Alaska! You want to go to Alaska in December?! Yes, we did - December wasn't a natural choice but we found ourselves heading that way at that time of year, so heh, what the hell! Before we got here, we did check with tourist information just to ensure that there would be something to do here and yes there was, not as much as in the tourist season but yes, we could do things, so off we went.
We eventually got here (Anchorage) from Calgary after 2 plane delays and a 3.5 hour flight with a very loud, annoying family sat behind! We checked in to our hotel and then hit the Glacier Brewhouse for a slap up meal and some beer (http://www.glacierbrewhouse.com/). Here is excellent atmosphere, good food and they have their own brewery onsite, how perfect was this after a rubbish day travelling?!
We spent a lot of time moose spotting in Anchorage and the best place we found was round by the airport of all places; particularly notable was a mother with her two “teenagers” 50 metres away in open parkland. We watched them through the binoculars and were fascinated. They are strange looking creatures, with big long noses, huge bodies and gangly legs but are beautiful and just like giraffes look docile and dopey. As we left Anchorage it began to snow and we saw little of the scenery as we drove to Seward. We were driving on snow packed/icy on the roads - thank goodness we had a 4x4 - it started snowing, it got heavier but we kept going - in the end we were driving through 18 inches of snow but we got to Seward and on the way to dinner built the biggest snowballs you have ever seen. Alaska is another place altogether, you think you've experienced getting away from it all and then you come here.
We looked around Seward and headed back and stayed at Girdwood - charming little place which is at the bottom of the local skiing hills. Heading back towards Anchorage the Turnagain Arm again performed a remarkable trick of nature as the bore tide raced towards us – a single wave, the width of the inlet travelling at unbelievable pace up the valley. We turned and raced it along the roadway, surprised at our unbelievable luck of timing at awe of the natural phenomenon. What had already been a good day got even better when we revisited our moose spotting ground at the airport and hit the jackpot. East of Earthquake Park I spotted a moose near the path, so we pulled in and walked the track to him – but he was coming our way. Slowly, but surely he plodded towards us, hardly acknowledging our presence and we back tracked to a conveniently located fir tree. He ambled on, nonchalantly stopping to munch on twigs either oblivious to us, drunk on fermented berries, or so sure of himself that he couldn’t care less. He was large – his withers head height, with a large, symmetrical rack of antlers and he looked beautiful, a gorgeous old dear, pardon the pun! He was joined by a friend, equal in stature who eyed us closely through the fir tree. The two put on a half hearted rut, I imagine deliberately for the delight of the camera touting tourists that had now assembled before idling across the road to check out the twigs on the airport side of the highway. I was made-up. We couldn’t have been any closer and such a perfect display too. The affable, droopy-jawed were a delight. We simply couldn’t believe what we were seeing. These two beautiful creatures, we felt, had come especially for us.
On another day we headed to the Matanuska Glacier. 27 miles long and 4 miles wide at its terminal end it was an incredible sight from a top the road looking down. What was even more incredible and quite unexpected was a private tour into what felt like the glaciers heart – a vast expanse of snowy white, icy blue winter wonderland. This was the most beautiful glacier we had seen, the heavy snow hiding the ugly grey moraine we’d found on other glaciers. Standing on our own amidst this glacial wilderness was a surreal and humbling experience – mother nature at her best. We also had a snow-dog for company.
The days in Alaska are short at this time of year. Productive sight seeing can only really be achieved from 10:30 (sunrise at 10 ish) to 3:30 on a good day or earlier if the clouds are thick bringing dusk sooner. Today was a good day – for sightseeing, but more so for dog sledding – and this was what today was about. By 11am the sun was out, low as usual, but spreading warm rays across the snow covered trees and giving them an ethereal glow. We were met at Montana Creek by a large bearded man with a friendly smile and an even larger dog, which to me looked more like a well fed wolf than a “sled-dog”. This was Boddie, the daddy, and the other dogs were literally bouncing around waiting to see us down the lane. Yapping, barking, running in circles on short chains, jumping on their kennels – they looked almost as excited as I was about the forthcoming adventure! Despite looking absolutely crazed, all the dogs were as friendly as house pouches, with distinct, individual personalities and all adorable. After hooking them up to the sled they whisked us swiftly through the woods and out to a glorious winter wonderland. Thick snow padded the ground all around, pine trees dotted the scene and the sun glowed warmly on the horizon lighting up the Talkeetna mountain range in the distance. It really couldn’t have been a more beautiful day. Occasionally we stopped the sled to thank the dogs – they were doing a brilliant job and giving us so much fun – they even looked like loving it themselves. It was over all too quickly and after a cuddle with Boddie and Dixie we were gone. But with a twinkle in our minds for more dog mushing adventures one day and thoughts of “What would the Iditarod really be like?” Now that would be a challenge! Hmmm…?!
We travelled to Fairbanks, 65 degrees north, one of the furthest places north we've been so far and had another go at dog mushing with Cathy - her dogs were not as domestic as before and when we took off down a hill towards a hair pin turn at 100mph we did wonder what we'd let ourselves in for. But this was great fun and well worth the trip to Fairbanks - we'd previously tried cross country skiing by just hiring the skis and going off without any instruction - we nearly broke our backs and decided that we would never do that again, it'll always be downhill skis from now on!
The journey back from Fairbanks was a totally different experience to the one up. When we left Fairbanks a chink of clear sky appeared on the horizon under the thick grey blanket of sky and as we travelled south it opened up to reveal blue skies, hazy clouds and a low burning orange sun. At times, in its evening descent its intensity was such that it appeared as though the roads end plunged into a fiery furnace. Compounding the beauty of the snowy Alaskan winter is the low sun and the way it picks out tree tops and mountain summits with gorgeous golden highlights. Apart from a glimpse of Denali on our first day from Anchorage, America’s highest mountain had eluded us. But today, somebody wanted us to see it. As we drove along, wondering where the mountain was and if we could see it, the suns low winter rays lit up a large mountain like a star on a Christmas tree. Was this Denali? It couldn’t be anything else surely. The king of the Alaskan range with its southern face glowing was simply breathtaking in its beauty. We had finally witnessed the elusive Denali in all its winter splendour and I don’t think we could have seen it in a better light (see photo above). Watching the grey, blue, purple and gold hues of Denali wasn’t the only special moment of today. We passed a small group of caribou resting near the roadside – our first wild sighting and a moose munching twigs on the snow covered verge. Susan Chernak Mcelroy cites in her book, Heart in the Wild, that truly wild animals aren’t always stumbled on by chance. Sometimes they choose to be seen. I really felt as though those lovely creatures were there to make the end of our trip special. There is a certain power that lies beneath a simple animal encounter – and I felt it this afternoon like magic stepping out of the forest and into my path.
We stopped in Talkeetna again, had breakfast at the lodge - 6 eggs or 12 eggs for breakfast? Along with the usual hash brown, crispy bacon etc. I went for the wimpy half breakfast - only 6 eggs! We then got our wish as the flights were going out today for flightseeing round Denali. Just me and Helen and the pilot - what a fabulous trip - we sailed like birds over the Alaskan range and the grand Denali that we had sighted from so far yesterday. The power of nature can’t be much more evident than the soaring divide formed form tectonic plate action and the enormous expanse of glaciers that run like frozen rivers between the rugged peaks (see photo above). The enormity of what lay beneath as we circled and dived between the mountains (Foraker, Hunter, Denali and the amphitheatre the Moose’s Tooth) was incomprehensible even with the dimensions cited by our excellent pilot – 60 miles long, 2 miles wide (Khalita Glacier), larger than the Grand Canyon (the great gorge) and 14,000 feet continuous vertical drop of the Wickersham Wall - the largest land cliff on earth! It was the ultimate finale to our Alaskan trip - amazing - we were so glad we came at this time of year. We want to come back to do the cruises for the glaciers and whale watching but December is still a cool time to come!
