Flightseeing in Alaska
Previous Reports
Six Days in Iraq
A Trip to Bali and Lombok
A Trip to Qatar, Southern Africa and Singapore Qsuite, SQ J, HO J and UA Polaris
A Weekend in the Canadian Rockies: Banff National Park
A Whirlwind Trip Around SE Asia: Bangkok, Myanmar, Laos and Cambodia
Two Days in Guatemala
A Weekend in Austin, Texas
Exploring Ukraine - Kiev, Chernobyl Nuclear Powerplant and Pripyat
A Short Trip to Panama City, Panama
A Week in the Caucasus: Georgia, AzerbaijanandArmenia
A Landscape Photography Trip to Oregon
A Trip to Nigeria
A Trip to the Grand Canyon and Sedona
A Trip to the Azores.
One Week in India: Mumbai, Amritsar, Agra/Taj Mahal, Jaipur and Delhi CX and EY J
A Snowstorm in Tokyo and Volcanoes in the Philippines
New Year’s in Seoul, South Korea Delta A350 Suite
Keeping it Domestic: Grand Teton National Park
9 Days in Asia: Taipei, Hanoi, Ha Long Bay and Shanghai
Two Weeks in South Africa and Namibia: Joburg, Cape Town, Sossusvlei and Kruger
ˇBienvenido a Cuba!
Alaska is another destination that has long been my list of places to visit, especially for the photography opportunities. I've always put it off since I've wanted a week to go into the tundra and explore. For the long Veteran's Day weekend, I was planning on visiting Zion National Park in Utah, but weather issues out west made me cancel that trip. After searching for another viable destination, I stumbled across Anchorage. Sure, it wasn't going to be the week-long trip I was waiting for, but it was a good start. And I mean a really good start.
Day 1
Today's long routing to Anchorage, Alaska.
Boarding the final flight from Seattle to Anchorage.
On final from the west into Anchorage.
Welcome to Anchorage after a long day of travel.
I arrived in Anchorage around 2 PM, which wasn't too long before sunset. I headed straight to the hotel for the night to drop my bags and change clothes.
I didn't really have a plan for this first evening, so at the suggestion of the hotel receptionist, I headed up to Flattop Mountain which was a short drive from the hotel.
Flattop Mountain's observation point (near the parking lot) provided pretty good views of the nearby Chugach State Park.
Views like this are what convince me that Florida is not the place I was born to live in.
Pinecone.
Pinecones.
The city of Anchorage seen from Flattop Mountain. Anchorage has a metro population of almost 400,000 people. Anchorage accounts for nearly half of the state of Alaska's population.
The sunset was around 4:45 PM when I visited in early November.
Clear skies are rare this time of year in Anchorage, but I was lucky to easily be able to see the Alaska Range.
Snowcapped mountains.
The actual Flattop Mountain. If I had time (and the clothes) I would've done this hike as I'm sure the views are quite spectacular from up there.
At the recommendation of some friends online, I stopped by Moose's Tooth Pub and Pizzeria for some reindeer pizza for dinner.
Day 2
One thing I had always wanted to do if I visited Alaska was to go up in a plane in the Alaska Range. I did some calling around a few days prior to the trip and none of the companies that normally do these tours had any bookings since we were now clearly in the slow season. I eventually got ahold of the owner of N2 Alaska who offered to take me up around Mt. Denali for the normal asking price (other companies wanted the 2-person or 3-person pricing) since it had been a while since he had gone up in the plane. At ~$300, it wasn't cheap but I was holding out hopes that it would be a good experience.
The Denali flights typically depart from Talkeetna, about 2-hours north of Anchorage.
The pilot wanted me in Talkeetna around noon, so I left my hotel in Anchorage around 7 AM. I figured I would make some stops along the way and wanted to visit Hatcher Pass for sunrise, even though the pass itself is closed this time of year to car traffic.
The roads in Anchorage were super icy that morning, so my Florida-boy self was trying to navigate to the highway while slowly sliding around.
I had the road up to Hatcher Pass to myself.
I've always heard that rental cars in Anchorage were expensive but the benefit of visiting in the offseason is you can easily get a full size sedan for $15/day.
The sun just starting to show itself on the mountainside.
Mountains in Hatcher Pass.
Alpenglow.
There was certainly a lot more snow up here than in Anchorage.
Mountain.
As I was at the top of Hatcher Pass, a few more cars started arriving for people looking to go snowshoeing and skiing.
Looking out at the valley from Hatcher Pass.
I pushed forward with the drive to Talkeetna, but I couldn't help but stop a few times for some pictures off of the highway.
Heading up Highway 3 towards Talkeetna.
I drove through a thick layer of fog at one point which afforded a nice photograph.
I arrived in the Talkeetna area a little early, around 11 AM, so I decided to check in at my Airbnb before the flight. Hotels were a bit expensive in Talkeetna (and some were even closed for the offseason) so I opted to try something a little different this time; a tiny house. It was a little rough around the edges, though expected given how rural it was. The house was located about 25-minutes off of Highway 3 (all dirt roads) and the driveway was almost 2 miles long (and requires 4wd in the winter).
The road from Highway 3 to my Airbnb.
The tiny house.
The downstairs kitchen/living area.
The upstairs loft/bed area. The bed was actually quite comfortable. I thought it was in air mattress in the pictures, but no, it's a legitimate mattress.
The forward part of the loft.
The view from the front of the house.
Tale has it that only a third of Denali's visitors get to see the mountain in all of its glory. Man, did I luck out. The pilot warned me several times that he may cancel if the weather was bad (which is more often than not in November).
I met the pilot at the Talkeetna Airport and hopped aboard his company's sole aircraft, a 1976 Cessna 185 Skywagon. He told me in the summer he uses floats, but the lakes were partially frozen now in November. Once winter hits, he switches to skis. I visited right in between so I got to witness the rare wheels on this plane.
Onboard N21709, with service to Mt. Denali. During various times of the year, the airplanes are actually able to land on the glaciers around the mountain (which would be amazing I'm sure) but the Alaska Range had received quite a bit of snow recently, so the glaciers wouldn't be a good place to land when I visited.
It was about 15-minutes from takeoff before we made it to Denali.
An unbelievable view of Denali, the highest mountain peak in North America with a summit elevation of 20,310 feet (6,190 meters).
River.
Glacier in Denali National Park.
Flying alongside some glaciers.
This area near Denali is known as 'Little Switzerland' due to its jagged peaks. I won't label all of the pictures in this series, so just enjoy.
The blue part on the cliff edge is called a serac, they're quite dangerous to mountaineers as they can fall or collapse at any time.
Denali Base Camp is in the valley in the bottom right.
