Alaska Is For Fjorders!

The main thing I learned in Alaska is how much I like the word ‘fjord’. Once I got going with it I found it hard to stop. I was constantly asking if the place we were going was near a fjord, or if we’d need to cross a fjord, or how many fjords I could expect to see. The whole experience has convinced me that a large part of solving our collective problems revolves around throwing more j’s thrown into the middle of our words.

That said, here’s the trip breakdown.

The 4th and Jim

We spent the 4th in Seward climbing to the ice field above Exit Glacier and then watching the Mount Marathon (run up plus fall down large mountain). We saw two bears, a moose, and countless crazy runners. I ate a burrito. Amy had Dippin Dots, The Ice Cream Of The Future (when exactly is that future getting here?).

Mt. Marathon. Yes, they’re running down the cliffs.

Austin at Exit Glacier.

Climbing with ‘dead animals’ Jim.

The next day we climbed with Amy’s residency chum Jim (the same guy who hauled me up Devil’s Tower) at some rocks just off the Turnagain Arm. Two interesting things. One, Jim’s dad is a hunter and bush pilot and if it lives in Alaska, I’m pretty sure there’s a dead version of it on Jim’s father’s walls. Two, the Turnagain Arm is this fascinating gigantic inlet with mammoth tides. Huge sections of it drain completely so that it’s just miles of mud all the way across, and then suddenly the tide will come rushing back in and fill the entire thing, sometimes with a wave large enough to surf on. Sadly there are numerous tragic stories of people who tried to cross the mud flats without knowledge that they would soon and rapidly be underwater, and it’s really hard to appreciate the drastic change unless you see it. Amy deleted my pictures, so you can’t. Moving on.

Kesugi Ridge

Kesugi Ridge is a backpacking trail in Denali State Park that parallels the Denali range, offering, in good weather, stunning views of Denali, Hunter, and Foraker. Sadly, we didn’t have good weather. The hike in was okay, hot even, but the mountains were lost in the clouds, as they apparently are 70% of the time. Then the rain came. Personally, I wanted to stick it out, and by stick it out, I mean sit in the tent for however many days it took to stop raining. But Amy and Austin, who conveniently had rain gear, voted for hiking off the ridge. So I put on my three dollar poncho and we hiked for several hours in the rain. When we got down we needed to hitchhike back to where we left the car. Our theory was that Amy would be the most likely to get picked up, but apparently being blond doesn’t do a lot to offset being soaked and muddy. Thus, I was elected to run the 7.5 miles back to the car, in the rain, after hiking for many hours. Luckily, I only had to run about three miles before this wonderful girl offered me a ride. She was in the midst of a long drive (is there any other kind in Alaska?) and was actually looking for more than four miles worth of company, but hopefully my big wet seatprint kept her awake the rest of the way.

Happiness on beautiful Kesugi Ridge.

Then the rain came and I turned into a pirate in a poncho.

I have no idea what these guys turned into.

Talkeetna

We then spent some time in Talkeetna, aka a little drinking town with a climbing problem. This is the place that served as inspiration for the series Northern Exposure, and in the spring it’s largely full of climbers headed for Denali. In the summer it’s full tourists like us.

We decided to camp on the beach in Talkeetna, right next to the confluence of two rivers with an incredible view of Denali in the background. It was stunning. And then the teenagers came. Apparently no one really camps on the beach. They party. And shoot fireworks. And encourage toddlers to play with pit bulls. An example of the wisdom available for those willing to listen: re: kids – “I like makin em a lot more than raisin em.” The real problem is that the sun never goes down, so there’s never really a signal that it’s getting late and time to wrap things up. So at 2 am we ended up hauling our tents further down the beach in a futile attempt to avoid the raining fireworks debris and drunken ATV drivers. It didn’t really help.

Good times on the beach, before the kids came.

What a spot. I wonder why no one camps here?

But our reward for all that insanity was a morning with crystal clear skies and incredible views of the mountains. We rushed over and booked ourselves on a flightseeing tour and spent the next hour and half circling Mt. McKinley (Denali) and the neighboring peaks, before landing on one of the glaciers and stepping out to play in the snow and photograph each other in front of various tall things. It was an incredible experience, which I cataloged with no less than 130 photos. Suffering from insomnia? I’ve got the slideshow for you.

Amy co-piloting us into the mountain.

Don’t you have enough pictures of me and the mountain?

Almost as incredible as the flight, was the experience of watching the World Cup final in a little bar and having someone call out my name. That someone turned out to be a friend from Tucson who was spending summer in Alaska working and visiting family. And one of those family members was a sister who’d been a kayaking guide the summer before. So somehow Amy and I managed to get ourselves latched up with these two and took part in a couple days of sea kayaking adventure.

Weren’t you wearing that shirt when I last saw you in Tucson?

Kayaker’s Cove

We left from Seward on a little boat run by a man who’s involved in some sort of life and death struggle with the other water taxi business in town. Apparently ever since he started offering some competition (and lower fares) they’ve been trying to put him out of business… by sinking his boat. In his words, “it’s the wild west out here.” He dropped us as this great little place called Kayaker’s Cove, which has a couple cabins and a wilderness hostel along with lots of kayaks and kayakers. Justine, our wonder guide, not only schooled us in the ways of the kayak, but took us to some choice spots and forced us to handle and eat various types of sea life and weeds. After a night cooking and playing board games with the gang at the hostel and another day in the kayaks, we headed back to Anchorage.

The kayaking gang plus the unsinkable boat.

The lodge at Kayaker’s Cove.

People in skirts near waterfall.

Resurrection Bay from plastic boat.

Long Flights and Missing Bikes

To complete our trip we climbed Flat Top, a little peak in Anchorage that gives you an amazing view of the city and the bays. After that it was just naps and airports between us and Austin.

Sadly, there was a casualty in all this. Amy’s bike was stolen. From our garage. If you’re keeping track, that’s FOUR bikes stolen from our various garages in the last five years. Kind of a downer to end on, and I think we’re going to have to start chaining the things to our bed, but what can one do? I don’t know if it will help, but I’ve suggested we change the name to gjrage and put it next to a fjord. In my experience, that makes everything better.