2019/22: Cycling from Wasilla to Anchorage

  Stage 2019/22 [A084]

Wasilla - Anchorage (Parks Highway, Glenn Highway)
45 mi / 72 km
440 Hm (garmin edge 1000)

 

 

 

 

 



 
 

Cycling from Whitehorse, Yukon to Anchorage, Alaska via Top of the World Highway and Denali Highway.

Final stage from Wasilla to Anchorage.  
 
Cycling Parks Highway south to Anchorage.
About 12 mi /20 km south of Wasilla, just after the bridge over the Knik River, Parks Highway merges with Glenn Highway. This is where Parks Highway starts, strangly starting with milestone 35 (56 km), since the distance to Anchorage is somahow also counted. Interesting and somewhat uncomfortable for the cyclist is the fact that from here on the Highway meets the structural requirements of an american highway with two lanes in each direction, physical separation from oncoming traffic and guard rails. Since the traffic is very heavy here, we have to get used to share the road with motorized traffic again.
 
Cycling Parks Highway to Anchorage.
Further south, however, the situation becomes more pleasant again, as there is a bike path on the side of the highway.  
 
Cycling Parks Highway to Anchorage.
The last 40 km of the cycle path is well signposted. The word Anchorage is now not only appearing on street signs, it is now on bike path signs. Clear indication that we are close to our goal.
 
Cycling Parks Highway to Anchorage.
In terms of landscape, this leg is not exactly the most spectacular part Alaska has to offer. The bike path is between highway and military installations located. And the military installations are large here: the bigger part of the area to the right of us belongs to Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, a military facility shared by Army and Air Force.    
 
Cycling Parks Highway to Anchorage.
The last few kilometers into the city center we follow the Ship Creek Trail. Here the cyclist is led car-free into the city, but this entails a crisp final slope with a gradient of 10% in order to get to the level of the city center.    
 
Cycling Parks Highway to Anchorage.
And finally it's done. ANCHORAGE! Looking at the world map, one might get the impression that Anchorage is a bit out of the way. The location of Anchorage at 61st degree of latitude and thus further north than Oslo and Helsinki intensifies this impression. But actually the earth is a sphere and 90% of the industrialized world can be reached within 9.5 hours of flight fram Achorage. This is the reason why the cargo volume at Anchorage Airport is so large: approximately 26% of all air cargo in the USA passes through Anchorage. To make a lonf stary short: Anchorage is not a little bit out of the way, Anchorage seems to be the center of the world - at least in terms of air cargo.     
 
Cycling Parks Highway to Anchorage.
When planning the tour we allowed a full day's safety buffer between arrival and the date of our return flight. We use this day to make a day trip to the Kenai Fjord.      
 
Cycling Alaska.
Early in the morning we take a shuttle bus to Seward and board a boat to get into the fjords.     
 
Cycling Alaska.
We see several orcas, one is kind enough to jump out of the water. Wow, what a proud animal!   
 
Cycling Alaska.
Seals.      
 

Cycling Alaska.
Our tour includes a visit of the Aialik Glacier, the largest glacier in the region. The view of the huge ice front where the glacier ends at the sea is gigantic: the end of the glacier is over a kilometer wide and an estimated 100 m high.

The rest of the story is simple and quickly told: we cycle to the airport, wrap the bicycles and fly home.