Where’d she go this week? I dunno, Alaska!!

Old corny joke. I know. But it kept running through my head as I was writing this blog post. It’s Wanderlust Wednesday, and this week we are off to the great state of Alaska! America’s 49th state.

The Last Frontier. Home of Mt. McKinley – @ 20,320 feet (6,194 m) above sea level – the highest point in the USA. Although Alaska is the largest state in square miles, it is 48th in population. Alaska borders Canada to the East and the Pacific Ocean and Arctic Sea, but no other US states. And contrary to popular belief, you cannot see Russia from your back porch.

A few years back, we had the amazing opportunity to cruise with Princess through the fjords and glacial passages of Alaska.

Forget what you’ve seen in travel brochures and read in glossy magazines. There is no way to accurately portray the immense beauty, the pristine countryside, the majestic mountains of this great state unless you have seen them with your own eyes.

Whether we were river rafting next to a glacier

soaring to new heights (no I was not on that plane, have a hard enough time getting on a 747!!)

panning for gold

and that’s what we got (certainly not enough for the new bracelet I had in mind!)

mushing with the dogs (It was summer, so no snow- but it still was fun!)

sailing away at sunset

…we were never out of sight of some of the most breathtaking scenery in the world.

As our ship made its way into the Fjords, the spectacular glaciers came into full focus.

Mountains peaks of turquoise blue, black and white ice,

with melting sections “calving” into the water with deafening crashes.

The Mendenhall Glacier

Our Inside Passage cruise from Whittier to Vancouver, British Columbia took us to Juneau, the state capitol,

Skagway … part of the setting for Jack London‘s book The Call of the Wild.

and Ketchikan known for it’s Alaskan Native Culture and Salmon Fishing.

Each stop along the way was rich with scenic vistas

and local customs and history, including the Totem Bight State Historical Park

Mt. McKinley again! Apparently people travel from all over the world to view and climb the majestic Mt. McKinley. We were told that some folks visit for years and never actually see it, due to constant cloud cover. Every time we walked outdoors, someone said, “Hey, look at that, it’s Mt. McKinely again!” The highest mountain in North America, Mt. McKinley has been the goal of aspiring high altitude climbers since it was first climbed in 1913. Its reputation as a highly coveted summit derives from its location near the Arctic Circle and the Pacific Ocean giving it some of the most ferocious weather in the world. Because of its weather and ease of access, some climbers use McKinley as a training ground for climbing the 8,000 meter peaks of the Himalaya, including Everest.