48 hours in ALASKA
A natural fit for thrill seekers, the Last Frontier will be the beginning of really wild adventure you’ll never forget
BIG is the word best used to describe Alaska. Big on scale, big on beasts and big on experiences.
And while this epic landscape is no place for the timid, it is one of the last places on Earth you can accessibly venture into wilderness in all its feral glory.
It’s that walk on the wild side that will stay with you. Why visit a zoo when you can watch a ginormous brown bear salmon ‘fishing’ in ferocious waters or hear the howls of a pack of grey wolves?
This is the perfect place to reset your hunter-gatherer factory setting, while being humbled by the simple fact you’re no longer top of the food chain.
FRIDAY
3pm: One of the best bases in Alaska for experiencing the wild side is its largest city, Anchorage, a culturally rich area which acts as the gateway to the wilderness and mountains. Kick off your 48 hours in style – with an overnight sledding adventure. Heading north to the tiny outlet of Talkeetna, a place which fewer than 1,000 Alaskans call home, you will whiz through the snow-lodged fields of the Matanuska Valley, thanks to your trusty pack of 12 huskies.
7pm: After reaching Talkeetna, it’s time to dine, Alaskan style. While America’s diner classics are readily available, the locals like to keep things much simpler – and healthier – than their friends in the South. Coldwater seafood is at the heart of their mealtimes; enjoy salmon every way (cured, smoked, even candied!) as well as the obvious delicacy, Alaskan king crab. After all, it’s good enough for the bears…
9pm: After a mouthwatering meal, it’s time for a jaw-dropping time. Alongside a guide, trek out into the night air and simply look up. Many overnight excursions in the state involve hunting Mother Nature’s most sought-after lightshow – the aurora borealis, also known as the Northern Lights. You’ll go to bed with stars in your eyes.
SATURDAY
9am: Waking up with excitement about exploring the unknown is enough to make anyone hungry, so load up. While Alaska’s glaciers are bigger than some US states, their cinnamon buns aren’t much smaller. Dine on American classics of eggs, waffles and bacon for breakfast, with a few good slices of homemade sourdough – which, ironically, is what the Alaskans call themselves.
12pm: Back in Anchorage it’s time to go down to the woods. But don’t be expecting any civilised tea party – this is nature at its rawest. Bears are the ultimate symbol of this state – and evoke feelings of wonder mixed with a good dose of primal fear.
Either head to the Denali National Park and hope to see a mother brown bear and her cub majestically meandering along a road or get a bit jet-set about your grizzly expedition and take to the skies.
Flying into Wolverine Creek, you’ll be able to see black and brown bears in all their belly-flopping, growling, salmon-snatching glory. The waters are where the fish come to spawn, making it the epicentre of not-so-polite bear society. Most taxi planes promise to show you up to 20 bears per outing, but you’ll also be witness to an aerial view of lakes, craggy mountains, mammoth ice fields and pebbled beaches – what a perfect way to spend a day.
SUNDAY
7am: The wilderness waits for no man or woman, so don’t dawdle on your final day. Travel south from Anchorage to Seward, a port perched on the inlet of the Kenai Peninsula. This is the gateway to the Kenai Fjords National Park, where fjords have been carved out by huge glaciers, making it the home of some of the world’s most majestic marine life.
10am: You’ve sledded through snow, taken to the air, now it’s time to set sail. Book on to a tour across Resurrection Bay and you’ll have the wind in your hair and the hope (of seeing some of nature’s most epic creatures) in your heart.
This is the world of the whales. You can see unimaginably huge humpbacks breaching for air, pods of inky black orcas slicing through the water at breakneck speeds and porpoises giddily leaping before disappearing back into the depths.
It’s not just the big guys who will catch your attention. Keep your eyes peeled for sea otters, sea lions, seals and puffins along the fjords.
6pm: What better way to end a soul-enriching Sunday than with a stroll? But this isn’t any wander through the English countryside – this is a walk, Alaskan style.
Head down the winding path of the Bay and witness the majesty of the kings of the skies – bald eagles – gliding and swooping on their prey. If you’re lucky enough, you might spot two going to war over the much-hyped Alaskan seafood. The call of the wild has never been so strong…