Online booking was a breeze. Our guide, John, texted us the day of the tour to ask if we’d be willing to start 1 hour earlier than scheduled (probably due to the weather forecast of rain) but only if the whole group agreed. Turned out everyone else was good with the new timing. His initiative was much appreciated. He met us near the Visitors Center log cabin where he handed each of us a packet of forget-me-not seed, the state flower.
Of course the rain had its own schedule and it drizzled frequently throughout the tour. That clearly didn’t dampen John’s spirit and enthusiasm as he repeated his mantra of “It’s another beautiful day in Alaska”; this native Floridian had clearly taken to and loved this part of the country. His knowledge of the areas history, geography and fauna was excellent and he communicated well. He admitted to having to brush up more on the the flora. It helped, too, that all in the group were very engaged with the tour and there was a lot of back-and-forth about Alaska in general and the Anchorage area in particular. Some of us had done some homework and knew the answers to many of his questions (eg: Who was Seward? What is the state bird?). We were stumped by the state motto; most of us went with “The Last Frontier” which was on the license plates. Turned out it was “North to the Future”.
His flexibility with him was also appreciated. In addition to the earlier start he was willing to extend time where needed to let us enjoy the place more. The best example was at the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center. The black and brown bears hadn’t come out by the end of our allotted time so we waited a little longer and fortunately they did venture forth much to our delight.
We watched sockeye salmon spawning in a stream below Explorer glacier; John took us on a short hike beyond the parking lot to a spot with shallower water where we could see them better. We all learned that once the salmon had crossed from salt to fresh water the physiological changes that prepared them for spawning not only made their color change but also made the fish inedible to humans. But clearly not to local wildlife. We learned how the salmon died after spawning but their bodies not only fed local wildlife but the decomposition provided fertilization for the surrounding plants and forests. He then capped this encounter by taking pictures of the salmon underwater with one of our waterproof phones.
One the way back to Anchorage we thought we spotted the famous tidal bore surge up the Turnagain Arm, but we definitely saw the beluga whales swimming up this channel behind the bore, chasing the salmon that were using the bore to get to the rivers and streams for spawning.
This was a wonderful outing on our first day in Alaska and a great introduction to this state. We enthusiastically endorse PicTours’ Wilderness, Wildlife & Glacier Experience outing. Take this one your first day in Anchorage and you will be well on your way.