Travel These Alaska Sites to Awaken Your Spirit of Adventure

Study after study has shown that taking a vacation is good for you, your brain, and your entire existence. After two and a half years of dealing with the pandemic, my husband and I jumped at the chance to take a vacation to Alaska. Good friends of ours asked us last December if we wanted to go with them to see the Peony Festival in Homer, Alaska. We said yes without knowing what exactly a peony is or where Homer was located. We just knew our spirits needed an awakening.

For six months, my friend and I planned the itinerary of what we were going to see, what excursions we were going to take, and where we were going to eat.

The Adventure Begins in Talkeetna

On our first full day in Alaska, we drove to Talkeetna where we took a whitewater jet boat tour to Devil’s Canyon. Talk about jumpstarting your senses. What a ride!

Only 30 percent of people who visit Alaska actually get to see Denali because of the haze or clouds. But there she was along with her sister peaks, Mt. Foraker and Mt. Hunter, as we made our way to the rapids.

To get to the rapids we went through Denali State Park and the nationally registered Wild River Park of “Devils Gorge.” 

The guide is a native Alaskan whose parents were homesteaders in the 1970s. They went to Alaska for the free 160 acres, lived on the land for five years, and would flag down the train if they wanted to get to town. His father helped design the jet boat we were on that could handle the Class 5 rapids. The boat was bucking the rapids as the guide held us in place so we could get pictures. It felt like we were riding a bucking horse.

Alaska Adventure Continues on Dalton Highway

The next adventure took us to Fairbanks. We rented a special vehicle designed to handle the gravel road known as The Dalton Highway. Our goal was to get to the Arctic Circle. Everyone recommended we take a bus tour and leave the driving to someone else. Where is the adventure in that? We wanted to be on our schedule and see the sights we wanted to see. So we picked up a specially fitted SUV with a full-size spare, CB radio in case we needed help, and a first aid kit.

We got to drive alongside the Alaskan Pipeline and over the Yukon River. The stop we needed to make in order to buy more gas so we could make it back to Fairbanks was out of gas so after we made it to the Arctic Circle we had to keep going to Coldfoot, Alaska, and the Gates of the Arctic National Park. While we had not planned on going that far north, I am so glad we did. We got to see the quintessential Alaskan scene of a moose in a lake feeding. It was so intensely quiet the volume of everything you did hear was turned up. The mosquitoes sounded like we were being buzzed by choppers.

The Kenai Fjords Were Next on the List

The blue of the ice of the Northwestern Fjords is an electric blue, a color you will not find in a Crayola box of crayons. The sound of the ice cracking and popping was deep and loud. Rather than being cold, the breeze coming off the glaciers was crisp and fresh as it hit your skin.

The natural beauty of the fjords combined with the puffins, humpback whales, porpoises, and other wildlife we saw is just what we needed to get us out of the Covid funk.

Last Alaska Site Leaves Strongest Impression

Despite the breathtaking natural beauty that makes Alaska unique, the most impactful sight we saw was in the little village of Eklutna. Dating back to the 1600s, Eklutna Village is one of the oldest and continuously inhabited Athabaskan settlements. When the Russian missionaries came to Alaska in the 1800s, the traditions of the two cultures melded together.

This is best seen at the Eklutna Historical Park.

These colorful “spirit houses” cover the final resting place of about 100 people. Athabaskan tradition called for the deceased to be cremated so their spirits could make the final journey onward. The Russian Orthodox tradition forbade cremation so it became common practice for families to place a small house on top of the resting place so their spirit would have a place to go until the spirit was ready to continue its journey.

As I walked around the park and looked at everyone’s spirit house I could not help but be moved by the thoughtfulness that loved ones put into these spirit houses. You got a great sense of who the people were. 

You can see that some of the spirit houses are collapsing on themselves from age. My first inclination was to want to fix them up but Athabaskan tradition says that when the homes start falling apart they are not to be fixed because what comes from earth must be returned to the earth. Seems fitting, don’t you think?

This was the last site we visited before leaving Alaska but it is the one I have thought about the most since our return. This was the first time I ever walked through a cemetery and really got a feel for who the people were that had come before us.

We went to Alaska to awaken our spirits and awaken they did but not in a way I ever envisioned. Visiting the Eklutna Historical Park got me thinking about what my family put in my spirit house. What colors would they choose? What do I want people to know about me by just looking at my spirit house? When you put those parameters in place you start making changes to be a better person, enjoy adventures big or small, and realize the need to always keep your spirit alive.