Our family trip this past summer was to
Alaska. We went as a group of 6 (parents with 4 children ages 9, 15, 17, & 20). Although I originally wanted to take the married children with us too, once we decided that the best way to explore Alaska is by
RV-that kind of eliminated having the marrieds come along.
We flew
Alaska Airlines because they have this great deal called
$99 companion fare https://www.alaskaair.com/content/credit-card/companion-fare-benefits?srsltid=AfmBOoo1wUpG_EeKO_Osdz6O8_WmQ4J4dhlESzOHExgnu4VYY06mA0Gf.
So I opened an Alaska Airlines card for me & my wife. We each paid 1 full fare ticket (since we ordered them very early, in December, we got a good price, around $400 round trip), then each paid $99 for a companion, & then used the bonus miles we each got for opening the credit card to pay for the 3rd ticket in our group. Being card holders, we also got a free bag for everyone. So we ended up paying about $1,000 to take the 6 of us to Alaska. We departed Wednesday, August 14, 2024 at 4:00pm from EWR. Approximately 5 hour flight to Seattle. 45 minute layover. Then 3 hour flight to Anchorage. We arrived in Anchorage around 10:30pm local time. We took 2 taxis (Jewish family of 6 with all our luggage!) to
Great Alaskan Holidays RV center.
https://www.greatalaskanholidays.com/When looking into options of car rental & accommodations back in November, I soon realized that an RV is the best option. In the past we had always rented a Ford Transit from Avis or Budget due to the fact that they have the back row removed which leaves room for the tons of suitcases & coolers we travel with. Anchorage didn’t have such vehicles period. Also, since we would be traveling from place to place so often in Alaska, I saw that finding hotels or Airbnb that would work for our group of 6 was going to be a real pain. Anchorage & Seward etc. maybe have decent options but we were going to be sleeping over in some small towns with very limited options. So I decided to try an RV for the first time ever. We were quite apprehensive at first but it worked out amazingly. See an entire
“RV for beginner users guide” that I posted in a separate thread. Great Alaskan Holidays (GAH) has this great program where you can check in after hours. They have the RV completely ready, powered up, temperature set etc. We pulled up to their lot, found the RV with our name in the window (they had 11 other ones that were being taken after hours that night alone!), found the coach key (you only get the driving key the next morning by orientation), & went to sleep.
Thursday 8/15Completed RV orientation & let family sleep late. Then we drove south toward Girdwood. The drive along what is called
Turnagain Arm is a stunning drive! It is actually known as one of the most beautiful stretches of highway in America! We made a few stops along the way by various pullouts, such as
Beluga Point, named so because beluga whales can sometimes be seen there (not our luck, though). In the Girdwood area, about 35 minutes from Anchorage, we got off the road & got onto a very bumpy dirt road to take us to
Bird Valley Trailhead. We met our 2 guides from
Alaska ATV Adventures there at 3:00pm that would take us ATVing for the next 3 hours.
https://alaskaatvadventures.com/tours/off-road-tour/We had purchased for the entire family
Merrell waterproof hiking shoes. It was one of the best investments we made for the trip. Merrell is a very well-known, highly-rated company & their product stood the test. We got into 3 ATVs (2 seaters each), took a few training laps, & then we were off. By the way, you do not need a driver’s license to drive these; anyone over 16 could drive it. However, I’d advise only experienced drivers to drive them because they’re hard to control. We spent the next 3 hours driving on the craziest terrain out there: rock filled paths, huge mud ponds, steep inclines etc. We also got out a few times to check out salmon swimming in a creek, to check out fresh bear prints on the ground (We just must’ve missed the bear), & to see some stunning views looking down a valley & beyond into Turnagain Arm. We had an absolute blast.
The only thing we were unhappy about was the fact that the company did not provide us or mandate full rain gear. They only offered rain jackets but then said that since it wasn’t raining we don’t need them. We came out of there covered in mud from head to toe. We ended up spending the rest of the evening (keep in mind that evening in Alaska is until 11:00 or later that time of year!) scrubbing out our clothing, washing everything in a laundromat, & showering ourselves thoroughly. We had been hoping to do more activities that day (see at the end of the TR a list of places & activities that I had hoped but was unable to get to) but were busy scrubbing ourselves clean. We made a BBQ supper in front of the laundromat & then drove 15 minutes south to the Williwaw campground to sleep. The Williwaw campground does not have any hookups at all, but each campsite is beautifully secluded and has a nice picnic table.
https://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/chugach/recreation/camping-cabins/recarea/?recid=6604&actid=29Friday 8/16We woke up, davened Shachris, ate breakfast, & headed back to Girdwood. We drove to the
Alpine Air hangar that is on a row of private hangars by the airport.
https://alpineairalaska.com/dog-sledding-tours/We were outfitted with pants & jacket that will keep us dry & warm, as well as boots & gloves. We then boarded a helicopter for a short but thrilling 15 minute ride to Punchbowl Glacier.
We were greeted by the sounds of tons of excited dogs that were yipping & yapping loudly. These dogs belong to Mr. Seavey, who won the famous Iditarod race in Alaska numerous times, & these dogs are in training to run that race. Their biggest excitement is to get out & run, so as soon as they saw us coming they began barking & jumping in excitement! While the dog handlers (their official name is dog musher) were setting the dog team up on the sleds, our kids got to go into the cage where they had the 6-week-old puppies. My kids delighted in holding them & playing with them. Once the dogsleds were set we got onto the sleds; 3 passengers per sled (1 sitting in front & 2 standing further back). I was given the honor of being the one who stands in back & helps brake the sled when going downhill. My luck, on one of the downhills, when the musher yelled out to brake, the second I lifted my leg to brake I flipped off & flew right into a pile of snow on the side. Because they were going so fast downhill, I had to run quite a distance to catch up to where the musher was able to brake them. But it was so much fun, I’d recommend flipping off “on purpose!” The round trip sledding is about 20 minutes with 2 short breaks just to grab a couple of photos. Then we helicoptered back to base with the most insane memories ever!
We then ate lunch and headed to the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center where we would be able to see all the wildlife that are typical to Alaska from close up. These are animals that, for whatever reason, cannot live in the wild, so they raise them there. They’re not kept in cages like in zoos but rather are given very large natural areas to live in. We saw moose, caribou, reindeer, black, brown, & grizzly bears, porcupine, bison, elk, fox, wolves, muskox, lynx, bald eagles, coyotes & others.
https://alaskawildlife.org/We then headed back to Anchorage for Shabbos.
Shabbos 8/16-8/17Chabad in Anchorage has a wonderful setup for visitors that come there during the summer. There are many hotels and Airbnbs near them. They also have a large parking lot in front of their Jewish Center where RVs can park & actually even have the ability to provide electric & water hookups for a couple of RVs. RV hookups & meals must be ordered in advance since all food is shipped there from Seattle. Rabbi Yosef & Mrs. Esty Greenberg, as well as their daughter Mushky & son in law R Levi Glitsenstien, are great hosts. In the summertime there could be up to 100 guests at their Shabbos meal & they make a beautiful Shabbos Seuda & are so welcoming to everyone. On their website you can get tons of information about visiting Alaska, as well as the ability to fill out forms to reserve Shabbos meals.
https://www.lubavitchjewishcenter.org/tourist-infoWe parked our RV in their parking lot, hooked up to the electric & water, showered & got ready for Shabbos. In the summer in Alaska there is little to no night. There is something called the midnight sun, which just means that the sun doesn’t even fully set at night. We came a little later in the summer luckily so it did get fully dark from about midnight to 3:00am each night. To give you an idea, 4 weeks before we arrived, havdala on Motzei Shabbos had been at around 2:30am! We were “lucky” to only have Havdala the first week at 11:30 & the 2nd week at 11:00. Friday night Mincha we made early Shabbos so we davened at 8:00pm, ate the seuda, schmoozed with all the other guests for a while & then went to sleep. Shabbos morning Shachris is always 10:30am. Between Shachris & Mussaf Rabbi Greenberg speaks for about 15 minutes. After davening there is a buffet style seuda for all the guests. It was so enjoyable to see yidden from so many different places, cultures, & levels of frumkeit all bond together so beautifully. As an example, there was a frum yid who lives in New York who has taken upon himself to provide chizuk to the soldiers in Eretz Yisroel who are going through trauma. He has actually been doing this for a bunch of years already but stepped it up now during this war. He takes a couple of soldiers at a time & brings them on a trip where they can slowly heal from their emotional wounds. This week he had with him
2 soldiers-one that had his leg blown off and half his face reconstructed, & the other whose entire unit had been killed in a blast & only he had miraculously survived. They spoke at the seudah. He was then taking them to a wilderness lodge for a week to help slowly heal emotionally. And he does this all from his own initiative & on his own dime. (By the way, I did tell him after Shabbos that there might be people that would want to donate to him. He was hesitant at first but I told him people love to help. If anyone is interested-then send me a personal message & I’ll put you in touch with him) We also got to know the few Orthodox locals in the area who became so friendly with us. Some of them actually offered to show us a nice Shabbos walk. The walk was mostly on this nice jogging/biking path that meanders along a pretty brook. It ends at a very pretty lagoon. They came along the whole way, even though it was 3 miles there, a half hour rest, & 3 miles back! Shabbos afternoon is very, very long in Alaska, so even after that long Shabbos walk we ended up having many of the other guests come hang out in our RV for a few more hours while we put out lots of Shabbos party. It was a ton of fun! We took a short nap at 9:00pm (!), then ate some Shalosh Seudos & davened Mariv/Havdala around 11:30.
Sunday 8/18We drove 2 hours north then east to
Matanuska Glacier. It is one of the few glaciers that you can actually walk on in Alaska. There are 3-4 companies that offer guided hikes on the glacier. We chose MICA Guides because they offered a private tour for basically the same price as going on a regular tour.
https://micaguides.com/activities/private-trek/ The one unpleasant thing about Matanuska Glacier that every company has to deal with is that there’s an old guy that owns a huge amount of land in that area that he was able to get with certain laws many years ago. The only way to get to the glacier is to drive through his land. He charges something like $50 per person to be able to go through his property. Supposedly the government doesn’t have the koach to build an alternate road so we’re stuck paying that crazy fee. So, in addition to the advertised cost the guide company charges you, you’ll also be paying that land access fee. In any case, the hike is a must-do! Walking on that ice was an experience like no other! You first put on this bundle of microspikes over your shoes & then you begin the trek. You get to see the ice so close up & exactly how it is shaped with all the crevices, caves, shapes, texture etc. It is truly amazing. We were in awe!
We filled up our water bottles with the ice cold melting snow-geshmak! Once we got off the glacier we ate lunch & drove a few hours to Valdez. The drive itself is eye popping almost the whole way. But the last 3rd of the drive it was rainy & very foggy so we couldn’t see much. We did get out to see Bridal Veil Falls & Horsetail Falls & danced a beautiful “Ma Rabu Ma’asecha” dance. Maybe the other drivers thought we were crazy but they probably think that about us anyway
. As we pulled in to the actual town we were greeted by the famous “Valdez Alaska” gate that spans the road at the entrance to the town.
We pulled into Valdez RV Park right by the gate
https://www.valdezrvpark.com/ & set up all our hookups for the RV for the next couple of days. We had a delicious grill supper, did some laundry, showers, schmoozed with some of the other interesting folks at the RV park & went to sleep.
Monday 8/19We had a 9:30 reservation with
Stan Stephens Cruises to go on a full day cruise. I know I did something slightly out of the typical here. Most people do the obligatory day cruise going out of Seward, or sometimes Whittier. Here is my logic-feel free to agree or disagree with any part of it. I had heard from a number of people that the cruises out of Seward can make you quite seasick, whereas the cruises in
Prince William Sound have calm waters. I did accept that there is a lower percent chance of seeing whales (we did not see any, but neither did 2 other couples that we met in Alaska that had gone from Seward; 1 couple saw none, the other saw a tail flash for a second) but knew that the other wildlife & glacier viewing were comparable. True, going from Whittier takes you in calm waters, but once I was looking at Prince William Sound I began researching Valdez & felt a magnetic pull toward the place. So Valdez it would be & the day cruise was on. The company does 2 cruises; one to Columbia Glacier & one to Meares Glacier. We chose the
Meares Glacier (even though it is a bit farther & requires a longer trip) trip because, since Columbia Glacier is receding so quickly there are massive ice floes all around it in the water & the tours say that they’ll never know how close they could get to the glacier until they’re there. They may have to stay quite a distance away from it. Whereas Meares Glacier we were able to go very, very close to it.
https://www.stephenscruises.com/meares-glacier-excursion/. So off we went. The day started off a bit drizzly & foggy but it slowly cleared up. We saw plenty of sea otters, bald eagles, & interesting birds. Then we were able to tell that we were getting closer to the glaciers because we were seeing nice size chunks of ice in the water. We came around the bend & there it was. It was a majestic, magnificent sight.
We saw plenty of calving activity, including one massive chunk. The crew fished out a chunk of ice that weighed close to 50 lbs. I actually held it while everyone was looking at it. It was so smooth! There were a hundred or more harbor seals just lying on the ice chunks soaking in the sun. On the way back to port we passed both types of puffins (horned & tufted) & other pretty birds quite up close, we saw a few miles of Stellar sea lions on the coastline where they haul out to lay in the sun & then dive back in to go fishing (all the while raising a huge cacophony with all their noise), & we got a couple of visits of groups of Dall’s porpoises where they loved diving in & out of the water right near the boat.
After a short rest in our RV we drove a few miles to the
Solomon Gulch Hatchery. Here they raise hundreds of thousands of salmon & then the salmon come back here at the end of their spawning cycle. It was fascinating to see thousands of salmon teeming in the water everywhere. There were sea lions there swimming among them grabbing them & eating them. The salmon were all over, even flopping around on the sea lions’ backs. It was interesting to note how the sea lions were very picky which salmon they wanted to eat. They would only pick ones that they saw still had lots of good fat on them. There were also tons of dead salmon all over the beach that had already spawned & had ended their life cycle.
https://www.valdezfisheries.org/the-hatchery/From there we drove to a nice turnoff on the side of the road & climbed into this peaceful, secluded spot along one of the riverbanks. We enjoyed basking in some beautiful sunlight (at 9:30pm!) alongside a strong river running off a glacier. The one thing the kids were complaining was that with so much salmon around they had been hoping to see a bear or 2. Just as they finished their kvetch, a huge black bear comes rumbling out of the shrubs on the side of the road, looks both ways, & jogs across the highway, right in front of us! We then had another BBQ supper & off to bed.
Tuesday 8/20We packed up lunch & walked around the corner back to the harbor to meet our guide for our kayaking trip with
Anadyr Adventures. The company has many different trips to choose from. I figured that, since we already had seen glaciers & ice a number of times already in our short stay so far, we’ll do a more picturesque, peaceful family kayaking trip. So we chose the
Sawmill Bay trip.
https://anadyradventures.com/day-trips/ The weather was as perfect as you can have. 100% sunny skies, and in the 60s. The guide told us that you can count on the fingers of 1 hand this kind of weather in Valdez the entire summer. We got all geared up (rain pants that loop over the shoulders, rain jacket, boots, life jackets) & took our stuff down to the dock. We went onto a water taxi that took us about 40 minutes to Sawmill Bay. Along the way the ferry stopped by some beautiful waterfalls that fed from way up in the mountains, straight down into the sea. He also stopped around a tiny island that had tons of sea lions resting there & entering & exiting the water. At Sawmill Bay we unloaded all the kayaks & equipment, packed all our waterproof bags inside the kayaks, & headed out. The guide soon picked up a cool sea star that was just floating around in the water. We all oohed & aahed before gently placing it on a rock jutting out of the water. There were sea otters swimming around us, salmon jumping out of the water all over, bald eagles hanging around nearby. But the thing that was the best was the absolute stillness. Not another sound was heard for hours other than our oars paddling & us occasionally talking. It is some sight to see to be in this peaceful, turquoise, massive body of water surrounded by just nature-beautifully colored water, lots of wildlife, mountains rising majestically all around us, waterfalls everywhere. We hauled out for lunch, paddled around some more, exploring this gan eden, & then headed back to the water taxi which returned us to the harbor.
We headed back to our RV, stocked up on a few more groceries, & headed out of Valdez. This time, as opposed to our drive in, the weather was perfect. The drive is a just jaw-dropping, mile after mile. We stopped for about an hour by
Thompson’s Pass.
https://www.valdezalaska.org/blog/post/driving-through-thompson-pass/ It is impossible to describe the beauty that you are surrounded by there. We hiked a bit out on one of the trails. We really should’ve turned around to get back to driving but it just kept turning more & more beautiful. It reminded me very much of the views you see on the Highline Trail by Logan Pass in Glacier National Park.
Back in the RV we drove another hour or 2. We had a great view of the
St. Elias completely snow covered mountain in the distance. It was amazing to see how the mountain rose above the clouds. That meant that anyone that was near the mountain couldn’t see it, but from our vantage point at this great height, we saw the whole mountain above the clouds! We stopped for Mincha & supper at a beautiful lake where the mountain range towering above it was perfectly reflected in the lake. Finally we drove to the
Hatcher’s Pass area near Palmer, where we parked our RV in the parking lot by the
Gold Mint Trailhead so that, hopefully, when we wake up in the morning, we’ll once again be surrounded by stunning views.
Wednesday 8/21In the morning though, it was cloudy & drizzly. We did watch a cool thing where there were a group of park rangers preparing to install a latrine at a distant trail in the area. They kept loading massive crates of material, whereupon a helicopter came, attached a rope dangling down to the crates, & then carried the crates up in the air to the trail. We drove onto Hatcher’s Pass road where it is an extremely bumpy dirt road with hairpin turns. We only drove the first 1.5 mile of it to get to the summit of
Hatcher’s Pass. There we did the
April Bowl hike. It is a moderately rated hike but the views from above are well worth the effort.
However, we did it in a freezing, steady rain. That turned it into an even more challenging hike. Although we toughed it out & were amply rewarded, the weather didn’t allow us to do a couple of other hikes we wanted to do in the area.
https://alaskaitinerary.com/best-hatcher-pass-hikes/ So we headed out to Denali National Park. We took the 5:30pm green bus tour. Denali NP has 2 bus options- green or brown bus (no personal vehicles are allowed on the road past mile 15, so buses are basically the only option into the park). The brown bus tour is a fully narrated tour, whereas the green bus is just a means of transportation throughout the park road. In my research I found that the green bus drivers end up providing full narration anyway. And, since it’s only transportation rather than a tour, you could get on or off whenever you want on any of the buses. So the green bus seemed like the best option.
https://www.reservedenali.com/tours-transits/transits/ Our driver actually did not stop talking about literally everything we saw the entire way. Please note, in addition to the bus fare (which is often best to be reserved in advance), you also have to pay an entrance fee to the park like you do at every national park. We had a child going into 4th grade & there is a program that allows 4th graders (going into or out of) to go with their family for free. I had to fill out a form before we arrived & print out the pass to show the park rangers. It’s a very massive park so often the things you’re seeing are from a distance. We saw 2 bull moose, a caribou, & a few times a grizzly with cubs in the distance. Closer up we saw a family of ptarmigans (state bird), a golden eagle soaring above, a porcupine on side of road, & a great horned owl for a brief moment. The views are stunning & vast. I really wanted to do a couple of easy hikes but we simply ran out of time & it was very cold out. We ate supper (cold cut sandwiches) on the bus. Once back in our RV we drove 2 hours to
Talkeetna Camper Park.
https://www.talkeetnacamper.com/Thursday 8/22The RV park we were staying in is literally right at the entrance to the town of Talkeetna so, after packing up lunch for the day, we walked over to
Mahay’s Jet Boat Tours where they took us by bus to their riverfront dock & we boarded one of their jetboats. The company had great reviews & seemed to provide a very unique ride. We took the 5 hour Devil’s Canyon tour.
https://mahaysriverboat.com/devils-canyon-adventure/ The weather wasn’t great again so we were more indoors on the boat than on deck. Due to the poor weather we also couldn’t see Denali (which is often a big highlight of the trip) or any wildlife. So actually most of the ride until the canyon was pretty boring for us. Devil’s Canyon is cool though. It’s this place where the river has these class V & even class VI rapids! The jet boat is designed to be able to navigate some of these tough rapids without having the boat thrown about. The captain described how the only way to do these rapids is either by such a boat or some daring individuals do it by kayak, strongly depending on river water levels. As an example he said that the past 2 years no one dared try it; and the couple of years prior it was done by 2 people 1 year & 3 the other year. He took us until we came to rapids that looked so savage that they formed literally a wall of white foaming water.
There he kept the boat steady near it (but not in it) for everyone to take pictures. He then turned back toward home. About 10 minutes before the end of the trip we docked at a place where we all got out & got a short half hour tour of an old native fishing camp. We actually really enjoyed that part because we were able to try on antlers & furs from all sorts of animals. All in all, though, the trip did not feel as a big success. We then browsed some of the gift shops in town & actually had a ton of fun doing so. The townspeople are very into their freedoms to practice religion, carry guns etc. and all the stores were full of such paraphernalia. After an hour or 2 of relaxing we headed toward
Talkeetna Air Taxi. We boarded a small 8-seater plane & took off on their
Mountain Voyager tour.
https://www.talkeetnaair.com/flightseeing/mountain-voyager/ 
The plane took us up way above the mountains & around some of the giant mountains in the range. It was an awe inspiring ride. We had seen glaciers earlier in our trip but had never seen the whole thing & where they originate from way up on the mountains. We felt like we were living in this winter wonderland, full of massive, totally snow covered mountains, glaciers running out of them from all sides, seeing how the glaciers form & all the lakes, rivers, & forests around them, it was just so eye opening.
The company does offer a glacier landing option for an additional fee, but I felt that since we had already been on a few glaciers, it was unnecessary spending. We did see groups down below doing so & it was cool to see how tiny they looked from above- a massive snow field with what seemed like a tiny plane with a few black dots around it representing people.
We returned to our RV, barbecued supper again & went to sleep.
Friday 8/23We left Talkeetna & drove about 1.5 hours to Palmer. First we shopped in the local Fred Meyer for some food restock & clothing needs. It is actually a massive superstore basically like a Walmart, Shoprite, & Macy’s in one. Then we drove to the
Alaska State Fair. This fair takes place in Palmer every summer in August. It’s a very nice event.
https://www.alaskastatefair.org/site/2024-dates-2/ They had a whole exhibit on all kinds of wild pets people can buy. They have a whole bunch of fun rides. They have a very nice farm animal area where we watched eggs hatching & you could pet & feed tons of farm animals.
They have some very interesting contests that you can see too. Due to the very long sunlight days in the area vegetables grown there can grow to huge proportions. So they have a contest for that. We saw an almost 100 lb. cabbage & tons of other such phenomena. Often they have very good shows for kids there as well. You have to check their calendar to see what will be on schedule for that day (for example, I was hoping to see their 3 categories of “best beard” contest, but alas it was on a different weekend). We spent about 2-3 hours at the fair & then headed to a laundromat in Palmer that has a few coin-operated showers. Even though we have a shower in the RV, it was a lot quicker & more efficient to do it all together. In about 45 minutes we were all showered & had even done a load of laundry. We then drove back to Anchorage, hooked up in the Chabad campus parking lot, & got ready for Shabbos.
Shabbos 8/23-8/24This Shabbos had almost 100 guests gathered at the Chabad center. It was just as beautiful meeting new people, hearing their stories & experiences, listening to some of the speeches people gave, & singing zemiros together. Similar to last week, we went on an afternoon walk with the locals (big treat of a huge Momma moose with her calf grazing near the trail for about 20 minutes!) & Shabbos party in our RV. I was pleasantly surprised to find that one of the families there for Shabbos was Mr. Daniel Eleff, more famously known for being the
“Dan” of Dan’s Deals. On our walk we talked lots of vacation thoughts. It was real nice &, if you’ve never met him, he’s a super, super nice guy in person! Havdala was “early” this week, at around 11:00!
Sunday 8/25We drove about 3 hours from Anchorage to Soldotna. There we went to the offices of Talon Air. We were outfitted with hip waders (basically boots that come up to your hips) & then boarded a seaplane (takes off & lands on water) to take us on about a 20 minute ride to
Crescent Lake in Lake Clark National Park for some bear viewing & fishing.
https://www.talonair.com/crescent-lake-bear-viewing One quick note about this trip. It was quite a costly trip. I originally was dying to go the iconic Brooks Falls in Katmai National Park. That would’ve been even more expensive but still a can’t miss. Getting to Katmai requires much advance planning too & weather can affect those plans a nice percent of the time. So I was a bit wary of putting it into my itinerary. I then began doing research on it & soon realized that the time that I was to be there is actually a slow time for the salmon & consequently, the bears in Katmai. I called a park ranger who confirmed my fears that after all the cost & planning I would do, it was very possible that I’d come to Broooks Falls & may not see even a single bear. I just couldn’t risk that even though it was my number 1 bucket list item. Lake Clark, on the other hand, was peak spawning season at that time. So I revised my plans & booked a trip to Lake Clark instead. This national park (like most national parks in Alaska) is only accessible by plane or boat. We deplaned & got onto a boat that is kind of like a big sized rowboat, but with an engine. Our guides took us around to the places along the shore of the lake that have popular spawning grounds for the salmon, & therefore popular visiting places for bears. Sure enough within a few minutes we were about 20 feet from a huge coastal brown bear.
These are from the grizzly bear family but a lot bigger because they feast on fatty fish all summer long. We were in awe how close we got to the bear without him even showing us the slightest interest. We watched him catch around 12 salmon in a half hour. He would generally sit in the water, eat the fatty parts such as skin, head, reproductive organs etc. & then throw away the rest (because it was so plentiful). Over the day in Lake Crescent we saw approximately 12 bears, some really large males & some females with their cubs trotting along & sometimes trying to fish. We also got out of the boat & waded into the lake to try our own hand at fishing. We even had bears come sniffing by, checking out our fishing!
Can you see the fish eggs actually falling out of the salmon?!
It is important to note that anyone over 15 years old must have a fishing license. They can be bought almost anywhere in Alaska so it’s not a big deal to get but you must have it on you. I figured out that the 2 times we were scheduled to go fishing were 2 days apart from each other, so I bought a 3-day license for all of us over 15. The guides told us that it was a bit too late in the spawning season for the salmon to be tasty anymore so we should focus on trying to catch dolly varden, which is a kind of trout. We ended up catching tons of salmon, which we just threw back into the water & some dolly varden. The weather was perfect again, too, which made it just a beautiful & spectacularly accomplishing day. One more note about the trip. I had heard a bit of mixed reviews whether to do bear watching & fishing in the same expedition. Some had argued that you’ll be left wanting on both sides & should rather make a separate trip for each. I can’t speak for everyone, but for my family it was the perfect blend. As much as we watched the bears for hours, had we just done that I think we would’ve felt a bit like we wouldn’t have accomplished so much for an expensive trip. On the other hand, since we are people that have never gone fishing before, it’s not a major experience that we would’ve enjoyed by itself for many hours. Instead, this was the perfect blend for us-some of each. Once back on dry land we drove our RV to
Klondike RV Park in Soldotna.
https://klondikervpark.com/ This was the best maintained & pleasant experience of all the RV parks we stayed at. Beautiful clean showers, spacious lot for each RV, newly painted picnic table etc. We cooked our delicious trout & also had a barbecue of chicken etc.
Monday 8/26We drove today all the way south until the end of land, to the town called
Homer. As we neared the town, we drove up
Diamond Ridge Road toward
Skyline Drive. It was a narrow winding road. Towards the top we found a pull off that provided breathtaking panoramic views. We saw the whole town of Homer spread out before us, the Homer Spit jutting out into the water, Kachemak Bay all the way across to the other side, all the volcanic mountains rising in sheer beauty beyond them, & some of the glaciers running down the mountains. I tried taking a picture but it just couldn’t capture the beauty so I just gave up.
We then drove to the Spit & went to visit the famous
Salty Dawg Saloon.
https://www.alaska.org/detail/salty-dawg-saloon-and-lighthouse-mi-142 They have tens of thousands of dollar bills taped onto basically every surface possible. It’s a time honored tradition that every customer hangs up a dollar somewhere. They actually have cups filled with markers & push pins or tape on each table. It was a very unique sight. We labeled & hung up our dollar & took pictures.
Everywhere on the spit you can also see bald eagles, soaring above, hovering or floating at eye level, or swooping down for a meal. We then went to park our RV in a long term parking lot, packed up our essentials for the next couple of days, & headed to the harbor boat ramp where we met Captain Scott in his boat. We loaded our stuff onto the boat & headed out of the harbor. Captain Scott gave us a very nice tour of the area. Some points of interest were seeing
Gull Island. We saw thousands of interesting birds flying around there. They raised such a cacophony that we could barely hear ourselves. There are usually over 20,000 birds that call Gull Island their home. From gulls, to long necked cormorants, both types of puffins, thousands & thousands of black legged kittiwakes, murres (these birds are actually quite similar to penguins; they strut around like them & fish & swim like them), pigeon guillemots (with their bright orange legs), & of course an occasional bald eagle that gets all the other birds riled up to chase it away.
https://www.alaska.org/detail/gull-island He also showed us the famous
elephant rock, an interesting rock formation that resembles an elephant. He told us he could make the trunk disappear & then have the elephant raise the trunk. Of course, it all depends on the angle you’re facing the rock. Further along he took us to see the town of
Seldovia. It a small, secluded quaint town with only a few hundred residents. Access to this town is only by boat. Their cars etc. are all ferried over. The town is famous for all the interesting sculptures they boast around the town. We then traveled for about another 10-15 minutes before finally arriving at his beachfront, totally secluded, wilderness lodge. What’s really cool about this particular lodge, besides for its remoteness, is the treehouse that Captain Scott built by himself by hand.
https://treehousecove.com/ My wife & I slept in the main cabin & the kids slept in the treehouse. He keeps the place running with fresh water from the nearby brook, solar panels, & propane. It was a very unique & fascinating experience. We warmed up at his fireplace, unpacked, & chilled for the evening before heading to bed.
Tuesday 8/27After a leisurely wake up & just enjoying living in this secluded wilderness place, we headed out in Captain Scott’s boat for the day to try some halibut fishing. Homer area is known worldwide for its halibut fishing. Unfortunately for us, the best halibut places were inaccessible today due to having 12 foot waves, & in the other spots we just came up empty. The weather was quite chilly too. Overall it was a nice ride around but no fish to be rewarded with. We came back to the lodge, hiked around a bit & relaxed. We tried again in the evening time with his little skiff to catch salmon in the edges of the bay but again, all the fish seemed to have disappeared. Oh well! We showered & went to bed.
Wednesday 8/27We packed up, loaded our stuff onto Captain Scott’s boat & sadly headed back toward Homer. It was very foggy & he needed his navigation to guide him. Once in Homer we loaded back into our RV & headed north towards Anchorage. The weather cleared up on the way & it was a very pretty drive. We stopped off again in Soldotna for lunch & talk along their famous boardwalks that go along the Kenai River. This river is quite a sight to behold. Turquoise green water rushing down for miles & miles and people wading in everywhere along its banks trying their luck for some fishing. The river is supposed to be from the best fishing spots in America. We drove back all the way to Anchorage, returned our RV, and packed up all our suitcases. The RV had to be returned by 5:00pm but our flight wasn’t until 12:45am. So I hired a drive to take us around a bit. We just chilled in the city going to a few stores. Then we went to the local mall. The girls got their nails done there & we played at Dave & Buster’s for a while. We ate supper at the Chabad house & then headed for the airport. We flew from Anchorage to Seattle, had a 45 minute stopover, & then headed back to Newark.
Here is a short list of places/activities that I had researched & really wanted to go/do but simply didn’t have the time (or other reasons):1. Brooks Falls in Katmai National Park (see my commentary on Sunday 8/25)
2. Portage Glacier Cruise (a short, easy, 1-hour cruise not far from Anchorage that takes you to Portage Glacier. Although not as big as the other glaciers on the day tour, it’s a short ride & also has lots of calving activity because it’s shrinking so fast)
https://www.graylinealaska.com/sightseeing/portage-glacier-cruise-tour-self-drive/3. Drive through the Anton Anderson Tunnel & visit the town of Whittier. The tunnel is a very unique one. It is 2.5 miles long, the longest vehicle tunnel in North America. Traffic only goes in 1 direction once an hour so you have to time yourself accordingly. Whittier is a beautiful coastal town with pretty hikes, nice port, & unique buildings (it is called the town where everyone lives under one roof because most people today live in 1 big apartment building there).
https://dot.alaska.gov/creg/whittiertunnel/schedule.shtml4. Hike to Byron Glacier, a very east, short hike to get close up to a glacier. It is also not far from Anchorage. Going there toward dusk can make you possibly see a unique feature called ice worms.
https://www.alaska.org/detail/byron-glacier-trail5. Taking the Alyeska aerial tram. You get beautiful views of Turnagain Arm & the Chugach mountains in a comfortable easy ride. Bonus-if you hike up to the top of the mountain, you get to ride the tram down for free.
https://girdwood.com/information/alyeska-aerial-tram/6. Hike Crow Pass Trail. It is a challenging but can’t miss stunning trail. The trail is very long but you can do as long as you want & then turn back.
https://www.alaska.org/detail/crow-pass-trail7. Thunderbird Falls. A nice, easy 2 mile round trip hike to a beautiful waterfalls which you can view either from a bridge across it, or go walk along rocks in the river until you get literally right up the falls.
https://www.alaska.org/detail/thunderbird-falls-trail8. Town of Seward. A picturesque coastal town. As I mentioned earlier though, I feel like we got that & more by visiting Valdez & Homer.
9. Hiking to Exit Glacier in Seward, or even hiking to much more challenging Harding Icefield. By not visiting Seward at all, we did not have the opportunity to visit another national park, Kenai Fjords National Park.
10. Whale watching of some sort
11. Visiting the Musk ox farm or Reindeer farm when we were in Palmer.
12. Whitewater rafting. They have one of the best rafting in the US here. The Six Mile Creek rafting is major class V & a massive thrill. We couldn’t do it because you must be at least 12 years old & weigh 80 lbs. I could’ve had one of us go with my youngest on a scenic rafting trip while the others went on this white knuckle whitewater rafting but I didn’t want to split up the family.
13. Ziplining. They seem to have some fun ziplines in Seward, Palmer, Talkeetna, & Denali area.
14. More hikes in the Hatcher’s Pass area, specifically some of the easier ones like Gold Cord Trail, Summit Lake Trail, & Independence Mine trail. The place is stunning but the weather was awful that day.
15. Some hikes in Denali National Park, specifically some of the easier ones that would allow us to get closer up to the park’s beauty & significantly increase our wildlife spotting possibility. These included Horseshoe Lake trail near the park entrance, Taiga trail near the visitor center, & Savage River loop trail near the Savage River area.
16. Hike to Russian River Falls. This seems to be the next best way to see salmon jumping up waterfalls similar to Brooks Falls. It is not nearly as guaranteed to see a bear parked there but certainly a chance. However, sadly the area was closed for construction.
Here is list of kosher, non-dairy items (besides of course for the other use items like shampoo, tissues, grill & propane etc.) we were able to purchase locally in Walmart, Safeway, or Fred Meyer:1. Cereal
2. Peanut butter & jelly
3. Mayonnaise
4. Tuna cans
5. Canned corn
6. Almond milk
7. Frozen pas Yisroel bagels
8. Frozen rolls (company name is Rhodes) that are not baked. We’d let them rise in our RV while we toured & then come back & bake them in our Betty Crocker supper time.
9. Chummus (tons of flavors, tons of companies, including Sabra)
10. Drinks
11. Chips (many, many choices)
12. Frozen French fries
13. Frozen tater tots
14. Cans of baked beans
15. Spray oil
16. Pistachio nuts, almonds, & other nut mixes
17. Pickles
18. Eggs
19. Granola bars
20. Ice cream
