Our Alaskan Adventure Part 2: The Sights

Alaska is many things. Besides huge, that is. Although, yes, it is indeed massive. It's over twice the size of Texas. And when you super-impose it over 'the lower 48', it stretches all the way from coast to coast. It's so big, it's somehow the Northernmost, the Westernmost AND the Easternmost points in the U.S. (part of it extends into the Eastern Hemisphere) But, Alaska is more than just some gigantic mass.  

It is diverse. More than we expected it to be. But I guess when your state is 1/5^th the size of the rest of the United States, there is room for variances. And Alaska definitely has them. Breathtaking views. Wild forests. Mountains. Glaciers. Coastlines. 

Alaska is many things, and we wanted to see them all. 

 

Alaska is icy.

If you asked most people to describe Alaska is 3 words, odds are, most will mention the ice and snow that is indicative of the region. Didn't we all think, as kids, that Alaska was nothing but ice? A giant snowy land where everyone lived in igloos and rode dog sleds everywhere...? 

Actually, that place sounds kind of cool. But, indeed that is not really Alaska. Not really. 

 

Byron Glacier, Girdwood, AK

Exit, stage right

That's not to say there isn't any ice in the 49^th state. There is. Tons of it. 5% of the state is covered by glaciers and active glacial fields. And 5% of Alaska is a lot (in case you forgot how big I just said Alaska was).

Glaciers are important to the whole region, and Alaska's glaciers are important to everyone. Alaska has more than half all of the glaciers in the entire world. Over 100,000 of them to be accurate. With that many, we had to go see a few.

In the Kenai Mountains, south of Anchorage lies one of the most accessible valley glaciers in the state. Exit Glacier, was named when the first successful mountaineering party crossed the Harding Icefield and exited down this glacier to the town of Seward below. In recent years, Exit Glacier has become known for it's rapid glacial melt, and is often cited as a one of the most noticeable effects of global climate change. 

That's some dense ice.

Where do urinal cakes come from? Glaciers.

Not really. But the glacial ice sure looks to be the right shade of blue. That's what happens to ice when it gets really dense. Years of compression force out any air pockets between the ice crystals making it so compact. When this happens, the ice only absorbs a small amount of red light, leaving a bluish tint in the reflected light. The results are beautiful.

Alaska is wet.

 

Now, we're no traveling dummies. We know a few things. (I mean, we have a blog and everything!) We know that the only time to go to the land of the midnight sun, is summer. And even though their version of summer is nowhere near ours, it does get decently warm. Warm enough to melt ice anyways. And it does. Every year. All that melting glacial ice, it has to go somewhere, right? It does. It flows. Downhill mostly. And in it's wake, the melting ice leaves an insane amount of waterways.

12,000 rivers. That seems like a lot, right? It is. But, not when you compare that number to the ridiculous number of lakes.

3 million lakes. Yes, million. (Nice try, Minnesota) The rivers and lakes amount to 40% of the surface water in the United States. That's a lot.

Metal Death Cage

Our first experience with the waterways of Alaska was our hike to the Girdwood hand tram. The trail lead us a couple miles into the woods and eventually to a self powered tram. We pulled ourselves, a few at a time, across the gorge, over what they called a stream. A raging stream. Through a steep canyon. In a metal death cage. 

It was awesome.

 

 

We had crossed a raging stream, and now were ready to take on something bigger.  Up next, a rafting trip down the Kenai River. With my brother-in-law piloting the 6 person craft, we floated down the swift moving, but wide river. We stopped along the way to fish for salmon from the shoreline. Minutes turned to hours as the river rushed by. We fished. We sat. We had a fire. The incredibly long twilight allowed us to stay out into the night. By the time we floated out, it was finally dark.

10:00 PM approx.

We had lots of hopes of things we wanted to do while in Alaska. Swimming, outside, was nowhere on that list. Yet, somehow we managed to get that done too. While up north, on our second weekend, it reached in to the 80s. My sister said it was the warmest she had even seen it since she lived there. It was sunny and clear. We were in the right place to check out one of the 3 bazillion lakes in Alaska. And, as a bonus, it was totally warm enough for the kids to swim. So swim they did. We hiked. They swam. We soaked in the sun. They swam. It was bliss for everyone.

Alaska is lush.

This is the one that surprised us the most. Alaska is really green. Plants are abundant. Not just pine trees, either. Tons of plants. Of all kinds. Everywhere. I suppose we are just used to mountain areas being more dry, less lush. But, Alaska is different.

I guess when it rains a lot, water is plentiful, and the sun is out for 20 hours a day, things tend to grow. Even though their warm season is short, it packs a serious punch. They get like a hyper-version of spring and summer, where everything grows like crazy, gets really big, and then just as quickly it goes away. 

 

Everywhere we went there we flowers. Wild flowers. Potted flowers. The famous Alaska Fireweed. Surprising pops of yellow and purple and pink dotted nearly every landscape we saw. 

An unexpected treat.

One hike took us into what felt like a rain forest. There were huge ferns all over. Plants with enormous leaves. Thick moss. Turns out, the area was indeed labeled a 'temperate rain forest'.

Just south of my sister's house was an area known as Potter's Marsh. This freshwater marsh, nestled between the foot of the mountains and the sea, is an animal sanctuary and ideal wildlife watching spot. This marsh is home to tons of migratory birds, and other mammals, A wooden boardwalk winds through the marsh with observation decks and binoculars aplenty. 

Alaska is coastal.

Alaska has more coastline than the entire rest of the United States combined. Over 33,000 miles of shoreline all told. And its coastal areas are no different than the rest of the state. They are also quite diverse.

Anchorage itself is technically a coastal town, sitting on the Cook Inlet that eventually dumps into the Pacific Ocean. But Anchorage's shoreline isn't conducive to typical marine activities. Because of all the silt in the water from the glaciers, the coastline in and around Anchorage is a boggy, muddy mess. Boats can't sail up and down the inlet. No marinas. No tour boats. But lots and lots of mud. When the tide was out, the wet and sloppy silt became the perfect messy play thing for our kids. They squished around in the stuff all afternoon. They even came up with 57 practical uses for this gooey muck. 
Not a hyperbole. 

57 uses.  Lotion. Hair gel. Makeup.

They listed them. 

All 57.

Repeatedly.

Use No. 32: Mud Bombs. Incoming!

Around the bend from mud beach, at the tip of Anchorage lies yet another landscape, some towering sand dunes. On a different messy day (in which we also didn't care what our kids were wearing) they jumped and leaped and ran barefoot through the dunes. They buried each other up to their heads. We picked sand out of the hair for days. 

Beluga Point

Worth it.

As we drove further south, down towards the Kenai peninsula, the shorelines changed. Now boulders and cliff outcroppings dotted the coast. These spots, which still had silt and mud below them, were perfect for exploring, staring at the sea, and taking amazing photos.  

We still hadn't seen the typical coastal area one thinks of, until we made it all the way down the peninsula to the town of Seward. Following our late night floating on the Kenai River, we drove to the sea town and spent the night in the marina, inside the Driver's sailboat. 

The next morning, Captain Craig took us out into the busy harbor. It was filled with guided fishing tour boats. Sail boats. Cruise ships. All of them came and went from the town named for the man who bought Alaska. This harbor was bustling, as we set sail and pointed towards the gulf. The sails were full. It was windy. The sea was choppy. Then... there was engine trouble. And even though we were powered by the wind, Capt. Craig didn't feel comfortable going on without a working backup engine. So, we headed back. 

 

Too brief an excursion for some, but still long enough for others to get seasick. (nudge, nudge Haley)

Don't hit the giant cruise ship, Cap'n.

Alaska is friendly. 

Cheers, Alaska.

Alaska has the lowest population density in the United States. Mostly cause it's huge. But also because a lot of the state is simply uninhabitable. There is one person for every square mile in Alaska. If New York City had the same density of people, there would only be 16 people in Manhattan. I bet parking would still suck, though.

Where we went never felt that sparse. It did feel immense, but almost never desolate of people. Probably because the population of the state doubles every summer for tourist season. Stupid tourists. They ruin everything. I mean, not us, of course. We're cool. We have a blog. 
But everyone else. Geesh...

That being said, nearly everyone we met our entire trip were the nicest people. They all made their towns, their restaurants, their attractions that much more memorable for us.

 
People sill actively mine for gold in Alaska. The state's big gold rush happened in the mid 20th century. But, even today there are profits to be made from digging valuable metals out of the ground.

We stopped at what I was sure was going to be a tourist trap, Indian Valley Mine, to 'pan for gold' as they promised.

As it turns out, it was exactly as advertised. A place to pan for real gold, and have fun doing it. This stop, run by a husband and wife for decades, bought piles of dirt from active gold mines. We bought some containers of this potential treasure, and set to work panning. The owners patiently and gently showed all the kids how to extract the valuable stuff from the dirt. They all got the hang of it, and after an hour of mining, they each took home a pretty good haul of gold, amethysts, garnet, and copper. A great stop run by great people.

We're gonna be rich!

Talkeetna Fireweed

 

Going in to our final weekend, with the weather looking promising, we decided to head back up north and check out the town of Talkeetna. This quaint and charming village lies just south of Denali State Park and is a jumping off point for mountain climbers, airplane tours, and river guides. Said to be the inspiration for 'Northern Exposure' this town is no hidden gem. No, instead it is one of the most popular places for tourists in the summer. The influx of people do not take away from this town's charm, however. They almost add to it. We spent two days in Talkeetna. Shopping. Hiking. Hanging out. Listening to music. And really, just loving this town. 

It was one of of favorite stops the entire trip. I mean, they have famously had a cat as their mayor the last two decades. How bad a place could it be?

Mayor Stubbs (II)

One other thing helped the allure of Talkeetna. There was it's promise of amazing views. 

You see, Talkeetna is also known for being a great place to see Denali...

Alaska has tall mountains.

The Great One

We can't even sarcastically utter 'allegedly' when we say that any more. Now we know Denali is real. 

We saw it. With our own common 70% eyes.

The clear skies held, and the view of the mountain from the riverside park in Talkeetna was simply amazing. 

 

It was well worth the return effort.

We were now the elite.

The upper crust.

The chosen few.

We were now official members of the 30% Club.

Screw you 70 percenters.

Now it just feels like we're showing off.

 

 

Our Alaskan Adventure Part 1: Denali

2013 - My sister and her family move from the somewhat far-away town of Boise, Idaho to the even further away city of Anchorage, Alaska. Our initial thoughts were “Sweet! What a cool place to live. We can't wait to visit.” The Wandering Woodmans now had a reason to head to the 49^th state. We could head up there any time. We knew it was far, but we could probably drive it, right? I mean we drove 24 hours straight once. What is it...2...3...? 60. Hours. 62 to be exact. So, to break it down, that's just five grueling 12 hour days. Each way.

No thanks. 

Half Dozen of Another

So, flying it was for our gang this time. No big deal. A plane ticket to Alaska couldn't cost that much, right? They don't. One plane ticket doesn't. One is quite reasonable, actually. We total 6. And 6 of anything isn't cheap.

No problem, we said. We'll just pick a date, save some money, and make a plan.

So, a couple of years go by, and we finally accomplished the first task. We picked a date.

“Good enough,” we said.

And just like that, we were off. 
To the land of the midnight sun.

Hello, Drivers

After saying hello to our Alaska family, we set off on our first great Alaskan adventure: Denali.

The National Park bearing it's name just happens to be celebrating it's centennial this year.
So to honor that, here is our Denali story.

By the numbers.

100 of them to be precise. 
 

Which, once I finished this, turned out to be way more than I imagined. Writing 100 of anything is a lot. So, it's a long read. Be forewarned. But, like a true Alaskan, just hunker down and bear with me...

► 20,301: feet above sea level is the elevation of Denali, making it the highest point in North America, and 3^rd highest peak in the world. 
► 1896: The year a gold prospector named the peak Mt. McKinley, after then presidential nominee, William McKinley, because of his support for the gold standard. 
► 0: times McKinley ever set foot in Alaska, let alone saw the peak bearing his name. 
► 2015: The year the peak was justly renamed Denali. 
► 0: people not related to McKinley, and not from Ohio (his home state) cared about the name change. The locals have always called it Denali. 
► 3: different native translations of the word 'Denali' we saw written.
The Great One. The Tall One. The High One. Whichever the translation, safe to say it's pretty big. 

► 30: percent of travelers to Denali actually get to see the mountain at all. Because of weather patterns and cloud cover, on most days the summit, and often the whole mountain itself, are not visible. They snobbishly call themselves The 30% Club. 

Every stop along the way was like a postcard

► 70: Percent of travelers miss out on this beautiful, grand, snow-capped, once in a lifetime experience. They do not joyfully refer to themselves as The 70% Club. 

►  130: miles is the drive from Anchorage to Denali 

►  4: hours was all it took us to make the enjoyable and picturesque drive. 

►  3: days we spent, total, on our Denali adventure. 

►  1: day driving up, stopping along the way for views of the mountain. 

►  15: magnificent hours in the park on our second day. 

►  1: day driving back, stopping along the way for views. 

Still looking...

►  0: times we saw the mountain.

 At all. 

Not once, even a little. 

 

►  100: percent chance we think being members of the 70 Percent Club sucks.

►  1: CD just happened to be in the van we borrowed and drove up to the park. There were scarcely any radio stations and no cell service once we left Anchorage. 

►  3: times we listened to Billy Joel's Greatest Hits Volume 2. Which turned out to be... 

►  3: times too many. 

►  823: small coffee shacks dot the side of the road on the drive. All shapes and styles. Lots of coffee. Espresso... Americanos... Everywhere. At least I think there were that many. I couldn't see very straight. Too much coffee, I guess.  

►  6 million: acres is the size of Denali National Park. Or roughly... 

►  9375: square miles. 

►  5: states are smaller. Rhode Island, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, and New Jersey 

►  400,000: people visit the park every year. 

►  6: different languages we heard spoken by tourists among us that day. Indian. Mandarin. Japanese. German, Austrian and French. The groups were very multicultural. 

►  4: months the park is open to visitors. From mid May to mid September. That's it. 

►  1: way and only one way leads in. Denali Park Road winds through the park as it approaches the mountain. It meanders and twists and turns for... 

 ►  96: miles. 

►  0: cars are allowed to drive the entire way through Denali. In order to preserve the wildness of the landscape, and avoid traffic nightmares (we're looking at you, Yellowstone) the park has always been mostly traffic free. Instead, there are only park-run buses that take you into the park. They stop whenever wildlife is spotted, as well as making scheduled stops. 

►  8: hours total we spent on said shuttle bus 

►  0: times we thought the park felt 'too crowded'. Even being crammed on a bus full of people for 4 hour stretches didn't make us feel that way. Perhaps it was the vastness of the park that made it feel uncrowded. The place is the size of Switzerland, after all. 

►  66: miles into the park we rode, to the Eilson Ranger Station. Which was only...

►  33: miles from the summit of Denali. 

►  2: hikes we went on while in the park. The first, was just a short... 

The Summit Gang

►  1: mile trail. Straight up, this one mile. Apparently. To the top of Thorofare Ridge. The trail took us... 

►  1000: feet up in elevation in just under that mile. Which is a lot. We know now. 

►  6: of us started the hike. 

►  3: of us completed the summit. In the rain. And wind. And cold. We persevered. 

►  0: views of Denali could be seen from the top of the ridge. In case you missed my earlier point. 

Whew!... There. See? That went quick. Over a third of the way done already... 

►  5: animals, known as 'The Big Five' frequent the park. By no means the only animals in the diverse and wild landscape, these are just the ones that most people come to see. Bears. Moose. Caribou. Dall Sheep. Wolves.

Mama grizzly and her cubs

►  2: types of bears inhabit the area. Black bears and Brown bears (grizzlies) 

►  500-550: total bears live in the park 

►  14: bears we saw that day in Denali. (all grizzlies)

►  10: of the bears we viewed from the bus. 

►  5: of them were cubs. Freaking adorable! 

 

►  3: bears walked along a river gorge, a mama and her two cubs, as we descended in to it on our second hike. We watched them the whole way from above. By the time we got to the bottom, they were gone. But, once we returned to the top, we noticed they had closed the trail we were just on, due to 'dangerous bear activity'. Oops!

►  300: yards is the recommended distance one should keep between you and a bear. Bear encounters are no joke here in Alaska, and the anticipation of running into one was never far from our minds. We fortunately (or unfortunately, depending on how you look at it) never got closer than that to any bears. Needless to say, we still carried... 

►  2: cans of Bear Spray (think really strong pepper spray) with us at all times. It is only meant to be used as a last resort. Basically, as the bear is getting ready to eat you. Then. The better strategy is to make lots of noise at all times, so you don't sneak up on a bear. They hate that. 

►  200: times the kiddos sang the same few Girl Scout camp songs. Loudly. Over and over and over. So the bears could hear us coming. 

►  0: other situations exist when it is ever considered acceptable, outside of this one time, to encourage this kind of behavior. We not only encouraged it. We sang along...Loudly... “One more time!!!” 

►  1760: total caribou live in the park. Usually in herds. Unlike most animals, both the male and female caribou have antlers. Babies too. 

►  24: caribou we saw that day, including a bull with a super sweet rack of antlers. 

►  86: wolves occupy Denali National Park. 

►  10: packs of wolves, specifically. They are the most monitored and tracked creatures there, and their numbers are closely watched. 

►  0: wolves we saw that day. Tough to see them when there's only 86 in 6 million acres. 

►  1,500: moose reside inside the park's boundaries. They are the most plentiful of the large mammals, not only in the park, but also throughout all of Alaska. Basically, as common as seeing a deer in Missouri. Really, not that big of a deal. 

►  0: moose were observed by us that day. Shockingly. 

►  1,700: Dall sheep live up high throughout the park. Usually on cliffs or ridges. They loom above, high enough to keep away from the numerous predators below. 

►  3: Dall sheep we witnessed from the bus. At first they just looked like little white dots on the cliffs, but once viewed through binoculars, we could make out their signature curled horns. 

►  2: sets of binoculars we had with us that day. 

►  6: sets of binoculars was the correct number we should have had with us that day. 

►  55: mm lens is the longest our camera is capable of shooting with. 

►  300: mm lens would probably be the minimum needed to get close up pictures of some of the wildlife. 

►  0: percent chance we were gonna tote around one of those giant zoom lenses. We saw several people who did. No thanks. Wide shots are just fine by us. 

►  39: total species of mammals call Denali home. Not just 'The Big 5'. We got to see a plethora of them throughout the day. Tons of adorable Arctic ground squirrels. So cute, they make me hate Missouri squirrels even more than I already do. Which is a ton. I really hate those guys. They suck. We also saw an even more adorable Pika (think tiny rabbit/mouse) scampering along the side of the road. 

►  160: total species of birds live in Denali. 

►  2: flocks of Ptarmigans walked along the road during our drive. These fat, furry chicken-looking creatures are also Alaska's state bird. 

►  1: magpie walked along with us for several minutes during one of our hikes, squawking and yelling at us the whole time. 

►  3: people in our group already squawk enough for the whole group. Thanks, magpie. 

►  0: species of reptiles live in the park (or in all of Alaska for that matter). It's too damn cold. 

►  1: species of amphibians manages to survive in Denali (and also all of Alaska for that matter). The wood frog has adapted to the cold winters by figuring out a way to go into a deep cryogenic state. When it gets cold, the frog changes the chemistry of it's blood, and then literally freezes solid for the whole winter. It then thaws itself out when spring rolls around, and is good to go. Weird, right? 

►  0: ticks. Anywhere. 

►  0: mosquito bites. For us. 

► 2: huge points for Alaska, coming from a family that lives at the intersection of Tick Avenue and Mosquito Drive.

► 65: degrees Fahrenheit was never reached our entire excursion. It never even got close to that. It also never got colder than...

► 48: degrees Fahrenheit. That didn't mean the weather was perfect, however. Far from it.

► 4: layers of clothes we wore that day. Everyone. Minimum. Short sleeves. Long sleeves. Jackets. Rain gear. All were critical.

► 253: number of times we took our clothes off, put our clothes on, took clothes our off, put our clothes on... The weather changes frequently and drastically. It's hot. Its cold. It's wet. It's curiously all of these things at once sometimes. We had to be ready.

► 1: National Park in all the United States has a working dog sled team as part of its crew.

► 35: sled dogs are living and working in Denali National Park right now. We stopped at their kennel to get some dog loving time in, and watch a demonstration of what they do.

Ain't no party like a dog sled party

► 25-50: miles a day the dogs will travel, in the winter, pulling a sled, and doing valuable work throughout the park. These sled dogs are more than just a show for us tourists. They have played a critical role in the history of the park, and continue to do so today.

► 3: percent excited was all the dogs got when visitors walked around and petted them.

► 100: percent excited the dogs got once the rangers got the sled out for the demo. They clearly loved to work. Or hated us. Both reasonable.

► 2: nights we spent at our nearby accommodations, the Grizzly Bear Lodge (a last minute score!) which overlooked the Nenana River.

► 1: giant pile of moose scat lie underneath our balcony. It was probably just a typical sized pile, but it sure looked big. Side note: scat is a super fun way to say 'poop'.

► 0: moose were spotted from our lodge balcony. 

► 10: o'clock at night, with the kids asleep, I sat on that balcony, and started watching the sun set. The sky was orange. The light was perfect.

► 12: midnight.

► 2: hours later. I'm still up. Still on the balcony. The sky is still orange. The sun, is somehow, still setting. Only now it's further along the horizon. The light is also somehow still perfect. Longest. Sunset. Ever. I finally go to bed. 

► 2: food trucks were parked at the lodge grounds: a Thai food one and a Mexican food one.

► 100: percent of our meals came from those two trucks during our stay. Two of our favorite types of food, and as a bonus we got to introduce Haley to Thai food. She loved it!

 

► 1: place we actually stopped and had a real sit down meal. On the return drive to Anchorage. The waitress immediately informed us the kitchen was out of...

► 3: items on the menu. Nope, make that...

► 4: items. OK, are we ready to order? Hang on. Now there are

► 5: items the kitchen is out of. Ready? OK thanks. <5 minutes later> Oh that thing you just ordered? Guess what? It's now the number...

► 6: item we are out of. 

► 8: swirls of soft serve was the maximum number you could get at the ice cream place next door. A mandatory stop, so I was told. Which, as it turns out, 8 was the perfect number for me.

There it is, or rather, there it should be.

► 3: more times we stopped at alleged 'scenic views' to maybe, just maybe, crawl out of the lowly, commoner stink of being a 70 Percenter.

► 0: views. Once again. For those of you that are just skipping around and not really seeing this thing all the way through.

► 100: percent chance that you will fall in love with this majestic, amazing place. We sure did. Even if you are destined to be just an ordinary 70% member, it's OK. Embrace it. We are coming to terms with it. And yet we still managed to love Denali anyways.

Thanks for hanging in there till the end. I guess it could've been worse. At least it wasn't their bicentennial.