A brief summary of the last week, with pictures

[sholio]

I want to write up more detailed notes on all of this, but since there's a good chance I won't get around to some/all/most of it, here's a brief summary of what I've been up to for the last week.

My mom and stepdad live in an off-grid cabin in the middle of nowhere and have been snowbound all winter due to a combination of equipment malfunction and age-related ill health. They're fine, it's how they want to live and I respect that, but as they're getting low on supplies and I wanted to get out of Fairbanks for a while, I drove to the town nearest them (Wasilla; it's a 6-hour drive from here), shopped for a helicopter load of food and misc. supplies for them, and combined it with a much-needed vacation (my first actual vacation since 2022) which involved a few days of hiking, lounging around the rental place reading, and scoping out interesting restaurants.

I drove out of Fairbanks in a freaking May BLIZZARD.



Luckily most of the drive was much nicer.

I stayed in an absolutely stunning lake house that was surprisingly affordable at off-season prices (as opposed to absolutely out of my reach during tourist season; I just happened to score it on AirBnb and realized later that I would never have looked at it twice at summer prices).



The lake had loons and swans, so I got to hear the loons' eerie cries at all hours of the day or night, and watch airplanes taking off outside my window.


And I rode in a HELICOPTER ♥, which I think ranks right up there with the coolest things I've ever done in my entire life. (If you get a chance to ride in a helicopter, do it. Also take dramamine beforehand, because it moves on all axes simultaneously and is a deeply weird feeling. It's nothing whatsoever like riding in an airplane and basically like nothing else I've done.)



While that was definitely the high point, I also saw beautiful scenery and watched a gorgeous sunset from a glacial river sandbar.



I also hiked on a trail made from an old railroad bed.



At a completely different location, I hiked across a railroad bridge in pouring near-freezing rain ...



(Note the "no horses allowed" sign. LMAO.)

... and on the far side of the bridge, I wandered down a gravel bar between two converging rivers and investigated icebergs piled up where the rivers come together and create a sort of vortex where the ice gets trapped. Since icebergs were jostling down the thawing rivers, I would sometimes hear two icebergs crash together with a sound like a refrigerator falling off a cliff. (Okay, I don't know what that sounds like, but it was a really unique sound, and loud. Not really a sound you expect a river to make.)



The rain then changed to snow. ALASKA WHY. I took a picture of a train in the snow passing me on the same railroad tracks where I had crossed the river a few hours earlier.



But the next day was beautiful! I drove the Denali park road, which is only open to non-tour bus traffic for a couple of weeks in the spring. I have been on it exactly once in the '90s, so I thought this would be a fun side trip on my way back home.



And I got back last night.

This is a time of year I don't normally travel in Alaska - "breakup", the extra season between winter and spring - and as well as really needing a few days of vacation, I found it a cool, interesting time to be wandering around. The tourist rush hadn't hit yet, everything was deserted and laid back, prices were cheap, and the seasons were in a fascinating transitional phase where I never knew if I'd hit snow, rain, or green growing things, especially as I traveled in and out of different biomes in the mountains. All the migrating birds were out and about, and I saw loons, swans, and many kinds of ducks, as well as our summer seasonal songbirds. Lovely trip, A+, would travel again. I hope you enjoyed coming along on the tour with me!

Comments

[philomytha]

That sounds excellent. Helicopter ride! And airplanes out your holiday house window! And interesting birds and scenery, your description of the breakup season is amazing.

And LOL, I wouldn't care to take a horse over that bridge, especially if a train might come, even led rather than ridden.

[sholio]

I just never seem to go anywhere at this time of year, so it's been fun to experience it in places other than here! And this was really a lovely trip.

Taking a horse over that bridge seems very unwise.

[lilacsigil]

Thank you for your Alaska tour! It's an incredibly beautiful and cool place but it always sounds so dangerous, let alone the icebergs and the blizzards!

[sholio]

I'm glad you enjoyed it! It's definitely an experience sometimes.

[passingbuzzards]

Wow that helicopter photo is incredible, thank you for sharing these! I'm so glad it was a good trip <3

[sholio]

Thanks so much! :D It really was a neat experience to have.

[madripoor_rose]

Gorgeous!

[sholio]

Thank you!

[liz_mo]

I LOVED the tour! Thank you so much!
The last pic especially is how I as European imagine Alaska (when it‘s not covered in ice and snow)

[sholio]

Thank *you*, I'm glad you enjoyed it! Those views on the Denali drive really were very iconically Alaskan.

[shaddyr]

Those are some lovely photos! It reminds me a great deal of northern Manitoba where I lived till grade 4. The picture of ice on the river totally reminds me of living up in Thompson.

I'm glad you had a fabulous trip - definitely enjoyed the tour!

[sholio]

Thank you! That does sound fairly similar, I think.

[lunabee34]

That sounds absolutely wonderful. What a fantastic score on that house!

[sholio]

You can sometimes stumble into some really great off-season deals, and this was definitely one of them!

[mrkinch]

Wow, what a cool vacation! Thank you for taking us along.:) Alaska is so interesting, and I can well imagine that the birds were amazing.

[sholio]

Thank you! It was a lovely time to be out and about.

[sheron]

So glad you had a good time! Thank you for these pictures!! And I enjoyed the video of the plane landing/taking off as well <33

[sholio]

I had a great time, and I'm glad you enjoyed! :)

[timespirt]

Wow, beautiful scenery and it sounds like you had a great time doing it. Love the view from the lake house. Never been in a helicopter. Hope your parents are doing okay.

I guess they don't want horses on those wood planks so they don't destroy them? You live in a unique place for traveling and lovely views. Thank you for the tour.

[sholio]

Thank you so much! :) The horse thing, I think the issue is mainly that horses might panic if a train goes by, because the tracks are actively used.

[musesfool]

What beautiful scenery! And score on the lake house!

[sholio]

Sometimes you can score excellent deals in the (tourist) off season, and this was certainly one of them!

[thistleingrey]

Thank you for the lovely tour!

An older relative is heading to Alaska soon on a package tour (to include Denali and Valdez), and it'll be interesting to have your pics in mind when I see theirs. :) Very soon, I think in a week or two.

[sholio]

I'm glad you enjoyed it! And I hope they have a good time on their trip.

[nottasha]

A very cool trip!

[sholio]

Thank you! (And also, hi!!)

[ellenmillion]

<3

[sholio]

<33333 (also we need to make plans for this week now that I'm back!)

[sartorias]

I played the loon cry and my little dog sat up alertly, ears perked as she looked around wildly. I don't know why that when she's used to all kinds of sounds coming out of this computer.

Have you been getting an aurora show?

[sholio]

No aurora for us, alas, or for most of Alaska! It's been too cloudy. I guess it's only fair to share the goodies this time.

[schneefink]

Thanks for sharing :) Great pictures.

[sholio]

Thank you!

[sushiflop]

ahhhhh this makes me so homesick ;_;

[sholio]

It is a very pretty place sometimes.

[yalumesse]

SO PRETTY. Thanks for sharing the photos :)

[sholio]

Thank you! :)

[wateroverstone]

The lakeside house looks fabulous. Glad you've had a holiday

[sholio]

Thank you! I feel SO much better and less stressed. Sometimes you just gotta take time off.

[lokifan]

That sounds so cool! And I love the "fridge falling down a cliff" description. Gorgeous photos!

[aelfgyfu_mead]

That looks and sounds amazing! Someday, we will head up your way! It may be after we retire (but that's not so distant now any more).

[hamsterwoman]

That sounds so cool! Especially the refrigerators-falling-off-a-cliff icebergs!

I'm glad you got a vacation and a helicopter ride!

[scioscribe]

This looks so glorious! And I definitely want to ride in a helicopter (albeit with a hefty dose of Dramamine beforehand). The scenery is stunning, and I'm glad you got so many good pictures!

[silverflight8]

<3

[sophia_sol]

What a cool trip and an interesting time to travel, thanks for sharing! so much gorgeous scenery, and I'm sure all the birds you saw were amazing!

[lannamichaels]

Gorgeous pictures!