We are going to explore Alaska Today, taking a break from our usual Investment related videos
This is a collection of video clips from our Alaska trip in 2016.
This is the most beautiful vacation that we ever went on.
I started shooting videos only in this trip.
So bear with the weird camera movements.
Alaska is a state in USA.
But it is a separate state in the Northern Arctic region on the western side of Canada.
Alaska size is 1/5 th of US main land. Its that big.
Russian Siberia is only 55 miles away from Alaska's western border.
Not many realize that US is that close to Russia.
Another interesting thing is, Alaska's Nothern region is within the Arctic Circle.
That means, during peak summer, sun never sets and there will be sunlight for all 24 hours.
In peak winter, sun never rises and it will be total dark for 24 hours.
We went from Chicago and landed in Anchorage.
We did an interesting thing in this trip. Rented a RV.
RV stands for "Recreation Vehicle"
Like the one Rajinikanth has in Kazhugu movie.
Bedroom, bathroom and kitchen will be in the vehicle itself.
We rented a small RV of 24ft.
We rented it from Great Alaskan Holidays.
Very good experience. Definitely consider an RV if you are planning on visiting Alaska.
First day, we went from Anchorage to Seward.
We stopped by "Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center" on our way.
All Alaskan specialty animals were here.
Good stop over.
Second day, we went on "Kenai Fjords National Park Boat Tour".
Fjord is a Norwegian word.
The valley that gets formed in the place where a glacier joins the sea is called Fjords.
This is a six hours boat tour. The water was very bumpy.
If you are susceptible for seasickness, it is better to avoid this tour.
We watched many wild life and beautiful sceneries.
It was so thrilling to watch these Orcas (killer whales) in wild.
For our luck that day, no whales showed up. We missed it.
What we are seeing here is "Aialik Glacier" joining the ocean.
We did not get to see anything dramatic like glacier slicing off and falling into ocean like in Planet Earth.
But still very beautiful.
That night, we parked our RV in a parking lot close to Exit glacier and slept.
We woke up next morning to this wonderful scene.
We finished our breakfast in RV and went to 2 mile hike to Exit Glacier.
Just like this glacier, all glaciers are pulling back every year.
We are seeing the fact that global warming is melting the glaciers right in front of our eyes.
We parked our RV by the side of the river and had our lunch.
We went for 3.2 mile hike to Byron Glacier in the afternoon.
Heard that there will be many bears there.
Not sure if it is fortunate or unfortunate, but we did not get to see any.
We went to Hatcher Pass next day.
Wherever we turned around, we saw sceneries like in computer wallpaper.
We went for 1.7 mile hike on Gold Cord Lake trail
What we are seeing here is Tundra.
Because of high altitude and low temperature, no trees or shrubs can survive here.
Only grass like plants like this can survive in this harsh environment.
This is called Tundra.
During fall season, the greenish look here will change into more colorful orange and red color look
This beautiful lake is in the end of the hike.
Next day is the highlight of the whole trip.
We went to a town called Talkeetna which is next to Denali National Park.
We went for glacier landing flight tour from here.
Because it was cloudy that day, no one showed up thinking that the visibility will be poor.
It was just us.
So we flew like in a private chartered flight luxuriously.
We got to see Mount Denali up close.
Everything that we are seeing below are Glaciers.
Glacier is more of like a "Snow river".
Because of heavy snow fall, all that got accumulated into ice over mountains like this.
It moves very slowly by its own weight because of gravity.
It then joins a river or an ocean.
That is called as glacier.
Our pilot landed in this glacier with no people to be seen around.
It was just us in this whole ice world.
"Chanceless" is an understatement.
We played there for like 30 mins and then got back.
More glacier views on our way back.
We went to the RV park in Denali National Park for our night stay.
Its a really good one.
Next day early morning, we started our bus tour into Denali National Park.
We can go inside the park only by bus.
Eielsen Visitor Center is in 3 hours distance.
We got to see many wild life on our way.
Is it possible to come from Alaska without getting to see a bear in the wild?
Impossible. This is grizzly bear.
This is an aggressive bear compared to a black bear.
Who is this? Looks like a professional photographer. ;)
This is the corn jewel of Denali National Park - Mount Denali.
Next day, we went on Denali Highway.
This is a 135 miles dirt/unpaved road.
But it is one of the most beautiful highway in the world.
The views made the bumpy ride totally worth it.
We are looking at Tundra changing colors for Fall season.
What we are seeing in the distance background is "Maclaren Glacier"
If you are wondering why there is no one around, the whole Alaska state is like this.
Just Nature.
By the end of this beautiful Denali highway, like an icing on the cake, we got to see this double rainbow.
We got to experience the meaning for the word "Breathtaking".
Next day, after spending our day in Matanuska Glacier State Recreation Site, we wrapped up our fantastic trip.
If you are in North America and if you have not visited Alaska yet,
Definitely add this to your list of places to see.
A must experience place.