Alaska trip 2015— Not the trip we imagined.
與預期中完全不一樣的阿拉斯加之旅
We thought we were going to see glaciers, we thought we could drive into Denali National Park, we thought it was going to be cheap, we thought the weather was going to be good in August, we were wrong.
我們以為會看到很多冰河。我們以為可以開著出租車進迪納利國家公園。我們以為阿拉斯加自助旅行會很便宜。我們以為八月份天氣會不錯。我們錯了。
When planning our last-minute family trip to Alaska with our 8 month old baby + parents back in July, we ruled out Alaska cruises very quickly as they were going for $1200 a person when we know you can get the same for $600 had you booked months earlier. We booked plane tickets right after finding out round trip deals to Anchorage at under $200 per person. Didn’t do much research due to the lack of time to do anything other than work, baby, and sleep.
當我們在七月份臨時決定帶著八個月大的女兒和爸媽去阿拉斯加玩的時候，我們很快地就決定不坐遊輪環遊阿拉斯加，因為如果我們提前早點訂票的話一人六百美元就搞定，而臨時訂要兩倍價錢。後來剛好有每人兩百美元有找的到安克雷奇的特價來回機票，我們當下就買了機票。而因為每天就只有時間工作、顧寶寶、睡覺，我們沒有特別去研究該怎麼玩、去哪玩。
The plan was simple: 7 days, spend a few days in Anchorage and a few more in Denali. Rationale: we‘ll take the cruise another time, so let’s skip the “shore stuff” and travel inland, heard about Denali being awesome, so let’s go there.
行程很簡單：去一個禮拜，花幾天在安克雷奇，幾天在迪納利國家公園。當時的想法很單純：我們下次再來個遊輪之旅，所以跳過海岸的景點，往內地出發；聽說迪納利國家公園很讚，就去那吧。
On the second day we drove from Anchorage to Portage, it rained and the wind blew so hard, we gave up on the idea of taking the glacier cruise there, we drove back to Anchorage after a 15 min break…
我們從安克雷奇開車一個多小時到Portage，結果風雨大到我們放棄原本想要去乘船覽Portage冰河的計畫，又直接開回安克雷奇。
The timing of our itinerary couldn’t be worse. We kept following the rain as we travel north to Denali then back to Anchorage again. We only had one “sort-of” sunny day out of the entire trip, on the day driving back to Anchorage.
天公不做美，我們整個北上又南下的行程一路跟著雨走。整個旅程只有回安克雷奇那天算是有看到太陽。
It was a practically impossible to find any accommodation near Denali National Park at the last minute. In the end we booked cabins in different locations on different nights.
我們差點沒辦法臨時訂到在迪納利國家公園附近的住宿，後來我們只好訂了幾個不同地方的小木屋。
We have mixed feelings about Denali National Park… yes it is beautiful, and yes we loved the wilderness and wildlife, but we didn’t know just how inaccessible it is! But I guess that’s the point. There is only one unpaved road into the park. It is a 93 mile long gravel road with a dead end (okay, first 13 miles are paved). You can’t drive your own car on this road. You must pay $53 per person per trip for the shuttle service if you were to go all the way to the end of the road; but that would take you 12 hours of just sitting in the shuttle. To make things worse, if you are travelling with a kid 4 years or younger, you must bring your own car seat in order for the kid to ride the shuttle. Understandably, not many sane people would travel in and out of the park more than once in the same trip. With a baby, we opted to turn around at mile 66 at the Eielson Visitor Center, that’s “only” 8 hours of just sitting in the shuttle in one day. In the end, it was still too much for the baby, and she puked all over her mom in the shuttle on the way out.
我們對迪納利國家公園的感覺只能用又愛又恨來形容。沒錯，它的景色的確獨一無二，它的確是這地球上所剩寥寥無幾的野生動物棲息地，但這國家公園未免也太不給遊客方便了吧！不過這也就是迪納利國家公園存在的意義吧。國家公園內就只有一條路。這是條93 英里長的礫石路 (好啦，最前面13 英里還是柏油路)，而且還是死路一條。還有，你不能自己開車進去，必須得坐國家公園提供的接駁公車。若你想要坐這接駁車到此路的盡頭，費用是每人 53 美元。更慘的是光是坐車到盡頭來回就需要 12 個小時。還有更慘的，若你身旁帶著四歲以下的孩童，你必須攜帶自己的孩童安全座椅，否則別想上車。可以理解，沒有幾個正常人會安排進出納利國家公園超過一次。而我們選擇在 66 英里處的艾爾森遊客中心回頭，因為這樣我們來回只算路程 “只有” 8 個小時。可是事實證明我們還是太貪心了，因為小寶寶在回程的車上吐得她媽媽渾身都是！
Above said, you MUST take the shuttle to experience Denali “the proper way”, else it would be a shame and a complete waste of time traveling thus far inland.
雖然上面抱怨那麼多，你還是得坐一次公園內的接駁車才能真正體驗到迪納利國家公園的特別，否則你開車到這麼遠來就可以真的說是浪費時間了。
If we were to re-plan the whole trip, we would have stayed just 2 nights near Denali National Park instead of 4. We would have stayed at most 2 nights in Anchorage also and opt to travel further south of Anchorage where there would be plenty of opportunities to see majestic glaciers up close, and witness those classic scenes where bears catch big fat salmons in the river. I guess that’s the price to pay for not planning properly!
如果我們能重新規劃整個行程，我們會只待在迪納利國家公園附近兩晚，而不是四晚。我們在安克雷奇最多也只會住兩晚，然後剩下的時間往南走。在那裡有很多機會可以近距離看到壯觀的冰河和目睹那些在河畔中捉捕一條條大鮭魚的棕熊的經典場面。這就是當初沒有好好事先研究行程的代價！
On the day leaving Denali, our cabin hostess asked us where we are heading next, we told her that we are driving back down to Anchorage. She told us: “If you have time, visit Hatcher Pass on the way back. It’s beautiful.” We decided to take that detour last minute as we zoomed pass the west entrance on the way back down to Anchorage. We turned around. And wow, aren’t we glad we did! This place was AMAZING!
離開迪納利國家公園當天，我們小木屋的女主人問我們接下來要去哪裡，我們告訴她我們要開車回安克雷奇。她說：如果你們有時間，不妨經過 Hatcher Pass，那裡很漂亮。幾小時後我們車子刷過 Hatcher Pass 西邊入口時，臨時決定繞道進去“瞧一下”，所以掉頭回來。哇！還好我們掉頭回來！這地方真的超級讚！
Hatcher Pass. Spectacular views. Stunning creeks. Gorgeous camping spots. Endless berry fields. Stay for as long as you want. And, no entrance fee!
Hatcher Pass. 壯觀的景色，令人驚歎的小溪，完美無暇的露營地，滿山遍野的野莓任你摘取，想停留多久就停留多久。而且，不用付費！
This trip was definitely not quite what we expected. But I suppose this is why Alaska is like no other. In other parts of the world civilization surrounds pockets of wilderness. In Alaska wilderness surrounds pockets of civilization. We will be back again.
這次的阿拉斯加之旅確實與我們預期的完全不同。不過，我想這就是阿拉斯加獨一無二的地方。在其他的地方我們看到的是人類文明包圍著所剩無幾的野外空間；而在阿拉斯加則是荒郊野外包圍著少許的人類文明。我們會再回來的！
