Alaska

July 12th - September 6th, 2025

The Last Frontier

We’ve saved the best for last as we end the finish line of our national park journey. The Last Frontier, Alaska, is a paradise for those seeking solitude and wild spaces. It is home to 8 national parks, including Denali, Katmai, Kenai Fjords, Wrangell–St. Elias, Lake Clark, Kobuk Valley, Gates of the Arctic, and Glacier Bay.

We have an Airbnb in Anchorage to use as our home base, and we’ll be traveling to a national park every weekend that we’re there. Out of the 8 parks, 4 of them require some sort of bush plane to arrive there, and 2 of them must be accessed by boat.

This finale to our 4 years of adventuring required months of planning and preparation. We’ll be in Anchorage for a month and half, and then end the journey by taking an Alaskan cruise from Anchorage to Vancouver, BC.

Katmai National Park

The first national park we went to in Alaska was Katmai National Park. Katmai is known for it's brown bears fishing salmon at Brooks Falls. It's also home to the Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes, a vast volcanic landscape formed by the eruption of a volcano. We camped for two nights in the Katmai campground, which is surrounded by an electric fence to deter bears from entering. Our Katmai journey involved two flights to arrive there, then a water taxi and another flight to arrive back home. We felt like Katmai was one of the most special places we've ever been to. It's so special (sacred, even, which we don't use lightly) to experience these bears up close and witness their special world. Two weeks later when Trevor's mom came to visit us in Alaska, she and Trevor visited Katmai and once again had the most amazing time there.

Boarding the seaplane in King Salmon for our flight into Katmai National Park!

Flying into King Salmon from Anchorage

Trevor sat in the passenger seat on the seaplane flight to Katmai, and this funny family posed for our picture.

Getting off the flight in Katmai

As soon as our seaplane landed, we immediately saw a momma bear and her cubs in the bay

The electric fence surrounding the Katmai campground to deter bears from entering

This was our tent site, it was such a beautiful place to spend the night and trying to sleep while the sun was still up at 11pm was a unique experience

There is a mile walk from the Katmai village area to Brooks Falls, and there are many bear sightings along the way

The river is absolutely filled to the brim with salmon

Bear viewing from the Rifles platform

Viewing bears from the Rifles platform

The iconic Brooks Falls, where the salmon have to jump up the falls to continue up the stream.

The banks of the river are completely covered in the bodies of dead salmon since the bears don't actually eat most of the salmon

Brooks Falls

The bears would walk directly underneath the platforms so you were only 10 feet away from the bears at times, though it still felt safe.

It might be hard to tell, but the salmon filled literally every inch of the river leading up to Brooks Falls.

Nat peeping the bears through the binocs!

Brooks Falls

This picture is taken from the Brooks Falls platform but looking downstream from the falls.

The boardwalks leading up to the platforms have these doors to keep bars off of the boardwalks

Two adolescent bears play fighting near the platforms

We took a bus tour to the Valley of 10,000 Smokes which included many scenic stops along the way.

Views along our Valley of 10,000 Smokes tour

The wild flowers in Katmai were beautiful!

Views along our Valley of 10,000 Smokes tour

Overlooking the Valley of 10,000 Smokes

Overlooking the Valley of 10,000 Smokes, which is a valley floor covered in hundreds of feet of volcano ash

A waterfall inside the Valley of 10,000 Smokes

A waterfall in the Valley of 10,000 Smokes

This is the confluence in the Valley of 10,000 Smokes where two different color rivers meet up.

The bus on our Valley of 10,000 Smokes tour was specially outfitted to cross 3 rivers.

Looking towards Brooks Falls from the Rifles platform

Looking downstream from the Brooks Falls platform

Cute bear poking his head up in the bay

We hiked past Brooks Falls to Brooks Lake, which is the final destination of the salmon for their spawning

Two adolescent bears playing right outside of the electric fence of the campground

The sunrises and sunsets in our campground were amazing!

Bear viewing from the Rifles platform

We hiked the Cultural Site Trail which takes you to the site of the remains of a native dwelling

The building that encloses the Cultural Site

At Brooks Falls with my mom

Lake Clark National Park

Lake Clark National Park is a remote wilderness known for its stunning combination of active volcanoes, turquoise lakes, glaciers, and wildlife. Park visitors typically fly across the Cook Inlet from Anchorage to arrive at the park. The flight in was amazing as it took us through the towering giant mountains of Lake Clark. We stayed at the Lake Clark Resort in Port Alsworth, which is situated directly on the east shore of Lake Clark. The lodge was beautiful and we had an amazing time going on nearby hikes and relaxing by the lake.

On our flight to Lake Clark we could see Denali (on the right) and Mount Foraker (on the left) way off in the distance.

Looking out the window of the plane at the mountains in Lake Clark National Park.

We flew really close to mountains and glaciers as we went through Lake Clark Pass.

We landed on a small unpaved air strip to arrive in Port Alsworth.

The cabins at Lake Clark Resort

The main lodge at Lake Clark Resort

Once we landed in Port Alsworth, we set off on a hike along the Tanalian Falls trail.

The mushrooms and foliage along the Tanalian Falls were amazing

Currents along the Tanalian Falls trail

Tanalian Falls

After Tanalian Falls, we continued up the trail toward Kontrashibuna Lake and noticed these really interesting plants that covered ground that created a weird optical illusion.

Our first view of Kontrashibuna Lake. It was shallow and very reflective, which made it so beautiful.

We found a canoe and hopped in once we arrived at Kontrashibuna Lake

Canoeing on Kontrashibuna Lake

Canoeing on Kontrashibuna Lake. One of the best things we've done throughout all our travels!

On our way back we followed an alternative trail that stopped along Beaver Pond

The visitor center for Lake Clark National Park

We became close friends with the people at our dinner table at the resort. This is Joe, Barb and Judy! We're so glad we met them.

We gave the cats at the resort lots of pets

This was the view from our cabin at Lake Clark Resort. Truly the most beautiful place we've ever spent the night!

It was so fun to watch the seaplanes fly in and out of here all day.

Our second day here, Trevor hiked the Tanalian Mountain trail. The views from the top were incredible.

Views from the top of Tanalian Mountain

Natalie went on a solo hike on the Tinitun trail

Wild flowers along the Tinitun Trail

Lounging at the lake

The water was unbearably cold but fun to take a quick dip!

Lake Clark Resort has a beautiful garden on their property, which gives it a really homey touch.

Inside the green houses in the garden at Lake Clark Resort

The chicken coup in the Lake Clark Resort garden

Looking down at Port Alsworth as the plane took off to take us back to Anchorage

Amazing views on our flight home

On the flight home, Trevor sat in the copilot seat and chatted with the pilot, who is the founder of Lake Clark Resort

Wrangell-St. Elias National Park

Wrangell-St. Elias is the largest national park in the U.S., packed with massive glaciers and towering peaks. The drive to the park is 8 hours from Anchorage, so our first day consisted of driving there and then doing the Kennecott Mill tour. Our second day we went on a guided glacier ice caves tour, hiked on top of the Root Glacier, and then drove back home.

The drive to Wrangell-St. Elias consists of driving multiple hours on the McCarthy road, which has amazing views at every turn.

Once you arrive at the end of the McCarthy road, you have to leave your car behind and cross this footbridge on foot and then take a bus the rest of the way to McCarthy.

The town of Kennecott, which was a very prolific copper mining town around 100 years ago, but is now a preserved historic site.

The inside of the historic power plant in the town of Kennecott.

The historic general store inside of Kennecott

Historic buildings around Kennecott

At the top of the Kennecott Mill on our mill tour.

Looking out the window along our Kennecott Mill tour

Inside of the Kennecott Mill, which was a labyrinth of wood.

The Kennecott Mill tour

Beautiful waterfall in the town of Kennecott

Natalie made a friend on the bus

This was the Airbnb cabin that we stayed the night in

Trevor did a morning hike along the West Kennecott Glacier trail, which ended at this scenic view of the lakes at the bottom of the moraine.

Inside the ice cave known as the "amphitheater".

The amphitheater ice cave

The ice caves tour was one of the coolest things we've ever done!

Encased in a world of blue ice!

This ice cave featured a waterfall feature flowing through the ice cave

A tiny moulin in one of the ice caves

Our ice caves tour guide, Michael, was such a great guide that made our experience so fun!

After our ice cave tour, we hiked on top of the Root Glacier

The Root Glacier

Hiking on top of the Root Glacier

On our drive home, we saw a momma moose and her two babies

We found out that there is a catwalk underneath the Kuskulana Bridge, so we stopped on our way home and walked the catwalk.

A view of the Kuskulana River from the bridge catwalk

This is the Subaru Outback that we rented for our time during Alaska

Kenai Fjords National Park

The main draw of Kenai Fjords is its massive Harding Icefield, which spills out into dozens of stunning glaciers. It’s also one of the best spots in Alaska to see wildlife like whales, puffins, and sea otters against a backdrop of icy mountains and fjords. We came here when my mom came to visit us. We hiked the Exit Glacier trail, and also went on a boat tour that took us to Holgate Glacier and Aialik Glacier.

The first thing we did in Kenai Fjords was hike up to Exit Glacier

Exit Glacier

The boat harbor in Seward, where our Kenai Fjords boat tour left from, was beautiful

Holgate Glacier, which is one of two glaciers that we visited on our boat tour

Aialik Glacier, the second glacier we visited on our boat tour

Aialik Glacier

Some Steller Sea Lions that we saw along our boat tour

The boat tour took us through some amazing spire rock features

Denali National Park

Denali National Park is home to Denali, the highest peak in North America. The vast tundra wilderness that surrounds Denali is home to diverse wildlife such as moose and bears. We came here when my mom came to visit us, and we went on the Tundra Wilderness bus tour, went to a sled dog demonstration, and hike the Horseshoe Lake trail.

We went on the Tundra Wilderness bus tour in Denali and made a friend!

Moose along the Denali bus tour

Views along the Denali bus tour

Stops along our Denali bus tour

We hiked the Horseshoe Lake trail in the rain

Horseshoe Lake, Denali

Although we didn't have a clear view of Denali during our bus tour, Natalie and I did see a clear view of Denali from our flight from Anchorage to Kotzebue a couple weeks later.

Gates of the Arctic National Park & Kobuk Valley National Park

These two national parks are in remote areas of northern Alaska that are only accessible by plane. This means that you won't find roads, trails or crowds here, just pure wilderness. We first flew from Anchorage to a small town named Kotzebue, where we then boarded a small bush plane that took us on a flight tour to Gates of the Arctic and Kobuk Valley in a single round trip. We landed for about 30 minutes in each location.

Gates of the Arctic National Park!

Ambler River, Gates of the Arctic National Park

Ambler River, Gates of the Arctic NP

This is an aerial view of where our bush plane landed in Gates of the Arctic NP

The water in the Ambler River was crystal clear and beautiful

Amazing views of Gates of the Arctic NP from the plane

Our plane landed in the Great Sand Dunes in Kobuk Valley National Park

Our bush plane among the sand dunes

The Great Sand Dunes of Kobuk Valley NP from an aerial view

The views along our GOTA + Kobuk Valley tour were amazing

Homer

We left one open weekend at the end of our time in Alaska so that if any of flights were canceled for our other adventures were canceled we'd be able to have a fallback weekend to reschedule, but since everything went according to plane we were able to use this weekend to drive to Homer and go on some great adventures there.

Our first views of Homer and Kachemak Bay from the Baycrest Overlook in Homer

We stayed at the end of the Homer Spit in a hotel called Land's End, where we witnessed the best sunset we saw in Alaska.

The boat that took us to and from the Grewingk Glacier trail.

Our second day in Homer, we hired a boat to take us over to the Grewingk Glacier trail in Kachemak Bay State Park, which features a remote glacier and lake.

What made this glacial lake so fun were the ice chunks floating in the lake

Ice chunks floating in the lake

Beautiful rainforest sections along the Grewingk Glacier trail

The boat harbor in Homer

Anchorage

We had an Airbnb in Anchorage that served as our home base. We did a lot of great activities around Anchorage on week days.

We did the Anchorage Trolley Tour when my mom came to visit. We learned a ton and had a great tour guide!

We did the Virgin Creek Falls trail in Girdwood when my mom came to visit, and we were amazed at how lush and green the rainforest was there.

We went up the Alyeska Aerial Tram in Girdwood with my mom. The views were good!

At the top of the Aleyska Tram

We went to the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center when my mom came to visit

The Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center

We hiked on top of the Byron Glacier to get over a river so that we could access the opening the cave in the glacier

The cave entrance at Byron Glacier

Inside the Byron Glacier cave

The Byron Glacier trail was 10/10

We visited the Alaska Native Heritage Center, where we learned so much and both gained a deep appreciation for Native American heritage.

The heritage center featured different dwellings from various different tribes of Alaska

Inside one of the dwellings at the heritage center

We hiked the Flattop Mountain trail, which is a staple Anchorage hike

View from the top of Flattop Mountain

Alaskan Cruise (Glacier Bay National Park)

To close out our time in Alaska, we went on an Alaskan cruise from Whittier (near Anchorage) to Vancouver, Canada. The stops of the cruise included Hubbard Glacier, Glacier Bay National Park (which was the main reason we went on the cruise), Skagway, Juneau and Ketchikan. We had a lot of fun and we never imagined that we'd visit a national park via a cruise ship.

Our cruise ship docked at Whittier before departing

Our cruise ship departing Whittier

The first stop on our cruise was Hubbard Glacier, which you could see from the cruise ship but we went on an excursion in a smaller boat to get closer to the glacier.

Hubbard Glacier

There were seals everywhere laying on floating ice chunks in front of Hubbard Glacier.

Our second stop was Glacier Bay National Park. This is Margerie Glacier.

Margerie Glacier, Glacier Bay

Glacier Bay National Park

John Hopkins Glacier in Glacier Bay National Park

One night on our cruise we saw the northern lights! It of course looks a bit brighter on a phone camera than it did in person, but we could still definitely see it with the naked eye.

Our next stop was Skagway, where we went on a Skagway-to-Carcross motor coach tour, which included a stop at Tutshi Lake.

Our tour included a stop at Wild Yukon Adventure, where we went on a summer sled dog ride in an ATV. We learned that the dogs don't actually pull the ATV, but it's still helpful for their training and exercise.