Whenever I am in a place where I can walk out my door and find myself on a trail, I feel at home. That feeling of stepping right into nature whether it be in the woods, along beautiful scenery or up a mountain, it just starts my day right. Girdwood was definitely that place!
Starting to now unwind and slow down from our long travel days, I think the timing could not have been better being at a resort. Even though we were just in the parking lot, we had access to all of what the Alyeska Resort had to offer and spoil ourselves a little. It was the first time in weeks that I went out for a run or did a workout in the trailer and it felt so good getting back into my routine. They had amazing trails around town that I took Kenya on for a morning run and we finally used our new Bowflex weights. We had prepared ourselves to not treat this like a vacation but, with long travel days and a new lifestyle, it just didn’t happen that way now 4 weeks into our adventure.
Where we stayed
Alyeska Resort funny enough. Found this parking spot on Allstays and loved the area as well as the cost, only $10 per night with a spectacular boondocking location! The views are phenomenal, there are restaurants in walking distance as well as a grocery store and trails everywhere! I fell in love with this cute ski village and didn’t want to leave! There is a gas station down the road where you can fill up with water and a dump station. We however went in for water there and being 43 feet, scrapped our bumper and got stuck going down the steep Slope. We got out of that situation with Jason’s calm problem solving skills…that story will have to be shared over drinks another day!
What we did
ALYESKA RESORT
We really enjoyed our time in this town and spent a lot of it on the trails to just have a walk with Kenya or hike up one of the mountain trails. It felt so relaxing to be here and put our RV slide worries aside. There is an awesome playground in town that Annalise loved as well as some fun cafes and restaurants. We went to Jack Sprat the first night for dinner, options galore and the food was good.
BYRON GLACIER TRAIL
Byron Glacier Trail in the Chugach National Park gave us phenomenal views and did not disappoint! It is a short heavily trafficked trail with very easy terrain. The Byron Glacier at the end of the trail was spectacular! You can venture off the trail at your own risk along the snow and glacier and get some epic pictures like the one we took of Kenya!
Along the drive to this trail you can stop at some fantastic lookouts to Explorer Glacier and the visitor center has washrooms and lots of information on the area.
HAND TRAM TRAIL
Right at the Alyeska Resort they have a very popular hand tram along the trail. Annalise and I hiked the 6km to try it out. We were prepared for a busy trail and had heard that you could be waiting for up to 30 minutes to get across. We did not have to wait too long for our turn across but others were assisting others across thereby speeding up the process. It was nice to not have to wait but, we did not get the opportunity to do it ourselves or take pictures of being on it since we were pulled across so fast. The trail was fun and the gradual incline kept our heart rates up!
ALYESKA TRAM
I had heard about the Tram when we were in Anchorage and wanted to do it for the views. Majority of the reason why we stayed at this location was we either wanted to take the Tram up or you can hike up and take the Tram down for free. Jason was feeling under the weather so we decided to eat at the Seven Glaciers restaurant at the top and with the reservation, we were able to ride up for free. The views did not disappoint! It looks like we are standing in front of a green screen, just incredible. Go on a clear day like we did and the views are spectacular.
What we missed
Jason felt under the weather the last couple days of our stay there and it changed our plans. We had intended on going on a glacier cruise in Whittier which sounded like so much fun. We have postponed that excursion until Valdez.
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