This recently concluded Alaskan roadtrip (September 2018) has rendered me powerless. I have lost control over my thoughts, for all I dream about now are whales, glaciers, grizzlies and the northern lights…
Our Route
Our base station was Anchorage, and we sort of did an “8” around it, following the Great Alaskan Railroad. From Anchorage, we first went south to Seward, then made our way north to Talkeetna, Denali, Fairbanks and then back to Anchorage.
We rented an ever “red” ready Dodge Journey from Anchorage and drove it to its bones literally, fending off hordes of mosquitos in the process.
Day 1: September 3rd, Monday
What better way to start off the week right than fly to the so-called “final frontier”, that is The 49th state of America!
We flew in to Anchorage from San Francisco, taking an early morning flight and reaching our destination by mid-day. Our ride was pre-booked with Entreprise and getting out of the airport was quite hassle-free. We did catch some glimpses at the airport of what lay waiting for us outside…
Next we checked-in to our hotel for the night — the ever-dependable Quality Suites in Downtown Anchorage. This was followed by an excellent lunch in the neighborhood at Middle Way Cafe- my first Alaskan salmon meal in Alaska!
We then decided to visit to the Anchorage museum, which was right-next door to our hotel. We were very impressed by the careful curation of this museum, which displayed almost every possible item used by the native Alaskan people.
We knew we had a jam-packed trip awaiting us, so we stopped by Carrs grocery and stocked up big time. The end of the day was marked by a short and sweet advance birthday celebration for yours truly.
Day 2: September 4th, Tuesday
Its cruise day! We thought why not start our trip with a bang. So we got ourselves up and ready early, grabbed some coffee and set off south on the scenic Seward highway, towards its namesake. We were treated with some gorgeous views along the windy road, intermittent with bouts of mist hanging low over the many bodies of water around this road.
We reached Seward in good time (3 hours), and boarded the 6-hour Kenai Fjords Charter Boat leaving at 11:30am.
Wildlife sightings were aplenty on this trip which could not be photographed well for the lack of a telephoto lens. We saw all of the following fauna:
- Sea otters
- Puffins
- Seagulls
- Cormorants
- Sea lions
- (Harbor) Seals
- Killer whales (Orcas)
- Humpback Whale: We saw the common blow as well as the not so common fluke! This is usually followed by the breach move but were not so lucky this time.
We were also treated to some amazing views of some of the famous glaciers on this tour, namely the Bear glacier, Pederson glacier and the mighty Aiyalik glacier. There are apparently 3 types of glaciers — the Tidewater, Alpine and Valley glacier.
We were taken up close to view the Aiyalik glacier which is a tidewater type and drains the Harding Icefield. What struck us was the sheer magnanimity of it. It did not seem so huge from afar till the guide told us the wall was a few hundred feet !!! Its the largest and the most actively calving glacier in the park. We could also see many adventurous Kayakers rowing close to it making their way amongst the shards of ice floating in the waters.Saw some seals too, floating lazingly on the sheets of ice. It all seemed so pristine and pure!
We were quite sapped after this sea adventure tour, and headed straight to the comfort of our hotel — the Seward Windsong Lodge — a very spacious property right on the northern edge of Seward.
Had a late night dinner afterwards at the Highliner restaurant not having much of a choice what with the city shutting down pretty early (10pm) towards the end of summer season. It was indeed the most memorable birthday of my life!
Day 3: September 5th, Wednesday
Anuj(my brother) and I got up super early as we had decided to go kayaking along the resurrection bay. Unfortunately it was too windy so the guide cancelled it, claiming that it would to be too dangerous to go out into the Bay.
So we quickly set up another interesting adventure — a short (~1 mile) trek to the exit glacier, organized by our hotel itself.
We then had some good Greek Lunch at the Apollo Grill. Onwards, most of the activities were closed for the season, so Anuj and I signed up for some zip-lining which turned out to be an exhilarating experience.It was a 3 hour tour featuring 8 zip-lines, 3 suspension bridges and 2 rappels.Here we got to explore the temperate rain forests Zipping over the Spruce trees.
All in all, Seward seemed like a ghostly town to us. A town that had seen its highs already and with the summer season towards its end, had silently retreated into hibernation.
Stay tuned for Part 2 where we travel back north into the wilderness of Alaska!
