Alaska 2017

After summiting Mount Rainier, I decided to scout Alaska (AK) ;). I booked a last minute flight from Seattle to Anchorage to NY, allowing me to spend 5 days in South-East Alaska.

Day 1 July 22 (Sat): I flew into Anchorage, AK from Seattle in the afternoon, picked up my rental car, drove to my hostel “Bent Prop Inn & Hostel Alaska” in town. After settling in and taking a nice shower, I went out to explore. I was super hungry, so went to have dinner first. I ate at Spenard Roadhouse and had their signature Roadhouse Burger. After dinner, I just went back to hostel to sleep. My roommate was an Italian woman who was working at the hostel for the summer as a cleaner.

Roadhouse Burger with Tots

Day 2 July 23 (Sun): I slept in a bit, then checked out from the hostel. I had my coffee and breakfast at SteamDot Cafe. Then went to Walmart to pickup a few things followed by a trip to REI to pick up fuel, and a few other things before driving away from the city.

After picking up all of necessities, I drove on Highway 1 South to Girdwood, AK to see Portage Glacier which is located within Chugach National Forest. There I took a cruise to see the glacier closeup. The cruise lasted an hour.

Waterfall seen from the boat to Portage Glacier

Portage Glacier

After visiting Portage Glacier, I started driving farther south towards Seward, AK. I stopped at Exit Glacier Campground in Kenai Fjords National Park. It is a FCFS campground and is free. I was able to find a nice site for myself. The campground has a designated cooking and eating area. Therefore, I was able to chat with other campers while preparing and eating my dinner who were also doing the same. The same thing happened at breakfast the next morning.

Day 3 July 24 (Mon): I again slept in a bit (ugh). I took some time to prepare and eat my breakfast, while chatting with some of the same campers from previous evening. After breakfast, I drove to Exit Glacier Nature Center. I took a little hike to a viewpoint where I could see the glacier. But due to climate change, the trail no longer takes you to the glacier anymore. From there it was off trail hiking to reach the glacier. I took a few cool photos there before heading back down.

Exit Glacier

Exit Glacier

Exit Glacier

Exit Glacier

After that I drove to the town Seward to see if there was still time to do sea kayaking. It turned out their 4 PM sea kayaking trip got canceled, and I would not have the time to do it the next morning. So, I instead signed up for 3.5 hour Fox Island Dinner Cruise, which cost me $100 with tax. On the way back from Fox Island, the captain took us to Kenai Fjords National Park hoping to see some sea-life. We saw a mountain goat and a bald eagle.

I got back to my camp late that night.

Day 4 July 25 (Tues): Today I tried to wake up earlier than previous two days. Made breakfast, ate, and while finishing up my breakfast, the family from Florida came to the cooking area. So I started chatting with them.

Once I left the camp, I started driving north to visit Denali National Park. It was a very long drive. So, I stopped in Anchorage on the way and got buffet Indian Lunch, picked up gas. The drive to the park was nothing but scenic. But I was under time pressure to stop to take pictures.

Arriving at the Riley Creek Campground registration at the entrance of the park, I signed up for a walk-in site and for the park bus the next morning leaving at 7:15 AM (ouch! that’s early ;)). I also bought a shower coin and enjoyed a long shower ;). I set up the camp, made dinner, and went to bed.

Day 5 July 26 (Wed): I woke up at 5 AM, made breakfast, then packed my bag and drove to Wilderness Access Center, where I picked up the park bus. I bought the ticket to go up to Mile 85 on the park road where Wonder Lake Campground is located. I was not planning on staying in that campground since my return flight was leaving next day. It is the closest campground to the mountains. However due to foggy day, I did not get to see much views.

Some pictures with the view

Do I still look sleepy? Yes, I do 🙂

Wonder Lake

Wonder Lake

Wonder Lake Campground

Wonder Lake Campground Camping Are

I spent a long time at the Eielson Visitor Center. It is the closest visitor center to the mountains. I got to learn a few things about climbing Denali.