Alaska: The Final Frontier

When they say Alaska is the final frontier, there is a lot of truth to that statement. In the summer of 2007, we decided to spend some time in Alaska. The state is truly a majestic land. We were going to Alaska in the height of summer—the best time to travel there since it is bitter cold during the other seasons.

In those days, United Airlines had a direct flight from Denver to Anchorage. If you have ever been to Denver in July, you know it tends to get hot. This was one of those summer days. The temperature was above 100 °F. Being at an elevation of 5,280 feet above sea level, the air becomes very thin on hot days. That is not a good environment for a full flight to take off. So, here we were ready to get on the plane. The plane was about 90% full. Due to the hot temperature and thin air, our captain did not feel comfortable with the heavy load. They needed to get 10 people off the plane. So, they asked for volunteers who were willing to travel the following day in return for $500 travel vouchers. Unfortunately, they only had about four or five takers. They increased the pot to $1,000 travel vouchers and they got a few more takers. Still, our captain did not feel comfortable enough. So, he came out in the boarding area and started counting kids! You see, in the US all passengers are considered to be the same weight for the purpose of the weight and balance on a plane. By counting kids as half, he could allow for more passengers without increasing the weight calculation! Ingenious! That’s why they get paid the big bucks😊

Travel Voucher Tip

If your schedule is flexible, on an overbooked flight, it could be lucrative to volunteer yourself for a later flight if offered. Sometimes, you can score $1,000 in travel vouchers for a $100 ticket! Some airlines are better than others. Delta Airlines will offer you actual American Express gift cards. However, United Airlines is one of the more stingy ones—you may recall the now infamous Dr. Dao incident in Chicago where United dragged him off the plane when there were not enough volunteers. I know some people who used to buy tickets on oversold flights just to get the travel vouchers! You need a lot of time on your hand though😊

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Finally, we were ready to lift off. We arrived in Anchorage. What a beautiful city! You could just feel the freshness in the air. We were staying at the Anchorage Hilton. The sun was still out around 10 pm and it was completely bright outside. They don’t call it a land of the midnight sun for nothing! Fortunately, they had pitch dark curtains in the room that made it nice and dark for us to go to sleep.

Hotel Prices

Hotel prices in Alaska are through the roof—and that is an understatement. Anchorage has some really nice options but once you go outside of Anchorage, your options dwindle, and prices are 3 to 4 times what you would expect to pay for a comparable place in the Lower 48. I ran across the General Manager at Anchorage Hilton and asked him why it was so pricey. He told me they only had a three-month season where they could make money but had twelve months of expenses. When he put it that way, it made sense.

We spent a day just relaxing in Anchorage and then began to explore the surroundings. The next day, we stayed at the Alyeska resort and spend an entire day exploring the resort grounds. They have aerial trams that go up to the ski mountain, biking trails, hiking trails, etc. One can easily spend a day here! We ended up hiking to a glacier and to our surprise, they had a marathon up the mountain! After that, we were on to Seward.

Seward is home to Kenai Fjords National Park. When I think of a national park, I think of driving to the place. Well, not here. It is explored by a boat. We took an all-day cruise to the Kenai Fjords. This was one of the most beautiful sights I had seen! You get to go so close to a glacier and watch the glacier ice fall into the sea. My wife was really excited to watch this. She even asked the crew member to pick her up a slice of glacier ice that had fallen into the sea. Just a wonderful experience. Along the way we saw whales; one of my wife’s favorite things to do is to go whale watching so this was a real treat for her. We decided to go for a glacier mountain hike the next day. To our surprise, they had a marathon going on up the mountain! After a couple of days in Seward, we were off to Denali National Park.

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Seward to Denali is a very long drive—almost seven hours or so. We did not want to drive this in one day since we had young kids with us. So, we decided to stay in a small middle of nowhere kind of place called Talkeetna. It’s a really small place but we were just passing by. We stayed at an Alaskan Lodge. Just when we were close to the hotel, our car started to show a red engine oil light. Not good! Once we checked in at the hotel, I called Hertz and let them know what was going on. They said we needed an oil change and since we were in the middle of nowhere, they suggested we get the oil changed and they would reimburse us. I asked at the front desk if they had any oil change place. The guy said, there was one mechanic in town. I called the mechanic who asked me to stop by in the morning.

Gold Nugget Anyone?

The next day, we checked out of the hotel and went to the mechanic shop. It was a small one-man shop in a junkyard. There was nothing around it. The mechanic was a scary-looking guy with very dirty clothes—my wife and kids were a little scared. I asked them to get out of the car and stay a little bit far! He was a nice guy. He said he could fix it in an hour or so. So, we decided to wait there… as if we had any other choice! While we were waiting, another guy showed up. This guy was even more scary-looking if it was possible. He was kind of a drifter. He started talking to me, so we had an interesting conversation. He was trying to sell me a gold nugget. I told him I had no need for one but did ask how he got it. Apparently, he would go gold panning in the river and if he stood for a few hours, he said he would almost always get one nugget. Each nugget was worth about three or four hundred dollars, so he said all he needed was a couple of nuggets a month he was set. What a life! No stress, no responsibilities. When you run out of money, just go to the river for a few hours!

After a couple of hours, we were on our way to Denali National Park. What a place! We were so excited. We settled down at our lodge and took a walking tour of the grounds. It was beautiful with wildlife everywhere. The next day, we had an interesting experience. The lodge had a breakfast place called “Flapjack”. Until then, I did not know that pancakes were also known as flapjacks! We could see them make the pancakes and flap them in the air, hence the name. They had this really interesting concept called communal tables. There were these long tables that would seat 20 or 30 people and you just seat on those tables if there was enough space for your group. You get to start up a conversation with complete strangers and make friends. What a concept! We should have more of those.

We were soon ready to go to the national park. For environmental reasons, the park service did not allow individual cars in the park. We took the park service bus inside the park. There were so many animals to see. I was especially fixated on mountain goats. These are amazing creatures who live life on the edge. Literally! You would think they would fall off a cliff, but they know how to navigate. Seeing the peak of Mt. McKinley was the highlight of the Denali National Park tour.

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After a couple of days in the park, we headed back to Anchorage. We were ready to fly back home the following day. Incidentally, the flight was overbooked, and they were offering travel vouchers again. I wish I was retired back then! I could have milked those voucher😊

Do you remember your most nature-loving trip? Please tell me about it by participating with your comments below….