Our Favorite Kind of Day

Once we returned from the Kenai Peninsula, we already felt claustrophobic with the number of people in Anchorage. We needed to get back to the wilderness. It’s amazing how great it feels to be away from civilization and how hard it is to re-assimilate after being away for so long.   

Anchorage is Alaska’s biggest city, but it’s still relatively small by lower-48 standards. There doesn’t seem to be a distinctive downtown, but there are some great cultural centers and some good scattered restaurants and breweries.

We had opted to stay at the Parkside Guesthouse – a small B&B owned and operated by the family that runs Camp Denali where we were headed in a few days. We arrived at 10 p.m. at night and Carley, the innkeeper, was up and sweeping the front walk. “It’s Alaska summertime,” she said. “We’re always up!”

The house was beautiful. The family had completely renovated it about 20 years ago in craftsman style with lots of rich woodwork and stained-glass windows. She showed us to our room upstairs and let us know that breakfast was at 7:30 a.m. I’m sure we were asleep minutes after our heads hit the pillow, it had been a long day (a morning kayak and hike, a 4-hour boat ride and a three-hour drive!).

Originally, we had decided to hike close to Anchorage the next day. However, we were still frustrated that we missed out on our days in Seward because of all of the rain. So, Dave and I decided – what the heck, how often are we in Alaska? So, on Wednesday, we drove the two hours back to Seward and the Kenai Peninsula to hike one of the places that we had really wanted to explore – the Lost Lake Trail. Whenever we mentioned the trail to any of the guides, their faces lit up and everyone told us it was one of their favorite Alaska hikes. So off we went on another long drive and this time, since it was finally clear, we actually got to take in the sweeping views of the Seward Highway.

The weather was very un-Seward-like, blue skies and warm weather. And there were at least five other cars in the Lost Lake Trail parking lot, so we felt confident that we weren’t out there alone with the bears.

The Lost Lake Trail connects with the Primrose Trail for a 15-mile thru hike. We decided to hike the 7.5 miles to the lake and return to the parking lot. The trail meandered through many different environments over a slight, long, incline to the lake. It started in the forest and worked its way up to fields of Alders. Once the Alders disappeared, we were up in the open tundra with miles of sweeping hills around us and the gorgeous white-capped Chugach Mountains in every direction. When we turned around, we could look way out across Resurrection Bay and where we arrived in our boat the day
before.

Thankfully we saw no wildlife, just some runners and mountain bikers and the occasional dog. It was just the two of us, the blue skies and a great workout. It felt really good to get out into the wilderness together.

We were finished in about five hours and headed back to Anchorage to change and have a big late dinner. We went to Sacks Restaurant downtown. It was one of the best meals of the trip so far. Dave had oysters and then a salmon with wasabi and ginger. I had a pear salad, followed by a mix of halibut, salmon, clams, mussels and scallops in a tomato sauce. And Dave tried his favorite beer to-date on the trip, Midnight Sun Brewery out of Anchorage.

It was a perfect day of hiking in beautiful country followed by drinks and a good meal. Our favorite kind of day.