The Wheeler's: Alaska

My trip to Alaska with Tyler!
We decided I would go up and meet him and take a 10 day trip together to celebrate our 5th Anniversary!

Here we are after Tyler picked me up at the airport. It was soo nice to see my man!

DAY 1

Tyler picked me up and we spent forever shopping for food for the rest of the week, ya know, essentials like puddings cups, pasta, and junk.

Tyler's sister Taya lives in Alaska and was gracious enough to let us use her car for the week.

So we met Taya and Marc where they were camping with a bow hunter group.

There we got to shoot a cross bow and a thing called an Atlatl....which Tyler thought was awesome.

Tyler got his fishing in with no success.

DAY 2

We went to Palmer and climbed a mountain called Matanuska Peak, it's the tall peak in the back.

It was 14 miles plus adding 2 miles because we got lost.

Tyler was tired from climbing another small mountain the day before so I took advantage and stayed in front the whole time and beat him to the top (thas will be the only time it happens).

The hike was BEAUTIFUL!!!

It was a great introduction to the beauty and ruggedness of Alaska.

The Happy couple at the top.

When we got to the summit it was really cloudy and we couldn't see much, but it eventually cleared up and view of the mountain range was AMAZING!!!

On the Hike down we got to do one of my favorite things-ultimate sledding, technically known as Glacading.

Really, this is why I climb mountains.

This was a favorite part of the trail for me, this picnic table out in the middle of nowhere.

DAY 3

After a good nights rest sleeping on the side of the road we drove up to Hatcher Pass and looked at the Mine there. It was really neat to see how these people lived.

After Hatcher Pass we headed to Talkeetna. Tyler knew all about this town. So he took me to see the sites.

Tyler took me to this house (complete with guest house, garage and even a Sauna) that he went to with Lance where the guy built everything without power tools. You have to go 5 miles by 4-wheeler or snowmobile, we rode bikes. Tyler says your not a true alaskan if you don't build your own log home.

This is Roger and Pam's log house, that he built, with power tools.

We had dinner and stayed the night with them.

They are such a neat couple!! They were soo much fun to talk to and so nice. Staying with them was one of the best parts of my trip! I am so sad we didn't get a picture with them.

DAY4

The next day we headed out for Denali National Park.

We got to see some Caribou, 2 bears and some Moose. Tyler even saw a bear attack a moose!!

On the way back we got off the bus early and hiked along the tundra, marsh, or whatever its called, it was spongy and my feet got wet.

we finally got on the road and realized we were still like 10 miles from the entrance and the next bus wasn't coming for another hour. Tyler decided we needed to hitch hike. We ended up getting picked up by this pilot that Tyler met up at base camp!! When he dropped us off at our car he said if we were Alaskans we could get a good deal on a flight around Denali. We brushed it off and headed for the Denali Highway then decided, hello, we missed an awesome oppurtunity so we turned around and camped out by the airport.

DAY 5

After spending the night getting sandblasted we headed over and begged and bartered and ended up getting a 2 for 1 deal.

This was AMAZING!!

I was scared at first but they did a great job at keeping it a smooth ride so I was able to calm down and enjoy it. We weren't able to get on a glacier because of weather conditions but it was still great.

This Mountain is AMAZING. These pictures don't do it justice.

At first when we were flying what felt like 1/4 mile from the mountain I thought to myself, "oh this mountain isn't as impressive as I was expecting."

Than the pilot said that we were still 2 miles from the mountain and going 100 mph! That really put into perspective how massive this mountain is!

Tyler telling everyone about all the facts on the mountain and taking pictures.

The plane we went on.

After one of the most amazing experiences ever, are day went downhill.

We went on the Denali Highway. I drove trying to be nice and give Tyler a break. Around 25 miles in I got a flat tire but didn't realize it. Tyler woke up and asked if we had a flat. I said, "I don't know, its just really bumpy out here." Tyler made me stop and this is what we found. :)

I had been driving on it for a while. Luckily the rim survived and we were able to put the donut on.

The down side- we had to drive 20 mph the next 60 miles.

We got a gooood look at the Scenery.

The map said there was a town on the other side. The Town turned out to be a house.

We ended up spending the night by the pipeline somewhere.

DAY 7

We had to change are plans and decided to go to Valdez to get a tire. No Tires.

But the drive was beautiful. The drive down to Valdez reminded me of Hawaii. Green, lush, steep mountains with waterfalls coming down everywhere!! Only difference was it was 40 degrees and glaciers everywhere.

This is me at Exit Glacier. Yes, I know I look lovely. This is what the Denali Highway and pudding cups did to me.

When we got to Valdez we decided to go on an overnight backpacking trip on the only trail there. It We saw some Eagles and fresh bear tracks!

It also rained on us the whole time.

Tyler protecting our campsite from the bears.

Attempting to dry out are stuff.

A view from the trail.

DAY 8

One of the waterfalls on the drive through Thompson Pass by Valdez.

We headed back to Anchorage, on the Glennallen Highway, which was a very pretty drive, better than the Denali Highway.

In Anchorage we met up with Taya and Marc and had dinner and stayed with them.

And yes, you can go 500 miles, on a donut!

DAY 10 and 11.

After getting the tire fixed we headed down to Seward with Marc and Taya.

We got to see the Kenai River, which was beautiful!!! The water is such a pretty teal color.

Then we headed down to Seward. I really liked Seward, it was a very fun town with. I don't have any pictures because we let Marc take over the picture taking.

The Next day was a quick drive by so we could make it back to our flight and head home to our boys.