Alaska

That picture of the northern lights is misleading. I didn’t actually see them on my Anchorage layover. In fact, I’ve never seen the northern lights. Not yet anyway. 

There are only a few hours of darkness during an Alaskan summer night. And hopefully, while laying over, I’ll be sleeping during those hours. However, at our hotel, you can ask the front desk clerk to call your room in the event the allusive northern lights come out to shine. … I’m still waiting for my wake-up call; the northern lights are rare.

Do you know what else is rare? Anchorage layovers. ANC is seasonal and only shows up in the summer schedule. This means that I’ve only been a handful of times. The last time was exactly two years ago, on August 27, 2019. 

I remember getting in late and setting my alarm for an early morning wake-up call. -not to see the northern lights, but rather to go see a glacier. The pilots had rented a car to drive out to the glaciers and invited us, flight attendants. I was the only one to join them because the others decided to go on a bike ride. Renting bikes is another popular way to spend the layover. The bike trail is beautiful, but I figured it’s not every day that I have the opportunity to see the glaciers. 

There are 60 glaciers within an hour’s drive from Anchorage. The pilots had already done their homework and, for whatever reason, had chosen Girdwood Glacier. On this adventure, I was just tagging along, which was kind of a luxury. I didn’t have to make any decisions, or navigate, or lift a finger. In fact, the captain drove, and the first officer slipped right into his role as co-pilot, assisting with the directions while I sat in the back and looked out the window. 

The scenery was gorgeous. Girdwood Glacier was, likewise, stunning. But at the same time, it looked kind of melty. I’m no scientist, but what do you think?

Somewhere along the way, the captain decided to pull over for a bit of hike. We found a trail leading to a river, where we saw dozens of salmon swimming upstream to lay their eggs on the final leg of their life cycle. That was pretty cool. 

Until we saw this. 

Those are bear tracks. Fresh. Still wet. Bear tracks! I froze. I was the trail leader AND the weakest link. I was the smallest, weakest, and slowest of the three of us. And I couldn’t wait to get back in the car. I do love nature, but at the same time, I always feel like it’s trying to kill me.  

Before heading back to town, we made a detour to a small fishing village for lunch. To get there, we had to drive through a very long and very narrow tunnel. It was only one lane, so the cars in both directions had to take turns. Knowing that this part of Alaska sits on a giant fault line, going through the tunnel was nerve-racking. Unfortunately, I had just learned about the 9.2 Great Alaskan Earthquake. And with that in mind, I was holding my breath until we emerged. Well, not really. No one can hold their breath for that long… the tunnel is WAY too long. 

We pulled into the only restaurant in town, and the three of us ordered the reindeer sausage sandwich. I can be an adventurous eater, and I like to try the local fare. But reindeer sausage is awful! It tasted like it smelled: like hay inside of a horse stall that needs to be mucked out. The pilots ordered more of this terrible sausage packed on dry ice to take back home. What? Did they have no taste buds? Or a sense of smell? And to think I could have had fresh Alaskan catch-of-the-day.

Unfortunately, I didn’t get to layover in Anchorage this summer -or anywhere else for that matter since I’ve been nursing an injury. But I’ll be back to flying soon and hopefully back to flying Alaska. I am definitely not done with ANC with 59 other glaciers to see, not to mention the northern lights. This layover was just the tip of the iceberg. (ba dum tss)