Girdwood
A little ski town about 45 minutes south of Anchorage with nice summer hiking and good downhill and cross-country skiing in the winter, great restaurants, and nice places to stay. For us, the highlight of Girdwood, however, is the drive down. If you are in Anchorage for even half a day, we suggest driving to Girdwood and back. Some people say that the highway down is the most beautiful in America and it certainly is pretty – mountains falling into the ocean, creeks and rivers, the whole deal. In fact, when we have visitors we sometimes head to Girdwood straight from the airport with a goal of seeing a mountain goat within 20 minutes (our record is 21 minutes – while heading south, look in the mountains up to the left after passing Potter Marsh.) When bummed out by Anchorage’s endless sprawl and ample parking, this drive south reminders us why we live in such a place.
The Bore Tide: On new moons and full moons look for the bore tide. Turnagain Arm – the body of water you drive along side - has the second most extreme tide fluctuations in the world (after the Bay of Fundy). Because of the topography, when there is a new or full moon, the tide comes in so quickly that it actually comes in as a standing wave – basically a wave of water that doesn’t retreat that comes in for miles. Depending on the tide and where you are in the inlet, the wave can be a foot high or two or three feet high. Rumors are that some people surf it, though we’ve never seen it done nor seen any (nonfaked) evidence on Youtube.
Downhill Skiing: Alyeska is one of the few ski resorts in the world you can see the ocean from. Their gondola is pretty cool when it’s cold out and lines are never longer than a few minutes if there are lines at all. They get heaps of snow – last year, the second most for a North American ski resort. Though small compared to Vail or Aspen or Whistler, the mountain has a nice variety of slopes (pdf). Probably not worth flying from the Lower 48 for if you’re a serious skier, but if you want to be guaranteed good snow, like a low-key ski scene, and don’t mind repeating some runs, then it could be worth coming up for in the winter. Also, they have night skiing.
Cross country Skiing: There are various trails, mostly through Moose Meadows between town and the Alyeska resort.
Restaurant Recommendations: Maxine’s Bistro is our favorite restaurant in Alaska. Entrees are tasty, creative, and reasonably priced. We especially like the middle eastern sample plate. Good service, comfortable atmosphere, a bar with a lot of beer and wine choices. Sometimes they have live music too.
For a fast lunch or brunch, go to the Bakeshop at the base of the mountain. We sometimes stop here when driving back from the Kenai too so worth going to even if you’re not skiing. Especially good: the BLT’s, but without mayo (because mayonnaise is disgusting.)
For Spendy Drinks with a View: On a clear day/evening, we like The Seven Glaciers Restaurant at the top of the gondola for drinks (and take a pass on the $40 entrees) but call first to make sure they’re open when you want to go - they sometimes have squirrelly hours.
Least Favorite Restaurant in Alaska: The Double Musky Inn. Okay, people swear by the Double Musky. Their cookbooks are for sale all over town. The owner is best friends with Ted Stevens. They have the only 12 star AAA platinum rating of any Alaskan restaurant or something. Whatever. The service is snarly. The menu stuffy. The prices steep. The food bland. If you like restaurants with a lot of carpet and carrot-strip-intensive salads then this is your place. Otherwise, head down the road to the Maxine’s and spend what you would have on extra wine.
Places to stay: For a big ski hotel, the Alyeska Prince Hotel is kind of cool looking, in a Swiss James Bond kind of way. The rooms are pretty cozy and sometimes they have good specials (available at Costco in Anchorage.) That said, we usually rent a house or cabin through Alyeska Accommodations. They've always been reliable and their places always as advertised – perhaps, more importantly, with the exception of a few VRBO.com listings, they seem to be the only such service in town.
Hikes: The Crow Pass hike starts/ends in Girdwood but most people head out the 7 mile Winner Creek loop trail – pretty flat with a lot of dense trees and plenty of roots (not great for strollers.) The highlight is the hand-pulled tram that you take across Winner Creek. Also fun is to hike up Seven Glaciers restaurant and take the tram down (for free because they assume no one hikes up.)
Heli-skiing: This can be arranged out of Girdwood but we’ve never done it. We do know, however, that hard core heli-skiing people go to Haynes, Alaska.
Glacier Hikes: Even though the company that leads glacier hike tours (starting at the top of the gondola) is owned by a friend of a friend, its hard for us to recommend the tour highly. It’s expensive ($139) and there are a lot of ropes and gear and training and preparation – nothing technical but for us the payoff isn’t really there. You just kind of walk up on this snow-covered glacier and turn around.
The Ascending Path
