Alaska Blue and White

DAY 1 ✈️➡️🌙 SFO clock-out ➜ red-eye to ANC. Land 11 p.m., grab Hertz SUV (pre-paid, winter tyres already on). Drive 15 min to hotel, inhale –2 °C air that smells like pine-scented freezer. Instant brain-bleach from Excel sheets. Sleep like a polar bear in hibernation. DAY 2 🐻🚗 Morning: Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center (AWCC) 40 min south on Seward Hwy. Online ticket $20, scan phone, no line at 9 a.m. 2-mile loop = IKEA for megafauna: moose pancakes, porcupine waddling, black bear doing yoga stretch. 90 min perfect, 120 min if you’re the type who names every bison. Afternoon: Whittier or “Why-tier”? 45 min through Anton Anderson Tunnel (world’s longest rail-car hybrid). Darkness + exhaust = underwhelming. Town itself = 200 souls, 1 gift shop, 0 vibe in off-season. Snap pic of rusted fishing boat, U-turn. Detour to Palmer for Alaska State Fair (ends Labour Day, so we caught final Sunday). – 400-lb pumpkin = real-life Beanstalk fruit. – Deep-fried cinnamon roll bigger than face = instant diabetes worth it. DAY 3 🛣️🐟 ANC ➜ Valdez (6 hrs with photo ops) Thompson Pass: pull-out at mile 27, 20-min boot-pack to ridge. 360° snow-draped spires = Windows XP wallpaper on steroids. Worthington Glacier: roadside, 5-min walk to toe. Touch blue ice, lick for good luck (tongue doesn’t stick, promise). Solomon Gulch Hatchery (5 p.m.): pink salmon soup in net pens, 30 seals bobbing like fat torpedoes. Nature’s all-you-can-eat buffet. DAY 4 🛶🧊 Columbia Glacier 10-hr Sea-Kayak Epic 7 a.m. check-in at Valdez harbour. Water-taxi = 40-ft beast, 2.5 hr each way. Drop kayaks at Uninhabited Island™. Paddle 3-4 hr among tractor-sized ice cubes. Calving thunder echoes, baby sea otters applaud on bellies. Pack PB&J + hot cocoa in thermos (provided). No bathrooms = embrace bush-wee skills. Return 6 p.m. arms = spaghetti, grin = permanent. DAY 5 🚍⚓ ANC ➜ Seward by Park Connection bus (3 hrs scenic coma). Afternoon 6-hr Kenai Fjords cruise: Captain yells “2 o’clock orca!” – pod of 5, baby male with tilted dorsal. Holgate Glacier: house-sized serac calves, creates mini-tsunami that rocks boat = everyone screams in 7 languages. All-you-can-eat salmon chowder included; consume 3 bowls to avenge the cold. DAY 6 🥾🏔️ Harding Icefield Trail – calf murderer. 8.2 mi, 3,000 ft gain, 7-8 hrs round trip. First 2 mi = nice forest. Next 2 mi = rock staircase designed by sadists. Final mile: snowfield appears like HD TV suddenly switched on. Icefield stretches to horizon, blue crevasses wink. Soul = dusted, legs = jelly. Descent = controlled falling. Reward: root-beer float at Seward’s railway café. 6 p.m. Alaska Railroad back to ANC – panorama dome car, moose spotted at mile 67, sunset ignites peaks cotton-candy pink. ✈️ CLOUD FINALE Red-eye home. Plane breaks through cloud carpet at 30 k ft – volcanoes poke up like white islands in a sea of whipped cream. Realise Alaska has re-written internal colour palette: every shade of grey now feels dull. 💸 DAMAGE & DATA Car (5 days) ........... $350 Fuel .................... $210 Hotels (5 nts) ......... $950 Activities ............. $640 (kayak, cruise, bus, rail) Chowder & rolls ........ $280 TOTAL ≈ $2,430 pp 🎒PACK LIKE A PRO Micro-spikes – Harding trail = polished ice slide after noon. Collapsible poles – knees will send thank-you card. Dry-bag – kayak splash = phone killer. Buff dipped in hot water under beanie = instant brain sauna. 🗺️ QUICK “SKIP OR STAY” Whittier in summer: maybe (kayak rentals + secret waterfalls). Whittier in shoulder season: hard pass unless you collect abandoned buildings. Palmer Fair: GO if you like giant veg selfies; skip if craft tents bore you. Alaska’s baseline colour isn’t white—it’s every crayon you forgot existed. Come for the glaciers, stay for the chowder, leave with a lifetime supply of “Remember that time a seal photobombed us?” stories. #Alaska #US #Whittier #Anchorage