September 2025

Around Alaska

Per usual we saw and did a lot in the month of September! One of the major highlights was flying to Katmai National Park where we saw dozens of grizzly bears.  Katmai quickly became one of our favorite national parks, alongside Dry Tortugas, as it was difficult to get to (it required a small puddle jumper and then a float plane) but once we were there we were blown away by the nature. The scenery to get there was unreal. It was a lot of untouched and raw beauty. Seeing the grizzly bears was a lot of fun and overall we had a great day at Katmai. 

Shortly after Katmai we made our way to Denali National Park. Along the way we drove through Hatcher Pass, which was a gorgeous route. We stopped at Independence Mine State Park which was neat to see and learn about the history. We stayed overnight outside of the town of Talkeetna, which was cute. We did another overnight stay outside of Healy, AK at 49th State Brewing. Outside of 49th State Brewing is the bus from the movie set of Into the Wild. The original bus is at the University of Alaska Museum of the North; the bus was airlifted out of the wilderness near Stampede Trail because several hikers died trying to reach it. Chris McCandless had used the bus as a shelter for about three months in 1992 but unfortunately perished while residing in the wilderness. Seeing the bus and listening to the audiobook during our travels gave our journey a sense of reverence and respect for nature and those who seek peace in solitude.

 Before we got to Denali National Park we stayed a couple of nights at K'esugi Ken Campground. It's a great campground and we highly recommend camping there if anyone is ever in that area. The first night we were there we realized our urine tank was overflowing and our heat pump for hot water went out. Although not correlated, the timing was suspicious. Josh did a ton of troubleshooting and problem solving and got our urine tank squared away. For the heat pump we ended up ordering a replacment pump from Rixens Heating and having it mailed to Nenana, AK for general delivery. The pump arrived on time and thankfully we didn't have any trouble picking it up from the USPS in Nenana, AK. 

Our time at Denali National Park was great. The first day we were there it snowed. We felt we experienced both fall and winter in the park. We were able to drive out to Teklanika River, which is mile 29 on the road into Denali. Usually the road is closed to private drivers and only shuttles can go through. However, we arrived late enough in the season that the road was open to all vehicles, and the road into Denali is closed at mile 29 due to a  landslide having washed out a bridge during a previous season. The road isn't expected to reopen until the summer of 2027. Denali happened to be our 30th national park that we've visited since living full time in the van. 

While in Denali we were grateful to see multiple bull moose. During our time in Canada and Alaska we had only seen female moose. Getting to see the racks of the male moose was awesome. One afternoon we saw the dog sled demonstration at the dog sled kennels in Denali National Park. It's the only kennel inside a national park, and it's the only national park that utilizes dogs as transportation. During one season, the sled dogs hauled more than 10,000 pounds of supplies and equipment into the tundra to help repair a trail and build a bridge! They're freight hauling dogs, so they are bulkier and bigger than the sled dogs that race in the Iditarod. 

We spent a couple of nights outside of Fairbanks where we checked out Hoodoo Brewing Company.  One night we stayed outside of Chena Hot Springs. We enjoyed the springs but the other attraction there was the ice hotel. We spent about 40 minutes inside the building and saw ice sculptures and were served an appletini in a cocktail glass completely made out of ice. If you want to stay overnight there, it costs $600 and they include a room in the main lounge in case you get cold or need to use the restroom (there aren't any restrooms in the ice building and the building it kept at 20 degrees F).

The next highlight of our trip was visiting Santa Claus House in North Pole, AK. Hailey was afraid the store would be tacky but it was really cute and we had a fun time looking around. There was an exhibit of Santa's workshop, where his team and he build the toys, as well as the list of all the kids who had been nice. We saw Santa himself and Hailey was able to mail a letter from Santa to her niece. We stopped by the USPS in the North Pole and the exterior was cute as it was decorated with candy canes. 

We crossed into Canada for one night on our way to Haines, AK. We spent several days here and enjoyed the drive out to Chilkat State Park. At the park we saw a bear with four cubs! In the town we enjoyed getting beer at Haines Brewing Company. One evening we spent a bit of time at Port Chilkoot Distillery (we love the artwork on their bottles, and the spirits are really good)  and then had a fantastic dinner at Deer Heart. At Deer Heart we split the duck confit and mushroom risotto, and for dessert we had their homemade chocolate ice cream that had a touch of sage in it. All of it was delicious, and the space is beautiful as well. 

To depart Haines and make our way to Skagway we took the ferry. It was about an hour long crossing and was comfortable. We explored the town of Skagway for a day but it wasn't anything amazing to us. It's a port town and caters to cruise ship passengers. We had dinner at Skagway Brewing Company as a lot of other restaurants were already closed for the season. We stayed the night at Dyea Flats Campground. The next day we crossed into Canada for two days and nights as we made our way to Hyder, AK. Hyder is a fascinating down as it's tiny, has no grocery stores, and you don't have to go through US customs to get there. However, to get to the grocery stores in Stewart, BC, which is just a couple of miles from Hyder, you have to check in with Canadian customs. The only store open in Hyder was Caroline's Boundary Gallery & Gifts, where we bought fudge and some postcards.