Carlton Bale

On the final day in Alaska, I finally feel like I’m sleeping soundly. I’m ready to sleep all morning, but get up at 7:30 to take Jayson to a sight-seeing tour with Copper Valley Air (their above-the-tree-line hiking tour sounds fantastic, by the way.) I head back to the camp site, stir Kevin and Dan, and start packing for the last time. It tales us a long time to pack because we have to pack for the commercial flight home; it’s amazing how much less stuff we have when packing efficiently. We stop by the side of the road and snap on last picture ofRead More →

I awaken two hours before anyone else to slightly lifted cloud cover and a cold morning. I perched on a the rock ridge with my sleeping bag and listened to an entire O.A.R. concert before anyone else stirred. We had a quick meal, packed the car, and headed north to explore the glacier and do some more fishing.   The Worthington Glacier is a short 10 minute drive away and is largely a mystery to us. There is a little tourist shop in the parking lot, a fenced-in observation area with a few trails on the other side of it. Are we allowed to climbRead More →

Enough of the hotel already; we came here to hike and camp. Based on the advise of the Copper Valley Air guys, we head down to Valdez. It’s a beautiful drive and we’re surprised how much the scenery has changed. It’s probably because we’re driving through the mountains as opposed to around them. We pass a couple of beautiful waterfalls as well as a glacier that we will plan to explore the next day. We stroll around Valdez and it seems to be what we’d expect a real Alaskan town to be. Lots of evidence of the oil and fishing. It’s always overcast and hasRead More →

At 8:00 AM I wake to the sound of a small plane getting ready to land on our lake. “The plane! The plane!” I hear someone yell. In my excitement, I can’t unzip my tent to get out of it. Good thing this was not a bear attack. I busily start breaking down my tent and packing away my Thermarest and sleeping bag. I then hear the bad news. “It’s not ours.” The competition, another air service, finally returned to break-down the other (better) camp site. Thanks guys, but it would have been nice if you did that 3 days ago. The others start eatingRead More →

I awaken in to morning to about a dozen mosquitoes on my tent, hoping I get close enough to the mesh flap that they can bite me though it. Turns out, some already have. There is hum that fills the woods. The hum of mosquitoes. It’s no fun being hunted. At breakfast, we decide to regroup and figure out what to do. Dan still isn’t having fun. Jayson thinks we should either take the boat out of the lake and all the way back to civilization – he’s checked his maps and it’s possible – or hike our way out. Kevin and I still thinkRead More →

We awaken early, after about 5 hours of sleep, to a warm reception. Apparently we picked the right yard. We were lucky enough to have coffee with honey (it’s an Alaska thing, I don’t understand) and biscuits with tundra berry jelly. We’re told not to miss lunch at the Eureka Lodge because it is excellent. We wait our way though the road construction and make it to Eureka two hours later. Perhaps the anticiaption was too great, because the food was only average, through the staff was very friendly. We did get a great view of the Eureka glacier from the front of the restaurant,Read More →

I’d finished packing my backpack the night before so I could work a half day before heading to the airport. This was not the best idea, as I felt like I left 10 loose ends behind. Regardless, Nicole and I had a quick lunch a Arby’s and said our good byes. The trip officially begins. I brought a pistol with me for bear protection. It was taken into the airport in a locked case and I was surprised how easy the check-in process was. A couple of hours into my layover at Denver, Kevin Colon finds the gate. It’s great to see him again. WeRead More →