South To The Past: Parts 1 and 2

About time I got to the Alaska trip recount. It's not like I had my hands mauled by a bear or suffered extreme frostbite, but I did get to experience the wonderful bliss known as airline travel. Without further ado, let's get to it.

Wednesday:

The trip began 4:00am Wednesday September the 24th. Okay, it really didn't start then, but thanks to those darn terrorists, you are forced to get to the airport so early that you might as well go the night before and camp out. Nothing really else very exciting and the 6:00am flight to Seattle left without a hitch. Next up, a four-hour layover. Yes, get up super early so you can sit around and wait. Yippie! I actually did estimate that we could have driven from Bend to Seattle and still made the flight to Anchorage. Oh well.

My daughter slept off most of the lay-over, so no worries for her. I basically waited and captured photos of seats, her sleeping and potential terrorists. The old lady with the bagel looked very suspicious. After what seemed like four hours, since it was, we boarded our next flight. Being the tall gentleman that I am, I had my request for the exit row granted. I had my daughter next to me, but once we were seated, she was booted from the row due to only being 13. She didn't mind, but instead of having her sit next to me, a man as tall as me and about one-hundred pounds heavier squeezed in next to me, proclaiming "the freak section!". Oh gawwwwwwwwd....

About thirty minutes into the flight, the third man from our section was able to move somewhere else. Thankfully, the huge dude moved over, leaving an empty seat between us, allowing me to be able to breathe again. Ahhhhhhhh... He really was big, and at one point during the flight he used the restroom and set off the smoke detector because he must have blocked the air-flow to the device. Crazy.

The flight from Seattle to Anchorage is a little over three-hours, so it's not too bad. Going to Alaska you also go to the Alaskan Time Zone, which is an hour earlier than the Pacific Time Zone, so while the slogan is North To The Future. you are really going North To The Past, which also makes the title of this entry make even less sense, since on the return trip I went South To The Future. Confusing enough for you?

We arrived at the airport where my dad greeted us. He had flown up a few days prior since he was there primarily for conference meetings. The weather was mostly cloudy with light rain and since the clouds covered the mountains the city itself really didn't look much different than a mix of Eugene, Portland and all those other wonderful places where it always rains and has cloudy skies. Being wet and hungry we required substanance, so a quick stop to the Arctic Roadrunner for some burgers was in order. Nothing too special, but after being in airports and airplanes almost anything will do.

The first night was mainly spent soaking in the hot tub and planning for the next few days which would have much fuller schedules. Of course prior to settling in for good we did head out for dinner at the Mooses Tooth, which I swear, had the best pizza I have ever had. Yummmmmmmmmmmmmm...

Thursday:

Today was the day we drove south on the Seward HWY along Turnagain Arm. It was somewhat unfortunate that we didn't have clear skies because the scenery is simply amazing along this drive. Even with the clouds and light rain it didn't take away much from the never-ending snow-capped mountains. Wow. The first major stop was in the small town of Girdwood where Alyeska Ski Resort is located. Our first adventure, the Alyeska Tram:

The tram travels up a little over 2,000 feet and your ears pop a few times in the seven minute ride. The view is amazing, and thankfully our car only had about six people in it. The cars can hold up to about 60 people, and yes while we were up at the top, a car unloaded with a large group. We hiked around a bit, but were somewhat cautious due to the signage.

After the tram ride, we continued south towards Portage Valley. On the way we stopped at the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center, which was the hot spot for bear viewing with a nice fence to keep you safe. Of course some unlucky soul must have driven his car a little too close to the bear pond.

Yep, bears like tires. I cracked a bear joke and got the bear stare.

I think it might have been about all the "bear butts" that were being flaunted. Geez, family friendly, my eye.

They did have some other animals, and here's the obligatory moose shot.

After watching the bears chew the tire some more, we headed down the Portage HWY towards Portage Lake and the Begich Boggs Visitor Center which had a nice overview on glaciers and is the spot where you can see the Portage Glacier, which has receded more than my hairline in recent years. Ouch. Well, the wind and the rain picked up quite a bit, so a hike to the glacier was not very appealing. I had another glacier on the agenda, so I put my bets on making to that one instead.

We got back on the Seward HWY and headed south, passing through Turnagain Pass, Moose Pass and Crown Point. The radio didn't pick up much more than static during this drive, so it was roughing it in the truest sense of the word. At least the views just kept getting better and better. Soon enough we arrived in Seward and found a nice seafood place for some lunch, even though it was almost 4:00pm.

Since daylight wasn't going to be around much longer we got back in the van and headed North just a bit and went into Kenai Fjords National Park towards Exit Glacier. After a short drive we came around a bend and saw the glacier. Wow, a grand site, and we paused for a few photos before heading in closer for a short hike.

After a hike around a mile and a half, we reached the edge of the glacier. You couldn't touch it, due to the danger of a huge chunk falling on your head, but it was close enough to sense the magnificent size and power of the ice as it carved through the rock and dirt below.

After the return hike to the car, we did the drive North back to Anchorage, hitting road construction a few miles from the city. Blah! We made it back to the hotel around 9:00pm and crashed. The day trip was a success and plenty of great sights had been seen with still more to see.