Alaska - Phase 2 - In Review

7/19/14

Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport, Alaska (ANC)

It’s funny how things never quite go as expected.  Enough about that.  Right now I’m inclined to say that this trip will not quite crack it into the top 5, which is disappointing.  When people ask me the most beautiful place I have ever visited, I will not hesitate to say Wrangell, The WHS, Alaska, the whole North, even.  There is nothing like the North in summer.  As I was falling asleep, I was thinking what I would miss most when I got back to New York.  24 hours of daylight will be at the top of the list.  The mountains will be second.  I will also miss taking naps in the middle of the day.  I have taken a nap every day during Phase 2, usually on a plane, something that was not possible during Phase 1, during which I drove every day, well, almost every day.  It was supposed to be quite simple.  Phase 1 was about the WHS and points south.  Phase 2 was about Denali and points north.  Due to rescheduling the charter flight, it didn’t quite work out  Phase 1 was about driving from Juneau to Anchorage, stopping someplace different every day, another NP/WHS every day.  It didn’t quite work that way.  Phase 2 was about flying in every which direction, in addition to our drive to and from Deadhorse.  Phase 1 was about the cheaper way of seeing Alaska.  Phase 2 was about going the extra mile, quite literally, taking 7 flights in 7 days.  I enjoyed Phase 1 far more than Phase 2.  Even though I was driving hundreds of miles each day, it was more relaxing.  We still had hope at that point.  I didn’t have hope again until yesterday morning.  It was naïve to think that everything would work out just as planned.  Phase 1 was about rolling with it.  Phase 2 was about making things work.  From the Kotzebue Run to yesterday’s charter flight, we made things happen.  During Phase 1, we were eating fresh fish as much as possible.  During Phase 2, we had burgers or Chinese every day.  At the end of Phase 1, I was exhausted.  At the end of Phase 2, I am more numb.

I want to get back to New York.  This was not the amazing, truly wonderful, life-changing trip that I expected.  It’s tempting to try and blame Sokol’s attitude for it, but, to be honest, it would not have been much different on my own.  The weather is the biggest culprit.  Everything that went wrong, every disappointment, every setback, they were all caused by the rain.  Phase 1 was all about enjoyment value.  Phase 2 was all about fulfillment value.  I got every ounce of fulfillment value from this trip, except maybe the plaque and stamp at Glacier Bay NPP, that I had hoped.  I did not get nearly the amount of enjoyment value that I had expected.  In the end, the trip was a success, and it was fun at times.  I will always remember the WHS and our last day doing the charter flight.  I will not remember a trip with my best friend driving through Alaska, laughing and joking and having the time of our lives.  My trip to Alaska was not what I expected, but I enjoyed it nonetheless.  It will be a top ten trip, but not a top five.  I had been hoping it would be number one.  Alas.