Anchorage Alaska Butler Travel Travelogue

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Anchorage, Alaska

Nathanael Martin

July 10-14, 2008

In July, my wife and I boarded a non-stop Alaska Airlines flight bound for Anchorage. We arrived at 1am to find that it was finally getting dark there. We spent nearly a week there, mostly with my mother-in-law’s family. The locals said that the weather was unseasonably cold and cloudy—most of the time we were there it was cloudy and in the mid sixties. It was very disorienting to us who are used to lower latitudes as there was only four or five hours of darkness each day. We did get to see a couple of moose, three mountain goats, and a bald eagle in the wild, as well as a beautiful view from the Alyeska Ski Resort’s tram a few miles south of Anchorage. Here we rode 2,300 feet up into the mountains for an incredible view of towering mountains, glaciers, and the Cook Inlet below. There was still plenty of snow; the guide said they received twelve new feet in early May. The flowers, both wild and cultivated, were incredible as well. On our return flight, we got a glimpse of Mount McKinley towering above the landscape. As we flew east, the clouds cleared and we got a breathtaking view of endless glaciers, icebergs and mountains Alaska is so famous for. Someday we hope to return when the weather is better and spend a bit more time sightseeing.