For as long as I can remember, my sister in law and best friend for over 30 years, Brandi, has been wanting to go to Alaska. It was a bucket list item for her and I’m not going to lie, I’ve always been fascinated by its natural beauty.

About 3 years ago she wanted to do a backpacking trip so she looked to Jd and I as we have past experience. Since then, every year we have hiked another portion of the Ozark trail just a couple hours outside of St Louis MO. Every year more and more talk about Alaska increased. With the growing talk about Alaska, she and I decided to do figure this trip out.

January of this year (2024), we pulled the trigger. We found an outfitter (Alaska Alpine Adventures) that offered a guided backpacking trip on the Talkeetna (Tal-Keet-Nah) Mountain range August 6th – 9th. We spent the next 7 months buying all of the things that were mandatory. We did have a pretty good start from previous trips.

Things about Alaska during this time of year:

– This is considered peak season and tourism is high

– There is 18 hours of day light (you’ll read more about that so more to come)

– Fish are spawning and therefore the bears around water access are more present

-The temperatures ranged from the 50’s to mid/upper 60’s during the day

– Only 30% of all who try to catch a glimpse of Mt Denali actually get the pleasure of seeing it

– Moose are not as active/present during this time of year

I am sure there is so many more things happening during this time however, these are the ones that impact our trip.

We made the decision to spend time before our backpacking trip so we could experience Alaska in a different though also special way. We were to fly in to Anchorage Friday August 2nd and spend Saturday – Monday exploring as much as we can, backpack and then have an extra day to relax and unwind before the long flight home.

Things to know about cost traveling to AK:

– Flights are expensive and are very very long (at least from the Midwest)

– You most likely won’t find a direct flight unless you are on the upper northwest coast

– Staying in Anchorage, hotels are upwards of $300/night so we opted for an Airbnb

– Rental cars run about $200+ (we had a corporate discount through work) per day

– Naturally during this time of year, all things are inflated so therefore all day trip excursions cost a small fortune

– (This is accurate in all places not just in AK) The locals know the best places SO ASK! Don’t just go to the first thing trip advisor tells you

– You will pay a small fortune for going out so highly suggest supplementing meals when you can via homemade (i.e. make a turkey sandwich and eat it along the way)

Now time for our trip!