Showing posts with label Denali Highway. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Denali Highway. Show all posts
Happy Monday friends! I hope your week is starting off well!
As I have been mentioning the last several weeks, I am sharing some recaps from my trip to Alaska last year as I hope it encourages each of you to take a road trip in this beautiful part of the world! I am deep in preparation for our upcoming trip this summer and am so excited to see so many new things and share them with y'all on Instagram and here on the blog!
Also- please take a moment to read about the #10000in7days campaign (click HERE) that I am hosting this year as part of this trip! Thank you so much for considering donating to this!
Today I am so excited to share one last post from our time on the Denali Highway! If you missed the first part (you can read about it HERE) or the second part (you can read HERE) or watch a video of the adventure HERE! Also- if you are looking for some specific tips about taking the Denali Highway than read this post HERE!)
Near the end of our time on the Denali Highway (we were driving from Cantwell east on the highway) as the road started to become a "regular" road again, I pulled off so that we could stop one last time to see the beauty and explore one last time. This area was simply gorgeous. It looked like the backdrop of the mountains that were hundreds of miles away were a fake painting they were so beautiful!
I thought it would be fun to try to hike down to the lake that you see in the distance. Now, from where we were standing it didn't look "that far". *smiles* But as I was to quickly learn on the Denali Highway, looks of distances are a bit deceptive.
I began the trek down to the lake in high spirits, but it wasn't long before I started laughing so hard I had tears. It became quickly obvious that my saying, "it should only take about 10-15 minutes tops to get there" ... was a bit... over stated. *hahaha*!
It soon became as I described it to someone like an episode of "where's waldo". Hahaha. See how "far" I had gone- I was so proud... and the lake was not much closer! Hahaha!
So naturally, I started to smell the plants and trees and just appreciate the moment, because I quickly realized it would take hours to get to the lake. *smiles* Now, those of you who know me I would totally have done this... but I knew that my traveling companion who was ready to get off the Denali Highway would not have been for that idea! Hahaha!
I couldn't stop laughing. I loved being in Alaska and was fully enjoying all of the adventures that we were having! As I came up the hill there was a couple who had just parked and I startled them because they hadn't seen me. They asked if I had gotten to the lake and I explained that I had tried... but didn't. They laughed and said that they had tried it years ago themselves and hadn't made it either! So funny! I am sure lots of people stop in this area to explore! It was beautiful!
The Denali Highway is something that I can't recommend enough that you take the time to do at least once in your life. It was a place like no other that I continue to marvel and think about!
The beauty is remarkable and un-matchable and it is a place that you won't ever forget as you leave. It is simply unbelievable... wild...vast...and free.
As we got in the car to continue on our way to our destination for the night I knew that I would never forget this time. It changed me in a way that is hard to put into words. It was that amazing. So go explore this area friends. You will not regret one second of being on that road... it is perfect.
Thank you so much for stopping by and reading the blog today! I hope that these pictures of the Denali Highway encourages you to start planning a trip there soon! I can't wait to go back and am already planning another trip!
PS- If you are curious about the specific details of the road trip that we took throughout Alaska or if you are planning a similar road trip (or just want to see and dream about visiting the beauty!) I hope the information below is helpful. You can read all of the posts from the trip by clicking on the links below:
// 5 Reasons You Need to Take an Alaskan Road Trip//
Chugach Mountains (Alaska 1-South Drive): // Scenic Seward Highway Drive (Turnagain Arm Drive)// Along the Matanuska River on Alaska 1-South// A Beautiful Lake Adventure Near Chickaloon// A Cloudy & Beautiful Drive on Alaska 1-South//
Chugach Mountains: // Eklutna Lake//
Cooper Landing (Kenai Peninsula): // Kenai Princess Wilderness Lodge Nature Hike//
// Kenai Princess Wilderness Lodge //
Denali State Park Area:// Denali Highway Video// One Last Adventure on the Denali Highway//
// The Denali Highway: Part Two // The Denali Highway: Part One//
//The Drive to Cantwell// Mt. McKinley Princess Wilderness Lodge //
General Alaska Tips: // 5 Things You Must Know Before Driving in Alaska //
// Best Alaskan Books to Purchase for Your Road Trip //
// What to Pack for an Alaskan Summer Road Trip //
// Why You Should Dream About Visiting Alaska //
Girdwood: // Winner Creek Trail Video// Winner Creek Trail //
Hatcher Pass Area: // Hatcher Pass Video// Hatcher Pass // Little Susitna River //
Homer (Kenai Peninsula) Area: // Homer Video// Homer Spit// Homer Lighthouse// Bishop's Beach//
// A Brief History of Homer //
Thompson Pass Area: // Thompson Pass Area Video // Worthington Glacier Hike//
//Worthington Glacier//
// Among the Alaskan Fireweed on Alaska 4-S: A Beautiful Symbol of Hope in the Hard Seasons of Life //
// A Brief History of & Drive on Alaska 4-South of the Richardson Highway//Klutina River//
// The Beginning Drive to Thompson Pass//
Wrangell-St. Elias Park Area: //Copper River Princess Wilderness Lodge //
Happy Tuesday friends! I hope your week is starting off well!
As I have been mentioning the last several weeks, I am sharing some recaps from my trip to Alaska last year as I hope it encourages each of you to take a road trip in this beautiful part of the world! I am deep in preparation for our upcoming trip this summer and am so excited to see so many new things and share them with y'all on Instagram and here on the blog!
Also- please take a moment to read about the #10000in7days campaign (click HERE) that I am hosting this year as part of this trip! Thank you so much for considering donating to this!
Today I am so excited to share more about our time on the Denali Highway. If you missed the first part you can read about it HERE! I loved the Denali Highway and I truly can't recommend driving on it enough! (If you are looking for some specific tips about taking the Denali Highway than read this post HERE!)
As I shared in my first Denali Highway post, due to the road (and the fact that you will want to stop often to take tons of pictures of this beautiful area of Alaska!), the Denali Highway will take about 5 hours to cross. I can't stress enough though that it honestly will not feel like that at all. The time seemed to fly by as I drove along.
We stopped often (as I mentioned above) to take lots of pictures and to get out and explore a bit in different areas. At one place (about 2 and 1/2 hours into the trip) I snapped this picture of our rental car on the side of the road. I know I have said this in a previous post, but you literally could pull off in so many places to park and these pull outs that were along the highways were the perfect place for cars or RVs to camp for the night.
This was one of my favorite views on the Denali Highway. The beauty of the dark grey clouds contrasting the green and blues was so stunning.
The beauty was simply overwhelming.
At some points our adventures in this area had to end because we would have needed some kind of ax to continue through the thick and dense bushes.
Those of you who know me know that I find a lot of joy and laughter in life and this was one of those times. I was trying to cut down some branches with my hands and then started smelling the trees as I almost fell. Hahaha! For the record they don't smell. *smiles* I am smiling as I think back because we had hiked for about 20 minutes or so at this point and it really didn't seem like we had gone anywhere because of the vastness. It was probably a good thing that we were forced to stop otherwise we might still be hiking! *smiles*
I left this specific area sad for that adventure to end. It was such a beautiful place!
After driving for about another hour we came across this beautiful river and mountains in the background. At this point we were about and 1 and a 1/2 from nearing the end of the Denali Highway.
As we stopped at the bridge to take some pictures I saw the sign on the bridge said that the river was the Susitna River! It was so neat to see the "Big" Sustina River after we had explored the Little Sustina River the day before and loved it!
This was one of my favorite stops along the highway. One of the most interesting things to me about the highway was that at all different parts of the stretch of road there seemed to be different "terrain". As we approached this area the mountains in front of us looked a bit more "jagged" and we were soon to find out that this would be what a lot of the mountain range in this area looked like.
Simply gorgeous. Don't y'all just love water and beautiful mountains?
As we crossed the bridge, I knew that this area would be forever imprinted on my mind and in my heart. In the future I would like to come back to this area and camp right along this river. Can y'all imagine waking up to the views in this area? Wouldn't it be simply gorgeous?
The views as we began the next portion of the drive continued to stun and amaze me!
I can't get enough of those beautiful mountains!! I was ready to start climbing up each of them! *smiles*
Thank you so much for stopping by the blog today! I hope that these pictures of the Denali Highway encourages you to start planning a trip there soon! I can't wait to go back and am already planning for our upcoming trip in August!
PS- If you are curious about the specific details of the road trip that we took throughout Alaska or if you are planning a similar road trip (or just want to see and dream about visiting the beauty!) I hope the information below is helpful. You can read all of the posts from the trip by clicking on the links below:
// 5 Reasons You Need to Take an Alaskan Road Trip//
Chugach Mountains (Alaska 1-South Drive): // Scenic Seward Highway Drive (Turnagain Arm Drive)// Along the Matanuska River on Alaska 1-South// A Beautiful Lake Adventure Near Chickaloon// A Cloudy & Beautiful Drive on Alaska 1-South//
Chugach Mountains: // Eklutna Lake//
Cooper Landing (Kenai Peninsula): // Kenai Princess Wilderness Lodge Nature Hike//
// Kenai Princess Wilderness Lodge //
Denali State Park Area:// Denali Highway Video// One Last Adventure on the Denali Highway//
// The Denali Highway: Part Two // The Denali Highway: Part One//
//The Drive to Cantwell// Mt. McKinley Princess Wilderness Lodge //
General Alaska Tips: // 5 Things You Must Know Before Driving in Alaska //
// Best Alaskan Books to Purchase for Your Road Trip //
// What to Pack for an Alaskan Summer Road Trip //
// Why You Should Dream About Visiting Alaska //
Girdwood: // Winner Creek Trail Video// Winner Creek Trail //
Hatcher Pass Area: // Hatcher Pass Video// Hatcher Pass // Little Susitna River //
Homer (Kenai Peninsula) Area: // Homer Video// Homer Spit// Homer Lighthouse// Bishop's Beach//
// A Brief History of Homer //
Thompson Pass Area: // Thompson Pass Area Video // Worthington Glacier Hike//
//Worthington Glacier//
// Among the Alaskan Fireweed on Alaska 4-S: A Beautiful Symbol of Hope in the Hard Seasons of Life //
// A Brief History of & Drive on Alaska 4-South of the Richardson Highway//Klutina River//
// The Beginning Drive to Thompson Pass//
Wrangell-St. Elias Park Area: //Copper River Princess Wilderness Lodge //
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