Last month (June-2015) I was backpacking in Alaska with the plan of covering Anchorage, Talkeetna, Denali and Fairbanks. Well initially when I started planning for this trip in February, I was planning for cruise but by the time I firmed my bookings it turned out that being on a cruise all alone (Yes, I travel alone :P) will be extravagant and not a great idea as most of the people (well 98%) on Alaskan cruises will be old couples who will be celebrating their 25th, 30th or 50th wedding anniversary.
Well moving on, it was a wise a decision to take a direct flight to Anchorage from Houston in order to kill the transit but had to sit for 7 hours straight. To get the feel of true backpacker I decided to stay in one of the hostels instead of hotel as tariff of hostels in Alaska is dirt-cheap but again to put a twist in this, it was one of the shabbiest places in which I have ever stayed. Nonetheless, people I met in the hostel compensated it and it was just a matter of 2 nights.
One good thing which I did (I believe) was to Google for the different kind of restaurants & cuisines available there and because of my urge to try new things, I decided to have calamari (baby squids) as my first meal in Alaska.
My reaction was OMG…best dish I have ever tasted in my life, even though I don’t have a taste for wine (which I am working as we speak) but I think it will really be a match made in heaven if we can club this dish with one of Pinot Grigios. This dish is not in its traditional recipe, which usually you can get in any bar as an appetizer called as fried calamari. It was more on the soft and tender side as they served with garlic sauce. To top that chef has complimented it with house special garlic breads, which make it a wholesome dish that is better than traditional appetizers.
Day 2 … when I walked 11 miles 🙂
One of the highlights of the day 2 was exploring downtown and going for a hike on Flat Top Mountain. Well with respect to the city, it was one the most serene places I have ever visited.
Anchorage’s location is idyllic as it is situated in the valley, surrounded by epic mountains with wide variety of nice cafes and exquisite restaurants. One of the more familiar of those was Hard Rock Café and I have a weird habit that if the city I am visiting has HRC then I have to pay my visit to it for my muse long island ice tea.
Straight to hike … only way to get to starting point or the base of the mountain is by downtown shuttle service unless you have arranged your own vehicle. But as I was traveling alone I decided to go for shuttle and indeed it was a good decision as I met one guy from Iran and one girl from bay area. After getting to know each other in the shuttle we started our brutal hike … oh yes it was brutal especially the last third.
Well this is not Flat Top Mountain; these are hills in the surrounding areas. The only problem that I faced with the shuttle service was their stringent timelines as we were supposed to complete our hike in 3 hours, which was not possible for me. Therefore, I was only able to complete 2/3rd of the hike but no regrets as every step on that hike was accompanied by divine and majestic surroundings.
Information center
Well … do you need directions ?
On the way to Flat Top Mountain.
One of the best parts of Anchorage is the beautiful coastal bike trail which goes for ~15 miles.
World’s best hotdog oh let me correct myself its actually reindeer hotdog.
Day 3 … on the way to Talkeetna.