Day One: Anchorage to Glennallen

First picture of the trip!

Dad and I grabbed our hotel coffee and were out the door by 8:30am to start our day!

We have a running inside joke about Barnes and Nobel in Alaska so of course we had to take a picture with it while we went to go pick up our atlas. The photo on our right is the starting miles on my car!

Potter Marsh

Our first stop of the trip: Potter Marsh! Potter Marsh, at the southern end of the Anchorage Coastal Wildlife Refuge, is an ideal break from Anchorage for birders and other wildlife viewers. It quickly became my favorite places to go in Anchorage, and I was excited to get to show dad. My coworkers got me really into birding this summer, and this place is full of opportunities to see some incredible wildlife!

Dads highlight: This guy was taking a nap at the outlook point.

Even on a day with no wildlife, the views make it worth it!

Informational Signs

49th State Brewery

Our next stop was 49th State Brewing. Logan showed me this place when we were in Anchorage and its such a cool place. You can try local beers, delicous local food, and see a view from the roof!

Beer Menu

Denali Lookouts

At 11:30 in Anchorage, it is 3:30pm at home, so lets get this trip started. We took the parks highway out to see Denali. Theres 2 main lookouts just off the park highway. Denali is the tallest mountain in North America, rising 20,310 feet above sea level in the Alaska Range. It’s debated to be the tallest mountain in the world, with standing over 18,000 feet of elevation from base to peak. It is notoriously difficult to see Denali because its massive
-elevation creates its own weather, often trapping the peak in clouds. Only about 30% of visitors see the mountain clearly, as moisture from the Gulf of Alaska condenses around the peak. It is commonly shrouded by clouds or fog during the summer.

Denali South View

Denali North View

Denali Highway

From there, we made the decision to do the Denali Highway. I was incredibly excited because I hadn’t had the chance to do this yet! The Denali Highway stretches 135 miles from Paxson to Cantwell, connecting the Richardson and Parks highways. It’s considered one of the most spectacular drives in the world! I was a little sad that I didn’t get to show Dad the Glenn Hwy, but its an easier route to my future home so I know we’ll get to do it together one day!