BellaOnline Forums Travel and Culture Alaska Have you visited Alaska?

If you've been to Alaska, what was your most memorable experience?

Hi Kimi,

Took the Inside Passage ferry from Prince Rupert, B.C. to Haines, Alaska -- what a great time. It's a mini-cruise without the cost. Slept on top deck on plastic lawn chairs with sleeping bags to keep us warm -- my daughter (she was 8 at the time)-- still talks about how much fun that was. Lots of Russian culture on the island stops along the way. Great experience.

Hi Megan -

Thanks for sharing! Last May I took the ferry from Valdez to Cordova. It was the first time I'd been on the ferry system. I agree - it's like a budget cruise and a very relaxing way to travel.

I was in Alaska last year to see the northern lights.

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My husband and I had a 3 week experience in Alaska in 2001. It was an experience we will never forget. We flew to Anchorage and then rented a car. From there we drove all over Alaska camping out everywhere. We did not spend one day in a motel.

What's cool in Alaska is that all the laundry mats have a for pay shower. So every couple of days we stopped in and had a shower. Some of the campgrounds also had showers, but not many.

We had so many fun experiences it's hard to pinpoint the best one. We walked a glacier, went to the tiny town of Soldovia(former Russian fishing village only accessible by boat).
Saw Mt McKinley from the other side from Denali, that few people ever see. Lucky for us it was a clear day on top of Denali and we got unbelievable pictures. Visited with some indigenous Alaskan's. That's how we found the unique place to see Mt. McKinley. I could go on and on. We almost wanted to move there, the scenery was so beautiful. But the long twilight of winter would not be for us. Anyway, I highly recommend everyone visit Alaska!

Jim -

Thanks for sharing! Sounds like you had a good trip, even though you didn't see the aurora. Are you planning a return trip?

Kimi

Lynn -

I'm glad you had such a memorable trip. You should come back sometime and get to some of the villages off of the road or ferry system - Kotzebue, Nome, Bethel, Barrow.

Do you have any of your pictures of Denali posted on a website anywhere?

Kimi

Hi. I am a three year resident of Alaska. I love it here. I moved here from back east three years ago. Drove the whole way from back east on the Alaskan Highway. What an experience. I am proud to call myself an Alaskan. This is for me the most beautiful place in the world.

I couldn't agree with you more! I fell in love with Alaska when I came for a teacher's job fair. Took the train from Anchorage to Fairbanks, with a several day stay in Denali National Park on the way. For the first time in my life, I felt I had arrived home. I can't imagine living anywhere else.

Oh, I can't either. I feel like I never had a life before I moved here. I never want to go back to the lower 48. I live in the inside passage, so out my front window, I can see the Pacific Ocean. It's great in the summer. I would open up my door in the morning and you could either hear the sealions talking to each other below me or the whales singing out in the bay. And there is nothing like taking a walk and hearing the eagles crying out to each other. They sound so beautiful. I try to go beachcombing as often as possible too, and being able to see brown bears every day of the week, not many people get to do that. I am very fortunate.

I went to Alaska in 2007 to participate in a Women's Show and had a great time!

Here's an image of Mount Susitna -

My brother and I drove to Alaska in May 2007. He is from NYC, and he picked me up in Indiana and for the next 5 weeks and 14,300 miles we had SO much fun! As he said, we were like two astronauts, jammed into a tiny capsule (Toyota RAV4) travelling enormous distances and seeing wonderful things! It was the first time we had been together, one-on-one, since childhood and it was great. We drove as far as 35 miles above the Arctic Circle, did a lot of birding, took 2 boat trips to see birds and glaciers, drove into Denali, saw 18 bears (he kept count) and stored up a lifetime of memories.

That sounds like a marvelous trip, Claybird!! Did you have a favorite part of the trip?

Yes, it was in the Yukon. We stayed overnight in Whitehorse and I saw an announcement that the Yukon Bird Club was going to have a field trip to see Blue Grouse the following evening. I called them to see if outsiders were welcome and we were, so we stayed the extra night. That trip was the best! We climbed way up a mountain near Carcross, it was one of the hardest hikes I've ever taken but I did it! Part way up we stopped and the leader made a campfire and we had cocoa and snacks, then continued up to where the grouse were displaying. The views were amazing, the company welcoming and congenial and the grouse were a Life Bird that we probably would never have gotten otherwise. Brother and I agreed that it was the high point of a trip that was outstanding overall.

Sounds like you had a great trip here, Claybird! Besides the Whitehorse birding trip, did you find any other great birding spots? Since moving here I've added a couple dozen species to my life list - spring migration is always something to look forward to!

Kimi

Wow that sounds like great fun, claybird! It is so nice that they let you come along

Kimi,
We birded the Homer Spit when the shorebird migration hit, and that was great! There was a boat trip from Homer into the bay that was led by a bird-friendly captain and his wife and they found lots of new water birds for us. I also enjoyed Creamer's Field in Fairbanks, it's a preserve maintained by the city, and migrating waterfowl stop there in huge numbers.
I really loved visiting Alaska, I guess we were there at the best time; roads were (mostly) open but the bugs were still asleep. What a beautiful state!

Claybird -

I'm hoping to get down to Homer one of these years for the shorebird migration. Last spring I went to Cordova, but was just a tad too late (about a week). The large numbers and big variety was gone - I did get some great rock sandpiper photos, though, and got to observe a lot of other species going about their business.

Were the cranes in at Creamer's Field when you were there?

Kimi

I have always wanted to go to Alaska. when i was a kid they told us you could go to college there for free . . .but no more i did the research when I was 18. but I know I'll make it there some day

I really enoyed visiting Alaska. The nearly day-long light made me feel energized. My favorite experience was taking a helicopter ride over glaciers. At low altitude we saw a group og grizzlies and when the clouds parted briefly we saw Denali's snow-capped peak.

Best,
Candyce

Sounds fantastic living in Alaska and the Inside Passage. Save a spot with the sea lions for me. I'd like to kayak to Alaska from the lower 48 sometime.

Since we deal with lots of gloomy low light in NW winters, did you find it difficult to adjust to the even lower light season up there?

My favorite Alaska moment was taking an airplane ride from Talkeetna up to McKinley and landing on a glacier! That was the neatest thing ever, it was a beautiful day and we got some amazing pictures. It was also cool seeing all the wildlife in Denali park when we toured it, also on a beautiful day.

Cindy

Our most favorite trip was Alaska. Next time we go, we will stay at Denali.

One of my most memorable experiences from that trip was Kayaking at Ketchikan.

Hi West Coast Denise. I just saw your post. I haven't checked here lately. Yes, I'll try to save you a spot with the sealions.

No, the winters, I felt were pretty easy for me to adapt to. I used to live further north close to Anchorage in what they call the valley so the winters there are a little more brutal and it's a dry cold. I can remember one week which was the first winter for me when the temperature stayed at -15 below 0 for over a week. My car didn't start and I ended up walking about a mile in blizzard conditions to work. I can still remember walking through the back door of work and everyone laughing because I looked like a minature snowman.