Adam and Ashley's Alaskan Adventure!!: 1,157 Miles in 120 Hours

And we’re back with a new installment of Adam and Ashley’s Alaskan Adventure! This week’s episode is graced with the presence of our guest stars Kelsey Straub and Nicole Wood! Our first visitors from home this summer came up to see just how cool Alaska can be with tour guides like ourselves. Between Friday night and Saturday afternoon the girls arrived and we headed north towards Denali National Park. The weather was beautiful and we were lucky enough to see the peak of Denali all the way from Anchorage. We kept our eyes peeled for wildlife during the drive as the group exchanged stories from the past few months. As we got closer to the park the clouds rolled in and kept the vast mountains hidden from sight. We arrived at our campsite and got the tent set up and started making dinner. Ashley and Nicole worked on the finishing touches of the tent while Adam and Kelsey worked on starting the fire. Flint and steel seemed like a more impressive way to start a fire than matches. Unfortunately, our technique needed some work so matches may have been used…you win this round fire. We made grilled sandwiches for dinner and turned in for the night. The girls got a first-hand look at how bright the Alaskan night can be so sleep was evasive but we managed.

The next morning, we got up early to do a little hiking before our first big adventure; whitewater rafting! The hike was gorgeous but unfortunately no wildlife yet. We headed to the area of the park that we like to call the Denali Dells; tons of gift shops and hotels made it feel strangely similar to the Wisconsin Dells. We looked through some of the shops before checking in for rafting. The rafting company was pretty fun and gave off a really California-surfer vibe. We were given wetsuits to keep us dry and warm from the ice cold glacial river. The four of us were in a raft with 5 other people and our guide, Wookie. He looked very similar to his Star Wars namesake but fortunately spoke English a lot better. Adam sat in front to keep the rest of the crew paddling on time. The lady opposite him was supposed to be leading but she didn’t do very well. Another lady was incredibly enthusiastic about how much fun we were having; even yelling her battle cry of “get it!” and “spank that!” as we went through the tiniest of rapids. The water was rough and cold but we made it through without going overboard, but we did have a dozen or so close calls. After the rafting we got back in the car to continue our journey south. Did we mention the girls were only staying for 4 days?! And we’re just getting started!

We left the Denali Dells around 2:00 in the afternoon headed towards our next campsite near the Matanuska Glacier outside of Palmer. To get to the site we took a more scenic route through the mountains known as Hatcher Pass. Kelsey and Nicole got to experience their very first pilot car here! The Pass had a little construction that was apparently treacherous enough to require a guide, but we survived. We stopped at several places to take a few pictures and give the old Jeep a break from driving. The Sound of Music soundtrack played in the background as we made our way through the mountains. We even saw a few people parasailing from the top of the peaks. The mountains finally gave way to a beautiful valley and we continued toward our campsite. The campground was much less busy than the previous night at Denali. We wasted no time setting up the tent as a team before pairing off again to finish the other tasks. Ashley and Nicole worked on the air mattresses and dinner preparations while Adam and Kelsey set off to make a fire again. The flint and steel was much more effective when used right way. The fire took a while to start but the team was successful this time! We made our signature quesadillas and roasted marshmallows for dessert. Kelsey was very determined to cut and split every log we could find in the area but with another big day ahead of us we decided to call it a night.

Breakfast the next morning consisted of slightly burnt cinnamon rolls over the fire with a side of spectacular eggs. We packed up camp and headed up the road to Matanuska Glacier for a guided glacier hike. Adam and Ashley were eager to compare this hike to the one they had in Kennicott a few weeks before and boy was there a lot to compare! The group was fitted for crampons and helmets (no helmets required for the last hike) and headed onto the toe of the glacier. The scenery could not have been more different. Matanuska Glacier was much more jagged and treacherous than the Root Glacier in Kennicott had been. Our guide was very nice and showed us some incredibly deep crevasses and even let us act like we were ice climbing with her ice pick! We had lunch by a large lake on top of the glacier and jumped a few times as we heard loud pops and cracks from the glacier melting and moving. After the hike we hit the road again, headed back to Eagle River for the night. Shortly after we started our drive we saw our first big wildlife for the trip! A young moose bounded into the road and narrowly missed us as we flew past. Heads jerked back to see the calf still alive and walking across the road as hearts raced and a few choice words may have echoed in the car. Easily the most exhilarating part of the trip!

Now as fun as camping was, we weren’t about to let Kelsey and Nicole head back home without spending a night right in our backyard. We teased them with subtle hints as we prepared dinner and had them still guessing as we packed our bags and headed down the trail. Campgrounds are nice and convenient but noise from the highway gets old pretty quick; so we spent the night at one of the cabins the Nature Center rents out. A mile and a half back into the woods we found our camp for the night; the quaint little cabin sat tucked amongst the trees and overlooked a small stream. The scenery was spectacular but sleep after a long 2 days soon won the battle for our minds. We played cards for a bit and then called it a night.

Tuesday morning was our last day together and we were going to make the most of it. We woke up early and hiked back to the kitchen for breakfast and crawled sleepily back into the car for a drive down to Seward. Normally a short two-and-a-half-hour drive, our time was a little slow due to a wildfire right near the only highway heading south. We made it to Seward in time for our first excursion; sea kayaking. We were fitted for personal floatation devices and rubber skirts to help keep us dry on the water. Our guides were telling us about the kayaks when they suddenly spotted a harbor seal. The little guy was swimming near the shore and even took time to show off the salmon it caught for lunch. The sun was shining brightly as we got settled into the tandem kayaks and headed out into Resurrection Bay, part of the Pacific Ocean. It was a beautiful but hot day so the cool ocean water felt wonderful as it splashed against the sides. The tandem kayaks were awesome but controlling that small of a boat with a rudder system was more difficult than expected. Adam and Nicole were in charge of steering the small vessels and despite a few minor collisions they did an awesome job. Plans may have been formed to sabotage the other kayaks by flipping their rudders out of the water…but it was all talk, for the most part. We had a brief stop on a beach where we were able to walk over a bridge and see our first salmon of the season! The Sockeye or Redd salmon were spawning just feet from the banks and we saw the occasional tail flip out of the murky glacier water. We even got to sample the local salmon berries while we watched the salmon! After that it was back in the kayaks and friendly race back to shore (Adam and Ashley obviously won and didn’t even cheat that bad). We had a quick lunch in the car while we drove back through town to our next adventure; zip lining!

We hadn’t planned or even thought about zip lining before the girls arrived but after some discussion we realized it would be foolish not to go. We found a company that offered a package of 6 zips, 3 suspension bridges and 2 repels and decided to take the plunge. Our two guides fitted us for harnesses and safety gear and showed us some of the basics of zip lining at ground school. We practiced a little and then piled into a modified pickup truck which took us up the mountain to the start of our adventure. Nerves were unsettled as we drove higher and higher but luckily the first zip line wasn’t too long or too high. Ashley was the most nervous going into this so naturally she wanted to go first. The zips got progressively longer until we reached the longest line of over 1200 feet. The guides showed us how to lean back and go even faster than we had been, almost 40 miles an hour! The next few platforms were repelling and rope bridges. The bridges will definitely be at our house someday because they’re the coolest. The repelling was pretty scary at first but we handled it like pros. The last zip led us back to the parking lot and a short repel later the fun was over. We were exhausted and took a few final looks around town before heading back towards home. Shortly after we left however we had to stop for pictures of a moose just along the road. After that it was smooth sailing all the way back to town; almost.

The wildfire we passed on the way to Seward had shifted a little with the wind and was dangerously close to the highway. We were about 10 miles from the actual fire when we hit stand-still traffic. There were brake lights as far as the eye could see and no traffic coming from the other direction. The only cars that passed us were people who decided the traffic wasn’t worth waiting in so they headed back towards Seward. The highway we were on was the only road to Anchorage and we only had a few hours to get Kelsey to the airport; so we sat and waited. We had plenty of snacks to eat and cards to keep our minds occupied. Fortunately, we only spent about 50 minutes sitting in the car before we were able to creep closer to town. It took us almost 2 hours to drive about 25 miles, which was great considering people earlier that day had waited for 3 to 4 hours without moving! We finally made it to town for a quick pizza dinner before dropping Kelsey at the airport. It was too soon to say goodbye but it was an awesome couple of days!

Wednesday morning was an early start for Adam who went into work so Ashley and Nicole could enjoy some hiking on Nicole’s last day. But did they hike all that much? No-they slept until 11! They eventually got a short 3-mile hike in (yeah, that’s short up here) before heading to town for ice cream. Meanwhile, Adam was running around the Nature Center like a mad-man with people pouring inside throughout the day. Literally the busiest Wednesday of the year but he handled it like a pro. Nicole and Ashley were sweet enough to have dinner ready when Adam finished work so that was nice. We had dinner and packed Nicole’s bags in the car to head for the airport. Too many trips to the airport in one weekend but those ladies were worth every second.

Adam and Ashley, alone again, headed back towards home. The drive was a little sad but also a joyous celebration of how well the weekend went. The group traveled over 1,157 miles in only 120 hours! The weather was fantastic and everyone got along really well. We wished the girls could have stayed longer but you can’t avoid work forever. The only thing we didn’t get to see was a bear over the whole trip. But those bears clearly knew what they were doing. Not half an hour after dropping Nicole at the airport and less than 5 miles from home, Ashley and Adam saw a black bear right next to the road. It wasn’t there on the way to the airport, but it was happily waiting to greet them just after they spent an entire weekend looking for bears. The lesson to be learned from this is don’t go home until you’ve seen a bear!

We slept hard the next two nights trying to catch up on sleep. Traveling is fun but it sure is exhausting. We’ll stay close to home this week before Adam’s family arrives next week to take an even longer trip. Will the bears hide until everyone leaves again? Find out next time on Adam and Ashley’s Alaskan Adventure!

-the A-Team