You are not in the mountains ,
The mountains are in you ,
John Muir, legendary ecologist
This quote by John Muir is how I had imagined I would feel when I eventually reach Alaska , a long awaited trip for both of us. And Alaska did not disappoint us even a bit. In fact , our 6 day trip to Alaska was too short and we decided almost instantaneously on day 1 of our trip that we will be back to this country. There are not enough words in my dictum to explain , nay, paint the beauty of Alaska. The mountains are bigger , more jagged than any you would have probably seen, glaciers so pristine, that one could see them from miles away and then there is the Sea and fresh water. These sentences haven’t even begun to undress the wildlife that Alaska is famous for , Bears and so many of them. Denali national park in Alaska holds not only the distinction of Alaska’s 3rd largest National Park but also boasts one of the largest concentration of Bears , in their most native habitat Nand environmental setting. Our introduction has us salivating at the prospect of another trip to Alaska and as I pen this, I have come to realize that one may visit Alaska and return back , but their soul is perennially attached to the land here..
Getting here
The best way to get here is by flight to Alaska’s capital city and also its largest by area & population Anchorage.
Fun Fact
Anchorage’s airport used to be one of America’s busiest airports in early 80’s since it was an ideal connecting airport for many destinations in Far East Asia from mainland America. But then , Boeing and Airbus invented reliable and fuel-efficient aircraft that could easily reach parts of Asia non stop, making strategic location like ANC(Anchorage’s airport code) slightly redundant. Anchorage continues to be a very important airport for freight forwarders to this day.
Other large airports in Alaska are Juneau and Sitka. There are also regular cruises that have managed tours and these begin from Seattle, WA and Vancouver, CA. Our itinerary begins and ends at Anchorage for all practical purposes. We highly suggest you to rent a car to move around in Alaska.
Day 1 : Land in Anchorage and Drive down to Moose Pass
We arrived bright and early in the morning with the sun shining down on us at Anchorage airport from Seattle. The rental car pickup experience is pretty seamless at the airport and we were quickly out the door to explore the capital city. We were also hungry, so it made sense to grab some grub before we set for our journey of ~100 miles southward on Seward highway to Moose Pass. There are very few brunch spots in the city and if you are here on a weekend you may be looking at some serious wait times. We also made a conscious adjustment wise decision to do some shopping for our survival in the “wild”. Long story short , Alaska is sparsely populated and huge , so if you head to remote areas for your stay , it’s always good to populate your trunk with essentials.
On Our way to Moose Pass we can came across quite a many view points that were looking out on Cook Inlet , one of the most serene marine bodies you will come across in the Gulf Of Alaska. Be sure to stop at a few of them for a very windy welcome. We briefly stopped at Beluga point for some snaps along the coast and the railway line that runs alongside Seward highway. We continued onwards to Moose pass where our Cabin was located for the next two days. Moose Pass is one of the few spots along the highway that have some resemblance of small city life. There a couple of spots here for groceries , fuel and food in this otherwise remote part of the state. Of course , Seward city has quite many convenience stores , gas stations and hotels , but if you enjoy the country life as much as we do , be sure to check out some delightful cabins in this vicinity. After settling in and obviously turning up the heat in the cabin , we roamed around the woods near our cabin , hoping to spot some wildlife , but we didn’t find any. Our goal for day was to settle in early as we had a rather long day 2 planned ahead for us , so we decided to cook some food from the supplies we purchased in Anchorage , had a couple of Jacks on some rocks and called it a night.
Day 2 : Moose Pass to Seward, Kenai fjords Cruise & Exit glacier
Day 2 began with a lot of excitement for the group and some nerves as well. While we love the sea, we were also apprehensive of the rough weather forecast for that day and a bit of nerves of were setting in. However we pushed ourselves to reach Seward and enjoy our 5 hour tour of the Kenai Fjords National Park. There are several tour operators here in Seward who are certified to take you around the national park. We used Viator to make our booking after carefully reviewing the comments and other experiences from past visitors to hole in on this one.
We thoroughly enjoyed our time on this cruise taking photos , looking at the beautiful landscape , getting drenched in rain and more importantly the rather untouched wildlife of Alaska. The crew on the ship also includes a National Park ranger who was very knowledgable about the geology and the wildlife of the various parts of this national park. The captain herself was very patient and explained in detail about the landscape and yes , there will be plenty of photo opportunities on this trip. Ideally bring a really good jacket that is also waterproof and probably one for your camera as well. The highlight of the trip was the sight of Resurrection Bay , approximately 50 miles out in the sea and truly one of the most isolated places on this planet.
We were famished after this tour and made a quick stop for some food and gas , as we had another stop on our way back: Exit Glacier. Exit Glacier is about 12 miles from Seward and is the only road-accessible part of the Kenai Fjords National Park. Ideally we would have loved to go on a trail along side the glacier , which by the way is visible from not only the trail head but also from various view points along the road to the trail head, but since the sun was setting fast , we decided to take in the views from a distance and say goodbye to day 2 in Alaska.
Day 3 : Moose pass to Portage Bay and Portage glacier hike & Spend the night in Anchorage
Our Day 3 itinerary was very exciting for us , mostly because we were going to do the only hike of this entire trip at Portage Bay Glacier. We started early from Seward as we had to travel back North , just short of Anchorage to Access the Portage Bay area. The trailhead is located Near Whittier, and one has to cross a tunnel through the mountain to access this part of the glacier. The tunnel is spectacular , sharing its space between the cars and railroad. As a result its controlled for just one way traffic , hence bear in mind you may have to wait up to an hour or more to get access to Whittier , on either direction . The trail is about 5 miles out and back , and involves climbing and descending ~800 ft twice in that span. A quick reminder for all those interested in this trail is to definitely carry a bear spray and bug cream. The views are breathtaking throughout the trail as the glacier tries to play hide and seek , often disappearing behind clouds or peaks. The final stretch is essentially a 800 ft descent through a forest , that opens up to the portage lake. Although this trail is marked heavily trafficked , we were able to find parking quite easily at the trail head , but do keep in mind that parking is quite limited. This was quite easily one of the best things we did during our trip and it was quite draining too. After a quick coffee stop at Whittier , we head on back to Seward Highway and continues northwards to Anchorage, which was our final stop for the day and also our pitstop for the night.
Day 4 : Anchorage to Denali via Hatcher Pass
Hatcher pass is a local’s favorite and a very scenic drive through alpine ranges of Alaska. A 3 hour total detour from AK-3 road to Denali National park should give you enough time to not only drive around this beautiful alpine pass but you will have enough time to stop at the Susitna river overlook , which is an important geological landmark for the entire state of Alaska. As you reach the peak , make sure to stop by the Summit lake , which is just a small trail away from the road to get some really good photos. We also passed the Hatcher Pass lodge which was closed during September , but it looked like during the season they have a restaurant and cafe for the public’s use. We then drove down to Cantwell , 30 miles south of Denali National Park and our home for the next 3 days. This is relatively a big town with a couple of convenience stores and gas stations , however , the supplies here are very minimal. Be sure to get your supplies from a Walmart or Target in Anchorage, especially if you are staying for a longer duration at Denali.
Day 5 : Denali National Park (hike & drive) and barbeque
We began day 5 with a quick ride from Cantwell to Denali National Park. Denali unlike other national park doesn’t allow cars on all roads and has limited time windows to allow cars in the park. This is due to the fact that there is essentially just one road in the entire park and there is protected wildlife as soon you enter it. You are allowed to drive through to only the first fifteen miles of the road until a campground called Savage River. On a clear day you can see Mt McKinley as soon as you hit Mile 9 , but there are plenty of pull outs to see various landscapes and animals from your car. We took this day to explore Denali National park in our car until the allowed point and returned back to the main visitor center to make reservations for the next day. We also had the wonderful opportunity to meet the dogs of Denali in their special ranger program that included a talk and demo plus some time to spend with the dogs. It was truly one of the best highlights of our trip since we both love dogs and done miss an opportunity to meet ’em. We then did this highly recommended trail for viewing fall colors called Horseshoe lake trail , which began near the visitor center. Although this is a short trail , it opened up to some really beautiful fall colors and was totally worth it. We then decided to wrap up this light day so that we can head on back to our cabin and lit up the barbecue. This was something I was truly looking forward to , a wonderful country experience. Do note that Cell reception is very poor in this part of the state , so plan ahead.
Day 6 : Denali bus tour to wonder lake (11 hr bus ride)
Day 6 was all about the Denali Transit bus and we were all very chuffed about it. Denali has a couple of bus types , primarily the transit busses and the tour busses. We decided to take the 11 hour round trip fro Denali National Parks’ main visitor center to the Wonder Lake Area (~ 85 miles inside the national park). Do note that the driver does explain about the wildlife and landscape as we pass through the park but it is very much dependent on the driver to do this and thats the primary difference between the transit and tour busses. You can hop on and hop off transit busses if you plan on doing trails along the way at Toklat River Valleg , Eilson or at Wonder Lake areas. Please note that this is truly the wild and you are pretty much on your own if you miss the last bus back to the visitor center as there is no accommodation or food available along the way. While driving through the park the driver will stop at various points where Mt McKinley is visible for photographs in addition to the scheduled stops and it is totally worth it. There aren’t enough words to express your feeling when you first look at this double peaked mountain , which also happens to be Americas tallest. Wonder lake which was the last point of the transit bus we were in was truly breathtaking when we reached for we had never seen such a picturesque lake with the reflection of Denali on it. We had a total of 30 min here ,since ours was the last bus back. Totally worth every second we spent there. This bus ride was one of the best highlights of this trip and its something that everyone must do when they are in Alaska.
Day 7 Back to Anchorage and fly back home
After a really intense 6 days we decided to go easy on ourselves for the last day and much-deservedly a lazy start. Since our flights were later in the night from Anchorage international , we made one last dash to Anchorage and check out some surrounding views of the city and the mountains. A good place to do that is through the flattop mountain trail. Its just a couple of miles out and back and totally worth the views.
Travel Stories by Nia 