As a vaccinated and cooped up adventurer, 2021 has been a rebound year on the travel front for yours truly. Since that second shot in my arm in April (and knowing that I couldn’t live with the thought of collateral damage ensued by not doing my part to get it), I’ve experienced the spring slopes of Steamboat Springs, heat of St. George, diverse corners of Seattle, title town of Tampa twice, lakes of Michigan and Wisconsin, mountain lakes and woods of the Uintah Mountains, an east coast swing to see family, friends and work contacts in Boston, Maine and NYC and a sports/work trip to Denver.
It’s been a welcome reprieve but all paling in comparison to the big one, of which I had to detail before the calendar flipped to 2022. With all the international limits on travel with the pandemic still raging, I had to get creative to hit my goal of one new place per year (country, territory or state).
Lucky for my wife Alli and I, we subscribe to a newsletter called Flights From Home, which notifies of the best flash deals on flights from local airports to our home in SLC. You basically get 24, maybe 48 hours, to book before the rates flip. When they posted a $225 Delta roundtrip deal to Fairbanks, Alaska – we hiccuped a little trying to figure out schedules, but ended up booking it in time. Because we hesitated, we got a direct flight going there but had to add a connection on the return with both flights being overnight red-eyes.
We watched them change the timing of the return flights maybe 20 times before departure. We also started hearing more and more about the influx of tourists to U.S. National Parks and Alaska – many parks, restaurants, hotels and vehicle rentals were booked out weeks if not months in advance.
Ultimately, it could have all been a bit more unnerving but we found through social media that our U of M/SLC friends happened to be road-tripping Alaska and overlapping on timing. Not only that, but they had put months of research into their spreadsheet-based itinerary with every distance, budget, restaurant, adventure, campsite/hotel and even shower mapped out (which is important when you’re living that #vanlife). No holds barred – they were going for it. It helped me establish a baseline of stops to research (along with Facebook Groups like the All About Alaska Travel group and some insights from friends and relatives who had been or lived there).
We lucked out and found Roobie via Outdoorsy. At $100/day (plus a mileage fee and mandatory insurance), this 1993 church van was owned by a handy family that was putting in the work to put a big bed in the back and rig it with all the essential supplies like camp chairs, a propane burner and grill, pots, pans, etc. – heck, even the all important can of bear spray. The family ran the business on the side and had multiple rigs and lots of advice had communicated throughout to make sure the supplies were up to standard and my only request was a covering for the windows knowing we were looking at summer sunshine nearly around the clock.
A quick five hour flight later, we touched down in Fairbanks and had to start getting used to dusk at midnight. After an interesting stay in a converted fraternity house turned small hotel, Roobie was dropped off and I got my bearings taking her to make a massive Costco run for snacks, meals and refreshments to take on our way out of town – we had 7 hours on the road ahead of us and off we went.
The next day, we had a shuttle arranged to get us into Wrangell-St. Elias National Park (as the old railroad turned road was too rough for Roobie). We made it to our pickup area of Chitina (pronounced “Chit-NA”) and poked around the ghost town and quasi-maintained historic buildings before being directed over to Uncle Tom’s Tavern.
We didn’t mess around at Tom’s and drew out some fascinating life stories of locals like Tom, the pilot, gold mine owner, bar owner and fisherman/outdoorsman extraordinaire (who shot the bear above outside his cabin door in the park). We met three local fishing guides who told us how out-of-staters could hire a local and pull up to 30 fish a day out of the river by fishwheel or net (no reels needed here). The legendary Copper River commands more $ per pound for its red salmon swimming upstream at $45/pound! Being right outside the park, there was so much access to the resources around the park – including the grizzlies who tore into one fellow townie’s face. The people were genuine, stories were amazing of how people got there (including one local in George who had killed a man in Oregon at 17 — we didn’t ask for details). So much character and the highlight of Alli’s trip!
Our friends were missing and cell service was spotty across the state but luckily we caught them in the shuttle en route to the park just in-time. Our day in the 2nd largest National Park in the world (#1 in U.S.) was incredible from start to finish. Per owner instructions, we couldn’t take Roobie down the McCarthy Road, a 60 mile rough gravel-surfaced road connecting Chitina to the historic ghost town of McCarthy and took a group shuttle. Along the way, we met a Canadian Lynx, who came out of the bush and strolled right by our van before hopping back into the bush after a bird. What a sight! We also saw a moose calf grazing in a field and got out of the van to watch a very large bull moose cool itself in a pool nearby.
We crossed a rushing river, passed through the restored ghost town of McCarthy and hiked through the expansive restored ruins of the Kennicott copper mining empire, protected as a National Landmark since 1986. Next to the trail was what looked like a ridge of churned up dirt and gravel but in actuality, the Root Glacier of which we hiked down to the base of. Crampon-equipped explorers hiked up the glacier whereas we got to the edge to sample the pure water from the melt. It was an incredibly picturesque and satisfying journey although sad as the photos in the buildings showed how much more expansive the glacier terrain had been that they previously skied on before climate change melted it down to its current state.
On the way back to Chitina, we poked around in McCarthy, met a cowboy that was one of the original couple residents of the town, hopped in the scenic town watering hole to cool down from the heat (of which I was way overdressed for throughout the day). We then got to walk the picturesque bridge that Wrangell-St. Elias National Park is known for, staring down and the river and landscape below.
It took a few hours and a couple extra from summer construction to hit the coast in Valdez and we set up shop at a campsite right on the bay. What a sight it was, surrounded by mountains all around and chock-full of salmon plus the seals and sea lions that love to eat them. Nearby was the fishery, no stranger to bear sightings, where several obese sea lions gorged on all the fish trying to make their way up the man-made channel simulating an up-river spawn quest of which I could catch by hand as they were so plentiful. Nearby was a Glacier Lake with kayakers with ice islands and before heading out on our way, we took a spin through the sleepy downtown of Valdez.
The scenic Denali Highway was the direct way to make our way across the expansive state to our next meet-up point in Denali National Park. This was the 2nd road Roobie was not permitted as it is also unpaved. We opted for the paved AK-1 N and AK-4 W, which proved to be incredibly scenic with jaw-dropping mountain views abound until hitting the outskirts of Anchorage, then took AK-3 up north totaling 10 hours on the day to make it to the park.
Our campsite, booked weeks in advance because of the glut of national park tourist demand, was Savage River, the 1st site in the park. I was able to utilize the river for a quick, refreshing dip (especially nice without showers present). The highlight of the park was the pre-booked park shuttle, where we progressively got closer and closer to the animal action the deeper we got into Denali. We saw numerous Dall sheep, 6 caribou, 6 moose and best-yet, a total of 9 Grizzly Bears! We started spotting their golden coats off in the distance and progressively saw them gorging on berries closer to the shuttle. We arrived at the lookout point as far as the 92 mile road goes and with the luck of having a mildly overcast day, could see the south peak and lower part of the north peak of Mt. McKinley straight on. We saw two beers careening down the mountain, which ended up getting close enough to the overlook and pedestrian area that people had to be ushered back onto the buses by park rangers. What an experience of which I predicted as a “what if” could happen as we arrived!
We were so lucky timing-wise as that next week not only weather-wise, but that next week brought about also the borders opening back up bringing international tourists, there was a landslide that limited traffic to turnaround at mile marker 42 on the road, and a Grizzly attack on a lone hiker near the aforementioned overlook site.
From Denali the “Serengeti of the Arctic”, we headed down to the scenic coast and hit Seward some 8 hours south through Anchorage. We camped right in the town on the bay and river with no shortage of stunning views all around (ever-present theme in Alaska) for $8/day. Seward housed the only Olympic-sized pool in all of Alaska and as I was grilling burgers in the parking lot, a parade for Olympic gold-winning 17 year old hero Lydia Jacoby unfolded before us on the bridge we overlooked of which the state’s top politicians opened for.
The Seward highlight was the Kenai Fjords Peninsula & National Park cruise that we took, of which we took in majestic splitting glaciers, split rock seat-jutting landscapes and the multitudes of sea life enjoying the fair weather. Getting to watch porpoises swimming under the boat, 5 Humpbacks playing in the sound, puffins, sea otters and the like was truly magical.
From Seaward, we day-tripped up to the Alaskan Wildlife Conservation Center to see rescued wildlife of most native species including moose, elk, buffalo (aggressively in heat), wolves, coyotes, and napping/playing Black & Grizzly bears amongst others. We made it out to the picturesque glacier/fishing town of Whittier to poke around although would have loved to see it from the water. We also briefly stopped in Girdwood to checkout Alyeska Ski Resort.
Anchorage proved to probably the most picturesque large city I’ve ever been to, with roads curving around the waterfront. A walk through the 49th State Brewery offered no chance of seating (much like most restaurants booked out and short-staffed). We ate nearby and still got to sample the local beer, salmon and reindeer sausage before crashing in the parking lot of the Native Heritage Center. It was great to walk through the indoor museum with outbuildings, take the tour and hear about the 9 different cultural regions and tribes and clans still holding onto passed down customs to survive.
En route up towards Denali we hit the bohemian town of Talkeetna known for its shopping and McKinley peak overlook views and were not disappointed. We continued all the way up past Denali and past Fairbanks when we started having our first car trouble aside from nearly running out of gas (always fill up when you get the chance in Alaska). Ole Roobie started overheating and not wanting to make it up hills. We pulled aside and called the family contact who was nearby and ready to come if needed but who suggested just putting water in as a coolant substitute, which did the trick for us and we were off on our way down some back roads to get to Chena Hot Springs.
Chena Hot Springs served as our first hotel and shower since night 1 in Fairbanks and was equipped with not only large outdoor hot springs, an indoor pool fed from the springs and a bevvy of activities. I rode a horse with Alli around the area in guided fashion for the first time. We also enjoyed the Ice Museum, which consisted of all kinds of sculpted igloo palaces, knights and the like with a full bar with drinks in ice glasses.
Had we known our flight was going to get derailed and we would be stuck at the airport, it would have been much more of a relaxing relief to stay at Chena, but alas. We made it to the novelty town of North Pole, visited a few reindeer and Santa’s workshop gift shop for some choice items. Our last day was in Fairbanks, we poked around the waterfront a bit but it was a torrential downpour and we found ourselves napping while working on finishing off the ambitious Costco order of beverages and the like unsuccessfully before Delta finally put us on an Alaska Airlines flight (many more of those) to connect in Seattle and head home.
Thousands of miles by van an extra day at the airport, a few dim hours, much daylight and many an adventure later, we were back to reality.
I would easily put Alaska up with any other place when it comes to adventure potential and scenery and its no wonder so many find themselves not leaving!
TRUE NORTH TEAM CONSULTING 