Alaska Uncovered Podcast
Welcome to the Alaska Uncovered Podcast with your host, Jennie Thwing Flaming. Jennie brings you accurate, helpful and entertaining information about Alaska Travel and Life in Alaska. Guests include Alaska travel experts and Alaska business owners, guides and interesting Alaskans. Jennie is a born and raised Seattleite, a former Alaskan and spends several weeks in Alaska each year. She’s an experienced guide and the Founder of the Alaska and Washington travel website, Top Left Adventures. Jennie is joined by occasional co-host, Jay Flaming, her husband for 25 years. Jennie and Jay met working in tourism in Alaska and have lived in Skagway, Juneau and Fairbanks together. Jay lived in Fairbanks for 8 years before meeting Jennie in Skagway and grew up in Yellowstone National Park.
Alaska Uncovered Podcast
Exploring Matanuska Glacier near Anchorage with Steve Busby of Greatland Adventures
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Steve Busby, founder of Greatland Adventures, joins Jennie to talk about exploring Matanuska Glacier, a wonderful day trip from Anchorage in summer and winter.
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Music credits: Largo Montebello, by Domenico Mannelli, CC.
Welcome to the Alaska uncovered podcast with me, your host, Jennie Thwing Flaming, I bring you accurate, helpful and entertaining information about Alaska travel and life and Alaska. My occasional co host and full time husband, Jay and I are committed to keeping the Alaska uncovered podcast ad free. To do that we need your help. If you're enjoying the podcast, we invite you to contribute toward tip jar, which is the first link in the show notes. We are so grateful for our listeners and we wouldn't be here without you. Thank you and enjoy the show. Are you looking to get out hiking on a glacier on your trip to Alaska? That's what we're talking about today. My guest today is Steve Busby. Steve is the founder of great land adventures an Alaska adventure tour company, taking guests on small group tours all over Alaska for all types of adventures, including both summer and winter tours from Anchorage to explore Matanuska Glacier, which is what we're going to talk about today. A lifelong outdoor adventurer Steve is experienced as a small group adventure guide. He makes every tour he and his team lead fun and informative. When not working you'll find Steve playing in the mountains, the ocean or having fun around town. Steve, welcome to Alaska uncovered. Thank you for being here.
Steve:Thank you so much for having me, Jennie. It's a pleasure. Yeah.
Jennie Flaming:So I'd love to start by asking you the same thing that I asked all my guests, which is how did you get to Alaska?
Steve:Awesome. Well, yeah. So in the summer of 2005, I came to Alaska as a tour guide working for a company called Trek America. And they were sending me all over North America for about six years doing small group camping and budget lodging trips. So I was traveling all over the lower 48 Canada and Mexico year round. And the reward for doing a good job for them was they would send you to Alaska for the summer. Well, they sent me up I they sent me up I did a trip from Seattle, up through British Columbia and the Yukon and into Alaska. And then back out through the Yukon to Skagway and take the ferry back to Seattle. It was amazing. So in light of our Matanuska glacier discussion today, that was actually the second place I ever visited in Alaska. I came over the the top of the world highway from Dawson City into thru chicken and my first night was in toke at the campground out there and they had a sourdough pancake toss. And I won the pancake toss.
Jennie Flaming:well done. First time in Alaska, and you won that. That's impressive.
Steve:And I was hooked.
Jennie Flaming:So how long was that tour that you did from Seattle all the way up and back down? That must have been a pretty long tour
Steve:26 days, it was a great trip. The group was super fun was one of my best groups ever. We were calling ourselves the icebreakers because we were the first tour of the summer. And so just about everywhere was still frozen. And businesses were just opening and it was that early season in the Yukon and Alaska, which is now one of my favorite times of year. Yeah, seems like you know, April, May, early June. There's a lot of sunshine.
Jennie Flaming:Which is really nice. Yeah, that's so cool. So then did you just stay after after the pancake experience?
Steve:I had to go back down. I had to go back down to the lower 48 and they sent me back up again in the summer of 2007. And I stayed from the summer of 2007. After the summer of 2007. I drove my car back to California. I grew up near Los Angeles, okay, and brought my car back up here in October and I've been here ever since.
Jennie Flaming:That's Awesome. Love it. So, tell me a little bit about how and why you started doing tours to Matanuska glacier specifically. So your company offers lots of different tours. So why Matanuska glacier?
Steve:well, so that very first trip, we camped it took and then the second night, we camped at the toe of the Matanuska glacier used to be able to camp at the entrance there. Oh, and so we, the, my company would come and camp at the group site, which was sitting there looking over the glacier. And we would book tours with local tour companies to go out ice climbing, or hiking on the glacier. And so from the very first time I went there, I just saw how amazing it was. And then fast forward. After working for various different wilderness outfits around Alaska. I started my own business. And because mostly because I wanted to be home at night, I was kind of vagabonding for many years, and didn't really have a solid base. And so I wanted to start to get into the day tour industry because I loved what I was doing. But I wanted to kind of also have that life play a softball league or a bowling alley, you know, go to the movies, those kinds of things. Yep. And so I started doing day tours. And, you know, Matanuska glacier was top of the list. So that's how I started. You know, glaciers are one of the top draws in Alaska for visitors, one of the one of the things that are most interested in and it makes for an amazing drive out there, through the mountain, and Valley. And it's just really beautiful day from Anchorage just makes a perfect day trip from Anchorage.
Jennie Flaming:Yeah. Yeah. That's awesome. So you, you already said, you know, what we know, which is that glaciers are one of the main things that people who come to Alaska really want to see and experience. And of course, there is a lot of glaciers. What makes Matanuska glacier really special? And what makes it stand out maybe compared to some others?
Steve:Sure. That's, that's a great question. Matanuska is the largest glacier that is accessible by road in Alaska. And you can get much closer to the glacier by road, then you can on just about every other glacier in Alaska. And on top of that, it's a pretty good sized glacier. So it's about 27 miles long, and about four miles wide. And another thing that makes it so special is, you know, it sits on the north end of the Chugach Mountains. And there's a rain shield there. And so the weather is usually really nice at the toe of the glacier. It has great weather, and it has great accessibility from Anchorage.
Jennie Flaming:Yeah, those are all those are all really awesome things for sure. Yeah. Cool. So Steve, could you talk a little bit, so I know you offer both summer and winter tours to the glacier. And by the way, I should mention and correct me if I'm wrong, but you can see Matanuska glacier from the highway, and from the pull out there on the Glenn highway. But my understanding is that you can not go out to and certainly not walk on the glacier unless you were on a tour with a guide. Is that correct?
Steve:Mostly Correct. Yes. Okay. So you can see the glacier from the road. Yeah. And there's a really nice viewpoint. That's a State Recreation Area. Yep. The Matanuska glacier State Recreation Area, and I believe it's about right about one mile 100 or 101. And so you, you can access the glacier on your own. The problem is, is that to use the road, you have to go through private property. So right, the road is private property to the glacier. And so if you want to go use them the road access, you do have to take it to her. Yeah, you can't really get there on your own. It's, you would have to raft and bushwhack or in the wintertime, ski or snow machine and it's a very difficult track on your own the road makes it really nice. Yeah, the nice thing about the road too is that the the folks there at To at the mountain use glacier, they maintain the road and they maintain the the pathways up to the glacier. So they're out there every day. And there's an added safety. Yeah, having somebody who's there every day set the route for everyone.
Jennie Flaming:All right. Cool. So going back to the summer in winter, you can you talk a little bit first about when is summer when is winter, because there is a shoulder season where you don't offer tours in between, right.
Steve:There's a small time of year for about one month from the middle of April to the middle of May. When the glacier is melting out. So yep, in the wintertime, if the lake in front of the glacier freezes, and you can hike out on the lake ice, yep. Well, that all starts to melt and become unstable. And then all of the moraine that is uncovered from the snow mountain and ice melt gets really, really muddy. Yeah, and it's just really difficult and unsafe to hike. Yep. From the toe of the glacier from the terminal moraine out to the toe. So about mid May is when it opens back up. It's different every year. Yeah, some years. It's stable earlier some years a little bit later, but usually by mid May, it's safe again to walk out there. And then it goes through again till April. So summer time, I would consider mid May to mid September. We officially call it the end of October because in November is when you start to get access to the crevasses and the ice caves that become stable in the winter. So in the summertime, we're hiking out there and we have our ice cleats on and we're walking on the glacier ice. . In the in the wintertime, we're walking on snow covered trails on a combination of the frozen glacier Lake and also the moraine. What the difference is, is that in the wintertime, the the meltwater from the glacier seeps up and freezes in all the crevasses and ice caves. And the most of the toe of the glacier becomes kind of set in place by the ice. And you can access more safely. Areas that you couldn't access in the summertime in the summertime, there might be a crevasse that has, you know, a huge drop in it that if you fell into would be a life or death situation. Yeah, wintertime, that will fill up with water and freeze and you'll have a solid sheet of ice underneath are you that you can explore that area
Jennie Flaming:Yeah, that makes sense. And is there a weird time in the fall where you don't do tours during the transition? Also? Or are you able to just keep the summer route until the winter one is available?
Steve:We're able Yeah, we're able to just continue the tour. About the first couple of heavy snowfalls is when it changes. Okay. And so that's different every year a little bit too. But what needs to happen is there is kind of about a two week period, I would say, from the middle of October to the end of October, where sometimes the lake hasn't quite frozen solid enough. And you're still walking on a snow covered trail on the summer route. Yep. So there's a kind of a little bit of a two week window there at the end of October where we are still operating tours, but the access might be a little different than summer.
Jennie Flaming:That's really cool. And that's good to know. Because sometimes if people are visiting in those seasons that are quite summer or quite winter, there are things sometimes that operate year round that aren't available. So that is really cool that you guys have your tours all through the fall. That's awesome.
Steve:We love the shoulder seasons in the wintertime. There's there's noticeably less people hear and so you can go and see all of the all the beauty of Alaska with just a few less people. I mean, Alaska is not really crowded by any standards. But yeah. Still in the fall in the wintertime it it feels even a little bit more like it's your own private experience.
Jennie Flaming:Yeah, for sure. That's cool. One thing that I often tell people and so for those of you listening, who may be tired of hearing me say that But I will say it again, is that one of the really cool benefits of taking any kind of a tour when you're in Alaska, is that you can go to places that aren't that you can't get to on a road. And you know, that's true if it's hiking or kayaking, or a boat to her flight scene. And if you're specifically on it to or where you're walking like this one, there's such a cool, you know, you're with a smaller group. And there really is that kind of like, Whoa, I am like, in Alaska, this is rad.
Steve:definitely. Yeah, that's one of our specialties is, is small groups, we, so we have a maximum of six guests in each group on the glacier. So you get a real up close and personal experience.
Jennie Flaming:Yeah. Is there anything? So you know, I suppose it's obvious that if someone is coming in the summer, then they should do a summer tour. And if they're coming in the winter, they should do a winter tour. But are there any other factors? You know, like, if someone was really wanting to plan their trip around glaciers? Like are there any thoughts you have for folks about deciding which time of year might be best for them?
Steve:Sure. For for glaciers specifically. You know, I do prefer Matanuska. Glacier, specifically, I should say, I do prefer the experience on the winter tour, because being able to access those crevasses, yeah. And, and on good years, there's some really cool ice caves. Yeah. In the summer time, one of the best times though, is to come in June. So in early June, is when the blue pool season is on the Matanuska glacier. So what happens is, is as the snow melts on the glacier from the winter, it starts to drain into the valleys of ice and, and it starts to form little lakes, basically on top of the ice, and they're just this amazing glacier blue color. And by the time that July, rolls around, a lot of those have kind of burrow their way down into the ice and melted into all the drainage tunnels that there's just a network of, of tunnels of drain water through a glacier. And so you know, by some of them stay longer, different years. If you have a helicopter, you can usually access them year round. But to be able to walk from the toe, the best time to access Blue Pools is in early June.
Jennie Flaming:That's an awesome tip. Good to know. Okay. Um, while we're talking about summer, are there bugs on the glacier?
Steve:So that's one of the nice things too, it's actually really kind of bug free. Yeah. You know, the mosquito season in Alaska is, you know, late May, and June into July. And so that's mosquito season, and then you hit the end of the summer you get more noseeums. But on the glacier glaciers have what's called a catabolic wind. And a catabolic wind is a wind that's formed from a pressure difference, the the ice of the glacier cools the air above it. And that cool air then, is more dense and heavier than the warmer air around it. And so it tends to get pulled by gravity down towards the bottom of the glacier and it rushes down the face of the glacier and comes off the face there. So there's usually a cold wind coming down the face, which mosquitoes don't really like. Yeah, and then it the wind, once it gets down to off the ice, the Earth will warm it up again. And then that air will rise again. And there's generally it's called a Blue Hole. At the end of glaciers, there tends to be an area where there's a lot less precipitation because of this up pressure of wind from the toe of the glacier, so there tends to usually be nicer weather, as far as you know. No rain or snow at the toes of the glaciers compared to other areas around them.
Jennie Flaming:Cool. Yeah, that and that when you can feel that kind of cooler wind to that is such a cool feeling on a glacier. You're like whoa, this is like its own weather system. And I didn't Yeah, about the kind of updraft at the toe. That's really cool.
Steve:Yeah, It also it chews the bugs away. And there's usually not, you know, the areas that mosquitoes and bugs generally kind of like, are not really prevalent at the Toba glaciers. There's not a lot of vegetation. Yep, vegetation is still starting to grow in and and so they're generally bug free out there at the mountain Ooh, squiggly shirt and generally rain free.
Jennie Flaming:That That right there is a reason to love it.
Steve:Yeah, I mean, a lot of days, it'll be pouring down rain and in Anchorage. And people will call us to ask us if we're gonna cancel and we say, oh, no, it's I mean, it's bright and sunny out the glacier. And they probably saw weather cams. There's some weather cams out there. There's the system stops about Chickaloon. Okay, Chickaloon is about 80 miles east, east northeast of Anchorage. Uh huh. And weather patterns generally kind of come in and in the Cook Inlet and and connect arm and push up the valley there to about chitlin. And after chitlin there's glacier view area, which glacier view area tends to experience more high pressure systems and a lot less rain.
Jennie Flaming:Fabulous. That's great. Um, okay, we're gonna take a short break. And when we come back, we're going to talk about some more logistics related to Matt anouska glacier with Steve and hear some of his favorite things in Anchorage. So we'll be right back. Hi, everyone. Jennie here. I hope you're enjoying this episode so far. If you're listening in real time, in April 2024, and you're planning to travel to Alaska this summer. It's not too late. Let me help you make that dream trip come true. Through one of my planning sessions, or even planning the whole thing for you. If you'd like more help, follow the link in the show notes that's just below the tip jar to book a session with me want to do it on your own? That's also awesome. Take my free four question quiz to get an itinerary suggestion based on your travel style and your personal dreams for your trip. The link to that is in the show notes too. All right, back to the show. And we're back with Steve Busby. From Greatland adventures. And we are talking today about Matt newschool glacier, and how to get out there and explore the glacier almost year round except for breakup. So that's what we're talking about today. So Steve, I would love to get into like sort of a series of short logistical questions. Um, I have learned that those are often some of the things people have like the biggest questions about so first of all, let's talk about transportation from Anchorage, so we're so what transportation does your do your tours include?
Steve:So our tours include transportation with hotel pickup in Anchorage and hotel drop off. A lot of people now are staying at vacation rentals, you know, Airbnb and VRBO. Those, and we will pick up at those. If we have a private group, we do private tours as well. So you can book a tour with just your own group. In that case, we'll pick up at a vacation rental. But for folks that are on our public tour, and are staying in a vacation rental, they can meet us at our office in Midtown Anchorage. Oh, cool. We're on 36th Avenue and between old Seward and new Seward highway. Nice. Yeah, so we offer transportation. Our tours also include lunch. There's a local eatery out there that overlooks the glacier that has a really amazing view. And it's a really nice way to cap off the day of hiking. And you know, a lot of our visitors have never seen a glacier or walked on a glacier. And it's really a special experience and then to go and be able to sit and have lunch and think about it and have a beer or drink. And while you're looking at the glacier, it just makes a real nice finish to the experience. You also can't drive on your own to the glacier. So it's about it's 101 miles I believe, from Anchorage. Most days, the roads pretty well maintained. It is a windy, mountainous road through the Matanuska Valley. Some days it's not so well maintained and it can be a difficult for people who aren't experienced with winter driving. But for people who are experienced with winter driving, it's pretty accessible year round. In a tire A car with good winter tires. So that's one thing I would recommend if you're gonna come out and plan on visiting the Mananuska glacier and driving out there on your own. really investigate the car that you're going to renting and what the tires are. I think that the tires in the wintertime are more important than four wheel drive.
Jennie Flaming:I totally agree with you about the tires. Oh, me on. Yeah, yeah, that's a really big deal. Okay. Um, So how hard is the hike? And I know, I'm asking that question the way people often ask me, and I find that really hard to answer, because it depends on if this is your first hike ever, or if you hike all the time. But what are your what do you usually tell people about? Like, how far are you walking? Or how much time or how steep? Is it?
Steve:That's a great question. We get that a lot. And so generally, a year round the hike on our tour. And we'd like to actually, we can just call it a walk. People who aren't experienced hikers get the word hike in their mind. And there's negative connotations there. We're really just walking. Yeah, beautiful area. Yeah. So it's three to four miles, depending on the trail at that particular time. It's mostly flat. So there's no big uphill or downhill. It's mostly flat. There's some small undulations. In the summertime, you're walking on ice. So you know, you're not walking as fast as you would on on, say, a smooth trail. Yeah, but we're stopping. So we're out on the glacier for about two hours. And I would say, about 45 minutes of that is actual when you're walking, the rest is stopping taking pictures, giving narration talking about glaciology and yeah, what glaciers are and how they behave and, and also just the natural flora and fauna and geology of the area. So there's, there's a lot of interpretation that goes along. And of course, a lot of stopping for photos. There's Yeah, the glacier lends itself really well to selfies, and, you know, social media and posting with that glacier, blue ice, you know, that's so unique. So we make sure that that guests have a lot of time to take pictures during during the walk. Yeah,
Jennie Flaming:that's awesome.
Steve:One more thing. There is what we do tell us so we say, we tell guests who are interested or you know, wondering if they're going to be able to do it or not. We say if you can comfortably walk four miles on a dirt trail, then you'll be fine on the tour. And again, it's not a strenuous walk. We're not walking very fast. We're walking very slowly. Yep. We're stopping a lot for fun.
Jennie Flaming:Yes. Yep. Yes, that is awesome. Um, that is a great explanation of it. Because it's, you know, it is just a hard question to answer because you don't know what people's background is and experience and what they're comfortable with. So that, that sounds like a really good way to describe it. Okay, so speaking of photos, Steve, what if I dropped my phone? Number out there. I mean, maybe that's even dropped their phone in a blue pool or in a glacier? Yeah.
Steve:So I have never seen a phone a phone dropped. I'm guaranteed it has happened out there. It must have it's never happened on one of my groups. But we definitely have lost a few of the ice cleats that we use. So we have ice cleats that pull over your feet. And at the end of the walk in the summertime, we'll stop by a little area of water on a glacier and we'll kind of rinse them off. Because they in the summertime, they'll tend to get some, some glacier mud on them from the rock flower, the glacial silt, and we'll wash that off and then we've dropped a few in those. But I haven't heard anybody break Java on their phone. But what does happen is your phone in the in the wintertime, especially if you have an iPhone, they will it will stop working very quickly in the cold. Yeah. And so it's a pretty cool experience to go out there and they're really deep cold, but a lot of people aren't used to it. Taking their phones out with them and that cold temperature and then yeah, people will be disappointed when their phone stops working really quickly and they haven't taken all the photos they want. Yeah. So we give out hand warmers for people to put in their pockets and put their phone in their pocket with their hand warmer, and then you just want to pull the phone out as quickly as possible to get your photos and then put it back in there. Yeah, because once the once the temperature trigger kicks in, it'll start to shut off more each time. Yeah.
Jennie Flaming:Yeah. That's a great trick. And love it. Hand warmers for the phone. Love it. Yes. Um, okay. So what about bathrooms? So I should tell you that we've had several episodes of this podcast where we've talked in depth about backcountry, heating, outhouses, things like that. Yeah. So for folks who've listened to the podcast for a while, you might be like, Oh, here we go. Again, talking about the bathroom. But it's important, right? It's a question that people have. So what are the options? Can you pee on a glacier? How do you pee on a glacier? Or do you have to hold it till you get to an outhouse? Tell me how that works?
Steve:That's a great question. Yeah. So on our tour, we do everything we can in our power to make sure that people don't have to go to the bathroom on the glacier. So there's restrooms on the restroom stop on the way up there. And there's restroom facilities at the entrance. Okay. After that, though, there are no restroom facilities. So we, we definitely discourage going to the bathroom on the glacier. But you absolutely can if you have to. And, and I will say that I've had to multiple times over the years, you know, when nature calls, yeah. Nothing stopping it. So yeah. You know, we carry emergency toilet kits. Oh, and, you know, it's an embarrassing thing to go to your guide and say, you know, I have to go number two, not number one, number two. Yep. And then you just got to find somewhere, there's always a little ridge or something that you can go get some privacy and then do your business. And the thing, the good thing about glaciers is that they basically to the landscape up there, they're major forces of erosion. Yeah. And so, you know, as long as you go in an area that is away from the main kind of trail trail systems out there, people probably aren't even going to notice it. And then it's going to be gone really quickly. Yeah. So yep, you can definitely go out there. We try not to obviously, we give opportunities more before they go out there. Yeah. So hopefully, you can hold it for about two hours. Yep. That's about the length of time that you need to hold it. But you can't. We've got you covered.
Jennie Flaming:Well, that is wonderful that you do and wonderful that your game to explain that. Thanks, Steve. All right, cool. So last thing kind of in this category is, I know, you said that the weather there is often a lot better than the surrounding area. But what if it rains? Should I panic?
Steve:No. So we, I personally, I personally love being out in the rain. So yeah, you know, that's another thing is, there's no such thing the old saying in Alaska or, you know, there's no such thing as bad weather. There's just inappropriate clothing. Yeah. So you know, if you have good waterproof rain suit and good waterproof shoes, it can be a really cool experience to be out in the rain, because a lot of times, then you're going to be even more of a personalized experience, because a lot less people are going to be out there. Yeah, but I've seen this time and time again over the years. With guiding is that I feel like the universe kind of takes care of you when you push through the elements. Yeah, and you know, of course we don't want to be unsafe or anything but when you still go and you still do the thing that you were going to do you push through maybe some inclement weather, something cool usually happens like a unique wildlife sighting or the clouds break in this magical moment with a rainbow for five minutes and then it's gone and only you saw it type of stuff. So yeah, you know, I say definitely if you're coming to Alaska, especially in the summer. Good. Rain gear is essential and not just a rain jacket. You need rain pants, and you need waterproof shoes that When the water runs down your rain suit that you're not going to have your feet are going to be wet. Yep, good waterproof shoes, good waterproof pants, and a good waterproof jacket. And then you don't really have to worry about it. And again, I will say though it rarely rains out there. It is a very dry climate. That is, yeah, there's it's a rare day, honestly, you know, we're out there probably over 300 days a year. Yeah, it's a rare day when we're hiking the whole day in the rain, and maybe once a year, you know, there might be some sprinkles here or there. But it's a rare day where it's just raining the whole time.
Jennie Flaming:That's cool. Is there anything else that people should make sure to bring? I just realized I meant to ask that and didn't when you were talking about earlier and good footwear, anything else that you'd recommend people have for going out to the glacier?
Steve:So sunglasses? Oh, yeah. Is Number one, the you know, especially if it's sunny. The snow is reflecting off the all the white everywhere, and it can give you snow blindness. To where the you know, the light kind of scorches your eyeballs. Yeah, and you're temporarily blind, your sight comes back. But definitely sunglasses, I would say is number one, I would say number two is a light, at least a light pair of something on your hands. You know, in the wintertime, obviously, we're going to be wearing mittens or warmer gloves because it's too cold. But in the summertime, just even a little pair of it could be gardening gloves or something to put on your hands in case you have a little misstep or something up to put your hand down. Yeah, the ice can be kind of jagged and you can, you know, usually aren't gonna really like cut your, but it's uncomfortable to have to put your bare hand down on ice. Yeah. So any sort of glove and sunglasses and then you know, if you have a more of a boot style shoe, we make it work when people have regular shoes or trail runners but and we will bring sometimes we'll bring rain boots for people who are really unprepared. You can hike in rain boots, but at least it's really sturdy hiking boots that has a sturdy soul, that you're not going to feel the unevenness of the isomatch underneath your feet when you're walking in the summertime. That would be another recommendation. And then you know, I think just your spirit of adventure anywhere. Yeah, yeah.
Jennie Flaming:Love it. And then for winter, would you recommend that people wear like snow boots? Or would you still recommend hiking boots for winter?
Steve:Yeah. Or snow boots/ Yeah. So the way I describe it for the winter is that most people kind of understand the best is dress like you're gonna go ski. Yeah. And so, you know, most people have some sort of experience with kind of sledding or skiing or something in the mountains. And that's basically exactly what what you want to dress like in the wintertime you want to wear layers and you especially thermal layers, yep. Thermal tops and bottoms, snow pants, a snow jacket. And I like mittens. Personally, they keep your hands warmer than fingered gloves. Yep. And so we also we do rent, because inevitably folks come up here a lot of times, it's the people up here for business and they just, they don't want to pack a bunch of extra stuff. They live in a warm climate and they don't want to trudge their back all the way up here. And so we offer gear rental from head to toe. So yeah, we have you know, minus 50 to minus 80 rated winter boots. We have snow snow bibs and hooded snow, parkas, mittens, warm hat and hand warmers. Awesome. So if you do happen to be here, or just don't want to bring all your stuff, at least while you're with us on a tour. You're going to stay warm.
Jennie Flaming:That's awesome. Great tips. Okay. All right, Steve, what's your favorite month in Anchorage? Or you could answer Yeah, sure.
Steve:Which I think that's probably both the same. I think it's March. Yeah, yeah. I think March is my favorite time. I do like snow sports. And yeah, I do like the weather. The sun is getting brighter and brighter and higher and higher in the sky every day and you kind of feel your body awakening from the slumber of winter. Her Yeah. And I call it being high on sunshine. Yeah. You know, I love that. So, you know everybody's walking around and and feeling great and it's beautiful. And there's all sorts of great winter snow recreation activities and in with lots of light and not quite as cold the temperatures usually as the data winter. Yeah. So I would say marches and I love the Ferrante time of year. You know, it's just a festive time of year it feels like everybody's kind of getting together and shaking off the cobwebs from the winter. Yes. And getting ready to enjoy all those longer days that are ahead.
Jennie Flaming:for sure. Yeah, when I lived, I've never lived in Anchorage. But when I lived in Fairbanks, March, March and September, were my favorite months there. Yeah, definitely. What's your favorite restaurant in Anchorage? I know. It's tough. Yeah.
Steve:Well, so I have this. I'm partial to ginger on Fifth Avenue downtown. Yeah. When I first started my business. I was bartending at ginger. I my business wasn't supporting me year round. And so yeah, you know, a lot more people visit in the summer than the winter. And so in the wintertime out for five years, I bartended at ginger in the wintertime. Awesome. And I just have a lot of respect for the owners and the crew there. And I think that they always consistently have great drinks, great atmosphere, great food.
Jennie Flaming:Great suggestion. Love it. Okay. What's your favorite thing to do in Anchorage? If it's your day off?
Steve:Yeah, I guess it depends on the time of year, I would say as far as outdoor activities. What I'm usually doing if I'm doing some sort of outdoor activity is riding my fat tire bike on the trails around Anchorage. So, yeah, a year round. The trail system is great. And there's the group single track advocates is a really great resource for people who like to bike. And there's just a really cool community of people that are out stomping down trails and keeping the trails open year round, and it's just a really great accessible activity year round. And the single track trails around acreage.
Jennie Flaming:That's awesome. Yeah, Anchorage is a great biking city.
Steve:I agree. I'd say that one. Yeah, I would say the second one is like to go down in the summertime, sometimes in the spring and fall but and surf the board tide on the Turnagain Arm. Oh, cool. There's a tidal wave that comes in and and there's some some pretty long sections that it'll be surfable they're kind of more down around the Girdwood area. But that's really fun to get out in the water. And I grew up surfing down in Southern California. So to kind of connect by roots of where I grew up, and yeah, and be out in the water and get that sensation of, of the ocean and, and you know, the surge of the water, it's just, it just gives you kind of a sense of being small, so to speak, you know, you have to have a lot of respect and reverence for the ocean. And for that water and you're in the moment when you're out there. A lot of climbers talk about that to know that feeling of being in the moment and not thinking about anything else, but what you're doing right then. That's a really cool feeling. Cool.
Jennie Flaming:Okay. So Steve, before I let you go, can you tell everybody if somebody wants to go with great land adventures out to Matanuska Glacier, whether it's winter or summer? How do they do that?
Steve:Well, they can find us online at www dot great land adventures.com We have live availability there for the Matanuska glacier and for other tours. They can give us a call at 907-980-8179 We have people staffing the phones lot of times it's me during the wintertime because I'm doing a lot of Northern Lights phone calls, but you can call that number and somebody a local here will answer the phone and and help you get booked up. We also can be a great resource for people. When they have a lot of these questions like that. It's it's nice to be able to call a company and actually have somebody pick up the Phone. Yeah, nowadays a lot of times you get a phone tree and push to seven and then four and then two and you get transferred three times. Yeah, we try to 9am to 5pm, seven days a week, we try to answer the phone as soon as we can.
Jennie Flaming:And I will put both the link to book as well as the phone number in the show notes. So if you're looking to do this, you can find it right there. Wonderful. Yeah. And, Steve, one other question about booking. That's another thing that I get a lot of questions about is how far ahead of time do people need to book with you like, typically, when do tours fill up? How far ahead of time?
Steve:Definitely. So our busy season for the glacier is the Christmas holiday. So that the week from just before Christmas through New Years, I would say that you are going to want to book that week. At least a month to two months ahead of time, especially the week between Christmas and New Year's that will that will sell out a couple of months ahead of time. Yep. And then also in around this time, right now, when we have the fur Rondy festival in Anchorage, I would say a month in advance. The rest of the year. You know, the availabilities pretty good. And you can use we do get a lot of last minute bookings. Okay, so, I mean, we do sell out certain days, you know, but we also, you know, we have flexibility and being able to accept a lot of last minute booking so cool. That's really good to know. Yeah, if you will find themselves with looking for something to do tomorrow, you know, for so to speak, we can usually find something for him to do last minute. Nice.
Jennie Flaming:That's awesome. Well, Steve, thank you so much for joining me today and sharing all this wonderful information about Matanuska Glacier. Thank you so much.
Steve:Thank you for having me.
