Alaska
Aug 29-Sep 2, 2008
AC1171 YYZ-YVR, AC538 YVR-ANC, AC537 ANC-YVR, AC156 YVR-YYZ
This was our first trip to Alaska, and although we were there late in the season, we managed to get some amazing weather. The days were cool and without rain. We covered a lot of territory in a short time, but this was definitely better than being trapped on a cruise ship. Anchorage made a good starting point for heading both along the Kenai Peninsula and then north into Denali National Park. We saw lots of wildlife including: humpback and beluga whales, a brown bear, grizzly bears, wolves, sea lions, seals, otter, caribou, Dall sheep, hawks, hares, ptarmigan and various other birds. We also had two days of unobstructed views of the incredible Mt. McKinley rising to over 20,000' -- an incredible vertical rise of 18,000' from its base. It is extremely impressive, but is also normally covered in clouds, so we were very lucky to see it. Unfortunately we had to end the trip with a red eye flight back to Toronto and then onto work, but it was a good extended Labour Day weekend.
Aug 29
We spent the morning traveling to Anchorage arriving just after 2:00pm
Aug 30
After a quiet night in Homer at the Bear Creek Winery we head out early
Aug 31
After an evening in Anchorage, we head to Denali National Park
Sep 1
We started out very early for our 6:15 am Tundra Wilderness Tour
Sep 2
After driving back the previous afternoon, a relaxing, final day in Anchorage
We left for Toronto in the early afternoon and arrive on the red eye in the morning