Alaska Trip

The Phillips boys' big adventure into America's last frontier in July 2009.

Eric, DTP, and Todd checking out the marshlands and realizing this is the closest they will ever get to walking on water.

On the first day, the boys rafted down the icy Chugach (allegedly class 5 rapids) river on their way to their Bed and Breakfast in Clam Gulch. After nearly freezing to death, they drove out to Hope Alaska where they had, what they claim to be, the world's best fish and chips at this tiny cafe.

Day 2 was the Kenai River. Eric described it as the most crowded remote wilderness of all time. Throngs arrive every summer for a chance at the world's biggest King Salmon.

Average time it takes for an individual to catch a King Salmon on the Kenai? 36 hours. DTP? Three seconds! With ease, he snags the first--and only--catch of the day.

What a punk!

Wow, he's a beauty. Unfortunately each participant can only catch one King Salmon a boat trip, so while Eric and Todd continued to fish, DTP enjoyed the wildlife....

like this moose...


black bears...


And brown bears... this one was only 15 ft away. DTP took a Red salmon away from his leering jaws. Crazy!

David's 45 pound King Salmon. For the record, Eric and Todd didn't get a single bite during the remaining 5 hours, 59 minutes and 57 seconds.

A small plane ride to see the glaciers and fish without a crowd.

Alaska's gorgeous coastline.

Flying over glaciers.




and waterfalls.



and marshlands.

This is what Eric, Todd and DTP were walking on in the first picture.
and bold eagles taking flight. beautiful.

They each brought home about 60 pounds of fish--mostly halibut.

Later they drove to the other side of the Kenai penninsula and stayed at Seward...which boasts some of world's most photographed natural beauty.
A little perspective as Eric walks along a glacier near Seward. This was at about 11 p.m.

Eric was hoping to stumble into Superman's home and learn all of Krypton's secrets.

Eric ended up climbing down to where the glacier emptied into the river. Here's a video. He brought home what he called "the purest water you'll ever drink" and convinced Connor that if he drank it, he'd end up 30% bigger "just like all the animals in the area." We didn't get bigger, but we might have got ice worms, which apparently infest this particular glacier.

Out to sea. Unfortunately, the waves were too rough, and their boat turned around before they could witness the Kenai Fjords famous "calving" glaciers

But they did see another waterfall...

and another.

And sea lions sunbathing....

And whales breaching...

And eagles stretching...and a whole lot more.


One last look at Alaska on their drive to the Anchorage airport. Eric said this was the first time they saw blue sky the whole week.