Last week, we took a trip to Alaska. I have always wanted to go, and it did not disappoint. It is a wild and beautiful place!
We centered our trip around a place called the Orca Adventure Lodge in Cordova. I found this place on Trip Advisor, and was intrigued by the remoteness and good reviews. It was a trek to get there--we flew to Anchorage, rented a car and took a 6 hour ferry ride with the car across the Prince Williams Sound, as you can't drive there--but it was totally worth it to get away from the cruise ship crowd. Plus the ride across the sound was gorgeous, and the food on board the ferry was surprisingly good!
Our hotel room had one of the most beautiful views I have ever had from a hotel! Unfortunately, Jason somehow managed to leave his suitcase in Anchorage (!), so we had to stop to buy some undies at the only store in town. Oops.
In Cordova, we spent time hiking, kayaking and fishing. My favorite hike was to a glacial lake, full of icebergs. Kayaking was great too.
The lodge came with meals--great food--and mostly the clientele were there to fish. We did not take any fishing trips, but we did learn about a fishing hole to get king salmon--and Ethan got one! The chef cooked it up for the boys to eat for dinner, and they really enjoyed it.
Our second stop in Alaska was in Soldotna, on the Kenai peninsula. I chose this destination as it was reported to be a great fishing spot, since Ethan was really interested in catching salmon. Unfortunately, after the Orca's lodge, it was a real let down, first because it was really urban and secondly because there were not any fish! We went on a fishing charter and caught no salmon. The kids did get to catch trout, which they enjoyed, but it was catch and release.
After that disappointing day, we decided to leave Soldotna and head instead to Seward, a coastal town on the Kenai peninsula near Kenai Fjords National Park.
Seward was beautiful (though inundated with cruise ship passengers), and we took a very cool hike to the Harding Ice Field at Exit Glacier. We actually were not able to complete the entire hike due to snow on the trail, but we made it about 3/4 of the way up, and it did not disappoint.
Sadly, Jason had visited Exit Glacier 20 years ago, and he was astounded by how much it had receded since then. Apparently it used to extend to the parking lot--and now it is at least 0.5 miles up the trail before you can even see it!
The following day, we took a shorter coastal hike before heading back to Anchorage for our flight. We had dinner at the Moose's Tooth Pizzeria, which came highly recommended by some friends, and was worth the 60 minute wait!
Overall, Alaska was amazing, I am so glad we got to go. Next time, I would like to do an interior tour to Denali and Wrangell St. Elias--something to look forward to!
