I just returned from a 10-day trip to Alaska. I would call this trip a vacation if I were still working but since I am retired, this is just how I roll. This was my second trip to Alaska. I took an inside passage cruise in 2003. For this trip, our focus was on Anchorage, Denali, and Seward. To state that Alaska is big is a massive understatement. Even after this second trip, we have just scratched the surface of what this remarkable state has to offer.

We flew to Anchorage on Alaska Airlines with a connection in Seattle. There are direct flights to Anchorage from Houston, but this Alaska Airline option was significantly cheaper. Alaska Airlines is a good airline, much better than United and probably among the top US carriers. I wish they flew to more places out of Houston.

We stayed with some friends in Anchorage so I will not be reporting on lodging in Alaska. On our first day, we visited the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center. This facility is where injured, and misplaced animals are housed. You can see wood bison, bears, elk, caribou, wolves, and porcupines. The animals are not in their natural habitat, but you can get very close and take some great photographs. This center is a great place to become familiar with the land-based wildlife of Alaska.

The next day we took a wildlife cruise from Major Marine. This cruise departed from Seward and explored the calm waters of Resurrection Bay. We, actually my wife, were on the hunt for humpback whales. We saw several humpbacks as well as otters, seals, sea lions and puffins. We cruised on the Star of the Northwest. This boat had plenty of room with expansive decks for wildlife viewing. They offered a prime rib and salmon lunch that was good. It did take them a while to serve the meal to the entire boat. We were anxious to start looking for wildlife and could have spent less time eating or waiting to eat. The crew of the Star of the Northwest did an excellent job. There was a national park ranger onboard who narrated the entire trip. She even instigated a junior ranger program which I was apparently too old to join.

Early the next day we drove to Denali National Park. The drive from Anchorage took almost four hours. Remember the part about Alaska being big? After arriving and eating lunch, we boarded a bus for an eight-hour tour of the park. You can’t drive very far into Denali National Park, riding on the bus is the only way to cover most of the park road. After driving for 4 hours, the eight-hour bus tour made for a long day. We were trying to see Denali and only stay one night at a local hotel. I recommend spending two nights in Denali and breaking up the driving and bus riding more as I was totally exhausted. We were lucky the weather was clear, and we could actually see the peak of Denali. I read there was only a 10% chance of seeing Denali’s summit due to constant cloud cover. We also saw bear, caribou, and moose from a long distance. If you want to see wildlife here, bring good binoculars or an excellent zoom lens. I enjoyed this visit to Denali National Park, but due to limited access and remote location, I would rate it as average for a National Park.

This concludes part 1 of my trip to Alaska, I will post part 2 in a week or so.

Make the most of this day!