Abhishek and I made a trip to Alaska in July. It was a wonderful opportunity to reconnect with nature. We did a cruise at Prince William Sound where we saw majestic glaciers, we hiked up a mountain to a valley of ice in Kenai Fjords, went deep into the valley at Denali National Park, and drove along the ocean and the mountain ranges. This is a memoir of our wonderful experiences on this trip!
Our Itinerary:
Day 1: Cruise at Prince William Sound
Day 2: Kenai Fjords and the Harding Ice Field Hike
Day 3: Matanuska Glacier
Day 4: Denali National Park
Our Itinerary:
Day 1: Cruise at Prince William Sound
Day 2: Kenai Fjords and the Harding Ice Field Hike
Day 3: Matanuska Glacier
Day 4: Denali National Park
Cruise at Prince William Sound
Our first day in Alaska began nice and early in Anchorage. After a good breakfast, we drove to Whittier, a small port on the Gulf of Alaska, that hosts cruises going into Prince William Sound. Here it is in all its glory, with a sum total of 1 building :D Can't beat the view though.
The cruise itself was half a day long, and went deep into the sound. The sound was named after the son of George, the third - Prince William, who later became King William.
There are a large number of glaciers in the sound, our cruise took us to 26! We saw College Fjord, which has glaciers named after some famous men's and women's colleges - Vassar, Bryn, Harvard, Yale and Downer. We saw folks fishing for pink salmon. And we saw many otters enjoying and sunbathing in the sub zero temperature.
Here are some lovely sights from our cruise.
There are a large number of glaciers in the sound, our cruise took us to 26! We saw College Fjord, which has glaciers named after some famous men's and women's colleges - Vassar, Bryn, Harvard, Yale and Downer. We saw folks fishing for pink salmon. And we saw many otters enjoying and sunbathing in the sub zero temperature.
Here are some lovely sights from our cruise.
So much prettiness all around, we can't seem to stop smiling!
In the pictures below we're in front of Surprise Glacier. It's one of the most active calving glaciers in the Sound. We saw pieces of the glacier break off and fall into the sea, making small icebergs. These pictures don't do the glacier justice, it was a massive wall of ice. Our guide was telling us that glaciers are classified as rocks - they are that hard. Snowfall over 5-10 years slowly condenses and hardens to form a thin layer of the glacier, just about 5-10mm. We could see it originating from it's source high up the mountain, a massive solid river of ice - that is not stationary, it's slowly inching forward. This is an experience you need to have first hand - to admire this grandeur of nature.
In the pictures below we're in front of Surprise Glacier. It's one of the most active calving glaciers in the Sound. We saw pieces of the glacier break off and fall into the sea, making small icebergs. These pictures don't do the glacier justice, it was a massive wall of ice. Our guide was telling us that glaciers are classified as rocks - they are that hard. Snowfall over 5-10 years slowly condenses and hardens to form a thin layer of the glacier, just about 5-10mm. We could see it originating from it's source high up the mountain, a massive solid river of ice - that is not stationary, it's slowly inching forward. This is an experience you need to have first hand - to admire this grandeur of nature.
The picture below, on the left, is of 3 glaciers draining into the ocean. In 2006, they extended far enough so that they merged together. Our ship's GPS which was from 2006, showed our boat on the glacier! Maybe it should have beeped for such occasions?
Apparently this area is in catastrophic recession. Compelling proof for disbelievers of global warming?
On the right is a picture of our cruise ship. All aboard the Klondike Express!
Apparently this area is in catastrophic recession. Compelling proof for disbelievers of global warming?
On the right is a picture of our cruise ship. All aboard the Klondike Express!
After the cruise we started our drive to the little town of Seward, on the southern coast of Alaska. The drive along the Seward Highway was gorgeous!
This is one of those grand canvases where nature really shows off!
This is one of those grand canvases where nature really shows off!
We reached Seward later that evening, grabbed some dinner and got ready for the big adventure the next day - that really tested the limits of our endurance!
Kenai Fjords National Park
After a solid breakfast next morning, we set off for Kenai Fjords National Park. The park is a mile or two from the town of Seward, and is named for the numerous Fjords carved out by the glaciers in the park.
The park contains the HARDING ICE FIELD. The Harding Icefiled is the largest icefield in the US, and is the source of 40 glaciers in the Kenai Fjords area! It receives masses of snow - upwards of 400 inches every year, and...wait for it...we were going to hike all the way up to it!!!
The Harding Ice Field hike consistently figures among one of the most picturesque hikes in the US. But it is not for the faint hearted - the hike is 8.2 miles round trip, and is a steady climb gaining 1000ft elevation with every mile. It took us almost 10 hours to complete, testing our strength, endurance and patience!
The hike starts through cottonwood trees, moves onto shorter shrubs, a gorgeous open meadow full of flowers, followed by rocks, streams, snow, and then solid ice, and then to reward you for your efforts with a view that makes you marvel at nature - a huge, majestic, ice field, stretching out till the horizon, as far as you can see! Stay tuned!
The Harding Ice Field hike consistently figures among one of the most picturesque hikes in the US. But it is not for the faint hearted - the hike is 8.2 miles round trip, and is a steady climb gaining 1000ft elevation with every mile. It took us almost 10 hours to complete, testing our strength, endurance and patience!
The hike starts through cottonwood trees, moves onto shorter shrubs, a gorgeous open meadow full of flowers, followed by rocks, streams, snow, and then solid ice, and then to reward you for your efforts with a view that makes you marvel at nature - a huge, majestic, ice field, stretching out till the horizon, as far as you can see! Stay tuned!
The Cottonwood trees
After half an hour of hiking. Dense trees and streams around us.
Meadow of Flowers
We'd been climbing for 3 hours when we reached the meadow. Here is the view at this point. See the teeny-tiny cars in a parking lot, that's where we came from. See those tall mountains covered with snow in the background - we were going to climb one just like that all the way from the bottom to the top!
We were hiking right alongside Exit Glacier. Here's the glacier providing a great backdrop to this handsome guy!
We had to scale this mountain in the backdrop, and then some.
Above the tree line
We'd been climbing for 4 hours by now, and we getting tired. We were close to running out of water, and had carried just a few snack bars with us, naively thinking we would be up and down within 5 hours or so. At this point I told Abhishek - what shall we do? Should we turn around? We have all this way to go down as well. The number of people on the trail had significantly dropped off.
Abhishek said - we have come all the way to Alaska, and have already climbed 4 hours. "Itna kar liya hai, toh pura kar lete hain" - Since we've done so much already, let's finish it.
And then I was like, Alright! I am going to do this, no matter what.
Abhishek said - we have come all the way to Alaska, and have already climbed 4 hours. "Itna kar liya hai, toh pura kar lete hain" - Since we've done so much already, let's finish it.
And then I was like, Alright! I am going to do this, no matter what.
The Exit Glacier alongside us.
The Snow Line
One more hour of climbing. We were above the snow line now, and in the thick of it.
I was really tired from all the climbing and carrying the backpack, so we sat down for a break, and had a snack bar. The air was thinner too which made us get tired faster. We sat on a rock and decided to close our eyes just for a few minutes - and ended up taking a half an hour nap! I even had vivid dreams during this short nap. Here's where we stopped.
I was really tired from all the climbing and carrying the backpack, so we sat down for a break, and had a snack bar. The air was thinner too which made us get tired faster. We sat on a rock and decided to close our eyes just for a few minutes - and ended up taking a half an hour nap! I even had vivid dreams during this short nap. Here's where we stopped.
By this time, we had completely run out of water. As we trekked on we came to some streams originating from the glacier, as we just drank from it! Anyway, all these bottled water companies tell you that is where the water was bottled from, so why not cut out the middle man? The water was a nice cool temperature. We filled up our bottles and soldiered on.
"The Hut"
We had asked a couple of folks as we were trekking up how much further we had to go. A lot of people said you're x/y miles/hours from "the hut". The hut was just half an hour from the ice field. Also, it was probably the only unambiguous landmark on the hike. So, tired as we were, we were on the lookout for it. A few rocks feigning as a huts disappointed us, after getting our hopes up, on the way. The trail itself wound around the mountain, and you could only see till the next turn. We could see bits of the ice field, and it seemed like the ice field was just around the turn. So there were lots of inhale and get your hopes up, and exhale and feel deflated moments on the hike!
After 6 hours of climbing here is the hut!
The tiny hut, and no, there is nothing inside - just an empty room. Lots of people had left inscriptions on the walls, about the awesomeness of this hike, and how it changed their life a little bit. Someone should have told us to take a pen!! I had plenty of great thoughts I could have shared, at this moment.
A cheerful photobomber in the background :)
After 6 hours of climbing here is the hut!
The tiny hut, and no, there is nothing inside - just an empty room. Lots of people had left inscriptions on the walls, about the awesomeness of this hike, and how it changed their life a little bit. Someone should have told us to take a pen!! I had plenty of great thoughts I could have shared, at this moment.
A cheerful photobomber in the background :)
The lonely road to the top.
The Ice Field
From the hut it was another half an hour climb. The Harding Ice Field isn't really a man-made, laid out trail, there are just small orange flags that point out the way, and we'd been looking out for them and following them for 6.5 hours. And then there were no more! Ladies and gentlemen, here is the majestic Harding Ice Field!! We made it!
The ice field was majestic, we could see so many faintly blue mountain tops in the distance. It's a valley filled of solid ice, the source of 40 glaciers! There were no footsteps on the snow, no birds flying overhead, almost no vegetation, a very quiet, desolate place. The whole Kenai Fjords Valley stretched out before us. What a moment! I was so proud of us, that we made it here. If someone had told me before the hike, this is what you have to do, I would most likely not have done it believing I didn't have it in me. It really tested us and pushed us to the limit. I think it taught me a little bit that I can be pushed, and go the extra distance if needed. I asked Abhishek if he had any life changing insights, as one hopes to have after being stretched, and then reaching the goal. He's like, "No, I didn't have any revelations. Just enjoying the scenery. I always knew I could do it!" - Pah, Men :)
After all the back patting, and believing I can now achieve anything, it was time to go down. If only a helicopter could now pick me up and fly me back down. In the movies ofcourse, Tom Cruise was whisked away after completing his Mission Impossible. Well, no such luck for us. So we started our long walk down. The parking lot seemed like it was in another state, we literally had to conquer a mountain to get back to it. And there was the fear of bears after dark. We started briskly down, not stopping for any pictures. Abhishek was so great, he was carrying both the hiking bag and his camera bag.
It was a really long walk down. After what seemed like forever, we reached the Meadow of Flowers. By this time my right knee was very painful, and I was a little afraid that if I sat down for too long it might retire for the night and I would not be able to walk anymore. I started singing, Carnatic, Hindustani, some hindi pop, just anything to keep from thinking about the pain. 3.5 hours later we reached the car - a whole 10 hours since we left it in the morning. This was probably one of the hardest, and most rewarding days of my life!
Word of advice, if you're planning to do this hike, prep in terms of running 1-2 miles a day for 10 days is woefully inadequate!
The day still wasn't done. We still had to drive back to Anchorage from Seward that night, which is a 2.5 hour drive. It was 7.30-8pm by the time we finished dinner, so we should have made it to Anchorage at a comfortable hour.
There was a fatality on the Seward highway that night, and the police had closed the highway to investigate. Check out Google Maps for route options between Anchorage and Seward. There is 1 option, and this is it. So we waited. There was no information about how long the highway would be closed for, so it's not like we could take a nap or relax, and traffic kept moving forward an inch or so every few minutes and we had to keep up. They finally opened it 5 hours later at 2am in the morning. Abhishek and I were zoning in and out of sleep. After driving for a bit, Abhishek said I can't do this, let's pull over and take a nap. Our second nap of the day, one in thin air at the top of a mountain, and one at 2am near a lake on the Seward Highway. Could this night get any weirder or tougher? Thankfully not. After a really tough night of driving, we reached Anchorage at 4. I feel asleep before my head hit the pillow.
It was a really long walk down. After what seemed like forever, we reached the Meadow of Flowers. By this time my right knee was very painful, and I was a little afraid that if I sat down for too long it might retire for the night and I would not be able to walk anymore. I started singing, Carnatic, Hindustani, some hindi pop, just anything to keep from thinking about the pain. 3.5 hours later we reached the car - a whole 10 hours since we left it in the morning. This was probably one of the hardest, and most rewarding days of my life!
Word of advice, if you're planning to do this hike, prep in terms of running 1-2 miles a day for 10 days is woefully inadequate!
The day still wasn't done. We still had to drive back to Anchorage from Seward that night, which is a 2.5 hour drive. It was 7.30-8pm by the time we finished dinner, so we should have made it to Anchorage at a comfortable hour.
There was a fatality on the Seward highway that night, and the police had closed the highway to investigate. Check out Google Maps for route options between Anchorage and Seward. There is 1 option, and this is it. So we waited. There was no information about how long the highway would be closed for, so it's not like we could take a nap or relax, and traffic kept moving forward an inch or so every few minutes and we had to keep up. They finally opened it 5 hours later at 2am in the morning. Abhishek and I were zoning in and out of sleep. After driving for a bit, Abhishek said I can't do this, let's pull over and take a nap. Our second nap of the day, one in thin air at the top of a mountain, and one at 2am near a lake on the Seward Highway. Could this night get any weirder or tougher? Thankfully not. After a really tough night of driving, we reached Anchorage at 4. I feel asleep before my head hit the pillow.
Matanuska Glacier
There was one criteria for the next day - stay within 10ft of the car at all times. We drove on the beautiful Glenn Highway up to Matanuska Glacier. While Seward highway is on the valley floor, with the ocean on one side for part of the drive, and high mountains all around, Glenn Highway is along the top of a mountain range, so you see the valley below you for most of the drive. Alaska's geography is such that the taller mountains are near the Southern Tip, and it gets flatter as you go northwards. Here are some pictures on the drive, and near Matanuska.
We then proceeded to Denali National Park!
Denali National Park
Denali National Park is one of the famous national parks in the US. Spread over a sprawling 6 million acres, the park is bigger than the state of Vermont!
There is only one road into the park - the Denali park road, and it goes about 91 miles into the park. It is unpaved and private vehicles are not allowed on the road, only park shuttle/tour buses are allowed. The road closes around mid September, when the snow makes it hard to keep the road clear.
We took the tour bus deep into the park, till Eielson Visitor center. It was a beautiful day, with clear visibility and excellent views. The mountains in Denali, are smaller than those in Kenai Fjords. Imagine sprawling rolling hills, with a wide valley and streams here and there. It reminded me of the scene in Lion King where Simba's dad holds Simba out for the jungle to see!
The park road:
Our driver was pretty entertaining, and told us lots of stories about the park. He gave us detailed instructions on how to react in the presence of different animals, if we were to venture out for a hike on our own. It went along the lines of - If it's a moose you run, if it's a brown bear, you play dead, if it's a black bear you make noise and run.... A little overwhelmed, we decided to stick to the protection of our little green bus.
The bus stopped at many view points on the way, and we saw some lovely sights. We'd brought food, water and snacks on board, and had a wonderful day munching along, enjoying the sights, and walking around at the viewpoints.
The bus stopped at many view points on the way, and we saw some lovely sights. We'd brought food, water and snacks on board, and had a wonderful day munching along, enjoying the sights, and walking around at the viewpoints.
And some wildlife:
All in all a lovely day. We had a good dinner to celebrate our wonderful vacation, spent too much on souvenirs, and then it was time to head back home!
A ranger in Denali told us of a beautiful quote by Ralph Waldo Emerson: "Adopt the pace of nature, her secret is patience". In our temperature controlled homes and offices it is often easy to forget to reconnect with nature, and be immersed and unduly rushed in our self imposed deadlines. Notice how birds or animals are never late, only humans are. I hope we remember to keep pace with nature and learn more patience :)
We left Alaska spellbound, relaxed and happy. Thank you Alaska for a truly wonderful vacation!
We left Alaska spellbound, relaxed and happy. Thank you Alaska for a truly wonderful vacation!
