Hey Toto, We're Not In The Lower 48 Anymore

agent mcbryan recently took a little bojourn to Alaska with his family and sent in this report:

My folks and I spent 5 extended summer days on the Kenai peninsula, about 3 hours south of Anchorage. With 21 hours of sun each day, we spent lots of time outside . . .




Saw a fair sampling of the Alaskan wildlife: Bears, Bald Eagles, Moose. Sockeye Salmon were in between runs, but we caught a bunch of big ole Alaskan trout that are bigger than your forearm.




Every time, before you come out of the cabin, make sure you look both ways outside the door. Treat the trail the same as you would a highway crossing. You never know what you might see out here.

This is what our guide told us when we first arrived at Wilderness Lodge. We weren’t in the “Lower 48” anymore. The feeling was different here. I wouldn’t call it overly threatening, but you had that sense that anything could happen.

A little sage advice from our guide: if you are approached by a moose, run like hell and hope it doesn't chase you. However, if you encounter a bear, the best thing to do is to make some noise, stand your ground and make yourself look big by raising your arms over your head . . . trying to run is fruitless . . . bear will almost always catch you.

and if you run into bigfoot, take a picture . . .




Killer highlight from trip was cruise leaving Seward out through Resurrection Bay . . . northernmost ship worthy port in Alaska that does not clog up with icebergs. Water temp - about 38 degrees - made ocean beach feel downright toasty.




on water, we saw most of the Alaskan staples: Otters, Whales, Sea Lions, Glaciers, Puffins . . . impossible to describe the vastness of it all, and there is no way that pictures can do it justice . . . just gotta get up here and experience it for yourself. stellar read if you're into this sort of thing: “Danger Stalks the Land” by Larry Kaniut. It contains about 50 true tales of death and survivial that will blow your mind.

Alaska is unlike any other part of the US. There is real danger here – the life and death kind, but there is also real beauty, the kind of natural beauty you'd be hard pressed to find in more "developed" places.