Now that you’ve seen the Alaska tour video by Princess Cruise are you feeling inspired or curious yet? Of course you are! Alaska is such a beautiful place to visit and adventure. Team Tour Life is currently exploring Anchorage, Alaska. Alaska is known for not only for its beauty and grander, but especially their professionals dog sledding contest and hiking. Hiking is a huge part of every day life for Alaskans. We met multiple people who recommended hikes, gave us tips to stay safe and instructed us on what to do if we saw moose or bears. Continue reading to find out more about protecting yourself from wildlife and to see and read some of our hiking adventures. , so read on to see what adventures we took on while in Alaska. 
Trip Cost Breakdown:
Hotel’s and Airbnb’s are plentiful. The key is to stay in an ideal location. This trip, we decided to stay in downtown Anchorage which will be convenient for city tours. We also chose to rent a car as Alaska’s beauty is spread out and it will save us money versus Ubering everywhere. We were able to book our flights last minute with a $600 travel credit certificate. We received the certificate last year. Our flight to San Fransisco sat on the tarmac for 2 hours upon arrival and we were given a year to utilize the credit.
Hiking:
While in Anchorage, we hiked to view Portage Glacier and hiked Kincaid Park. Portage Glacier is about 45 minutes south of Anchorage and accessible on Seward Highway. (Important info to note as your phone will not work in Anchorage if you have Sprint or T-Mobile) Once parked at the Glacier, it is about a 1 mile hike from the car to the Glacier. The hike was was extremely easy with little to no huge inclines. Once we arrived to the glacier we were in overjoyed and disappointed. The glacier was beautiful, but we could easily tell that a significant portion of the glacier has melted over the years. Also, we wanted to get up close and personal with the glacier, but after an hour of hiking over mountains of rocks and attempting to cross rivers and steams without getting our feet wet, we realized that we would be unable to touch the glacier. There was a slight chance if we continued to get closer to the mountains, but there were two huge openings in the mountains and I, Erica, was afraid that animals would come attack us if we bothered their potential home.
Trip Cost Breakdown:
- Hotel: $167 – 2 nights
- Rental Car: $114- 4 days – Full Sized Car
- Flight cost: $350 each – we paid $62 each on Alaska Airlines
The next day, we hiked in Kincaid Park. I, Christian, was excited and ready to capture a moose on camera with the possibility of seeing a bear. Erica was afraid. While driving to the Park, we saw a MOOSE! I hoped out of the car and began to take photos. Erica was extremely afraid and nervous that I would anger the moose and get trampled (see video below).
My, Erica, nervousness isn’t without a good cause for concern. Every year, there is at least one moose trampling and bear attack in Anchorage that results in a death. Armed with this knowledge and knowing Christian wanted hike to find a moose, I made sure to find out how to stay safe if we sighted an animal.
- If you see a moose, Alaskans recommended hiding behind a big tree to avoid from getting trampled.
- If you see a bear, Alaskans recommended staying calm, not playing dead (rumors I’ve always heard) and slowly heading back in the direction in which you came. Bears are more afraid of humans than we are of them and typically inly get aggressive when protecting a cub, so remember, even if you see a cub alone, stay away.
