos of me like I was a local pro, I was saddened when I truthfully answered there question, “How many have you caught today?” We gave up quickly and headed back to Bonnie’s.

As we ate our last Alaskan meal and socialized with Bonnie’s friends at Chili’s, we saw an amazing sunset in the distance. We quickly paid our check and headed to Earthquake Park, a park created to memorialize the great quake of 1964. This devastating 9.2 earthquake was the most powerful recorded in US history, and devastated the city. Still broken remains of the quake can be seen today, including the fact that downtown streets begin at 4th, where some of the coastal shelf fell as much as 38 feet. We got out of the car to quickly run and take some photos, skip some rocks, and just enjoy our last few moments of Alaskan beauty. Right as we got ready to leave, we noticed motion in the water. A pod of Beluga Whales were swimming through the high tide chasing some salmon. There must have been 20 of them, all swimming in a line, coming up to the surface, then diving back down.

This beautiful rare vision will last in my mind for some time. It helped to sum up our Alaskan trip of amazing scenery, new experiences, and laughter. We had a great vacation and met some fun new people.

Thanks again to our gracious host Bonnie and her boyfriend Carl for showing us around. I couldn’t have asked for more.


Other Alaskan Links of interest:

Alaskan Fishing Charters

The Iditarod

[url=http://www.akhs.atfreeweb.com/Alaskan Hikes

[url=http://www.traveljuneau.com/Juneau, Alaska

Alaskan Cruises

[url=http://www.pfd.state.ak.us/The Permanent Fund Dividend - This is free money paid to Alaskan residents every year from Oil Profits.

---

Photos

Denali
View of Denali from a long ways off. This is also known as Mount McKinnley but locals know it as Denali.

Chocolate Fountain
This this was huge, worlds biggest so they say. Alaska Wildberry Products Store

Reindeer Sausage
MMMMmm, Reindeer. Taste's like Christmas.

Willow
Such a cute dog. Willow slept with us, woke us up, greeted us at the door, and dug holes outside.

Willow and Bonnie
They make a cute pair. :-)

MMMmmm Chocolate
Lots and lots of chocolate.

Bike Ride
The Coastal Path outside of Anchorage. 18 mile loop, or 20 mile extra scenic loop. No problem, right Kwon....Kwon???

Kwon's death
Unfortunately 20 miles is 19 miles too long for John. He didn't make it.

Devil's Club
If you want to be part of the club, touch this spiked plant and have a nice rash. It covered the trails on both sides and grew everywhere!

Lake Hood Seaplane Base
Busiest Seaplane airport in the world.

Art in Anchorage
Near the Tourist center, an interesting piece of artwork stood as an archway.

Bonnie's Fish
Yes, she caught this with her bare hands. She's an Alaskan Wild Woman.

Salmon in Bird Creek
As you can see by the shadows, the creek was filled with hundreds of silver salmons swimming upstream.

Mosquitos are big in Alaska
I got bit a few times, but I definitely wanted to keep moving on these ATVs.

Mushroom on trail
These amanita muscaria were seen a few places on the trails. I wasn't about to lick one though.

Bird Creek
The creek was rushing and deep. Not freezing, but I wasn't about to go swimming.

Bonnie's Climb
Well, I won't lie, it does look like she's hanging above the water. :-)

Kwon by Bird Creek
Notice the leg, only his left leg was covered in mud.

Fireweed
Everywhere around Alaska, this pretty flower blooms at the top, symbolizing 6 more weeks until winter.

Segway Tour
John on the Segway. This 3 hour tour was tons of fun and made you want to buy one of these self balancing scooters.

Ship Creek
This is where you can fish for Salmon inside city limits. Urban Combat fishing is what they call it.