Alaska Adventure

Scott and I spent over 3 weeks in August getting to know Alaska on bike, on foot, in a van, a bus for a day tour and in a rental car.  We flew there and home - first time flying in a very long time because of covid.  

Impressions:  Beautiful and amazing scenery - when you can see it.  The weather was mostly gray with low clouds and no sun, so we didn't see as much of it as we'd have liked.

No one wears a mask there.  On our flights home from Fairbanks to Anchorage and then Anchorage to Denver, we got covid  Delta.  Or I got it and then gave it to Scott later.  No fun. More on that later.

On the ride that started with a van ride from Anchorage to some quieter highway north of there.

A rare clear day - just over Thompson Pass

Homer.  Lovely fishing village.

Outside of Anchorage on the Turnagain Arm outside Anchorage

Beautiful salmon. We saw thousands of spawning salmon in the rivers too.  We had a modern Airbnb on top of a hill with a fabulous view of the harbor. 

We biked for a week with an organized tour called Alaskabike.  We don't recommend this small company or their Alaska tour.  We saw beautiful vistas on 2 of our 6 riding days.

We rented a car from Anchorage on our own and then again to share with Kirin and Matt.  With them we drove and stayed in Homer and Seward, great small coastal towns.  The guys fished and we sent fish home! beautiful salmon, halibut, and rock fish.

Then we 4 friends flew to Katmai Peninsula and Brooks Lodge to see the grizzlies in the river.  The most AMAZING and fabulous things I've done.  We loved it - even the scare when the bear was in the road and we couldn't walk by and when the momma bear and cub walked right behind us.  Interesting delay at King Salmon airstrip too but we finally got back to Anchorage.

Still with Kirin and Matt, we rented a car from Anchorage to see more interior Alaska, driving north to visit Talkeetna, Palmer (giant cabbage), Hatcher Pass (mining remnants, vistas & flowers), Denali (bus trip to interior but can't see Denali due to clouds.  We did see animals), Fairbanks & Pike's Landing (Iditarod start & Love Alaska), North Pole (Santa, Mrs. Claus & reindeer & rain), Chena Hot Springs (interesting but dumpy & not enough help).

Fairbanks on the Tanana River near Pike's Landing

Rainy day walking in North Pole

Kayaking trip with a company in Seward.  Had a cute little Airbnb house and walked to the main street to meet tour guide.

Amazing flowers on the hike on top of Hatcher Pass. Chilly up there.

The momma and baby bear who snuck past us from a trail, as we waited for a big bear to get off this dirt road.  So close!  Very exciting after the fact.

Our bus trip in to Denali Backcountry Lodge was cancelled due to a mudslide on the road, so we improvised and had a good time seeing other things. And we saved $.  We'd been to wilderness & Denali a lot on this trip so it was actually a good thing for all of us.

The falls at Brooks Lodge were a happening place - we saw about 20 bears there at times. Never fewer than 10.

Sleeping bear.  We were on the walkway above.