2004-08-29 Eklutna Lake 2004-08-30 Matanuska Glacier 2004-08-31 Tangle Lakes 2004-09-01 Tangle Lakes to Denali 2004-09-02 Denali NP 2004-09-03 Jen's Denali Adventure 2004-09-03 Snow Hike 2004-09-04 Denali to Anchorage 2004-09-05 Kenai Fjords 2004-09-06 Sealife Center and Exit Glacier 2004-09-07 Glaciers and Game Refuge

Day 1 (Sunday, 8/29/2004)

Jen and I had arrived in Anchorage at around 8 PM Saturday night, after 9 hours of flying and layovers.  Seeing as how our bodies thought it was three hours later than it really was, we took a cab to the Qupqugiaq Inn and turned in for the night.

The next morning, Matt arrived with the van and took us to the Inlet Towers to meet the rest of the group.  Introductions were made and luggage was schlepped, and we proceeded up the road to our first stop, Chugach State Park in the Chugach Mountains near Anchorage-- and, more specifically, Eklutna Lake.

Eklutna Lake is a seven-mile-long crystal-blue glacially-fed lake that reminded me a bit of Lake Louise in Banff (minus the chateau and teahouse.)  However, unlike Louise, Eklutna is not a natural lake-- it was formed in 1965 by the construction of a 40-foot-high hydroelectric dam.  Yes, folks, enough water flows off of the glacier that they can generate electricity from it.

Matt took most of the group on a hike up the Twin Peaks Trail, which switches back and gains 1500 feet of elevation over 3 trail miles, ending up near Pepper Peak at a point well above the treeline.  For one who has explored the Rocky Mountains practically from one end of the continent to the other, the striking thing about Alaska is that the treeline is only 2500 feet above sea level.  There we stood, barely 3000 feet above the ocean, in the midst of terrain that looked like it belonged on top of a 12,000-foot peak in Colorado.  In the hazy distance, we could see the Knik Arm, an inlet of the Pacific, snaking away toward the horizon.  In Alaska, one is reminded that the true measure of a mountain's grandeur is not height above sea level but rather height from base to summit ("prominence.")  By this measure, a 5000-foot peak with a base at sea level is exactly the same height as a 14er with a base at 9000 feet.

After our hike, we piled into the van again and headed up Route 1 through Palmer and to our first night's stop, the Majestic Valley Lodge.  The MVL lies just off of the Glenn Highway about 100 miles northeast of Anchorage and only a few miles down the road from the Matanuska Glacier.  It features spacious accommodations (complete with electricity and running water), gourmet meals, a stunning view of the Chugach Mountains, and a very friendly yellow lab.