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[OM] Winter Alaska

Subject: [OM] Winter Alaska
From: Ken Norton <ken@xxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Wed, 24 Jan 2018 16:00:25 -0900
So, here's the deal.

The AG-B&B is open for fellow listees. February and March are great
months to come visit. The snow is BEAUTIFUL and the days are getting
much longer again. As you've been able to see from my various attempts
at photography, you really don't need to travel very far to get
incredible opportunities.

A person could make an entire trip just out of the Eagle River Valley.
10 miles of driving from the house takes you to the end of the road.
There are dozens of miles of hiking trails and you are surrounded by
steep alpine scenery.

10 miles to the north and you can pop up the Eklutna Valley. There is
a stunning alpine lake and trails to the glacier.

5 miles to the south and you can head up into army base and the
incredible mountains that rim the east side of the city.

On the south end of Anchorage, drive along Turnagain Arm. Experience
massive tides and the tidal bore. Keep driving into the Portage
Valley. Mulitple glaciers and the tunnel to Whittier. More hiking
trails there. OK, let's just assume there are awesome and multiple
hiking trails everywhere.

Day trip down to Seward or do an overnight in Homer. The Kenai
Peninsula is off-the-charts beautiful and varied.

Going north, The Matsu valley leads you east along the Chugach
mountains with more glaciers, north to another mountain range or
northwest on the Parks Highway to Denali. Another great overnight
trip.

When flying in and out, keep in mind that Anchorage is very much a
24hour airport. Flights to/from everywhere are very flexible. Taking a
red-eye flight is the way to go and gives you the entire day and
evening to do whatever before heading to the airport at 11pm. (give or
take).

For the aviation geeks among us (looking at you, Jim), the entire
Anchorage bowl is airplane heaven. Stevens International Airport
averages a flight operation every two minutes, 24 hours a day. They
can turn around cargo 747s as fast as the brakes cool. It almost takes
longer to cool the wheels than it does to refuel and change crews.
Merrill Field is a GA airport that is anything but boring. On the
north side of Stevens is the seaplane base. Both it and Merrill are
set up for ski planes in the winter. There are several popular
locations for plane-spotters.

Cost?

Flying to Alaska from the lower-48 is very reasonable through Alaska
Airlines when you book at least a few weeks in advance.  Figure
$400-600 round trip. Car rentals are expensive, but with forward
planning you can rent through the off-airport options (enterprise,
etc) and get away with some savings--just arrange with your auto
insurance company for Alaska coverage ahead of time so you can save a
fortune on that. Obviously, there is a massive savings potential by
staying at the AG-B&B. Consider any expense there to be nominal at
best--if any even occurs. Eating out is expensive, but no sales tax,
so it does help balance things a little.

I would recommend that one would come with the expectation to NOT
travel much. While you can make it an epic journey all around the
state and try to see 100 things a day, you really don't need to. Save
that for another trip. Just come up to photograph what is available
right within a couple hours of Anchorage. There is absolutely no
shortage of day-trip opportunities.

The pizza is really good here and the restaurant choices span the globe.

No guarantees that the earth won't shake a little once in a while, or
you'll get snow, but that's all part of the adventure. Honestly, the
mountainscapes just keep getting better and better as the weather gets
worse and worse.

I'll even take a day or two off from work to help mule your camera
gear around to the nicer spots.

-- 
Ken Norton
ken@xxxxxxxxxxx
http://www.zone-10.com
-- 
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