Matanuska Glacier

A guided tour and the hosts take you to and from the glacier with a snowmobile-driven sled. In winter you can walk on icy surface when Matanuska Glacier is frozen. I brought trekking poles but actually it was not needed because they give ice cleats to everyone. You can hear the cracking sound from the glacier movement when the surrounding is quite. You can also see that huge ice blocks being pushed upwards by the glacier. You read about this from your geography textbook but standing on a glacieris a totally different level of experience.

Chena Hot Spring Resort

Hot spring, dogsled and ice fishing - lots of activities here. This is a hot spring in the middle of mountains. The infrastructure needs some renewal, but soaking in the hot spring with your hair and ears frozen is pretty cool. I also signed up for my first time riding a dogsled and ice-fishing. It is a short and fun ride and the huskies are cute. The ice fishing trip is fun, too. We sat in a warm cabin on top of a frozen lake holding a tiny fishing rod over a hole drilled into the ice. I can see those fish swimming but they did not bite the bait. Suddenly an animal - not fish - swim up to my ice hole. It is a muskrat swimming up the ice hole and try to breathe! The small critter even came up three times.

Aurora

In Chena Hot Spring Resort, you can book a trip for aurora viewing in a warm, cozy yurt with hot drink and ramen. This is a much more comfortable and a preferred way of watching the northern light. I’ve also tried another tour where you ride a van all night long and chase the aurora all over the place - it is very exhausting and cold. My ice-fishing tour guide recommanded me to use an app called “Amazing Aurora”, which shows several important metrics on the same screen and is pretty accurate.
Seeing aurora is a life time experience. The glowing sky and the bitter cold reminds me of how life is a short journey and I need to keep learning about the nature’s wonder.

Whittier

Whittier is a very unique, isolated small town. Used to be accessed only by the sea, now people can drive to Whittier through a long single-lane tunnel below a mountain. The tunnel follows a timetable and switch its driving direction. The entire town essentially live in one apartment building. I visited Whitter in winter and there is no activity going on. It feels like the entire town is frozen and stopped in time.

Anchorage

Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center - You can watch animals in a close distance. Highlights are grey wolf, brown bear, muskox, and moose. It is also a scenic spot where the surrounding mountain range is spectacular.

Fairbanks

World Ice Art Championships - a lot of art ice sculptures display and there is also an interactive area where you can play games like ice slide, ice cornhole, ice mini golf, etc.

Food selection

Anchorage

• Crow’s Nest is an old-fashioned classic dining experience
• Humpy’s halibut taco is fresh and tasty

Fairbanks

• Aurora Crepes and Peking Duck - unexpectedly decent duck wrapped in crepe
• Soba Moldovan Resturant - east european flavor
• Venue - serious coffee making

Big Mac vs. Denali Big Mac