My Great Alaskan Adventure - Tuesday, July 1

I was rudely awakened by my alarm at 7:45am. My body was still stiff and needing rest from the ice-climbing brutalities of the day before but I was encouraged by Connie’s promise of a home-cooked breakfast. So, I dragged my PJ-clad self out of bed and followed my nose to the dining room where reindeer sausage, eggs and waffles were a-cookin’.

Breakfast was with a group of Belgians. I found out a lot about their culture that morning, including confirmation that Belgian waffles were really from Belgium. However, they chuckled when I told them I loved eating Belgian waffles for brunch, as these waffles are apparently consumed with tea around 4pm (very specific, I know) by the older folk with a little more free time on their hands. I guess that, unlike the US, the hip and happening younger Belgians do not eat Belgian waffles. Other random Belgian facts include the popularity of pale ale and mussels in their country, as well as origins of French fries being from Belgium. This last fact has been verified by a very academically rigorous, peer-reviewed article - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_fries. So just like I learned how to speak French in the Dominican Republic, I was also educated on the random Belgium culture in Alaska.

The activity of the day was glacier hiking with Dave of The Ascending Path. We seem to love that company – heard of them from an NY Times (50 places to visit this summer where Alaska was #31) and have no regrets! This hike started with a tram ride up to the top of the Alyeska Glacier. The Alyeska Glacier is nestled in a glacier bowl above the Alyeska Ski Resort in the Chugach Mountains. It was a fairly easy hike and we made it to the top with little incident and even got to see five of the seven Girdwood Valley glaciers (because it was so cloudless that day). But of course, what’s a glacier hike without some excitement? BYO-excitement! Along the way, I realized I was absolutely dying of heat and felt a burning desire to take off my inner layer. No pun intended. Yes, the sun was that hot. Fun fact: It’s much easier to get sunburned in snow/ice because sunlight is more intense when reflected off snowy or icy surfaces. Anyhow, so I basically ended up half-naked near the top of the Alyeska Glacier stripping myself of my inner layer. Now I also know that Marmot makes very good thermal layers.

After our glacier hike was done, we made the six-hour drive from Girdwood to Homer. Along the way, we ate at some good ole staple American culinary institutions (Subway and McDonalds) in anticipation of the Fourth of July! What can I say? Singaporeans know how to eat well. We arrived at Driftwood Inn, which was described as “snug, cedar-finished ‘ship quarters.’” Oh, snug it was. There was hardly any space to walk or put our bags, but we figured that we were only there to sleep. Some unanticipated excitement came when the shower head broke off mid-shower, but otherwise, we did fine.

Visited the famous Homer Spit, where brightly painted little cottages and cabin-like structures dotted just a little over 0.5 miles of the 4.5 mile-long spit. Homer is a hippy-ish, artist type town, hence the bright colors and groovy vibe. Honestly though, I didn’t really get into the mood of this town and was just going through the motions to have “been there done that.” Ended up at a decent but over-priced dinner place called Captain Pattie’s, where we had grilled shrimp and baked halibut. Given that we were still hurting from the ice-climb, we planned for the next day to be an easy seven-mile hike on the Bishop’s Creek coastal trail. Little did I know what was in store.