As I mentioned yesterday, I am visiting Orlando to give a keynote speech at the Federal Bar Association on the Supreme Court. I have brought my youngest with me for the trip. Madie and I have had a ball visiting the Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom on the first two days. The Association was generous enough to put us at the Waldorf-Astoria near the parks, which I will describe later for those interested in Orlando hotels.
Continue reading “Orlando: The Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom”
I left this morning from San Diego after a spectacular stay as part of my speech to the federal administrative judges at their conference. Besides the visit to the USS Midway that we discussed earlier, two of the greatest highlights was a visit to the San Diego Maritime Museum and a long hike along the Pacific Ocean near Del Mar.
One of the highlights of my trip to speak to federal judges in San Diego was the ability to finally visit the Midway aircraft carrier, which is now a floating museum. As many on the blog know, I am a military history nut so a visit to the Midway was a true “book list” item. It did not disappoint. I spent hours walking about the carrier and listening to both the audio tour and live tours.
I just received a few photos from our seventh day in Alaska when Jack and I went onrivers with a wonderful adventure with Chugach Outdoor Center in Hope, Alaska. Chugach is an outstanding company that is owned by Jay Doyle and is associated with RaftDenali. They have an incredible program for running Class III-V rapids through the canyons in the gorgeous Chugach National Park. I thought I would share them as a way of encouraging any reader who might be interested in a great day on the river.
We finally boarded our delayed Delta flight after midnight and began our long flight home. I took this and the pictures below out of the plane window as we said goodbye to Alaska and all of the new friends that we made there over the two weeks. We left as we had arrived: enthralled by the immense beauty and wildness of this place. We want to come back as soon as possible. There is no place on Earth like Alaska and Alaskans are some of the most unique and interesting people that you will ever hope to meet. We packed a huge amount into these two weeks and only scratched the surface of things to do in Alaska.
On our final day in Alaska, we woke up in Girdwood and went out for our final hike. We chose Winner’s Trail which we expanded by adding a few miles on the Upper Winner’s trail. It was a wonderful way to cap off so many hikes and sites in Alaska. We then drove to Anchorage to take a late flight.
The tenth day of our trip to Alaska was spent in Girdwood where I spoke to the Alaska Association of Criminal Defense Attorneys (AKACDL). I spent much of today at the speeches, but Jack and I joined AKACDL members on the top of the mountain at the beautiful Glacier restaurant. It was a spellbinding night to take the tram to the top of the mountain for our final evening in Alaska.
We spent the night at the Alyeska Resort in Girdwood and went out on the eighth day to hike in the wonderful mountains around the resort. We chose to do the more demanding North Face hike, which we made even more challenging by going off trail. It was incredible because on the top of the mountain we literally hiked through the clouds.
The highlight of the day (and perhaps the trip) was our kayaking to the Blackstone glacier. Once again, we followed the advice of our Alaska fairy Godmother, Judy White of RaftDenali, who suggested the Alaska Sea Kayakers. It was a truly religious experience as we kayaked through ice flows and visited various glaciers as they calved ice. We paddled around seals and hundreds of arctic birds in cold, steel blue waters. This is a very pricey trip (around $375 each) because you are transported with your kayaks to the glaciers and guided for the day. However, if you can cut corners on other expenses and swing the cost, this is very worth it. It was an experience that neither Jack nor I will forget. The beauty of this place is very hard to describe and should ideally be experienced from inside of a kayaking. While we were dead tired at the end (neither of us are kayakers), we were left in awe of the Prince William Sound and the glaciers.
Continue reading “DAY EIGHT (PART II): THE BLACKSTONE GLACIER”
Our eighth day in Alaska was, in a word, a wonderment. We drove from the Chugach Outdoor Center (after an awesome day white water rafting) to the secluded town of Whittier. After spending the night, we went on a full day of rafting with the Alaska Sea Kayaking company to the Blackstone glacier area (which I will discuss in a second posting). Whittier itself however deserves its own posting.
Our seventh day in Alaska brought us back to the Alaska rivers with a wonderful adventure with Chugach Outdoor Center in Hope, Alaska. Chugach is an outstanding company that is owned by Jay Doyle and is associated with RaftDenali. They have an incredible program for running Class III-V rapids through the canyons in the gorgeous Chugach National Park. After the rafting adventure, Jack and I drove to Whittier — a tiny town of 200 that is one of the most remote and one of the most interesting places that I have ever visited. The drive to Hope is incredible as the immense grandeur of the Kenai Peninsula area opens up in front of you.
Our sixth day in Alaska, Jack and I drove and stayed overnight in the tiny town of Talkeentna. While we intended to take a flight around Denali and land on a glacier, a huge weather system moved in and, while we waited in Talkeentna to see if it would clear, we finally bailed and drove to Anchorage. However, the drive was wonderful with stops in some unique Alaskan spots, including one of the most unique individuals that I have ever met: Mike Carpenter.
We spent Day Five with our final hike in Denali National Park. The rain had passed over and the day was beautiful and warm for Alaska. We said farewell to our friends at RaftDenali and our cabin over the river. We then went to the Park with the intention of hiking the Savage River trail. However, the trail was closed due to an aggressive Grizzly Bear. We therefore went to Plan B and did the more challenging Mount Healy trail. It proved a wonderful move for the quintessential Denali hike.
Day four of our Alaskan adventure was focused on the immense beauty of Denali Naitonal Park. As an avid hiker, Denali has been a dream of mine for many years. Famous for Mt. McKinley (recently changed by the Obama Administration to Mount Denali to the chagrin of the Ohio delegation), the highest mountain in North America at 20,310 feet, the park is an icon of American natural conservation. It is breathtaking in size and beauty — 1,334,200 acres of pristine tundra, glaciers, rock and forest. It was everything that we dreamed it would be as we hit the trails of Denali.
Our third day in Alaska had us driving from Anchorage to Denali National Park. It is a beautiful ride though the maps can be deceiving. What looks like one of the few towns like Willow is little more than a gas station and a couple of buildings. It took about 4-5 hours but it is fun to be able to stop and meet people. You can also take the Alaskan train which goes through the amazing Alaska countryside. We went directly to RaftDenal, which was hands down one of the best decisions of the trip. Today was our white water rafting trip and we loved it.