Alaska Recap Part 1

So I know I said I would blog while I was in Alaska, however, life has a way of becoming very busy on trips such as the one I took, so there was no time. Combine that with a lack of widespread wifi and my attempting to blog via my iPad instead of a laptop and it just didn't work out as I had planned. With that being said, I'm going to recap the trip here, probably in a few parts. This first part will be about our first couple of days on the trip.

We landed in Anchorage around 1am Alaska Standard Time, which felt like 5 am to all of us. The four hour time difference was not a highlight of the trip. But after landing in Anchorage, we made our way back to First Presbyterian Church in Anchorage, which would serve as a home base of sorts for the trip. The pastor and people there were so gracious to us, putting us up, as well as helping to organize and plan the rest of our trip around the interior.

After getting a couple hours of sleep, we awoke to finally see what Anchorage was like. I walked out of the church, turned right and was greeted with a magnificent mountain view. These views would come to be standard for every day of the trip.

The grass you see stretched out in front in the above photo is Airstrip Park, where the airport once stood.

Once we woke up, found the shower, and explored for a while, we set off on a tour of the city. Stops included Earthquake Park, where you can see the ground rolling from the earthquake in 1959 as well as a view of Sleeping Lady, a mountain you can see from many vantage points in Anchorage.

This was also when we saw our first moose of the trip. I don't know exactly how many moose we saw, but it came to be like seeing deer around western Pennsylvania.

Day 2 came the learning part of our trip. We spent the morning at the University of Alaska Anchorage meeting a Aleut man (Aleut is the native Alaskan people who are from the Aleutian Islands). He discussed his peoples' views on what is happening in Alaska and the environment. We then spent the afternoon at Alaska Native Heritage Center where I held a baby Alaskan Husky!

Days 3-5 were spent in Seward, where we played tourist, going to Exit Glacier and on a cruise of the Kenai Fjords. It was amazing being able to hike up the the glacier and learn from a National Park Ranger about the different formations and why there are no trees or certain types of trees in the different areas. If you ever go to a National Park or Forest, I would definitely suggest doing something with a Park Ranger, since they are so knowledgable! Just make sure to make a reservation!

 On the cruise, we saw orca whales, a hump back, and many different types of birds as well as another glacier. One of the college faculty who went on the trip was an ornithologist (someone who studies birds), so it was a really neat thing to learn from her about the birds and be able to have an identity for them! While the cruise was long and rocky, it was definitely an awesome experience.

Once we were back in Anchorage, we spent time relaxing, going to church, visiting a local market on Sunday afternoon, then kayaking at a local park thanks to some of the church members who lent us the use of their kayaks and a canoe!

Well, that's the end of Week 1! The next week was spent with people from the University and Park Service, as well as our first Alaskan hike up Flattop Mountain in Anchorage. I'll do a post on that, as well as our time heading north into the interior of Alaska later in the week!

-Sydney Liz