We are safely home after our incredible Alaska adventure. In this blog post, we will revisit some of the amazing places we saw on our 11-week journey and include some short videos not seen in previous blog posts.
In total, Hank drove our motorhome 8,272 miles from our home campground in Valencia, California (through Oregon, Washington, British Columbia, and the Yukon Territory) to Alaska and back. Our trip included over 5 weeks in Alaska itself and about 3 weeks in each direction to get there and back. We stayed in 34 different campgrounds, some both on the way up and back. Though we had minor issues, including a cracked windshield on our last day, we all got home safely with our RVs and cars mostly intact.
We featured some highlights below; feel free to scroll through to your favorite parts of our marathon trip. We’ve also included short videos compiling different aspects of the trip. The first video (8 minutes) shows our DashCam footage while we were driving the RV.
To Alaska and Back in 80 Days–Part 12: Highlights!
1. Preparing to go (we’ve included links to all the previous blog posts in case you want more detail)
• A huge highlight was traveling the entire trip with Hank’s sister Judy and her husband Allyn!
• After multiple cancellations in previous years, the main highlight was the fact that the trip actually happened this year. Until we were on the road, I couldn’t really believe it was for real.
2. Getting to the Alaska Highway (from SoCal through Oregon, Washington, and southern British Columbia). Highlights included:
• A full Lake Shasta, lots of snow on Mt. Shasta in Northern California, and a beautiful view of Mt. St. Helen’s in Washington
• Wildlife sightings: a bald eagle at the Oostema Farmstead and a mama and baby moose as we drove from Prince George to Dawson Creek, BC
• Chetwynd, BC–chainsaw carving winners–so different from anything we had seen before.
• Getting to Mile 0 of the Alaska Highway in Dawson Creek and meeting up with the Arizona contingent of our mini-caravan (cousin Tom and his friends Ron and June)
3. Driving the Alaska Highway (from Mile 0 in Dawson Creek, BC, to Tok, Alaska). Highlights:
• Traveling the Alaska Highway itself, and learning about its construction in 1942 during World War II
• Wildlife sightings along the road—black bears, stone sheep, wood bison
• Muncho Lake, British Columbia, in the Northern Rocky Mountains—absolutely stunning!!!!
• Placing our custom sign (designed and produced by our nephew Bryce) in the Signpost Forest in Watson Lake, Yukon Territory
• Kluane Lake and Kluane National Park (in the Yukon Territory)
• Crossing borders—into the Yukon and then into Alaska (our first time in the 49th state)!
• Gorgeous mountains around every corner
4. The Alaskan Interior (Tok, Alaska and Wrangell-St. Elias National Park). Highlights:
• Driving into Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve (our 51st national park) along the McCarthy Road
• Visiting the town of McCarthy and the Kennecott Mines that are part of the national park
• Flying out in a small plane and viewing several mountains, glaciers, rivers, and valleys that make up this gorgeous and rugged national park
5. Glacier to Glacier (Valdez to Matanuska Glacier). Highlights:
• The drive into Valdez past Worthington Glacier and Keystone Canyon was stunning!
• Boat trip on the LuLuBelle to Columbia Glacier—gorgeous icebergs along the way
• Wildlife sightings: hoary marmot, sea otters, humpback whale
• Glacier trek on Matanuska Glacier—a unique experience
6. Anchorage-Chugach State Park-Seward. Highlights:
• Wildlife sightings: black bear mama and cubs on our hike at the Eagle River Nature Center; female moose in our campground at Eagle River State Park; bald eagles near Seward
• Biking the Tony Knowles Coastal Trail (our only bike ride of the trip as it turned out)
• More gorgeous mountain views as we drove down the Kenai Peninsula
• Kenai Fjords National Park (number 52 for us)—hiking to Exit Glacier and taking the Kenai Fjords boat tour—more glaciers, orcas, seals, and sea otters on the glacier ice floes
7. Homer and Kenai and Bears, Oh My! Highlights:
• Homer and Kachemak Bay
• Wildlife sightings: Bald eagles along the whole coastline, moose on Beluga Slough Trail, red fox at Chinitna Bay in Lake Clark National Park
• Russian Orthodox church buildings
• Watching Alaskans as they participated in dipnetting to fish for salmon
• Flying to Lake Clark National Park (national park #53)—circling Mt. Iliamna volcano
• Spending 3 hours watching mama and baby coastal brown bears (aka grizzly bears) feeding on sedge grass in the national park
Here’s a 6-minute video of our visit to Lake Clark National Park (mostly focused on the bears).
8. From the Mat-Su Valley to Denali. Highlights:
• Musk Ox Farm—meeting Trebek
• Hiking to Hatch Peak in the Hatcher Pass area
• Views of Denali
• Being in Denali National Park (our 54th national park out of 63)
• Wildlife sightings: caribou, ptarmigan, and moose
• Spotting Jesse from Life Below Zero!
• Not a highlight—getting Covid—but glad to have friends, access to doctors and medication, and a comfortable place to self-isolate (in our RV). Sad that we couldn’t explore the Fairbanks area!
9. Leaving and Re-Entering Alaska! Highlights:
• Completing the last portion of the Alaska Highway
• Haines, Alaska—another gorgeous part of Alaska, this time on the panhandle
• Wildlife sightings: trumpeter swans, bald eagles, black bears
• Four fantastic evenings watching coastal brown bears (grizzlies) eat sedge grass and salmon
Here’s a 3-minute video of the mama and baby bears eating sedge grass and catching fish near Haines, AK.
10. Visiting Alaska and Canada for the Last Time (on this trip). Highlights:
• The Stewart-Cassiar Highway, Glacier Highway and Bear Glacier
• Driving to the Summit View of Salmon Glacier
• Celebrating Allyn’s birthday in Stewart, British Columbia
• Four fantastic visits to the Fish Creek Wildlife Observation Site outside Hyder, Alaska, to watch spawning salmon, a black bear, bald eagles, and several more coastal brown bears (grizzlies) as they caught salmon out of the creek
• Sending off our Arizona traveling companions to their next destination
Here’s a 6-minute video of the bears in Hyder, Alaska, catching salmon out of Fish Creek.
And if you haven’t seen enough of our critters on this trip, here’s one more video that showcases a few of the critters other than bears that we saw on this adventure.
11. Heading Back to SoCal. Highlights:
• Picking berries at Oostema Farmstead (and reuniting with Loretta the calf)
• Enjoying Harstine Island and McMicken Island with family
• Beautiful sunsets on the way home
• Visiting with wonderful friends
• Closing out our time with Judy and Allyn (bittersweet to end this amazing trip)
We are so thankful for those of you who journeyed along with us and who commented about what you enjoyed or the memories it brought back of your own travels. We do not take for granted the fact that we are among a small group of travelers who are able to complete a lengthy trip like this. Seeing the vastness and variety of God’s creation through this trip to Alaska has only given us a continuing desire to see other places and creatures while we can. We have been thrilled to share our experiences with you!
One word: Spectacular
Thanks, Beth! So much of Alaska truly was spectacular! All the best.
Cindy
Great Video, H&C! Really enjoyed watching it 🙂
Glad you enjoyed the video, Marilyn. Which one did you watch? Was it something to do with bears? Or one of the others?
Such a great adventure! So many memories and EXPERIENCES!!!
Thank you so much for bringing us along on your remarkable adventure and journey!
I am loving the pictures, stories and movies!!!
And it is so great to hear you are home safely!
It truly was a great adventure, Mindy! And yes, we’re very glad to be home safely. Now we just need to get the RV windshield fixed before the next trip :).
Cindy
Thoroughly enjoyed every post and picture. Thank you.
It’s wonderful to have friends who enjoy our travels along with us. Thanks, Mary!
Wow, Cindy! Looks like such an amazing trip! You captured some great moments of true nature! Felt like I was right there. Thank you for sharing ?
Thanks, Angie! There were lots of WOW moments, for sure!
Cindy
More than wonderful…a beautiful trip and great memories. It has been a pleasure to travel vicariously to Alaska with my cousins. The critters and views were spectacular. Thanks for sending us this blog with videos.
Phyllis Brown, your cousin in Maryland.
Thanks, Phyllis! I’m glad you could join us vicariously!
Cindy