We are proud to be Viator Ambassadors – big thanks to Viator for providing this wondrous adventure! As always, all opinions are our own.
Ever since The Boy moved up to Alaska to pursue his flying career we have been planning our own adventure to The Last Frontier.
There were a few details to work through though; there was no way we were going during the never-ending dark and cold of the winter months, and the fact that it is a long, long way up there.
So for over a year we had not made the trek north to Alaska but finally, with Johnny Horton’s classic ballad ringing in our ears for the entire ten hours of flight time, we reached the 49th state.
This was especially fitting, as it was also Veronica’s 49th state to check off her bucket list.
We really shouldn’t complain; the final five hours from Salt Lake City to Anchorage had some of the best views we have ever witnessed from an airplane window.
The sun was just setting over the Great Salt Lake as we took off and, due to the time of year, we chased the sunset as we jetted north and west.
This meant that we saw Mount Rainier and The Cascades bathed in colors we’d never experienced, as well as Vancouver Island, and the Inside Passage.
In fact, the daylight was increasing as we went toward the pole and by the time we flew over the massive glaciers in the Chugach Mountains on Alaska’s southern coast it was broad daylight.
We knew our visit would include incredible mountain scenery, glaciers, and our best chance yet for Veronica to finally see a moose (she didn’t believe in them), but we hardly expected two out of three before we even landed.
Still, being our travel-greedy selves, we wanted a closer look, and to put an end to the moose-cuses once and for all, so we booked Viator’s Seward Highway Tour from Anchorage.
We met up with the tour in Anchorage and headed south on the Seward Highway along the Turnagain Arm of Cook Inlet.
The very same Chugach Mountains we had flown over now rose up from the water, and it was easy to see why the road has been designated a National Scenic Byway.
Captain James Cook sailed here in 1778 while searching for the Northwest Passage, but the Turnagain Arm that we were following was named by none other than William Bligh of HMS Bounty fame.
When Cook sent him to scout out the inlet he soon found that it was not a passage and had to turn around again.
The arm is also famous for having some of the biggest tidal changes in the world, up to forty feet at times, and while we drove along our guide, Chloe, noticed that the water beginning to recede.
We stopped at Beluga Point for a look at the mudflats that are left behind when the tide goes out.
The mud can act like quicksand and some people have been trapped in it, so Chloe impressed upon us that — no matter how cool it looked — we should avoid walking out on it.
At the very least, she explained, we’d have a shoe sucked off our foot for our misdeed. We certainly didn’t want to spend the remainder of what looked like a splendid day ahead of us muddy and one-shoed.
Back in the bus, we drove to the small village of Girdwood for a chance to stand on — and look down from — the peaks we had been passing all morning.
The tiny town is home to Alaska’s largest ski resort, Alyeska, but in the summer becomes an alpine playground for climbers, cyclists, and parasail jumpers.
We were more than content to confine our adventure to riding up the mountain on the Alyeska Aerial Tram.
The tram was built as a ski lift, climbing twenty-three-hundred feet above the valley below, but this time of year it carries sightseers like us, as well as daredevils with their bicycles and parachutes who either jump or free-wheel back down again.
From the top we could see several hanging glaciers on the nearby peaks, and had a bird’s eye view of the cyclists and parachutists.
It’s not every day that we get to watch skydivers from above.
Back down at the base of the slopes we settled in at outside tables to bask in the summer sunshine and enjoy lunch at The Bake Shop.
This gave us a chance to break (Alyesca sourdough) bread and converse with the members of our group who had come from all over the world, as far away as Australia and Japan.
We even had a Russian with us, perhaps returning to visit his country’s former territory.
Fortified with bottomless gourmet soups and fresh baked breads, we were rarin’ to go onward and visit the animals at the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center.
The Center’s primary function is as a refuge for orphaned or injured wildlife until they can be returned to the wild.
They also provide temporary accommodation for species that have become rare in Alaska and are being reintroduced into their native habitat, such as elk, wood bison, and musk ox.
We had also heard the rumor that they had some real, live moose in attendance.
Hopefully we could not only see them, but get close enough to convince Veronica that they were not actually two men in a moose suit.
When we arrived at the Center, the first animals we saw were some shaggy brown and black critters that looked like Cousin Itt with four legs.
Like many visitors to Alaska, this was our first time seeing musk ox and we didn’t know what to expect.
We were surprised to find them considerably smaller than we imagined.
From the name we envisioned massive oxen roaming as giants of the tundra, but these guys are actually members of the goat family and their stature reflected that.
One hundred years ago there were none left in Alaska, due to over hunting, but now, since being reestablished, their numbers are increasing in the wild.
Without a doubt the cutest critters award went to three tiny Sitka black-tailed deer.
These little orphaned fawns were only a month old and still sporting their baby spots.
Their mother was hit by a car, so they will be raised and either remain safely at the Center or be released back into the wild, depending on their progress.
The Center is also active in breeding programs for several species, and the next two pastures were home to elk and wood bison.
Both have been successfully bred and herds have been reestablished in the wild thanks to programs like the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center.
Next we stopped briefly to see the bears.
The Center keeps several that were brought in as orphaned cubs, as well as one huge grizzly, Hugo, that arrived wounded and near death fifteen years ago.
After living with assistance, none of these bears have the proper skills to be on their own, so Hugo and his buddies they have a permanent home now.
We had covered nearly the entire grounds without any sign of a moose and we were beginning to wonder if some more moose-cuses were about to be thrown out at us.
But then we noticed a sign on a barn that claimed there was a baby moose inside.
Deep down, David knew that a calf was not really going to do the trick when it came to convincing Veronica about moose.
Just as he’d thought, after close inspection she declared that it was probably just an ugly cow; a cute, ugly cow.
We needed to see a big one, antlers and all, up close.
Luck was on our side, because just as we exited the barn we spotted two big fellahs lounging in the field by a pond.
The Wildlife Center took in Nelson and Teddy after they were orphaned and they have become one of the main attractions.
We walked over to the fence to say howdy, but they were not impressed with our presence.
Then one (we are certainly not skilled enough in moose identification to know which) decided to go for a swim.
Wait. Moose can swim?!
After climbing out of the water, he walked right up to us and stood only a few feet away for quite some time, casually munching on some tree limbs that had been left there.
We easily could have reached out and touched him, but that didn’t seem like a very good idea.
So that was that, no way to deny the existence of moose anymore.
We got the chance to see a bull as up close as any human could ever hope to.
And there were no zippers anywhere in sight.
David & Veronica, GypsyNester.com
See all of our adventures in Alaska!
Find out all about the town of Seward!
We are proud to be Viator Ambassadors – big thanks to Viator for providing this wondrous adventure! As always, all opinions are our own. To see more about this tour, click here.
YOUR TURN: This HAS to be one of America’s greatest roadtrips! Do you agree?
You did a good job .
While canoeing the boundary waters in 1974 unexpectedly encountered a bull moose munching lily pads .. we were all startled (moose included) he never stopped chewing but really gave us the eye.. we did not feel inclined to linger..he looked ENOURMOOSE!!..years later on the frost heaving road to Cheenah Hot Springs, AK almost got run over by a Lady Moose and gangly offspring. Moose are garden pests in Soldatna, AK Always felt sorry for the starving moose who was part of the cast for “Northern Exposure” Love following your adventures!!
Thanks so much Anne! They can be a hazard, that’s for sure. We didn’t see any moose on the loose though, ENOURMOOSE or otherwise.
(Love that BTW)
You were definitely up close and personal with those awesome animals. Very cool. Viator does a great job and it looks like the Seward Highwa tour is another one to put on my list. Alaska is one of my last 3 states to visit.
We have always had great luck with Viator tours. This one was no exception.
I am fascinated by your moose photos. I didn’t know that they can swim! Obviously I need to come to Alaska to see them and the beautiful scenery that Alaska obviously has!
We had heard that they could swim, but it was sure great to see it first hand.
You two have certainly got up to some great adventures in Alaska! (A 10-hour flight? Yep – a long one) We’ve visited Alaska several times, as it’s a popular cruise itinerary from Vancouver, our home city (and convenient for us to write different Alaska cruise articles). But we’ve not ventured inland from the cruise ports-of-call. So while we’ve hiked on a glacier and seen bears eating salmon in a river, we haven’t seen any moose! Great photos…
We still want to do a cruise of the inside passage too.
We actually came upon a moose in the Anchorage suburbs, so they’re most definitely there. Admittedly, I did not get close enough to look for zippers. Hmm.
Great scenery and photos. Congratulations on getting to your 49th state!Just curious: what’s no 50? PS I’ve not counted but I think you’re way ahead of me on that score!
I guess it’s the obvious one, Hawaii. It’s dumb too because I have family with a condo we can use out there. Got to make the trip soon.
You. Will. Love. Hawaii. And I personally know that Viator has tours there.
Fabulous scenery, and moose as well. That must be worth any amount of flying!
It was… or at least until the flight back to New York. Wow that’s a long way!
So want to visit Alaska. Seeing a moose would be amazing too. Thanks for popping by to my travel sight ZigaZag earlier too, much appreciated x Happy travels!
What beautiful landscapes and wildlife!
Sounds like a great trip.
Best, Irene
It was! And this was only part of it. We have more to tell coming soon.
Isn’t Alaska amazing? It still hits high on my list of favourite trips ever!
We’re huge fans of the moose at our house. We’re hoping to one day see some in the wild, fingers crossed. Loved the aerial photos just beautiful.
I still need to see one in the wild too. Thanks!
We’re thinking of heading up to Alaska later this year. Your photos are very enticing, I wish they were bigger 🙂
Alaska’s Seward Highway is moving quickly up toward the top of my bucket list! What gorgeous photos. I’ll have to figure out how to time my flights the way you did too… watching a sunset for hours would make flying positively bearable!
It did make the last five hours fly by. Oops, I guess pun intended. 😉
The scenery on the Seward Highway Tour looks fantastic. An exhibit at Assiniboine Park Zoo in my home town of Winnipeg has muskox. It was nice to hear about them being re-established in Alaska.
They were cool to see. We also saw a couple in the wild out on the west coast of Alaska while flying around with our son.
Wow! A bull moose in velvet – spectacular! We lived in Montana for years and spent our summer vacations and weekends backpacking and actually had a couple of moose sightings. I love learning about the origins of words and phrases and your story about Turnagain Arm was a fun little factoid to read!
Wasn’t sure to believe the story about the name at first (sometimes tour guides will tell tall tales to the tourists), but checked it out and it is real. Love that stuff too!
I was born in Canada’s north and returned there each summer for vacations when I was young. So your photos of Alaska’s wild animals have brought back many great memories of my early explorations in nature. I’ve never seen a musk ox though, they look really cool – how fantastic they’re being re-introduced to the wild.
They seem to be doing well but only along the coast. We saw some from an airplane roaming the tundra out on the southwest coast by Toksook Bay too.
Did you sing north to Alaska as you were making your way there. I would have. I have yet to see a moose. Maybe later this year when we visit the States.
Of course, how could we not? Hope you see Bullwinkle.
It looks like you have been in moose heaven. We have just been to south-east Alaska where we did finally see a moose but it was either too young or too female to have horns – oh well.
In the past I would have thought that you probably just saw an ugly cow, but now I believe. We didn’t see any out on the loose though.