From Nature to City! After a few days spent in the wild at Denali National Park, where we reveled in the vast Alaskan wilderness, we hit the road toward Alaska’s largest city: Anchorage.
Friday, July 22, 2022
A rainy day on the road, but even under the gray sky, the landscapes are still quite stunning 😛 Driving in Alaska is an odyssey in itself. We take it slow, fully appreciating the landscapes and wildlife around us. Every so often, we stop to soak in the vast nature, etch the shape of the mountains, the vast expenses of prairies, taiga, rivers, and lakes into our memories. We feel incredibly lucky and grateful to be crossing this beautiful state at the end of the world.
We spend the evening and night in the parking lot at the south viewpoint of Denali, hoping with all our hearts that the clouds will clear in the evening or early morning 🤞. Unfortunately, no luck. Denali remains hidden behind a thick layer of clouds, and despite all our prayers, we catch only a glimpse of a few mountains during a brief clearing.
Saturday, July 23
We arrive in Talkeetna by late morning. We had read that it was a typical town, but to us, it seems more like a tourist spot! Here, you can find all sorts of excursions to explore Alaska, from ATVs and rafting to airplane and helicopter tours. Talkeetna is still an essential stop on the way to Anchorage, with its charming main street lined with local shops, restaurants, and a beautiful view of Mount Denali, which, sadly, remains hidden behind the clouds.
We spend the afternoon at the library, enjoying good Wi-Fi and a studious environment to work. Later, in the evening, we head to Anchorage, 180 kilometers south. It’s the largest city in Alaska, with nearly 300,000 residents. We find a spot to sleep near the city center, in a large park parking lot by a duck pond. Some strange people are around, so we consider moving elsewhere. But then a campervan pulls up, and Marie-Thérèse and Brian, a French-American couple from Seattle, spot our Quebec license plate and park next to us! We spend the evening getting to know each other and chatting in the parking lot, where we end up staying the night. How a lovely encounter can turn a slightly creepy evening into a wonderful moment 😍
Sunday, July 24
We like cities, but not too much. So, we decide to dedicate just one day to exploring Anchorage. We have a packed schedule, with plans to see the city’s most iconic spots while doing shopping, laundry, getting gas, and washing the Jeep. We get up early, and I even manage to go for a run in the park. What we hadn’t planned? The magic of meeting new people! We spend a good part of the morning chatting with Marie-Thérèse and Brian, who even end up cooking us breakfast and… well, here, take the sausages, they’re good! 😅 Thanks again, friends! What a pleasure to chat with you 😄
Local Artisan Market in Downtown
At 10 AM, we head out to the market. We had heard about a giant market with 200 vendors, but we find a lovely neighborhood market with about 20 vendors selling Alaskan-made items and crafts. It’s very nice.
Lake Hood Seaplane Base
Next, we visit the Lake Hood Seaplane Base, a must-see in Anchorage. It’s the busiest seaplane base in the world! No surprise, considering that over half of Alaska is only accessible by plane. Time for a photo shoot of the landings and takeoffs!
The Aviation Museum
An event is taking place at the nearby Aviation Museum, and the pilots are putting on a show for the public: flying at full speed in front of us, landing and taking off again, and flying low. Quite a spectacle!
Kincai Park and Earthquake Park
We take a walk through some of the city’s parks. Anchorage has nearly 200 parks, ranging from small neighborhood parks to large ones, like Kincaid Park on the city’s outskirts, where you might spot bears and moose. It’s a paradise for hikers, bikers, and joggers right in the heart of the city! At Earthquake Park, we also learn that Anchorage was partially destroyed by an earthquake in 1964. The park offers a great view of downtown and… could it be? Denali! Yes, there it is, in the distance, through the mist! A tricky one, this Denali. We waited in vain at the best viewpoints along the road, and now, when we least expect it, it finally shows up!
After our walks, it’s time for some practical tasks! We have to take advantage of the big city, since there aren’t many in Alaska! Today’s priority: wash the Jeep! It’s filthy, and the grime, over time, isn’t doing it any good. We even vacuum the inside for the first time since we left. What a dream to clean only every two months, right? We love it! 😁 Afterward, we go grocery shopping, which makes us hungry. Tonight, we find a restaurant we’ve been dreaming of for a long time: an all-you-can-eat Chinese buffet. Oh no, we can’t find a Chinese restaurant, so it will be an all-you-can-eat Mongolian buffet! Very good. Then, once we’re full, we award Jeepy its first medals!
Alaska’s Wildlife, Even in the City!
It’s nearly 10 PM when we finally hit the road to sleep outside the city. We’re in Anchorage’s industrial zone, near Cabela’s, a hunting and fishing store, between two highways. Suddenly, Rémi exclaims, “Oh, a moose! A huge moose!” I don’t think it’s any bigger than the ones we’ve already seen, but then I turn my head and spot another massive male moose! With antlers! Incredible! We’ve been searching for a male moose for weeks, and we find one here, in Anchorage’s industrial zone. Is he lost or something? We can’t believe it! What a magnificent specimen.
The Salmon River
As night falls, it’s strange to see a hint of twilight. On the road to the Kenai Peninsula, just after leaving Anchorage, we stop by a river to watch fishermen catching salmon. The Pacific salmon migration season has begun! The salmon are swimming upstream to spawn and die where they were born. It’s quite a journey for them, and a great opportunity for the fishermen, who are having a blast. They’re biting like crazy!
We then follow the road into the fjord. The tide is low, and the landscape is amazing, even though the weather is cloudy. Suddenly, we run into Marie-Thérèse and Brian again! Small world in Alaska 😄 It’s pouring rain and very windy as we settle down for the night by the fjord.
Monday, July 25
As predicted, the weather is stormy this morning. So, we just want to relax on the couch, under a blanket, with some herbal tea, and watch TV series all day. The problem? We live in a Jeep, and we don’t have a couch! Marie-Thérèse and Brian kindly invite us into their campervan, where we spend several hours chatting and drinking coffee. When we leave, it’s already almost noon!
We then spend the day in the small town of Girdwood, doing laundry, taking a hot shower, and using the laundry’s Wi-Fi to work. A rainy day well spent! In the afternoon, the weather clears up a bit, and we decide to take a walk up the heights of Girdwood, where glaciers overlook old gold mining areas.
Next, we head toward Whittier. This small fishing village is located at the end of a fjord, which leads to the Gulf of Alaska. Whittier is only accessible via a 4.8-kilometer, single-lane tunnel shared by both traffic and trains! We hope everything is well synchronized! We have to wait 40 minutes for the next traffic slot. It’s 8 PM, so we decide to cook right on the waiting lane while waiting.
A motorhome pulls up near us. Four men get out and start talking to us. They are in Alaska to fish, like many other tourists. We’ve been chatting for 5 minutes, when one of them asks, “Do you like salmon?” Oh yes, we do! “I’ll give you one!” Seriously? That’s kind, but we don’t know how to prepare it! He reassures us: it’s already prepared, just needs to be cooked. He takes us to the back of the campervan, opens a huge cooler full of ice and salmon! They caught 23 today!! They offer us a massive fillet! Wow! Totally unexpected. We thank them a thousand times. We’re going to enjoy this! 😋
We arrive in Whittier around 10 PM. We set up camp on the outskirts of the city, facing an incredible view of the glacier overlooking the town.
At this point, we’re debating whether to set up the tent, but given the hour, we decide to sleep in the car. We don’t know it at the time, but it’s a very wise choice. Tomorrow morning, we will be woken up with a bang… by a bear! A somewhat scary surprise, the first of many to come! Indeed, the next few days on the incredible Kenai Peninsula, the heart of Alaska, promise to be full of adventures and wonders.
