Alaska Travelogue
Well, I’m not very good at updating this journal. Case in point? We went to Alaska in July. Of 2022. It is now [checks watch] March of 2023. Oh well. Better late than never, right?
I posted about the teleconverter that I bought, and posted some photos with my 100-400mm Sony - but I don’t know if I mentioned why it was even on my list of lenses. Our trip to Alaska of course! The plan was to join my father-in-law and his friends for a few days fishing, but we also had bear viewing and lots of hikes planned so I thought it was about time to get a more serious wildlife lens. My summer trips to Green-Wood confirmed it, I needed something with just a bit more reach. I rented the lens to test it out and fell in love. It’s been on my camera more often than not since. The teleconverter does soften the image a bit, and cuts back on light, but for the added reach and portability, I think it is worth it.
Wildlife? Check. Birds? You got it! Amazing scenery? Alaska has it all. Our first stop was in Anchorage, where we rented bikes from Flattop Mountain Shuttle. We were originally going to take the shuttle up and bike down, but when the guy described the ride down the mountain as “gnarly”, we opted instead for brisk ride up and down the coastal path first and just a shuttled hike later. The guide pointed out on a map where we were likely to see a moose, and we were not disappointed! I thought it was a good sign that our first adventure already had some great wildlife. We also saw a ton of magpies, though I didn’t get a good photo of any of them. The hike itself was completely socked out but we had a great time anyway, hiking along with some new friends from the shuttle.
After Anchorage, we headed off to Kodiak where we’d make our way to Raspberry Island. A bear lumbered away from the runway as we landed. I took it as a positive sign for our travels, a friendly furry welcome to Kodiak!
We didn’t have a ton of time in town, but I was pleasantly surprised to find plenty of vegan friendly options at the places we went. Kodiak Brewing even had a seitan Philly cheesesteak on their food board! We didn’t rent a car, but if we go back I’d add more time in Kodiak and rent a car so that we can do some hikes there. Sadly the museum was closed both when we arrived and later when we headed back, but again, something I’d factor some time in for next time.
We met up with the fellows we’d be spending the next few days with, and they were all fellows. Despite the attendee list having a Shannon and a Carol, I was the only woman joining the group. Just goes to show you can’t judge a list by the names! Raspberry Island was amazing, and deserves a write up all on it’s own.
After our time on the island we headed back to Anchorage, said good-bye to our fishing friends and rented a car for a few days venturing down to Seward. Our first stop was Whittier. A small deep-water port city, the only land-side way to get there is through a long one-lane tunnel that is used by both cars and trains, with staggered entrance times. Driving through the tunnel was super cool, though if you’re heading through it take note of the times that it’ll be open!
Almost all of the residents live in one large apartment complex. We weren’t in town long, and our hiking plans got scuppered by constant rain, but we were pleasantly surprised that from the few restaurants we found, one had great vegan options! MULTIPLE options even! Sadly it looks like it closed recently.
This image “Portage Valley” is available as a print! From my shop here.
After Whittier, we headed out to Seward. We knew there were some hikes in town and we planned for some kayaking and a (totally touristy) sled-dog visit. I am not sure exactly what I expected of the town, but I have to say, it wasn’t my favorite. Strangely packed with tourists, but with very few vegan options that we could find. Lots of restaurants had long wait times or no available tables, they blamed a lot of it on trouble finding staff because of the pandemic. I’m not sure how much of that was true. The places we had marked on our map to check out were all either unexpectedly closed for the days we were in town or just closed for good. Our kayak trip was the s-l-o-w-e-s-t set of paddlers I’ve ever gone out with. I left all my camera gear at home, it was nice to just paddle around and not worry about dunking my pride-and-joy. I do wish I’d brought at least something with me though, there were so many bald eagles!
After our paddle we were looking for something else to do and landed on a hike of Mount Marathon. A pretty steep straight-up hike (at least for this East Coast girl!) the hike is a popular one in Seward. People even race up it, which looks INSANE. We opted to hike, and when we got to the top and saw where our route was supposed to go - a steep scree glissade down the mountain- we turned around and backtracked instead. We carried our trusty bear rocks, and while we saw plenty of signs of bear, luckily did not run into any. (I made Chris pose with his bear rock while we were hiking, haha.)
We also made time for the Alaska Sea Life Center, where I was hoping there’d be an auklet, but no such luck. There was, however, a woman who was surprised she couldn’t bring her DOG into the aviary. People will never cease to amaze.
On our way out of town we swung by the Seavey’s dog sled tours. A little history, a ride on a wheeled ‘sled’ through the woods, some time to hang out with the dogs and pet some puppies, it was everything you’d expect a summer time dog sled tour to be. The puppies adorable, though they did try to eat my socks and my sweatshirt and basically anything they could get their sharp little teeth into.
Back to Anchorage! A few more hikes and stops along the way, taking in as much of the scenery as we could before getting back on a plane to head home to New York. It’s always nice to head home, but I really did love the trip. We live in a big city, with people on top of each other everywhere. In Alaska the expanse of nature just felt really BIG in a way that hikes and nature here never really does. I can’t wait to go back.