Alaska Trip Day 2 - Road Trip from Anchorage to Denali National Park

After a great day at Whittier, we had to drive from Anchorage to Denali. It was supposed to be an extra long drive, since we had to stop at every place we had on the map. Reached Denali an hour after midnight and sun was about to set.

• Alaska Trip Day 1 - Prince William Sound Whittier
• Alaska Byron Glacier Trail

First pit stop was Thunderbird falls, which is a mile round trip to the waterfall. In my opinion it was simple and can be missed.

Thunderbird falls trail

Next stop was Wasilla lake, it was a little cloudy else the colors in this valley were beautiful. It was a pleasant lake, perfect for picnic or a rest stop.

A Mirror lake is a definite stop, but this mirror lake did not charm us. The water had gone a little muddy and unclear and the clouds did not help for sure.

A lunch stop at Talkeetna downtown. Downtown is a really small place, we picked up few souvenirs.

Mt. McKinley the tall one behind the clouds, from one of the pit stops near Talkeetna. 

The legendary McKinley lodge with the famous Denali View. We reached here around 9:30 PM and the lodge had closed, though a cup of hot chocolate would have been so good.

Mt. McKinley behind the clouds as seen from the lodge,

The road trip from Anchorage to Denali had been so picturesque, you want to stop at every turn and click pics. The below rays of lights was clicked around 11 PM somewhere near Denali National Park.

We stayed at Grizzly bear resort near Denali, reached quite late and tucked ourselves into the bed.

Midnight sky at 1:30 AM

The road trip was beautiful, definitely a better idea than taking the train as you have flexibility and option to take detours.

Adieu,

Divya

Alaska Byron Glacier Trail

After spending the day on a cruise at Prince William Sound we had enough light and time to finish the Byron Glacier trail, thanks to the sun which was still on our head at 8 PM. It felt weird to have your sunglasses on at 8-9 PM to avoid the strong sun glare.

Around 49 miles south of Anchorage turn onto Portage Valley Road and travel 6 miles to Boggs Visitor Center. Its very near to Portage Glacier boat dock.

The visitor center had closed by evening, so we pretty much had to rely on the road signs, since the internet too had gave up on us in Alaska. Bryon glacier is probably one of the easiest and comfortable trails to reach and experience a glacier(Also Matanuska Glacier).

The trail is flat and meanders through a fine stream gushing from the glacier. The trail just changes from shrubs to an open snow area. A little walk into the tails leads to a pile of rock debris. You have to carefully walk over the rocks to get nearer to the glacier.

Receding glacier, stone debris, water streams from the glacier make the perfect scenery.

I would definitely advise to be very cautious while walking on melting ice and also from falling rocks. While we were there, we saw a rock almost half the size of bus break from the mountain and roll half way down before getting stuck in a pile of snow.

Its a great moment to watch from a distance, but very scary if you are up on that snow and mountain.

Byron Glacier is a very pleasant and easy trail, not to be missed when in this area.

* Do coat yourself with mosquito repellent
* Plan out the Portage Glacier, we missed that.

And thats how we ended out first day in Alaska, high on ice, colors and the expectation just rose from the rest of our Alaska trip.

Adieu
Divya