From Anchorage to Ushuaia by Bike

Since we arrived in Alaska, we spent our days looking for our equipment. In fact, with the low euro compared to the dollar and the whole range of equipment here, we did not come with a lot of equipment: we bought everything here. We have almost everything and before leaving for our big trip, we decided to visit the Kenai Peninsula as we really wanted to enjoy the surroundings of Anchorage and the large spaces. We will not go to this Peninsula with our bikes.

The Kenai Fjords National Park is one of the parks of the Kenai Peninsula where the mountain, the ice and the ocean meet. The wilderness is well kept and so, we can see lots of Alaskan wild animals such as moose, bears, seals, puffins, etc. On its territory there is the biggest glacier of the USA.

We left Anchorage on Thursday with a rental car (yes we know, not really good for the environment …) and we settled in a little motel in Seward for 2 nights. It is a town very long but narrow, with only 2 main streets. We discovered the surroundings of Seward and went sightseeing. We decided not to take the cruises to go and see whales, dolphins and other animals. We already had tried these cruises in Iceland. We preferred to discover the surrounding by foot.

We began with the Exit Glacier Trail, a very touristic trail which led us to the glacier. The path was paved and a highway for tourists! But to get there was worth it: a great view of the glacier, the noise of water and cracks of the ice …

Then, we walked a bit of the Resurrection River Trail, with far less people. We did not feel safe because at any time, a moose could arrive – which was ok for us, but also a bear! The advises are everywhere when entering trail: make noise to tell the bear that you are human, stay in front of him to show that we are not scared, no running away, etc. Easier to say than to do! Sébastien talked and sang during the whole 1 hour and a half of walking! As for me, I looked carefully to the entire environment and listened very carefully also … well, I was happy to be back to the car after only few kilometers. I asked myself how we are going to make it when we will be sleeping in the middle of nowhere, with our bikes, our food and our tent … We will respect the advises: put the food up in the trees, cook a hundred feet away from the tent, not taking our tooth paste with us in the tent (bears love that!), no cooking with the same clothes as for sleeping, etc.

Finally sun came out (but not for long)! For the moment, we had seen Alaska only with clouds and rain. We really enjoyed this sun, as it made us discovered the landscape differently: lakes and rivers became blue, we could see the top of the mountains and hills with snow…

We also went to the Kenai Wildlife Refuge. There wilderness is well preserved and lots of wild animals could be seen over there: bears, moose, wolves, salmons, birds, etc. More beautiful landscapes and more unspoiled nature! Unfortunately it is not the right period to see the salmons going up the rivers and the bears eating them. It all begins at the beginning of July and finishes in September…

I am talking a lot of the wild animals that we could encounter over here … maybe you are asking yourself if we met any? Yes we did!! We met a black bear on the side of the road, while passing by car! It was about 40 feet away. We could take lots of pictures of it: it did not care, it was having diner!