The drive from Denali to Anchorage turned into another great day on the road. We stopped a couple of times along the way for a picnic and to try our luck fishing at a few rivers. At one stop, Piper and Trevor headed off in search of an Arctic grayling when they spotted a large red salmon jump. Trevor tied on a spoon and after only a couple of casts hooked into a huge King salmon. Armed with only a telescopic fishing rod and no net, it took several minutes to bring the fish to shore. Just as he landed it, the pole snapped, but he still managed to bring the fish to shore. It was one of those fishing moments we’ll be talking about for years.
We checked into our Airbnb in Anchorage, which didn’t quite live up to the hype of our “splurge” accommodation, but it did have a hot tub, and we definitely made good use of it. The next day we kept things pretty relaxed. We drove out to Beluga Point to take in the views along Turnagain Arm, wandered the boardwalk at Potter Marsh where we spotted more sandhill cranes, we played cards, enjoyed the hot tub, squeezed in an afternoon nap, and finished the day with a short evening hike. It was a nice chance to slow down before a couple of early mornings.
Monday’s adventure started with a 5:00 a.m. departure for Matanuska Glacier. The drive was about two hours, but with construction and possible delays we gave ourselves lots of extra time. After arriving, we geared up with mountaineering boots, crampons, helmets, harnesses and rain gear before climbing into a van that crossed a series of rickety bridges over the Matanuska River to the base of the glacier. Before we even reached the ice, Harper took a tumble on one of the bridges, scraping up both knees and accidentally throwing part of her climbing gear into the river. After getting cleaned up, bandaged, and a little pep talk, she was ready to go.
Walking on the glacier was unlike anything we’ve ever done. Our guides carefully led us around unstable moraines and deep “death holes,” some more than 80 feet deep. We learned how to walk in crampons by stomping our feet into the ice—luckily for us, we joked the girls had been practicing that technique for years by stomping up the stairs at home. We clipped into safety lines to cross steep sections, explored deep crevasses, and learned how the glacier is constantly changing every single day. The weather gave us a true Alaskan experience too, changing from sunshine to pouring rain and back again within minutes. It was a long day, and we were more than happy to finish it with a soak in the hot tub and an early bedtime.
Tuesday also happened to be our 20th wedding anniversary, so the alarm went off shortly after 3:00 a.m. for the drive to Seward and our Kenai Fjords cruise. The drive itself was beautiful, with the sun coming up over the mountains and every corner revealing another incredible view.
Our six-hour cruise through Kenai Fjords National Park gave us the chance to see so much wildlife in one day. Before we even left the marina we spotted a pair of sea otters floating in the harbour. Throughout the day we also saw horned puffins, tufted puffins, harbour seals, Steller sea lions and several humpback whales. We cruised past Bear Glacier, Aialik Glacier and Holgate Glacier, watching chunks of ice calve into the ocean. The most memorable wildlife encounter came when a mother humpback and her calf surfaced beside the boat and treated everyone to an amazing show, breaching out of the water again and again beside us. Six hours on the water flew by with something new to see around every corner.
To top it all off, we celebrated our anniversary with glacier ice margaritas for us and glacier ice Shirley Temples for the girls before heading back to shore. We finished the day with steak dinners, one last soak in the hot tub, and reflected on what a wonderful way it was to celebrate a big anniversary.
The Travelling Herrons 