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
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.
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.
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!
This is one of those grand canvases where nature really shows off!
Kenai Fjords National Park
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!
We were hiking right alongside Exit Glacier. Here's the glacier providing a great backdrop to this handsome guy!
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.
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.
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 :)
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
Denali National Park
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 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.
We left Alaska spellbound, relaxed and happy. Thank you Alaska for a truly wonderful vacation!