Back to Alaska

Alaska from the air

Where should we go next? 

Well, nine times out of ten, Scott’s answer is Alaska. 

This time, with all the trips I had planned, I didn’t ask. He just announced he wanted to go. And, he made a lot of the plans. 

A lot revolved around Bears

Now, this wasn’t a big vacation. This was a (relatively) short trip with two Scott-driven objectives.

First, our last trip to Alaska was a big disappointment for him because of his aborted halibut fishing trip (bad weather + rude/incompetent captain = no fish/no fun). 

In addition to weather issues, the boat got intwined in fishing net

Second, he was still upset that I got incredible Brown Bear photos at Brooks Falls while he was on the aforementioned halibut disaster. In my defense, it was his idea that I go to Brooks while he was fishing. But, no matter. He was still unhappy.

Not my fault!

Our recent (very!) trip to Yellowstone and Canada had yielded some (many!) good Bears.

A Canadian Bear

But, one always wants more, doesn’t one?

The Trip

So, Scott put together a trip that included fishing for him out of Seward.

I booked the tried-and-true, done-it-many-times-before-but-still-love-it Kenai Fjords boat tour to the Northwestern Glacier on same day. I love the trip and this also meant there was little chance I would get some super Bear photos.

Back to the glaciers

Whales maybe. Birds maybe. Orcas and Porpoise maybe.

But, probably not close-up Brown Bears.

Then, Scott booked a one-day fly-in-fly-out “Bear Adventure” out of Kenai.

Looking for Grizzlies

And, in a miracle I still don’t understand, he got us a cabin for two nights at Brooks Camp in Kenai National Park.

How did he do that?

None of this was cheap, but he had just inherited some money and life is short.

Air

Normally, we fly to Alaska on American Airlines, sometimes using miles. 

I like American because my status gives me free checked bags and upgraded seats.

But, that route that always takes us through DFW is a pain. 

So, we looked at Alaska Air, which we have flown on multiple occasions before. The route – Denver to Seattle to Anchorage and back the same way – looked good. And, the price wasn’t too bad. Plus, it appeared that I would be able to get some of my American perks. But, it’s complicated and took some effort on my part.

Photo: Alaska Airlines

Years ago, American and Alaska were “code share” partners, meaning that trips booked on American often used Alaska routes and planes. But, then, they dissolved that relationship and getting good routes on American got harder. Then, recently, Alaska joined the “One World Alliance,” of which American is a part. According to what I read on the Alaska site, because I had premium One World status (owing to my premium American status), I could get free bags and upgraded seats.

We both got window seats to see this

But, after I booked, upgraded seats were grayed out. So, I contacted Alaska via online chat via my Alaska mileage account. 

The rep told me that my account was “deactivated,” which was the root of my issue. I hadn’t flown Alaska in a while, so that may have made sense. He also said he couldn’t fix it and I would have to call.

I didn’t want to call because since the pandemic, calling airlines had been just one step up from descending into the nine circles of hell. But, I did. And, I got through.

What I found out was interesting: First, my account was not deactivated. So, that’s good. Second, to get my American-derived One World perks, I had to put my American AAdvantage number in as my frequent flyer number rather than my Alaska number. Fortunately, I was able to make the change and then, I was able to get those extra legroom seats and two bags each. Great.

It also appears that the miles traveled were applied to my AAdvantage account rather than my Alaska account. That seems odd because it seems Alaska would want me to build some allegiance to them. It sure works for American.

Now, the bag allowance was also an important consideration because Scott planned to bring some fish home. 

The last time we did this, we screwed up. I knew we each got two free bags. And, I knew that the cost to check a bag if you didn’t have free checked bags was $50 for the first, $100 for the second and $150 for the third.

So, Scott had a box of fish that we assumed would cost $50 to check (we both had two bags) as our first paid bag.

Nope. It counted as the third bag. $150! And, too late to do anything about it.

This time, we packed differently, each taking a single bag to check, which would allow us to bring back one or two boxes of fish with no extra cost.

So, everything resolved, we flew on Alaska and it was a lovely trip with a short layover in Seattle and no hassle whatsoever (except, for some reason, Scott didn’t get TSA pre-check on the return flight).

Pretty view on the way in

Because we were flying out of Denver on a 6 a.m. flight, we spent the night in a hotel near the airport. It’s an hour and a half drive from here. Normally, Scott hates flying out of Denver and will jump through hoops for a COS flight. But, this time, he selected the Denver flight.

See what we saw on our flight here.

Back on the Ground

Beside the activities I outlined above, we didn’t plan much else. We had a rather leisurely schedule, mainly to give us flexibility in case we had any weather issues (common in Alaska). 

The day we arrived, instead of staying in Anchorage, we picked up a car and drove straight to Seward.

On the way: Turnagain Arm and Tern Lake

I booked at a relatively new place just out of town called the Spruce Lodge. It was buildings on a gravel lot on the road that heads out to the Exit Glacier, which is also part of Kenai Fjords National Park.

Exit Glacier

It was a nice room (upstairs, which we don’t like, but …) and the entire process was contact-free. We just got an e-mail with our key-pad code and were good to go.

Because we had different schedules and only one car, a hotel in town where we could walk to the harbor might have made sense. But, the tour I booked left after Scott’s fishing trip and returned before he was supposed to get back, so that worked fine. Had he gotten back earlier, he would have had to Uber or something. But, it all worked out.

Seward Harbor

He had a great fishing trip. He went with Salt Water Safari on a relatively small boat and seemed quite happy when I picked him up at the dock.

Happy fisherman

The fish he caught were smaller than his previous halibut trip, so, unlike that time, they didn’t bring the fish to the dock for “me with my fish” photos.

 

Left, 2015; Right, this time

Rather, they partially cleaned them on the boat. But, we had fish to bring home (plus he ordered some more to ship to us, as well, so we would have a good halibut supply for the next couple of months). 

So, you may ask, if you went fishing on Day 1, how did you bring the fish home? Not to worry. 

For a fee, the trip operator arranges to have the fish cleaned, portioned and frozen. 

Then, it is couriered to a fish locker at the Anchorage Airport. We simply picked up the box and checked it the morning we left. 

Had we wanted, they could have shipped it directly to our house as well. Alaska does know how to deal with fish.

I have been asked why I don’t go fishing with Scott when we go to Alaska. A couple of reasons: #1 I don’t really like to fish. #2 I would rather spend the time taking photos or hiking (theoretically, you could photograph wildlife from the fishing boat, but that is not the goal of the trip and I am afraid I’d see distant whales that we wouldn’t stop for). #3 Scott need his own thing to do. Fishing is it. 

I much preferred how I spent the day, which will be my next post. And, after each of us had a great day, we managed to have enough strength for a delicious seafood dinner at Ray’s, just a short walk from his fishing boat.

One of many great seafood dinners

Trip date: June 16-24, 2022