It has been a long dream of ours to go on an Alaskan Geocaching Adventure before any more of the glacial melting occurs! Wasn't sure I was going to make it, just a week before I was in agony with Lime Disease. We managed to push through and have ourselves a fantastic memory filled adventure! We used the amount of light or port time to our advantage.
Had an amazing Geocaching Adventure in Alaska! We started off in Anchorage, AK where we were able to cache until 10:45 pm every night. The first full day, we drove down to Portage, AK which was completely destroyed in the worlds second largest quake. 9.2 on the Richter Scale on March 27, 1964. We also boarded a helicopter at Alpine Air Alaska and flew over many of the massive Glaciers in the area. Even got to walk on Colonial Glacier during our helicopter ride. My favorite part of the trip!
On our second day, we took the long drive up to Denali National Park to see the 20,000 foot in elevation mega mountain which stretched beyond the clouds. Less than 30% of the park visitors get to see the top so we weren't disappointed at all, the full range of Mountains were beautiful enough.
On our final full day in Anchorage, AK we took on Thunderbird Falls where I did some climbing well beyond my perceived skill level (had me feeling much younger than I am) and we also did some coastal exploration.
The next day we did some last minute caching before boarding a bus down to Seward, AK (the car rental agency was quite amazed with all the mileage we were able to put on their car during our short visit). The ride down to Seward, AK was amazing with a guided tour down the long road with a stop into Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center where we got a great view of all the wildlife found in Alaska! We boarded our Norwegian cruise ship after getting a few caches in the area.
Our first stop was Hubbard Glacier where we were able to get the closest view of the season and log a find on an Earthcache. Next, we visited/cached the port of Juneau and hiked the amazing Gold Creek Flume trail. Then we went to Icy Strait Point with no caches in the area we mostly hiked around Hoonah, AK to see the local life. Afterwards, we cached Skagway, AK (the location of the Klondike Gold Rush) and hiked Yakutania Point. Next, we visited/cached Ketchikan, AK on International Geocaching Day where we took on Rainbird Trail, it was one of the most amazing trails I have ever experienced! With amazing views and massive trees! Making this International Geocaching Day one of my all time favorites!
Lastly after a day at sea following the Internal Passage in to Vancouver, Canada we disembarked our ship and spend the day in the city before hiking Stanley Park before our flight home!
We had a wonderful vacation and a unforgettable experience!