Paddling into the wild

It was another morning that began at 6am with Rubin making coffee and us cruising down another Alaskan highway.  We were relishing in the memories of our horseback ride through the swampland of Resurrection Bay..thinking there was no way we could top that. Little did we know the best was yet to come...

It would be different than anything we all had ever done... and not just in Alaska, but anywhere! And we are talking about  pretty well traveled group... most of you know the Morgan who has gone from Sydney to Sarajevo, and then we have Kerry who has tested many African waters, Cheryl who will spend next month in Spain and Rubin who survived several years living in Buffalo. We met Eric at the mouth of the tunnel (the only way into Whittier is through a one way tunnel that cuts through a huge mountain). You'd think we would be pretty prepared to venture out into these elements as one might even mistake Maggie and Eric's garage as a REI stockroom. We soon learned that our quick-dry pants and gortex would only do if layered under huge rubber overall galoshes. So dressed as the newest 5 fishermen in town we boarded a water taxi and headed out into the fjords. We still thought we knew what we we doing until the boat needed to slow down so it wouldn't hit an iceberg. Suddenly visions of Leo DiCaprio going down with the Titanic flashed before my eyes. The boat then took a sudden turn not to miss an iceberg, but to slowdown and drop us and our kayaks into the water. Next thing we knew we were paddling off towards the glaciers in an environment that I only thought existed on the Discovery Channel.

We knew the guide who traveled with us was pretty cool when he let us bring the outrageous amount of food we had packed (wine and spices for mulled wine included). However, we didn't truly begin to appreciate Nick AKA MacGyver until he jimmy rigged this tent like shelter in the cold rain from a tarp, paddle and some string. Now when you think cold rain, imagine yourself attacked from all sides from a combo of seawater, rain and fresh wind right off the glacier. How water got through my pray skirt, rubber outfit and three layers of clothes we still don't know? However, it was just about  20 min after arriving into camp that night that Nick really won his way into our hearts... I was digging through my dry bag in hopes to find the dry coat I had been dreaming about for the past few hrs when he called us into the dining tent for hot chocolate with baileys. This kid barely drinking age himself continued to wine and dine us for the next two days.

Eric who perhaps is looking into his second career as kayak guide himself earned his status when he spotted not only seals and sea lions as we paddled along, but a humpback whale! Now many of you might have seen a whale or two with binoculars from a boat, but nothing compares to having one swim so close you nearly get sprayed by their blow hole. We enjoyed watching him feed for about half hour in this little cove wondering with each dive under which side of our kayaks he would appear. We thought that was end of our visit with these amazing creatures, but our luck continued through the afternoon as this calf and his mother danced alongside our kayaks all the way to beach where our new friends with the dry boat and cooler of beer waited for us.

Alas our time is Alaska is coming to an end.... our last day in Anchorage was spent hiking on the outskirts of the city on a beautiful "bluebird" day. Denali even came out for us as she stood against the clear blue sky almost 300 miles away. We'll be so sad to say goodbye to our pals here. If anyone is looking for an amazing bed and breakfast with fabulous laundry service I highly recommend a stay at Chateau Feinstein- Lantzman. The owners are pretty much the best friends a traveler could have.


Enjoy the pics! If I were you I click on the link to see more...

Wolves, moose and bears oh my!

So we made it back alive and well after three days in the beautiful Denali park. If the start of our day in the park was a prediction of anything we could have been in for some trouble. It was just shy of 6am when a good size porcupine came running towards us in the parking lot full speed ahead... lucky we had our hiking poles ready in hand for protection:) But alas that was petty much our closest encounter of the day.

Apparently many of the tourists who visit Denali don't make it off the "safari" as we call it... and wouldn't even consider putting down their big cameras and binoculars to run with the game as we chose to do. Our luck did help us stay clear of any of the blond grizzly bears, wolves or moose  while on foot (we also sang our hearts out to lets those guys know we coming around a bend). The mountain however, still didn't want to come out and show us her full beauty. Hopefully the postcard I got will just encourage me to come back again some time soon.

On our last morning we decided to get one more quick hike in before we hit the road. We could barely check moose off our list as we had only seen one from far away (further then our dinky backpacking binoculars could get us). On our way down to horseshoe lake we spotted a big ol' moose from the ridge we were standing on. We scampered down the hill and Kerry who apparently moonlights as a moose trackers led us through the brush and sure enough there she was chillen in the water in all her glory. We snapped away like true tourists and heading back up the trail thrilled we had our close encounter with the moose. In was just about 5 min later when the mother of the moose we had spotted came face to face with us on the trail. She was beautiful and apparently I didn't seem to be frightened by this Denali giant... as I not only got great pictures, but a video as well. 

The park itself was amazing, and our recommendation is run don't walk yourselves up here... this place is stunning!

The late sunsets and pleasant weather has allowed us to really get the most of our days... hiking, safari-ing, cooking salmon for nearly every meal and driving back into Anchorage to hang out with Maggie, Eric and Tanner in their amazing garden hot tub.  We have several more pics... check them out!

We hope everyone out there is enjoying the 4th... we are heading south today... first to a music festival with Maggie and then to the Kenai to kayak with the glaciers.

Heading into the wild

Back by popular demand... Morgan's travel blog. Those who know me well, know that since I'm too old to go to summer camp... I spend each summer somewhere new and exciting. This time it is about heading north to Alaska! Our good friends Maggie and Eric relocated up here last fall and I was just waiting for the snow to melt to check out this beautiful place they now call home.

After only about 24 hrs on the ground we've already had wild salmon to two meals (leftover goes great in a scramble), watched the sunset while taking a midnight hike and biked 20 miles along the coastal trail. This week Maggie is working by day and Eric by night... so he has plenty of time to cruise this beautiful green city and check out the local breweries with me (and Tanner too).

Anchorage is more than just a jumping off point for all these major cruise lines. The wild green jungle full of hiking trails right off their back porch and fabulous native hospital they both work at make this new city in their lives a pretty sweet place to call home.

Last night Kerry, Rubin and Cheryl arrived to join the party! After a delish breakfast breakfast we are packing up the sporty red car that is ours that is next two weeks and heading north to Denali! I think a twilight river rafting trip is in our near future. Pictures and more details to come soon....