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Experiencing Denali National Park

Most people don’t need to google, “What to see in Alaska,” to know that Denali National Park is one of the top rated attractions. In the event that you are one of the few people who haven’t realized that yet, I did the leg work for you. Denali is mentioned nine times on the front page of the aforementioned google search, and it was truly the highlight of my sixteen day Alaskan Adventure. Continue reading “Experiencing Denali National Park”

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Visiting Wrangell St. Elias National Park: The Home to McCarthy and Kennecott, Alaska

Wrangell St. Elias National Park

On our first official day on our own in the Alaskan wilderness I, quite ambitiously, planned a huge day. It involved driving the McCarthy Highway, twice, an adventurous activity, and exploring both the cool town of McCarty, and the Kennecott copper mill, all in the heart of Wrangell St. Elias National Park. Continue reading “Visiting Wrangell St. Elias National Park: The Home to McCarthy and Kennecott, Alaska”

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Highways Across Alaska

If you’re planning on navigating the vast state of Alaska without a tour of any sort, buy The MILEPOST. This guide gives you incredibly thorough information for each turnabout, gas station, campsites, scenic overviews, animal habits, and berry picking. It even lists places where you can get cell service. Which is the other reason you should buy The Milepost. You probably won’t be able to rely on your cell phone’s GPS system, and this book doesn’t even need electricity! (If you’re going to try to argue that you need light to read it, try visiting Alaska during tourism season. If it’s dark, and you’re not where you need to be, you’re too lost for The Milepost to help you.) Continue reading “Highways Across Alaska”

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Glacier Views and Scenic Cruising

During the last two days of our cruise, we spent the time scenic cruising. Hands down, the greatest thing a Princess Alaskan Cruise offers is access to Glacier Bay National Park. Only two cruise ships are permitted per day, along with only twenty-five other boats. If you have the time, I absolutely recommend visiting the actual park. For us, the days cruising were enough, even if they were just a taste. We spent an entire day cruising there, and then spent the next day cruising College Fjord. College Fjord is home to five glaciers that terminate in the water, and is a great experience as well.

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Trip review

Skagway – A Gold Rush History

Alright Dashin’ Ash community, I’m probably going to sound like a bit of a Debbie downer here. That’s not who I am, I don’t usually like to act that way, but the town of Skagway, Alaska just rubbed me the wrong way. It could have been that my expectations were too high. I wanted to walk amongst the historic buildings, ride along the historic White Pass Yukon Railway, and completely immerse myself in gold rush history. Everywhere in Alaska seems to have been affected by the 1898 gold rush, but Skagway most predominantly so, and I wanted to be a part of that! Continue reading “Skagway – A Gold Rush History”

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A Cruise Stop in Juneau

I’m not going to lie, I researched Juneau before my trip. And I was nervous. I tried to learn some cool and interesting facts, but as best as I could determine, the city was full of tourist traps, glaciers that are absurdly expensive to visit, and a tram to give you a bird’s eye view. Leaving the ship, we saw signs for all the typical Alaska excursions, flightseeing, fishing, whale watching, bear wrestling… Continue reading “A Cruise Stop in Juneau”