This past weekend I while producing our next two shows we shot in Kennicott and Wrangell-St.Elias, I reached a point of needing fresh air! I had the right hike in mind! Unfortunately, the Hatcher Pass road over to Summit Lake was still closed, which is usually open early June. Spring is still coming to most areas above 2000 feet, so it’s something you’ll need to consider if you’re hiking this weekend.

Now on with the Hike!

As an alternative hike and there’s plenty to be had in Hatcher Pass, I decided to take a hike up in an area that I’ve not visited in well over 15 years! Like I said in the video, most people stop at the top of the first hill, which is great because it’s obtainable for anyone! Venturing further back should be nothing to fear at all… It’s all very easy and flat. Those of you in shape, you’ll be tempted as I was to spend the day exploring the higher ridges and peaks!

There’s no doubt in my mind that I’m going to return this summer again, and probably make a camping an overnight out of the adventure. Care to join?!

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Park Fee: Free Parking (before the park fee entrance)

Hiking Time: Open to your pace and choice destination.
Elevation: Starting 3110 feet to Summit 4038 feet

That’s a Hike!

Question for the Hike of the Week viewers:
How many of you would enjoy doing a monthly meetup hike? I’m also considering potential 2 day trip I have in mind. Let me know!

See our other hikes at: www.alaskapodshow.com/hikeoftheweek

We recently returned from an amazing journey to McCarthy and Kennicott where we spent 3 days adventuring around the area. The drive into Wrangell - St. Elias National Park was truly spectacular and really not all that rough (if you don’t get in a hurry). More on this story coming in our next episode(s).

This SanitySaver is just great to look at, the scenery is almost surreal. I truly hope you get a sense of escape from this episode. Enjoy!

-Kevin

Music by: Jim Fidler
www.jimfidler.com

If you don’t already have an Alaska Airlines Visa card, hit our link first to apply at www.alaskapodshow.com/visa.  You could earn up to 20,000 bonus miles and you’ll be ready to enter the BYO Vacation Sweeps!

After applying, be sure to visit the Build Your Own Vacation Sweepstakes for details on the prizes, rules, etc. Hurry though, the promotion ends July 31, 2008.

P.S. They didn’t pay me to say this, I just thought I would share the news! -Kevin

Join Scott as he adventures really close to home - along the Tony Knowles Coastal Trail in Anchorage, Alaska. If you’re looking for a quick getaway during the day, the coastal trail provides miles of great scenery, people and wildlife.

During this hike we encountered two young bull moose in Kincaid park that were just a few feet off the trail. The curious one of the two eventually meandered across the trail as a family and several others looked on. Whether you’re visiting Anchorage or live here, the coastal trail really does offer a great escape from the “city”.

Check out the previous Hike of the Week shows by subscribing to the iTunes feed.

A special thanks to Bank of America and the Alaska Airlines Signature Visa card for helping kick off our 2008 year. Alaska HDTV is dependent on sponsors, viewers and a dash of ingenuity to keep the production alive and kicking. Without sponsors and supporters, we’d never be able to get to places like Valdez, Wrangell, Chena Hot Springs, etc. Thanks again.

Sites to visit:

Our current campaign with Budget Car and Truck rentals is a shorter, smaller deal - but we are anxious to see how YOU the viewer responds to the discount offer provided by Budget and Alaska HDTV. Visit http://www.budget.com/alaska and the discount code is automatically provided.

The Alaska Airlines Signature Visa card offer is still valid too! Stop by www.alaskapodshow.com/visa for details on how you can earn Alaska Airlines miles toward a trip to Alaska! Start earning the miles and get up here, we’d love to see you!

Financial times

We’re still 110% go with Alaska HDTV and have committed our lives, family and careers to making this show a success. We love creating and sharing Alaska with you and hope that you’ll enjoy it enough to think of us and drop us a donation. Buy us a cup of coffee or a gallon of gas…if everyone who watches sent just $5, we’d be set for the rest of the year!  If you have a PayPal account, you can hit the Chip In button on the previous blog entry.

Thanks again and stay tuned for a couple of AMAZING shows coming at the end of June and into July. We’ve been out and about and have some great adventures to share.

All the best, thanks for watching.
-Kevin 

To learn about other ways you can help support Alaska HDTV, visit our Support Us page.

Your contribution will go directly toward our travel, permits and equipment fund. With these funds we are already planning to bring you bears, airplanes, hiking, fishing and more local flavor shows. Help us keep the show alive!

Thank you, Scott & Kevin

While in Valdez for our RV adventure, we spent a whole day taking in the Alaska aviation experience at the 2008 May Day Fly-In.  This event is truly a unique experience for the pilots and fans of bush flying and real Alaska aviation. Pilots fly in from all around the country, pitch a tent under their wings and spend a weekend enjoying beach landings, flour bombing and STOL competitions. If you’re into flying at all, this is a must see event!

Hope you enjoy this sampling of “kites on wheels”!
-Kevin

Here’s the direct download options: Medium format | Large HD format

WOW WHAT A TRIP!

Still lots of snow on the mountains, but spring is moving in quickly and making up for a late start. Anxious for summer to get here, we hit the road and drove from Anchorage to Valdez, then took the Alaska Marine Highway back home.

Before I go any further… Let me say I’ve never been much of an RV guy, and hate following them on the road! Additionally the guys know me as often saying “Let’s get out in the dirt!” - I do like the views from a tent!

I will confess that Alaska Travel Adventures completely changed my view of the whole RV experience. That probably should not come as a surprise because they’ve been providing the total Alaska experience for over 25 years. We were provided their Sunseeker RV for this road trip, which really has a forward thinking floor plan making good use of space. This RV also offers reasonable gas mileage in contrast to others on the road, which is important these days!

As you know Alaska is a Big State. The distance between locations is huge, and if you’re doing the B&B, Resort, or Lodging thing… It can get quite costly - so I see this as a great alternative. So think of it as a mobile base camp to all your Alaska adentures!

All said and done - We enjoyed having a mobile studio and the ability to just pull over and make a cup of espresso whenever we needed and I say YEAH!

Would I RV again? YES!
Do I still enjoy getting dirty? HECK YES!

Valdez
This part of our trip was HUGE and I’m Not Kidding!!  We were surrounded by bush pilots and general aviation geeks, and amazed at the huge turnout of this event. We enjoyed shooting the 2008 Valdez May Day Fly-in & Airshow, and taking part in some of the activities like the Poker Run / Beach Landing.  Flying is part of Alaska’s culture… If you can’t drive, you’re flying and that goes for most of the state.  We’ve got tons of great footage and information to share - so that’s coming to you very soon!

Marine Life, Bears, Fishing, Hiking, and Wilderness…  It’s all here in Valdez! Can’t wait to return and play again!

The Alaska Marine Highway
This is a fantastic service from Valdez to Whittier or heck even if you’re looking to visit Valdez, this is a great way to get there!  I could not recommend this more as a travel option.

My only regret of this trip is that we did not have time to talk to more people along the way for the show! It’s high on our list in coming shows.  We did meet some great folks and even found a Kaladi coffee house tucked back into Silver Springs area… Great vibe, nice folks, good company…

In Closing
I’d like to thank Bill Bryson III, his Father Bill Bryson, Buck & Betty with ATA, Gary Odle, Kelli Dindinger, Danielle with AMHS, Scott at Alaska TravelGram and other friends for helping us coordinate this adventure. We really appreciated the hospitality in Valdez! One question I have wondering about…who doesn’t know Bill Bryson?  :)

This was a blast!  If you end up taking this trip exactly or something similar, do share with others here at Alaska HDTV - We’d love to know!

Cheers,
Scott

INDEPENDENT MUSIC ARTISTS FEATURED IN THIS SHOW:

Latch Key Kid
“Yesterday”
www.latchkeykid.org

Up Stairs
“C Plus”
music.podshow.com

Jim Fidler
“Home Comes The Rover”
www.jimfidler.com

Meg Bird
“Do what you gotta do”
www.wichita-recordings.com

©2008 Perfect Blend Media, LLC

Be sure to continue to watch this space as we continue to drop in our complete archive of shows.

Thanks for watching!

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