We moved south from Anchorage to the small resort town of Girdwood, AK. Although technically part of the city of Anchorage, they couldn’t be more different. It is located a mile or so off of Turnagain Arm, a branch of Cook Inlet. An interesting stop along the way was Potter Marsh Trail, a mile long boardwalk with exceptional wildlife viewing. One fascinating thing that I have not previously heard of is the phenomenon of bore tides occurring in Turnagain Arm. We weren’t able to witness one while we were there but hopefully on the return trip north.
Girdwood has been described to us by locals as “a hippie town that people like to go to on the weekends.” We found a very small town with a few restaurants, a coffee shop, a brewery :) and the large Alyeska Resort. We were able to find several hiking trails over the three days we spent there. We hiked the Winner Creek Trail that started behind the resort. Great trail, but unfortunately cut short by the permanent closure of the hand tram that crosses the creek gorge.
We were able to hike the other side of it the next day after we hiked the Crow Pass Trail. We did see a nice bull moose on the way up to the trailhead.
While the trail is 22 miles long, we were only looking to hike up to the cabin near the pass. We ended up going only 2 miles in due to increasing amounts of snow on the trail as we ascended.
Rehydration was subsequently required at Girdwood Brewing Company. Great beer with several food trucks at a ski/snowboarding themed brewery.
If you look closely, you’ll see the benches are made out of skis.
“Downtown” Girdwood has 72 hour street parking next to the town square park. Perfect campsite for us. We returned to the Winner Creek Trail the next day, branching off to the Upper Winner Creek Trail for a nice 8.5 mile hike.
We visited Chair 5 Restaurant for pizza and beer that evening. The next day, after a load of laundry at the local laundromat and a latte for me at The Grind as I finished the last post, we were on our way to Whittier, AK.
Whittier is interesting for a variety of reasons, one being that the only access by road is through the 2.6 mile single lane Anton Anderson Memorial Tunnel on the Portage Glacier Highway. The tunnel flow is incoming traffic on the half hour, outgoing traffic on the hour and trains whenever they feel like it. As far as the town goes, there really isn’t much to it. A boat harbor, cruise ship dock, a rail yard and not much else. The majority of the town population lives in two old military buildings converted to condos. No breweries! A cruise ship came in while we were there and it was funny watching the passengers walk around looking for something to do.
The local scenery, however, is really something. We were able to find boondocking sites through the iOverlander app that were awesome.
Hiking was limited, but very good. Prior to going through the tunnel, we hiked the Byron Glacier Trail. Shorter, easy trail with phenomenal views of the glacier and wildlife.
We saw a moose on the trail and I just learned that the trail was closed yesterday (6/20) due to a brown bear feeding on a moose carcass. We also hiked Emerald Cove Trail near our campsites. Pretty wet and muddy leading down to a nice cove and beach.
Hard to overstate the views from our campsites in Whittier. Glaciers all around.
We hiked the Portage Pass Trail as well. Steep hike to the pass and then down to Portage Lake.
This area gets its name from being an short overland route from Cook Inlet to Prince William Sound.
We left Whittier and continued south on the Seward Highway, ultimately turning west on the Sterling Highway. We stopped in Cooper Landing, AK at Cooper Landing Brewing Company as the van saw a “Live Music Tonight” sign and inexplicably veered left into the parking lot. Great beer and great food. Only one problem. Half hour before the music starts, and employee comes around and asks if everyone is planning to stay for the music. If yes, “please pay your tab, go outside, pay the cover charge and come back in.” I do realize that they have to maximize their season, but I’d already spent around $70 and my traveling companion was somewhat fed up with me, so it was off to the campsite.
We had a great creekside campsite next to Quartz Creek. The next day we hung out in the Russian River area. We had an awesome hike to Russian River Falls where we watched sockeye salmon make their way up the falls. We sat there for at least an hour watching them.
After standing in the parking lot for 2 seconds, I came to the conclusion that fishing is serious business on the Russian River. I also came to the conclusion, based upon the tackle walking by me, that I wasn’t going to catch anything with the flies I currently had. So it was off to Gwin’s Lodge to properly outfit myself.
All that and I still didn’t catch anything. I did see a few caught, but not many. We did return to Gwin’s Lodge for a few PINTS before moving on to our campsite. I highlight PINTS because the Alaska 12 ounce pour has become the bane of my existence. ;(
We camped for the night at the Upper Kenai Trail head on Skilak Lake Road and hiked the trail the next day. Awesome trail with great views of the Kenai River, especially in the canyon like area.
Saw several rafting trips as well as fishing boats go by.
We continued down Skilak Lake Road and hiked the Skilak Lookout Trail. Very pretty trail in the woods that culminated in great views of the lake, river and surrounding mountains.
Moving further down the road, we investigated Upper Skilak Lake Campground and found to be so nice that we paid for a spot. Very quiet lakefront camping.
We continued on to Soldotna, AK in time to catch Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Finals at Buckets Sports Grill. Very friendly staff, big craft beer selection and great food. Prior to this, we visited the Soldotna Visitors Center as well as the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge Visitors Center. Some great hiking behind the Refuge visitors center. We enjoyed the Soldotna Wednesday Market at Soldotna Creek Park and returned that night for live music.
Very enjoyable. By the way, the photo above was taken at 9 pm. Don’t expect any nighttime photos on this trip. We also visited Kenai River Brewing Company. Nice beer garden and very close to the park.
We moved on to Kenai at the mouth of the Kenai River at Cook Inlet. It’s an interesting town that apparently gets crazy in July for salmon dipnetting season. They sell these huge handheld nets at all the stores and, if you are an Alaska resident, you’re allowed to wade in and net salmon to your hearts content. We visited Kassik’s Brewery as well. Great beer and very friendly people, but it is literally in the middle of nowhere.
We’ll be hanging around here tonight to watch Game 6 of the Stanley Cup, then heading toward Homer, AK.
Stay tuned!