We first went on a tour with Alaska Backcountry Adventures during our 2022 visit to Palmer and it was absolutely amazing. There was a high bar set that day and today’s visit met the bar and maybe even jumped right over it!

The Noisy Goose

We chose to try to go back to The Noisy Goose for breakfast and it worked out perfectly. We arrived right after their 7 AM opening and I enjoyed an omelette (spinach, mushroom and cheese) and LJ chose a breakfast skillet with onions, peppers, cheese, ham. We had a great server named Jess and she got us in and out in great time. Our food was delicious and it was a fun and eclectic atmosphere.

The Main Event

We were warmly greeted by Anna upon our arrival, who was from Hendersonville (small world!). She got us outfitted into our rain pants, rain jacket, boots, gloves, goggles and helmets. We chatted about NC and our last visit to Alaska Backcountry. She had family in Wasila growing up and then as she got older decided to move here to work.

Then she told us our guide would be Austin (hello! perfect name!) and that he also had been from the Charlotte area (VERY small world!). Austin had been to Alaska Backcountry for seven different visits before he and his wife decided to relocate from Maui. They also are new parents. He was super personable and we did our safety briefing and got ready for a fantastic day heading out to Knik Glacier a massive 25-mile-long and 5-mile-wide ice field located about 50 miles east of Anchorage in the Chugach Mountains of Alaska. There was one other couple with us, on their honeymoon from Iowa so it was a fantastic small group.

I took the first shift driving (it’s kind of my favorite thing). Here are some photos at the first half of the trip, including our first view of the glacier, at still almost 17 miles away, some female Dall sheep up on the side of the mountain face and some gorgeous fall colors. We had lots of different terrain that we covered from out on the beach, through tunnels of trees, water crossings

Lunch with a view. Once we arrived at the glacier, Austin got started making two different fires, one with charcoal to cook our hot lunch on and then a second for us to warm ourselves by. One other party with the same company joined us, a guide and then a couple from Charleston, South Carolina. LJ and I had chicken, the rest of the group had reindeer sausage, and we had potatoes and green beans as well. We also had a choice of cocoa or cider to go with the water we already had from the morning.

It’s honestly impossible to describe the beauty. We had a brief few minutes of sprinkles and then the sun popped out. We also heard the Colony Glacier calving in the distance.

Post lunch return we took the river trail, had more water crossings, some dunes and a spotting of a fresh addition to the moose cemetery so skip the last pic if you’re squeamish.

An extra special sighting on our way back – two of the dall sheep were down in the tree area as we came through enjoying some glacial “vitamin” silt! It’s about 45 seconds into the video below.

Dinner

Anna recommended a restaurant that unfortunately was closed for Labor Day so we pivoted and went to a place called Carina’s at the Clocktower. We were tired and on the early side for dinner but enjoyed the Caprese Skewers, LJ had French Onion Soup, I chose the Tuscan Seafood Pasta and he had the Caramelized Onion Risotto with Chicken. Full tummies, and we headed back to do some laundry and catch up on… the blog!

Tomorrow we have a half day fishing charter in the morning to try to find some arctic char and we have decided to head on to Seward in the afternoon instead of doing such a long day on Wednesday so we’ll come back and pack out of the VRBO and start the journey to one of our favorite Alaskan cities!