It has been a long time coming. A place that I have always wanted to see. One of many on my list of things to accomplish in life. Joseph wants to see bears. I want to see a touch a glacier.
Saturday is the summer solstice, the time when the sun doesn't even set in Alaska. Be sure to bring your sleep mask, your black curtains, whatever. It will be hard to fall asleep, but who would want to in a place like that. Start in Anchorage, drive to Whittier where we jump in a cruise boat on the Prince William Sound to view tidewater glaciers: the kind that creak and groan as they inch towards the water, breaking off chunks of ice the size of a car. Next, on the most beautiful drive in all of America, down the Kenai peninsula; destination, Homer, AK. It is the end of the road at the end of all land on the peninsula. An artist's community. I expect it will be hard to leave. Joseph will judge the place based on the quality of it's pottery, me, I base it on the quality of good cookin' and pristine landscapes. We will spend three days there, visit an isolated island community, with floating art studios and coffee shop, via the mail delivery boat (aka "water taxi"). One of our days will be spent kayaking around the estuary, viewing sea life, rock formations, and volcanoes in the distance. Next, we head up to Palmer, spending the whole day driving. This the Matanuska Valley where you can find giant cabbages and zucchini squash the size of your head. All due to the midnight sun and fertile soil. From there, we traverse the lone Denali highway, preparing for our journey the following day into the Denali National Park. We will hop onto a bus and ride into the park, 4 hours in one direction. At any point can you get off the bus to hike around. Soak in the landscape without a trace of human disturbance, view the wildlife: mountain goats, all sorts of birds, eagles, bear, moose.
A friend told me today that you are supposed to wear a bell for black bears and carry pepper spray for grizzly bears. And if you come across bear poop, you can tell the difference between the two bears. The poop of the grizzly bear will have bells in it and smell like pepper spray.
At the end of our day of bus-riding and hiking, I'm sure we will be thrilled to be sitting by the river, relaxing. The next day we travel south again to the small community of Talkeetna. That night, we hop onto a small plane to take a sight-seeing flight around Mt. McKinley (known as Denali to the natives - which is it's original name) and then land on a glacier half way up the mountain. It will be thrilling to say the least. I'm quite nervous about that portion of the trip, but I'm sure it is well worth the stress. A night in Talkeetna, and then back down to Anchorage where we spend two nights, riding bicycle around the coastal trail, a vigorous hike to the top of Flat Top Mountain to view the sun before going to bed, and then a tour around the Heritage Center where we will see totem poles and learn about Alaskan history and it's people.
It is one trip (of many) of a lifetime. So amazing. We won't get to see all of Alaska. It's just another reason to go back.
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