Category: Wildlife

What to do on a short trip to Alaska

Mollie Bloudoff-Indelicato Leave a comment

Utqiaġvik (1 day)

Picture of a big, green boat covered in snow and leaning up against a large shack-like house that is also covered in snow. Sun setting in the background over miles of ice and snow.

We went to Alaska in June for the good weather. One of my life goals was to go to the northernmost part of the United States, which is a town called Utqiaġvik (Oot-Key-og-vik) or Barrow depending on if you’re a foreigner or a native American. It’s easy to get to but getting back can be hard if there’s a storm or fog that cancels flights. There aren’t too many places to stay and they book up far in advance for workers, scientists and naturalists that venture up there. Here’s where we stayed: https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/9059712 Photo Credit: Deborah Schildt

Photo of a polar bear with its paws crossed in front of it, looking down from a tall pile of snow and ice.

I also really wanted to see a polar bear, and we got lucky and spotted one (from far away, thank goodness!) while we were there! We hired a tour guide named Mike (907-367-4972), and he was quite the character. But he picked us up from the airport and drove us around. We got so many awesome stories. He even offered to park and let us jump in the water, but it was frozen solid so we declined! Photo Credit: Annie Spratt

Food is really expensive there because everything has to get flown in so you can bring a bag of your own food, pay your B&B host to cook for you or shop at the local grocery store. Just be prepared for the prices to be quadrupled from what you can get in Anchorage. There’s no alcohol.

You can also reach out to local research centers and native communities to see if there are any events. We met up with a scientist to chat and got to see a local whale catching ceremony! You don’t need a car here, everything is within walking distance or you can ask anyone for a ride. There’s also a great community FB group you can join and meet up with people or ask for advice!

Must Sees:

Anchorage (1 day)

Pic of a long main street at night with buildings on either side. It is raining.

Photo Credit: Simon Hurry

Seward (3 days)

Picture of small mountain peaks and a large swatch of what looks like snow but is actually a glacier! Blue sky with wispy white clouds.

Seward was pretty awesome. We hiked up a glacier and then went ice climbing in a crevasse! It’s WAY easier than rock climbing and so so beautiful. On the hike there we saw a brown bear a little too close for comfort, but our guide was super on it and we were still able to get to our destination. Really appreciated their safety consciousness! https://www.exitglacierguides.com/content/exit-glacier-ice-climbing-trip Here’s where we stayed: https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/46714430 Photo Credit: Drew Farwell

Picture of a pod of orca whales partially breaching the ocean water. Grey-blue sky in the background.

We also booked a half-day boat tour and achieved our life goal of seeing orcas (among others)! There’s also a full-day tour available. I’d probably go for longer if you like boats. I’m just not a fan of being on the water so we opted for a shorter ride. Major Marine tour options Photo Credit: NOAA

NOTE:

There are a LOT of anti-vaxers and MAGA people in Alaska. I would bring COVID tests and Paxlovid just in case you get sick and aren’t able to find them.