Author: mrsem

Our penultimate post from Alaska! After visiting Hope, we drove the RV up to Girdwood to get ready to head home. Behind the Alyeska Resort (more on that tomorrow!) there’s a trail head for Winner Creek, part of the Chugach National Forest. This six mile roundtrip hike takes you through the northernmost rain forest in…

Our original plan was to take the RV from Seward down to Homer before heading back to Anchorage to end our trip. However, after a few days of sun and hiking on the Kenai peninsula, the prospect of driving another 4 hours south did not appeal. Instead, we decided on a last minute detour to Hope,…

As you saw in yesterday’s report about hiking to Harding Icefield, Exit Glacier National Park is blanketed in wildflowers in early summer. Along with plenty of Lupine, Miniature Dogwood and Buttercups I spotted a dozen new varieties. This list is in order of elevation, headed to the 3,000 foot summit from the ranger station. Starting…

Another day of gorgeous sunny weather on the Kenai peninsula! Time to hit the trails at Exit Glacier National Park outside Seward, Alaska. There’s two big hikes here: the first is a popular 1 mile jaunt up to the foot of the retreating glacier, which we did first. The second hike is a 8.2 mile, 3,000+…

After a few days of heavy rain in Alaska, we were served up absolutely gorgeous weather in Seward for our day at sea. Nothing but clear skies and warm temperatures as we set off on a six hour wildlife and glacier boat tour with Kenai Fjord Tours (the 11:30). I was quite excited for a day…

Seward is a picturesque mid-sized town surrounded by glaciers and a great base-camp for all kinds of big Alaskan adventures along the Kenai Fjords. I’ll do separate posts on the whale watching and glacier hiking we embarked on out of Seward next. Established in the 1790’s as a Russian fur trading post, the town has…

100+ miles of scenic road biking through Alaskan valleys, lakes and glaciers? Sounds like a perfect day for cyclists Seth and Rob along the Seward Highway. After a night in the Bird Creek campground, we set out on this classic route in the morning. Although the storm had mostly cleared out, it was still a bit…

On our way south from Healy to Bird Creek, we stopped for a hike at Denali State Park. The heavy rainstorm we had at Denali National Park the day before was just starting to clear out. The weather wasn’t quite as freezing cold, so I bundled up again in a few less layers. I’m not…

I was able to find information on so many Alaskan wildflowers online, but I couldn’t seem to identify this glamorous pink and purple wildflower anywhere. It was growing along the river in Denali National Park. About six inches tall at four inches across. I think it’s a variety of Indian Paintbrush. Do you have any…

A rainy day in Denali National Park doesn’t put a damper on all the lovely Alaskan wildflowers. We had a great time hunting for new varieties on our hikes. This is Dwarf Fireweed, a traditional medicinal plant for treating wounds: Simple pink flower, complicated name. Eskimo Potato Bear Root (seems to be poisonous): I think…