Monday, July 30, 2007

Bicycling Alaska

It’s been 4 weeks since I returned from our Alaska and the Yukon Tour and I already long to go back. I have never seen such unspoiled land and clean water, or experienced such solitude and beauty.

This tour has everything – good cycling on traffic-free, beautifully paved roads, 24-hour daylight, geological wonders like fjords and glaciers, Gold Rush history, and wildlife I’ve only ever seen in zoos – bears, moose, Dall sheep, beavers and eagles.

It’s truly wilderness as I’ve never experienced before. I didn’t let the camping scare me off. I admit that it’s weird to not have running water or a flush toilet -- or any toilet for that matter. But it’s so cool to hear no sounds of anyone else. No traffic, no radios, no voices other than our own. Just the sound of the wind through the trees and our crackling bonfire. Putting off showering for a night wasn’t so bad when I knew I’d get one the next night.

There’s a reason all the license plates read, “Alaska – the last frontier.” It really felt like it was. Everyone should go someplace that is so unspoiled. It’s made me think a lot more about saving the beauty that still exists here back home.

2 comments:

Lady Máirghréad said...

Oh I would love to have biked Alaska, I lived there for 3 years and it was the absolute one of the best times of my life. But I never thought to use my bike for anything other than commuting while I was here!!

Will there be a photo blog?

Jackie Marchand said...

Our photographers tell me we should have sent them on the tour - maybe next year! But they say they're willing to work with my photos to put a show together for you. Stay tuned....