Alaska trip in a nutshell

Mount Blackburn (elevation: 4996 m)

A FEW NUMBERS:

• Trip duration: 14 days
• Flight time: 9:30 hours from Frankfurt (on a 767 from Condor Airways).
• Total distance: 4,200 KM (the map below shows the main cities visited)
• Max speed allowed on AK highways: 65 mil/h
• Avg speed of 55 mph drops significantly (30 mph) on gravel roads (McCarthy-Kennicott)
• Weather in August (end of the season): sunny most of the  day (8), one/two showers (3 days), rainy (3)
• Max temp: 73 F / 23 C (Anchorage).
• Min temp: 44 F / 6 C (Richardson Hwy).
• Average temp: 63 F / 17 C during the day.
• Notable wildlife: Grizzli bear (1), Black Bears (2), Moose (6),  Bald Eagles (10+), Mosquitoes (0! - dry season), lots of Salmon and other fish in Kenai Peninsula.

FEW FACTS ABOUT ALASKA

 The knowledge about Alaska in Europe is quite limited (we found ourselves being asked by most of our friends what we will do there/why we are travelling to Alaska at all - we hope our posts provided some answers). This observation was shared by the few travellers that we met during our journey. With the exception of Denali, Alaska largerly remains an 'off beaten path' / very wild destination. :) 

 •Denali National Park is one of the largest in the United States and encompasses North America's highest mountain. Denali is the 20,320-foot peak's traditional name, but modern explorers dubbed it Mount McKinley.
 •Wrangell-St. Elias National Park is the largest and most magnificent of Alaska's sprawling national parks, with nine of the 16 highest peaks in the United States
 •Alaska has a population of only ~750k people. The state owns 80% of the land (you hardly see no trespassing signs). The rest is owned by natives. Private property is only 1%.
•Alaska ranks first among U.S. states in federal expenditures per capita. About 1/3 of Alaska jobs depend—directly or indirectly--on federal spending.

BUDGETING A TRIP TO ALASKA

• Budget - main costs  (1.55 USD = 1 GBP as at Aug 2015).
• Accommodation cost: BnB - 80-150 USD per night.
• Avg fuel cost: Unleaded 87 - 3.6 USD / Gallon (3.79 L). 3.2 USD in Anchorage to 4 USD in Glenallen.
• Average fuel consumption: 25 miles per US gallon ie 11 L/100 km on GMC Terrain SUV (2.4L) 
• Toll roads: none except Whittier (13 USD per car).
• Mealprice range: 8-35 USD
• Flight cost: 1550 EUR (1100 GBP) per person
• SUV rental price: 100 USD per day with Nationalcar. Note that gravel roads are not insured by car rental companies.
• Avg wildlife park price per pers: 15 USD
• Extras can represent additional costs in Alaska (viewing flights, rafting or other activities). 

USEFUL LINKS

Aurora Borealis: most useful forecast is provided by the Geophysical Institute at http://www.gi.alaska.edu/AuroraForecast

Useful resources: www.Alaska.org, local brochures.

Recommended BnB:

• Copper Moose http://www.coppermoosebb.com
• Talkeetna Lodge: http://www.talkeetnadenaliviewlodge.com/
• Summit Lake: http://www.summitlakelodge.com/

OUR TRAVEL MAP

Note : A few day trips are not represented below due to Google maps restriction on the number of destinations.

Catching a silver salmon (Coho) in Whittier

Kenai Peninsula Rafting

Yesterday we went to Homer to see whether it deserves reputation of being even more pictoresque than Seward. Although the drive there was quite long (due to road works and heavy rain), it was definitely worth it. The city is gorgeous- with its long pier and lakes, marshes and , most of all, the sea that seems to surround it from every possible side. What adds further charm to it is the fact that apparently bears are not uncommon to be seen wandering around Homer and moose quite frequently appear on the streets (we even saw a sign warning of a recent moose sighting on a short trail we went). 
We also had a lovely chat with a waitress in a restaurant we went to. The waitress told us she was born and raised near White Mountain, which is the last human village far north. (we wish we could have more time to explore the wilderness of the north as well!). And after that one can only expect wandering bears and wolves.
On our way back we popped by the 'Salmon Stream' but no grizzlies felt like showing themselves to us in the rain (although we did hear very loud rustling in the bushes and some sounds of a bear wandering through the stream further down).

Today we spent a lovely day white water rafting. We went down the Kenai River and saw more than a dozen of eagles. Our amazing guide, who after having grown up in Colorado  and getting tired of all the commotion of big cities, decided to live on Kenai Peninsula ( he did use to come here every summer due to his uncle living here, so he was used to the conditions), told us many wonderful stories. Thanks to him we learnt that eagles are totally black when they are born and only get their white heads and 'collar' around the neck when they are about 3-4 years old. What's interesting, they also mate for life, which is even more praise-worthy considering their average life expectancy: 25 years.

The weather was gorgeous and we could fully appreciate the changing colours of the river- icy blue where the glacier water joins the darker blue water of the river. We also saw many salmons jumping around our boat. Apparently, right now it's silver salmon fishing time and no longer the red socketeye salmon which we saw around the 'Grizzly Point'.

Lunch never tasted better than the sandwiches we had on a deserted beach on the shore of Skilak lake, which is 15 miles long and can be 550 feet deep. It was even more incredible, considering that every minute a hungry black bear could have appeared there and asked us (not so politely) to share our lunch.
The glaciers on the horizon, joining the mirror of the lake made the return trip incredible. One can try to describe the landscapes we saw here in Alaska but the words truly are not enough. Not only do they fail to capture the colours and beauty of every single landscape but they also fail to describe the freshness of the air and the incredible feeling one gets when being in truest wilderness. The feeling of being surrounded by grizzlies, wolves and moose with eagles flying overhead...


Wczoraj pojechalismy do Homera, zeby sie przekonac, czy zasluguje na reputacje jeszcze piekniejszego niz Seward. Mimo, iz droga byla ciezka ze wzgledu na ciagly deszcz i roboty drogowe, miasto zdecydowanie wynagrodzilo nam nasze trudy. Niesamowite wrazenie robi pomost zdajacy sie ciagnac kilometrami, bagna, jeziora oraz otulajace cale miasto morze. Uroku dodaje fakt, ze podobno ulicami Homera czasami przechadzaja sie losie, a nawet niedzwiedzie. (Zreszta na krotkim spacerze zobaczylismy tabliczke ostrzegajaca przed grasujaca losica z malym).
Mielismy takze urocza pogawedke z kelnerka pracujaca w restauracji, w ktorej sie stolowalismy. Powiedziala nam, ze pochodzi z okolic White Mountain, czyli najdalej polozonej na polnoc ludzkiej osady. Poza nia biegaja tylko niedzwiedzie i losie.

W drodze powrotnej zajrzelismy nad nasz 'Lososiowy Potok', jednak misiom nie chcialo sie wystawiac nosa w taka pogode i tylko moglismy slyszec ciezkie stapanie w dole potoku i szelest krzakow (oraz czuc specyficzny zapach niedzwiedzia).

Dzis spedzilismy dzien na raftingu na Kenai River. Po drodze widzielismy ponad tuzin orlow. Nasz wspanialy przewodnik, ktory wychowal sie w Kolorado, jednak zmeczony zgielkiem duzego miasta zdecydowal zamieszkac na Alasce, w ktorej sie zakochal (jak i jego zona), opowiedzial nam wiele ciekawych historii. (Nalezy tu jednak napomknac o tym, ze dzieki temu, ze jego wujek pochodzi z Alaski, spedzal on wiekszosc swoich wakacji na Polwyspie Kenai, co tlumaczy niesamowite przystosowanie do tutejszych surowych warunkow zycia). Dzieki niemu dowiedzielismy sie, ze orly rodza sie czarne, a biala glowka i 'kolnierzyk' swiadczy o tym, ze ptak ma juz 3-4 lata. Co wiecej, sa bardzo stalymi partnerami- nie rozstaja sie do konca zycia. Jest to jeszcze bardziej godne pochwaly, gdy wezmie sie przecietna dlugosc zycia orla, ktora wynosi az 25 lat.
Pogoda byla cudowna i moglismy w calej okazalosci podziwiac zaskakujace kolory rzeki- od lodowatego niebieskiego w miejscu, w ktorym woda z lodowca laczy sie z woda rzeczna po ciemny granat. Widzielismy takze sporo lososi skaczacych wesolo wokol naszej lodki. Podobno teraz jest sezon na polow lososia srebrnego i zakonczyl sie wlasnie sezon na lososia, ktorego zaobserwowalismy w naszym 'Punkcie Grizzly', czy czerwonego 'socketeye salmon'.
Lunch nigdy nie smakowal lepiej niz kanapki, ktore zjedlismy na opuszczonej plazy wzdluz wybrzezy Jeziora Skilak( ktorego dlugosc wynosi 15 mil, a szerokosc 3, glebokosc max 160 m!). Uroku i dreszczyku emocji dodawal fakt, ze w kazdym momencie mogl zjawic sie wyglodnialy czarny mis i nas poprosic (niezbyt grzecznie) o oddanie mu lunchu.

Powrotna droga byla takze cudowna ze wzgledu na lodowce w oddali, ktore zdawaly sie wpadac do tafli jeziora. Mozna pokusic sie o opis krajobrazow, ktore widzielismy na Alasce, jednak zadne slowa nie sa w stanie oddac kolorow i piekna tych wszystkich widokow. Co wiecej, nie ujmuja swiezosci powietrza i tego niezwyklego uczucia, jakby nie z tej ziemi, ktore towarzyszy czlowiekowi przebywajacemu w zupelnej dziczy. Poczucia, ze jest sie otoczonym przez niedzwiedzie grizzly, schowane w glebi lasu wilki, losie oraz szybujace nad glowa orly...

Alaska: Bearaware

Our last few days were quite eventful. On Friday we arrived in Palmer and decided to go on a hike. The trail, although very sandy at times, turned out to be very rewarding. The views from the top were magnificent with mountains and glacier Matanuska towering over town. It was so sunny that we nearly got a heatstroke due to being unprepared for such heat. (In retrospective we should have complained less about the sun! Although we do like the rain, which has been our companion for the last two days). Happy after the hike, we were planning on having a nice, relaxing evening. Unfortunately, as we all know, gods don't like it when humans think they can plan everything and we ended up spending most of the evening in the hospital due to cellulitis that developed on NIka's finger. We did learn a lot of useful things (how to precisely inject lidocaine and that epineprhine can be used on fingers as well, contrary to popular beliefs as well as the fact that weapons (what a surprise!) are not allowed in the hospital. We also realised that NHS is not so bad after after having been presented with hospital bill.

On Saturday we drove to our current accomodation, which is near a town bearing a lovely name: 'Moose Pass'. We spent some time in Starbucks in Anchorage, where we learnt another fact: since our last visit in the States, Starbucks has introduced a new (definitely American) size. Now, customers can not only enjoy tall, grande and venti but also trenta, which is 30 oz (900 ml!)

We spent the evening in Seward, a beautiful town at the seaside.

Today, heavy rain in the morning discouraged us from hiking outdoors. This proved to be quite lucky, as one of the hikes chosen by us turned out to be in the 'middle of Bearland' and the hike would have been quite adventurous indeed. And how do we know that? Because we spotted two(!) TWO bears today: a grizzly bear and a black bear. We were casually driving through a gorgeous forest, when we saw a stream with dozens of salmons jumping so high and splashing the water around so much that they seemed to be attracting attention of every creature in the forest (hence ours as well). We stopped the car and decided to wait. (In the meantime we had a lunch consisting of peanutbutter sandwiches). Our patience got rewarded as after a small hour a grizzly went out of the forest. It was 3 metres away from us and once again, we couldn't help but feel respect towards it. One cannot even describe what a bear encounter feels like and bear in mind( amazing pun, right?)the fact that we were sitting in the car. Even though inside, we could still feel adrenaline rush when we apprehended the bear. (Afterwards we found out that there had been mauldings in this area).

Shortly after we've driven away, a black bear ran across the street. Having seen them, we have to agree that Kenai Peninsula is truly full of bears.

We spent the evening in Kenai City and Soldotna, both of which surprised us with their sizes. Suddenly, in the middle of nowhere, in true wilderness when one can encounter a grizzly bear or a majestatic moose, a city with Walmarts, Fred Meyers and McDonalds arises. (One could definitely debate whether it is a good thing). Tomorrow we are planning to go to Homer, which is supposedly even more beautiful than Seward.

Ostatnie kilka dni bylo pelne wrazen. W piatek dotarlismy do Palmera i postanowilismy wybrac sie na hike. Szlak, pomimo, iz miejscami dosc ciezki ze wzgledu na mase piachu, odwdzieczal sie wspanialymi widokami na lodowiec Matanuska i gory otaczajace miasto Palmer. Bylo tak slonecznie, ze prawie dostalismy udaru, gdyz nie bylismy przygotowani az na taki gorac. (Jednak z perspektywy widac, iz nie powinnismy byli tak narzekac na to slonce. Od dwoch dni pada- nam jednak ten deszcz specjalnie nie przeszkadza, a wrecz dodaje uroku pokrywajac mgla lasy i gory). Szczesliwi i zmeczeni po hike'u, planowalismy spedzic spokojny wieczor. Jednak, bogowie nie lubia, kiedy ludzie mysla, ze moga wszystko zaplanowac i postanowili pokrzyzowac nam plany. Piatkowy wieczor spedzilismy w szpitalu, gdyz w rane na palcu Niki wdala sie infekcja. Nauczylismy sie wielu przydatnych rzeczy (jak wstrzykiwac lidocaine, czyli miejscowe znieczulenie oraz tego, iz, wbrew ogolnie panujacym przekonaniom, adrenalina takze moze byc wstrzykiwana w palec. Co jednak najwazniejsze, dowiedzielismy sie, ze do szpitala nie mozna wniesc broni). Po otrzymaniu rachunku zdalismy sobie takze sprawe z tego, ze NHS moze jednak nie jest taki zly.

W sobote pojechalismy do naszej aktualnej lodgy, ktora znajduje sie niedaleko miasteczka o uroczej nazwie 'Moose Pass' (czyli 'przejscie dla losi'). Spedzilismy takze troche czasu w naszym ulubionym Starbucksie w Anchorage i dowiedzielismy sie, ze od czasu naszego ostatniego pobytu w Stanach Starbucks wprowadzil czwarty (wybitnie amerykanski) rozmiar. Teraz klienci moga nie tylko zamowic napoj o wielkosci tall, grande czy venti ale nawet trenta, czyli 30 oz!

Wieczor spedzilismy w Seward, uroczym nadmorskim miasteczku.
Dzisiejszego ranka bardzo padalo, co zniechecilo nas do hike'u. I dobrze sie stalo, gdyz jeden ze szlakow, ktore potencjalnie wybralismy znajdowal sie w samym sercu 'Krolestwa Niedzwiedzi'. A skad to wiemy? Otoz jadac powoli samochodem przez piekny las, ujrzelismy strumyk z wesolo skaczacymi lososiami. Byly ich dziesiatki i wydawaly tyle odglosow, ze przyciagaly wszystkie chyba stworzenia zyjace w lesie( a juz na pewno mewy i kruki niespokojnie krazace nad lososiami). Postanowilismy zaczekac tam godzine i poobserwowac w nadziei, iz ujrzymy jakiegos misia. Nasza cierpliwosc zostala wynagrodzona, gdyz faktycznie, po malej godzince, z krzakow wylonil sie grizzly. Ciezko opisac uczucia, ktore towarzysza czlowiekowi, gdy spotyka niedzwiedzia. Grizzly pojawil sie w odleglosci 3 metrow od nas i mimo, iz bylismy bezpieczni w samochodzie i tak odczulismy 'przyplyw adrenaliny'. Jest to czysta masa, sila i dzikosc. Naprawde niesamowite przezycie. Co wiecej, pozniej przeczytalismy, ze w okolicy tego potoku zdarzaly sie ataki na ludzi, wiec dobrze, ze zostalismy w samochodzie.
Tuz pod odjechaniu znad strumyka, przebiegl nam przed samochodem black bear. Po spotkaniu obu misi, musimy sie zgodzic, ze Kenai to ich krolestwo.
Wieczor spedzilismy w Kenai i Soldotnie, miastach, ktore zadziwiaja swoim rozmiarem. Niesamowite jest to, ze czlowiek znajduje sie w sercu lasu, w zupelnej dziczy, gdzie mozna spotkac niedzwiedzia czy losia, lecz nagle wjezdza do miasta z Walmartem, Fredem Meyersem i McDonalds. (Mozna by tu debatowac czy to dobrze...)
Jutro wybieramy sie do Homer, ktore podobno jest jeszcze ladniejsze niz Seward.

McCarthy- Valdez- Glenallen

Today we drove back to Glenallen and the gravel road leading through Wrangell-St Elias National Park that we took two days ago was even more pictoresque with the sun shining. The swans were majestatically traversing dark blue lakes and the squirrels (red ones!) jumping in front of the car seemed to be amazed by the fact that the snow that fell two days ago in the mountains managed to cover some of the peaks. We also passed ghost town Chitina, which did look as if the world has forgotten about its existance (although it definitely has not, considering the fact that those tourists that do not want to take the risk and brave the gravel road on their own, take shuttle buses to McCarthy from there. The Israeli couple told us that the cost of such a shuttle bus is almost 500 dollars for two people! (in comparison, our petrol costed only 35 dollars).

Having arrived in Glenallen, we decided that it was too early to go to our bed and breakfast and drove to Valdez (another 115 miles). Valdez turned out to be a beautiful port town, entirely surrounded by mountains. We also saw another glacier on our way there.
The diversity of landscapes in Alaska does not cease to amaze us. We thought that after McCarthy and the glaciers, Anchorage with its Chuchag mountains(where we went for a hike) and quite flat Fairbanks with military bases, nothing could surprise us but the road to Valdez and Valdez itself proved us wrong. The mountains surrounding Valdez are different to the ones in Wrangell- St Elias Park (which, notabene, is definitely wilder and even more beautiful and diverse than Denali). They are covered by green bushes and seem to be less 'severe', even though there are some glaciers there as well.

Dzisiaj wrocilismy z McCarthy ta sama zwirowana droga, ktora jechalismy dwa dni temu (innej drogi nie ma). Droga okazala sie jeszcze piekniejsza, skapana w sloncu. Po drodze widzielismy labedzie majestatycznie przemierzajace granatowe jeziora ukryte w lasach i wiewiorki (rude! rzadkosc w Polnocnej Ameryce) wesolo skaczace przed samochodem. Minelismy takze wymarle miasto Chitina, ktore okreslane jest jako 'ghost town' (czyli miasto duchow). Jednakze nie jest to do konca prawda, ze swiat o Chitinie zapomnial, bo z tego miasteczka wlasnie wyruszaja shuttle busy, ktore zabieraja tych turystow, ktorzy boja sie zmierzyc ze zwirkowa droga. Co ciekawe, para z Izraelu powiedziala nam, ze taka przejazdzka w dwie strony dla dwoch osob kosztuje 500(!) dolarow. My za benzyne zaplacilismy okolo 35.(a jakie widoki!!).

Po dotraciu do Glenallen, stwierdzilismy ze jest za wczesnie, zeby udac sie do naszej lodzy i wyruszylismy do oddalonego o 115 mil miasteczka Valdez. Valdez okazalo sie urokliwa portowa miescinka, otoczona z kazdej strony przez gory. Po drodze widzielismy kolejny lodowiec.
Alaska nie przestaje nas zaskakiwac roznorodnoscia krajobrazow. Po McCarthy z przepieknymi gorami i lodowcami oraz dzikimi lasami, Anchorage z gorami Chuchag, w ktorych wybralismy sie na hike i dosc plaskim Fairbanks z bazami wojskowymi, myslelismy, ze widzielismy juz wiekszosc krajobrazow Alaski. Po drodze do Valdez okazalo sie jednak, ze gory, ktore sie znajduja tam sa zupelnie inne. Bardziej zielone, sprawiaja wrazenie 'lagodniejszych', mimo, iz tez skrywaja lodowce.