Nature at it’s Best- Alaska

I had always heard Kashmir and Switzerland are our chance to see heaven on earth. Now I can include Alaska in that list as well. It’s a massive version of both Kashmir and Switzerland combined.

Hiten and I had been planning this trip for a long time; sitting in Barnes and Nobles reading the Milepost (must read and purchase it; its like your GPS for Alaska), Formmer’s Guide to Alaska and many other books. Researching on the Internet; I posted an iterinary on TripAdvisor and got some helpful tips from experts.

We added a little fun and scary element to our vacation by booking a 28ft RV from the Great Alaskan Holiday. We flew to Anchorage; once at the RV rental office we saw a long video about how to operate it and how to drive it. Once in the RV we felt it was like a mini home as it had All the facilities at home packed in a small truck. It was exciting operating the microwave, checking the water levels, filling fresh water and dumping the dirty water etc.  Our first stop was Walmart to buy all the groceries, cereal, milk and everyday basic things like paper towel, dishing soap etc.

We started by driving south of Anchorage to Seward. It was warm on our way and we were worried if we would use our warm clothes. We saw snow clad mountains, lush green Tundra and Taiga trees and wild flowers of purple, white and yellow color. It was beautiful. We stopped to see the Exit Glacier in Kenai Fjords National Park. It was not impressive and I think you can skip it as there are several other glaciers, which are majestic to see.

In Seward we went to Seward Municipal RV park which is cheap, walk away from downtown and amazing location. So look for city’s RV parks at each location. The RV park was facing the lake and mountains. It was wonderful to get up in the morning and be surrounded by such beauty. We boarded on the five hour Wildlife Cruise by Major Marines (they had the best reviews and were good). We saw bald eagles, puffins (my new fav bird), sea-lions, otters and finally after a long wait some whales.  The currents in the bay was not rough that day but recommend people who get sea sick to pop a Dramamine before boarding the cruise. We saw the Seward Sealife Center but its not so good so you can skip it.

Then we started towards Homer the land of bald eagles. We were driving all round to see eagles and finally got to see a few on the mud lands and in our RV park. We were just 3ft away from the eagles and got some good shots. Recommend to get up early at 6:30am and drive around the mud lands and you will be able to see many more like we did.

Our next stop was Whitter and my fav place as the glacier tour of Prince William Sound was amazing.  We saw glacier calving. Also check out the store ——-this lady has relocated from Bay Area to Whitter 30 years ago and owns a reindeer, which we saw. J

We stopped at random places where the view was good and took pictures. We saw lots of red salmon on our way.

Then, went to Hope and it’s a very small town; smaller than the smallest village in Kutch. People do fly fishing here. We stopped by as we had extra time before reaching Denali via Anchorage.  It can be skipped.

Next we passed through the towns of Palmer, Soldotna and stopped at Talkeetna for our flight tour of Mt. McKinley. Unfortunately, we could not to the tour as it was cloudy and the peaks were not visible. Must book this tour via Talkeetna Air Taxi as they are honest about the weather condition. If its bad weather they inform us and cancel the flight and refund the money.

Finally we reached Denali National Park. If you have an RV you must book the site in Riley Campground. It gets booked pretty fast so book it way in advance. We were there for two and half days. No vehicles are allowed after 15 miles in the park. You must book a bus tour that takes you inside the park. We booked the tour till Elisson Point, which is 66 miles inside the park. It was for almost 7 hours and tiring. We took turn on different days to go and did not take Naman with us. Do not recommend this for children below 5 as they must sit in car seat and not allowed to move.  Also park rangers want complete silence when we spot an animal so they do not run away. A crying baby or older child is not welcomed, as it will ruin the trip for others.  Since we went on different days we saw different wildlife like bears, caribous, fox, lynx, different birds, dall sheep. Mt McKinley  is only visible from Inside the park. Hiten is among the 10% lucky people on earth who visit Alaska to see Mt McKinley with 100% visibility from land. Its rare and I did not get to see it  from land and from air. L.  While on the bus you can get down mid way and hike into the park and come back at a specific time and the bus can pick you. We did not get to do that. The ranger programs in the evenings in the park are very informative and fun (must do). There is a dog sledge program and short stroller friendly hike near the visitor center.  We did the horse-shoe lake hike near the visitor center (Naman and in-laws did not come) and it was beautiful. Northern lights are visible sometimes in the park. We got at 2:30am one night to see but did not see it; some people saw it on the previous night.

We did not go to Fairbanks as there is nothing much to see there.

On our way back to Anchorage we went 50 miles on Glen Highway towards Valdez. We stayed overnight at Matanuska Glacier RV park. We can see the glacier from far from there. However, when we go a few miles ahead there is a massive property privately owned which includes the Matanuska Glacier.  The guy charges the fee of $20 per person and allows you to go way inside and then you can walk on the glacier.

We spoke to a lot of local people and got good info about cities or tips about what to do. Its good to go during the shoulder season i.e. mid or end of May  and mid or end Aug as the crowds are gone. Also there wont be any mosquitos at that time. Otherwise they are everywhere and bite a lot. We did not have to use our repellent at all.

Take lots of food from home. RV is a good choice as you don’t worry about kids food. You must order the Northern Lights coupon book as most tours accept it. It has buy one get one free offer so very useful.  Also with the coupon book you must reserve the tours 15 days in advance. You need a minimum of 7 full days in Alaska excluding the travel time. Recommend everyone without kids to plan their next trip to Alaska as you can do many more activities like sea kayaking  among ice bergs, white water rafting etc.

Many old people from the mainland came there for summer jobs; hopefully, I will be back in Denali for a summer job once I retire. J