While I am writing this post, I definitely have Brother Bear playing in the background helping me pretend I am still there hanging with all the bears. Day 3. This is my final full day in Alaska before heading back home to Seattle and just like Day 2 I have booked myself with an all day tour to see some of the different views of Anchorage and surrounding area.
I quickly learned that restaurants don’t open till 9 a.m.. So if you find yourself awake at 6:30, like myself, you have a while wait for breakfast. Snacks are your friend. That being said I think I might have found the best biscuits and gravy place I have ever been. Rivals what you would find down south. If you ever find yourself in Anchorage, The Biscuit Club is an absolute must. It’s a hard shop to find and only has enough space for the two staff members and maybe 5 customers (standing) inside but it is incredible. The store opens at 9 (like everywhere else) and though I got there at 9:05 there was already a line of 10+ people. Be aware there is a slight wait just because of only having one cook and one taking orders but it is so worth it. I have dreams of this breakfast. Sending them a petition to expand to Seattle, Chicago, everywhere. PLEASE!
Ok as much as I could write an entire post of The Biscuit Club I will save you from reading anymore about that (as long as you promise to go). When I signed up for my two tours I wasn’t really sure what I was going to see. I picked two that weren’t crazy expensive and that involved animals. All I knew is that I wanted to see wildlife and especially bears. One thing you should know about me is that bears are one of my favorite animals, so being able to actually see them in the wild was one of the greatest moments of my life. Bears and Puppies. Perfect vacation in my book. The tour group was a lot smaller than the day before. Instead of 50+ people there were only 13 of us on this tour which made it easier to get to know the people you would be spending the day with. Hello to my four new friends from Belarus and Ukraine I met on the tour! I definitely preferred the smaller group size to the larger one because it shockingly was a lot easier for a solo traveler in that size vs the large one. Will definitely keep that in mind for the future.
The tour started with the van picking us up and heading south down the Turnagain Arm. It was the same route as the train but got to see it from a different perspective. Our first part of the tour was driving to this ski village where there was a 50 person tram that would bring us to the top of the mountain. With mountains on all sides of us and the water down below I couldn’t help but sing Sound of Music. The hills are alive… you get the point. Probably one of the best views to stop, have a drink, and just pause. Nothing else is going on and it just lets you take in everything around you. Not many places you can say allows you to do this.
From the tram we had a quick lunch at this little chalet that looks like it was taken straight out of Switzerland before making our way to the Wildlife Conservation Center. I was excited and a little hesitant about this as I wasn’t super sure what it would be like. I am not a huge fan of zoos. I always just feel sad looking at the animals but was told this was not a zoo. The Conservation Center helps rescue animals native to the Alaska wilderness and give them the care they need before returning them to the wild. One of their greatest success stories so far was they found a group of about 5 Wood Bison who are on the endangered (almost extinct) list. They brought these bison to the Center were over a span of 20 years they were able to grow the herd to over 30 before sending them back to the wild. They are hoping to send another herd of 30 out within the next couple of years. Still on the endangered list but their numbers are slowly growing. Got to see tons of cool animals; white wolves, elk, caribou, moose, musk ox and of course bears.
The final part of our tour was taking a boat on one of the many glacier lakes and cruising around till we got to see a glacier from about 200 feet away. Those things ,though they may look small from far away, are actually massive. The height of the glacier was over 400 feet tall, then probably a mile from one side to the other and then it continues for another 5 miles further in the distance that we can’t see from lake level. While there are some glaciers that you can hike on with the proper guides and awareness, the one we were at is too active to allow that. The boat guide even said it is very rare to see wildlife cross this glacier because they can sense the activeness beneath the surface and know it’s not safe. I said this in my last post but I am so happy I was able to see this when I could. The world is changing too fast. Blink and it might disappear.
Well that is all for Alaska (for now). Thank you for sticking with me and reading my journey. I hope you get the chance to experience this beautiful state one day and take in all these amazing sites. Alaska, I’ll be back again one day.
Until Next Time, The Library Abroad
The Library Abroad 
Beautiful! Alaska is now on our bucket list…thanks for sharing & safe travels!
LikeLike