In my travel experience, I will be talking about how I traveled to Alaska over the summer. In June 2023, I went to Alaska with two high school teachers and a group of students from my high school. Although everyone who attended the Alaska trip was from Louisa County High School, the trip was not affiliated with my high school.
The trip started early on June 10, I had to be at Dulles International Airport at 5 a.m. Once I got through TSA, I was able to get breakfast before boarding the plane at 7 a.m. My first flight was from Dulles to Seattle which was a total of six hours. Once we landed in Seattle we had a 2-hour layover, before flying to Anchorage, Alaska. This flight was 4 hours. It was quite an adjustment to the time difference from Virginia to Alaska, especially after being on a plane for ten hours. Alaska is four hours behind Virginia.
The trip was five days long, but our itinerary was full. We arrived in Anchorage and checked into our hotel, on our first day. Then we met our tour guide for the entirety of our trip and he took us on a mini tour of Anchorage.
On the second day, we checked out of our hotel in Anchorage and rode a train to Wasilla. Once we arrived in Wasilla, we got on the bus and went to Happy Trails Kennels, where we met a local musher and Iditarod sled dogs. Then we got back on the bus and started for Denali. We checked into our hotel, which was located in Healy, before we met with a man named, Jimmy Hendrix and he told us about his adventurous hike up Denali.
On our third day, we went to Denali National Park. Once we were in Denali National Park, we got onto a private bus that drove us through the park. While in the park we saw many different types of wildlife: grizzly bears, caribou, moose, Dall sheep, and mountain goats. On our fourth day, we checked out of the hotel and headed towards Seward. On the way to Seward, we stopped at the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center. There we saw Alaka’s wildlife in enclosures because they were injured or orphaned animals.
On our fourth day, we got on the bus and headed towards Exit Glacier. This was a hike to view a glacier in between two mountains. We then went to Kenai Fjords National Park, where we boarded a boat. We spent four hours on the boat to explore wildlife within the national park; we saw orcas, humpback whales, stellar sea lions, puffins, and sea otters.
On our fifth day, we checked out of the hotel and headed back towards Anchorage. On the way to Anchorage, we stopped at the Begich Boggs Visitor Center, where we were able to explore interactive exhibits within the Chugach National Forest. We then got back on the bus, to go explore downtown Anchorage before it was time to head to the airport.
The trip began to come to an end on the night of June 15. We had to be back at the Anchorage airport at 6 p.m. even though our plane did not board until 8:50 p.m. We flew from Anchorage, Alaska to Dallas, Texas which was a six-and-a-half-hour flight. Once we arrived in Dallas we had about an hour layover before boarding the plane to fly to Baltimore, Maryland, which was a 3-hour flight.
Overall, this experience was more than I ever imagined. Our days were always busy, but I loved all of the memories that I made. This trip truly sparked my love for traveling, and I hope I will be able to go to Alaska again one day.
