My Alaskan Adventure

[police women of America]

Hi all! I’m pretty late posting this since I’ve been so sidetracked with hunting season and school, but here is the story of my Alaskan adventure! It’s kinda long so ill be posting it in separate parts. But first, I want to thank all of the awesome people on here for the suggestions for our trip, and because of it we decided to go to Fairbanks rather than Anchorage, since it sounded like there might be more hiking options up north. And I couldn’t be happier with that decision! Because Fairbanks is so beautiful in the fall.

September 11th, 2017 (day 1): We arrived in Fairbanks in the late evening, and the very first thing I noticed stepping outside the airport was the air. It was the absolute freshest air I had ever breathed, almost to point where it was addicting. And it was also surprisingly open, you could see for miles yet were surrounded by magnificent yellow, red, and green filled hills. There wasn’t much we could do the first day since it was so late, but spending the night in our rustic dry cabin was enough for me. Day 2: We set out to Denali National Forest to hike the Savage River loop trail, which was about a 2-3 hour drive. This is when we experienced our first wildlife encounter, as a bird hit the front of our rental car at 60 mph on the drive up. But after using some wipes to get all the blood off (the car rental place didn’t seem to notice anything) we were back on the road. The closer we got to Denali, the higher the mountains got, and soon I was facing the biggest mountains I had ever seen in my life. And the wind easily matched the strongest storms I’ve experienced here in Washington. The hike did not disappoint and was surrounded by awesome views. And I think it’s safe to say Denali is now my favorite place on earth.

[police women of America]

Day 3: This day we decided to hang back, relax, and enjoy Fairbanks. We visited the local market (which had all kinds of cool stuff and nice people), went to Fairbanks University’s museum, and went fishing. Going up that time of year I knew I’d have a slim chance of catching anything, but I couldn’t just go to Alaska and not at least try to go fishing. So we sat next to the Chena River for a few hours, and as expected, didn’t catch anything. But I was perfectly satisfied with the fact that I was sitting next to a beautiful river in Alaska.
And that night, while my bother and brother-in-law slept, me and my sister heard a strange noise coming from nearby the cabin. At first I thought maybe it was someone yelling (not screaming, but possibly trying to scare off a bear), but as the noise got closer, we realized it was the sound of a bear. For the next few minutes we could hear the bear make a short “moaning” like sound as it made its way around the cabin. Me and sister were both too nervous to look out the window at first (I may have learned a lot about bears before going to Alaska, yet for some reason it felt unsafe to even look out the window), but we eventually peeked out and could see nothing but trees. We weren’t sure if it was a grizzly or a black bear (although I’d like to believe it was a grizzly), but I do know one thing, none of us were going out to the outhouse that night.

Day 4: We loved Denali so much that we decided to go back for our last day. We went on an 8 hour round trip bus tour (last one of the season I might add) up to Eielson Visitor Center where we got some amazing views of Denali. And although some clouds moved in and we didn’t get to see Denali itself, the “small” mountains around it were amazing and well worth the 4 hour bus ride. We also saw five bears (including a mother with her cubs), three mountain goats, one moose, and two caribou.

Day 5: we headed out super early to catch our 7am flight back to Washington. And I can’t tell you how blessed I was to be able to accomplish my life long dream of going to Alaska at the age of 16. This trip truly was a gift from God. Before going to Alaska I had rarely even been outside my hometown, and never outside the state, on a plane, or even on a bus ride. Going to Alaska was the most amazing trip of my life, and I encourage anyone who ever dreams of going there to do it! Because all it takes is a little bit of faith, adventure, and a one-way ticket. Also, not to mention money…. Lots of money.

[jmscon]

Alaska is a beautiful place! I’ve spent a lot of time in SW/Bristol Bay, flown into Anchorage and Juneau and they all very in scenery!
I’m glad you had a good time and want to go back!

[police women of America]

Alaska is a beautiful place! I’ve spent a lot of time in SW/Bristol Bay, flown into Anchorage and Juneau and they all very in scenery!
I’m glad you had a good time and want to go back!

Yes I can't wait to go back! I'd love to visit other towns like the ones you mentioned too. Anywhere in Alaska is good for me!

[bearpaw]

looks like you had a great time

[RB]

Great story and pictures! I am planning to take my kids there in the next couple years

[Boss .300 winmag]

Nice pics , bears are always fun to watch.

[h2ofowlr]

Cool pics.  Thanks for posting.

[Widgeondeke]

Looks like a great time was had.  Thanks for sharing your adventure with us.

One thing I loved about flying into Fairbanks. The float plane ponds/runway right next to the normal runway 

[Skyvalhunter]

Thank you for sharing your adventure!!

[police women of America]

I also want to point out the picture right above the picture of the two cubs walking. I took it when we were taking the 8 hour bus ride in Denali, and it shows just how crazy steep and narrow the roads were up there (which is why no cars are allowed in this part of the park). It amazed me how our bus driver could keep us from falling off those cliffs, spot animals like crazy (he would even be looking out his binoculars whenever we weren't by a cliff), and give constant facts about the park and the animals. I always thought I was a good driver, but those tour bus drivers could compete with ice road truckers.

[police women of America]

Great story and pictures! I am planning to take my kids there in the next couple years

That's awesome! They'll have a great time up there. I'd definitely recommend going in the fall, there's lots more wildlife and the colors are amazing.

[Lincoln4]

I also want to point out the picture right above the picture of the two cubs walking. I took it when we were taking the 8 hour bus ride in Denali, and it shows just how crazy steep and narrow the roads were up there (which is why no cars are allowed in this part of the park). It amazed me how our bus driver could keep us from falling off those cliffs, spot animals like crazy (he would even be looking out his binoculars whenever we weren't by a cliff), and give constant facts about the park and the animals. I always thought I was a good driver, but those tour bus drivers could compete with ice road truckers.

If you go to Denali, the bus tour to the visitor center is a must.  An experience my family and I will never forget!

[W_Ellison2011]

Be careful. Alaska has a way of haunting you and making you want to go back to either visit or stay. Wife and I lived in Ketchikan, Alaska for 6 months... If the jobs we had weren't seasonal and payed better we would NOT have left. We have gone back for a week long fishing trip with family since... but we now want to venture further north... Looking at the Petersburg area for now and she definitely wants to go see Denali in the future. I kid you not.. if we could find jobs in Alaska like we have now we would be there in a HEART BEAT!

[KFhunter]

I rode the train from Fairbanks to Denali,  that was cool.  Stayed the night in Denali but wasn't able to take the bus ride, but I did take a plane ride around Mt McKinley and that was epic.


I'll have to go back.  The train from Denali to Anchorage was also cool.