Exploring ~ALASKAN~ Wilderness VLOG Winter Edition | Iditarod dog sledding race 2022

Exploring ~ALASKAN~ Wilderness VLOG Winter Edition | Iditarod dog sledding race 2022

Come join me as I explore Alaska ~with a few friends from Georgia Tech~ who are researching and creating technology to track the health of sled dogs for the Iditarod Race! Thankfully, they let me tag along on their adventure, and I was able to get some amazing footage of the Alaskan Wilderness, Anchorage, Willow, among many other destinations!

Itinerary: 🚵

Day 1: Arrived at the Air Bnb in Willow (this was MY day 1 - my friends had already arrived the day prior to me). We mostly just settled in and grabbed dinner in Anchorage before catching some sleep.

Day 2: The next day we visited Matanuska Glacier! Matanuska Glacier is 27 miles long and 4 miles wide. It is the largest glacier accessible by car in the United States! It was such an awe-inspiring glacial structure - we explored it for hours! If you're interested in learning more, there are several tours you can book through Trip Advisor!

Day 3: We went skiing at Alyeska Ski Resort today! It was definitely a terrifyingly exhilarating experience as it was only my second time skiing (the first was a week before in Breckenridge). I only went down the green slopes, and we arrived about 1.5 hours before close, so the tickets ended up being free for us. The best part was watching the sun set as we closed in on the end of the day and grabbed beers afterwards at the local brewery.

Day 4: Worked most of the day (remotely) while my friends were working with the musher to help test the health technology on the dogs. Afterwards, we went out to dinner at a Thai place and hung out with my friend's friend - he showed us his lake house and we were able to experience living under the stars for a few hours. It was beautiful!

Day 5: Today we went hiking at Thunderbird Falls! It was a cute walk/hike to the falls and we decided to climb up to the waterfall using our spikes. It was such a cool climb (very short) but also a bit scary as there was ice all around us.

Day 6: Today we went hiking at Lazy Mountain (it was certainly NOT a lazy hike). There was an elevation gain of 3000+ft in 2.2 miles. We only did about 2/3 of the trail - so about 2000+ feet in 1.6 miles. We were able to reach two of the faux peaks - which were beautiful! And then we made our way back down on a longer (less treacherous) trail.

Day 7: Today was the day of the big Iditarod Ceremony! We were dog handlers for the ceremony and helped one of the mushers bring the dogs to the race "start line" - this was more of a symbolic start line as they'd be sledding for 11 miles before completing for the day. The "real" 1000+ mile race would start the following day! It was amazing to see the energy of all the dogs around us - what an amazing atmosphere!

Day 8: I left for the airport today! It was such a fantastic trip - we were able to do a lot in a very short amount of time. I was grateful for the opportunity to visit and really enjoyed the all of the outdoor activities!

Timeline:
0:00 Introduction
0:24 Day 1 (Willow)
0:54 Day 2 (Matanuska Glacier)
2:43 Day 3 (Alyeska Ski Resort)
3:23 Day 4 (Work & Lakehouse)
4:30 Day 5 (Work & Thunderbird Falls)
6:55 Day 6 (Lazy Mountain)
8:10 Day 7 (Iditarod ceremony)
8:32 Conclusion

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