Anchorage, Alaska | A Brightly Lit City In A Subarctic Zone

Anchorage is the most populous city in the 49th state of America. It is also the gateway to the Chugach Mountains, which lend a beautiful and majestic backdrop to the city. It's humble beginnings started with the discovery of gold in the Klondike regions and the city of Anchorage served as the main logistic hub. In 1915, the federal goverment built it's headquarters here that oversees the construction of the Alaska Railroad. It grew from a tent city into a permanent settlement; whence the nickname for Anchorage " Baghdad Of The Tundra" was coined by a pilot who flew over it at night from Tokyo.

Day 1- Arrival At Ted Stevens Anchorage International

Our flight from HNL to Anchorage took less than 6 hours with 1 meal served. The First Class seat on Alaska's 737-9 Max was comfortable but they could do much better with the meal. The Tillamook Cheeseburger needs more love.

After getting our rental car, we headed straight to our vacation home. It is located in Chugiak, about 20 miles north of Anchorage. We even caught a nice sunrise against the backdrop of Chugach Mountains.

It is nestled in a wooded creek, still covered in snow/ice even in this time of the month. The home is very comfortable, and it can accommodate up to 8 people! I wasn't quite prepared for walking on frozen driveway as I almost slipped while carrying my bags indoors. Mental note to self: Watch out for black ice.

After a quick lunch, we decided to do a short hike which turned out to be not so short as the conditions were quite challenging to begin with. The snow line was thick and icy conditions prevail. We had some difficulty with the part where the snow was soft ( had melted underneath) causing us to post hole several times up to knee-deep. Here is the video of the hike.