A is for Alaska

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Denali / Mt McKinley
Denali / Mt McKinley

Alaska is beautiful and amazing. We visited over a decade ago and made the mistake of thinking that by travelling as part of an “Adventure Tour” we would go further off the beaten track than we could have on our own. This wasn’t the case, and two weeks in a minibus with a dozen other people wasn’t fun, especially when certain factions began to fall out with each other. On the upside, I probably did things I would never have done without peer pressure (check me out kayaking through icebergs!) Glaciers, as you would expect, were a major theme: we walked alongside them and on them (with crampons), sailed out to watch them calving, and took a flight over them in a very small plane. We’ll be back – but next time, we’ll do it ourselves!

Seward Kenai Fjords cruise: Holgate Glacier
Seward Kenai Fjords cruise Holgate Glacier
Seward Exit Glacier
McCarthy At Kennicot River Hostel
McCarthy / Kennecott Root Glacier
Denali Park Mt McKinley, Foraker, Hunter Summit Flight
Denali Park Mt McKinley, Foraker, Hunter Summit Flight
Denali Park Mt McKinley, Foraker, Hunter Summit Flight
Denali Park Mt McKinley, Foraker, Hunter Summit Flight
Prince William Sound Sea kayaking at Columbia Glacier
Prince William Sound water taxi to Columbia Glacier
Prince William Sound Sea kayaking at Columbia Glacier

A postscript: we travelled via Newark Airport. On our way home, a Sunday, we had a long enough layover to go into Manhattan in the afternoon. Our flight home was delayed and we left in the early hours of Monday morning. On the Tuesday, I went back to work. The date? September 11th, 2001. We had missed 9/11 by about 36 hours.

A to Z Challenge 2014, Alaska, USA , ,

26 Comments »

  1. We certainly didn’t kayak through icebergs – very adventurous! Amazing photos too! Gosh that must have been confronting when you saw what was happening on 9/11. Hopefully you’ll get back to Alaska one day 🙂

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  2. Amazing place. You hear so many stories about people who escaped 9/11 my friend had been in the twin towers just a few days before. We were in Turkey and had to fly home a few days later and security meant we couldn’t even have hand luggage,no purse,no book nothing.

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    • I know – it wasn’t really a narrow escape but it felt like it. It’s one of those events you’ll always remember where you were when you heard about it.

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  5. Alaska looks so beautiful and pristine! My father traveled there several times when he was alive, although I have never been. On a different note, I flew over the WTC 5 days, from Logan Airport, on my way home to Tampa, on a Thursday eve, before they were destroyed, after teaching a software class at the old Bell Labs, for Verizon. Unbelievable, how closely our two paths nearly crossed in time, thinking back now, some 13 years later. I am glad to be doing the A-to-Z challenge with you! Mary, aka Viola Fury @ViolaFury in Twitter, http://www.homelesschroniclesintampa.blogspot.com

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  7. Alaska is one of the places on my bucket list. My son and his wife have went and they did the trip alone in a car all the way to Denali which made me nervous but they loved it and have some phenomenal wildlife pictures to show me what I’m missing.

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  8. Oh wow-so beautiful and my hubby would be so jealous as he is just getting into kayaking. he has all the kayak gear to do trips in the ice cold water to boot! This is a place i wish to see

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  10. Great start to the challenge – we are doing it to with the theme of British Columbia, I found my way here through the challenge sign-up page. Alaska looks lovely, yet living so close we haven’t had a chance to visit. Hopefully we will make our way there sooner than later. Looking forward to following along with the rest of the challenge!

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    • Thanks! I have been to BC many years ago and would love to go back. I’ll read your posts with interest – and I’ve just looked at some of your older posts and you have recently been to my home city! I might be biased, but I think Glasgow is wonderful and just as beautiful as Edinburgh in its own way. Keep your eyes up and the architecture above the boring shop fronts is amazing.

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