Camping Trip to Alaska

We had originally planned to go to Glacier National Park this year in late August/early September, but then we found out about grandbaby #6 due right at that time.  We also had grandbaby #5 due in early July.  We decided to squeeze in a trip to Alaska in early August - thinking we were timing our trip just right between grandbabies (LOL, as it turned out).

In order to keep this trip budget-friendly, we turned in some Delta frequent flyer miles that Terry had recently got reinstated.  These were miles he earned traveling for business over 30 years ago!  Then we looked for decently priced accommodations or maybe even a camper van to rent like we had used before, but our most reasonable option was a Subaru with a rooftop tent.   It was still over $200/night!

Right after I made the reservation, I started to worry.  What about bears?  What if we are too hot or cold?  And, very realistically for August, what if it rains a lot?  We decided to make a tentative plan but then follow the weather, which turned out to be a very good idea. And though we enjoyed good weather and obviously survived the bears, I don’t think we’ll ever travel like this again!  After a few days, we felt like a homeless couple living out of our car.  Turns out we are OK without a bathroom, but we like more storage and not having to set up/take down our bed each day.  So our van is perfect for us.  We now know our limits.

We landed in Anchorage and then went as far north as Denali NP and as far south as Homer.  We spent most of our time on the Kenai Peninsula, and our favorite spot there was Seward.  It is a normally very rainy area in August, but we did not get rained on at all there!  

Denali

We had originally planned to go here later in the trip, but the weather looked better to go right away, so after picking up our vehicle, we headed north to Denali NP.  We saw a sled dog demonstration that first day and had some excellent “Brushfire” pizza at Prospector’s Pizzeria.  Our first campsite was a free spot right on the river.  It was a beautiful spot but apparently a wind tunnel of sorts, and the high winds made it hard to sleep.  The next day we hiked Savage Alpine Trail in Denali.  On the way to the trailhead, we saw Mt. McKinley in all its glory.  It almost did not look real!

We were excited to be part of the 30% club, as 70% of Denali visitors never see Mt. McKinley because of clouds. 

We enjoyed our hike, though it was very windy (I estimate about 60 mph at times).  The only wildlife we saw in Denali were two moose, but we were probably more excited about actually seeing the tallest mountain in the USA anyway!

The weather was predicted to take a turn for the worse, so we decided not to linger in Denali but to head south. It was all for the best because we discovered we like the scenery in and around Anchorage better than Denali, and we also saw more wildlife outside Denali. We ended up camping for the night at Lake Eklutna.We originally planned to hike to Twin Peaks from Lake Eklutna, but we woke up to a lot of fog.  

Lake Eklutna

Whittier

We decided the view from the hike to Twin Peaks wasn’t going to be worth the elevation effort, so we decided to head to the Kenai Peninsula. On the way there, we took a left turn to head to Portage Pass because the weather was looking excellent there, and that was a hike I really wanted to take on a blue sky day. It did not disappoint!  The scenery on the drive alone was just stunning, but then the hike was just perfectly picturesque and deserves its own post when I get around to it.

When we finished the hike we decided to just spend the night in Whittier.  It was a cute, little town only accessible by taking a train or car through a 7-mile tunnel (or you could arrive by cruise ship).

Cruise ship in Whittier

The Glacier Express

We got woken up by a phone call early the next morning.  It was our son, Caleb, calling to tell us that our daughter Rebecca was in the hospital in labor a month early!  We took a short hike that morning, and I was so glad that we had cell service the whole way as we were anxious to hear the news. Baby boy was born a little after lunch-time in Alaska! We were both excited AND bummed to miss it!

We spent most of the rest of the day driving across the Kenai Peninsula to Homer.  

Homer

We were pretty tired when we arrived in Homer and drove around the Homer Spit for a while trying to find a spot to camp.  It didn’t help that it was a Saturday.  We decided to just eat a celebratory seafood meal (celebrating the new grandbaby).  We ate at the Harbor Grill and had something called the “Tour of Alaska” which had salmon, halibut, scallops, crab and shrimp on a bed of risotto.  We both felt a little bad that the thing we liked best was the risotto and also the brussel sprout appetizer.  Maybe we chose poorly, or maybe seafood is just not our thing, but Homer is the fishing capital of Alaska, so we had to give it a try!  We ended up finding a very picturesque camping spot on the hill overlooking Homer.  We decided to sleep in and have a leisurely campfire in the morning.

View from our campsite

The next day we took a water taxi across the bay and took a hike to Grenwingk Glacier.  The hike didn’t have much elevation change but it was over 8 miles and we had to hike very fast to meet our return taxi. 

Our water taxi

Fresh bear track

A tram ride over the river

Our lunch spot by the glacier

One of many selfies with a glacier from this trip

We drove from Homer to Ninilchik and camped at a lovely spot with a few of both the Ninilchik River and the ocean.  We saw a lovely sunset. 

Russian River

We came here in hopes of seeing bears on the Russian Falls trail.  But the guy at the entrance gate told us we would have the best luck seeing bears by taking the Anglers Trail at dusk.  We took his advice, and we did indeed see both a black bear and a grizzly mom and cubs.  So cute!  We also saw lots of fishermen.  

We did take the Russian Falls trail early the next morning but struck out there.  But our consolation prize was a big breakfast at the Rod & Reel restaurant at the Kenai Princess Lodge. Our best breakfast of the trip, which I guess isn't saying that much since the other breakfasts were either power bars, oatmeal, or yogurt.  But it was delicious!

Bore Tide

One of the things we wanted to see on our trip was the Bore Tide on Turnagain arm.  This week of August was supposed to be particularly good for surfing.  But the internet had wildly different ideas of when that tide was supposed to occur.  We got in the area about 1 pm and spent a frustrating afternoon driving up and down the highway trying to find a good spot for viewing - all the time not sure we had the time right.  Finally stopped at a local gas station and got some good intelligence on the situation.  At least we didn't miss it!  The tide showed up about 5 pm, and we got to follow some surfers from point to point in our car.  It was pretty cool!

Seward

We loved our time in Seward.  This is where we had hoped to splurge on a cruise, hike Marathon Mountain, and hike to the Harding Ice Field.  All were dependent on good weather, and we really hit the jackpot!  

View from our campsite the first night.  The weather was a little moody, but it didn't rain. 

Marathon Mountain Trail.  We took the jeep path for the first leg.

We couldn't finish the hike because we had to get back for the dinner cruise.  We left off the extremely brutal part at the top. 

Getting ready for our dinner cruise

One of the cruise highlights - seeing moonjellies!

A glacier close-up

partway up to the Harding Ice Field

So many wildflowers!

This was our most difficult hike, and we took it on our last day in Alaska!  There was not a cloud in the sky, and I got rather sunburned.   There were also SO MANY BUGS!  This was the only time on our trip that they were a true aggravation.