Ready to Wander Season 2 – Episode 15

13 days. 3 National Parks. Countless bears spotted. One incredible, once-in-a-lifetime honeymoon. If you’ve been an avid reader on the blog or a follower on the ‘Gram (@sydneybreannphoto), you’d know that my husband and I are passionate about the outdoors. As a Montana elopement and intimate wedding photographer, I’m no stranger to hiking, fishing, and soaking up the mountains. But exploring Alaska with my husband was the epitome of the “great outdoors”. I couldn’t wait to share the latest from my Wander with Me series where I recap my Alaska honeymoon itinerary. 

Prefer to listen? Check out my Alaska Honeymoon Itinerary on the Ready to Wander Podcast!

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Alaska Honeymoon Itinerary

Hot take: driving is far superior to flying. And normally, I am a big roadtrip kinda gal. But believe it or not, Ethan and I flew into Alaska from Montana. 😉 We fell in love with Alaska in 2022, and it is where we got engaged, so we took the opportunity to go back for our honeymoon! I don’t want to spoil the rest of this blog, but we couldn’t have chosen a more perfect time to travel to Alaska. We spent September 15-28th soaking up every single second of The Last Frontier. Although we definitely had a busy honeymoon itinerary, we had many opportunities to relax and take in the beauty. 

Day 1-4: Anchorage, Eagle River, Wasilla, and Palmer

We arrived in Anchorage pretty late on September 14. But we already knew our first few days were going to be spent staying with my best friend in Eagle River. Ethan and I aren’t big “let’s go lay on the beach for 7 days” kinda people. So the first part of our Alaska honeymoon was just the perfect way to relax and ease into the busyness of our trip. 

We actually traveled to Alaska with our Kokpelli Packrafts and I am so glad we did! Our friends hadn’t ever been packrafting before; we spent quite a bit of time taking turns in the rafts, paddling around, and fishing. It honestly just filled our cups to enjoy quality time with some of our favorite people, doing some of our favorite things. 

Ethan and I don’t typically eat out a ton, but we knew we had to hit up one of our faves while in Anchorage – Moose’s Tooth Pizza. While it’s definitely a tourist trap, you can’t go wrong with their Diablo Sticks (not me drooling as I write this…). 

Before we headed out for our main destination on our honeymoon, Ethan humored me with some dreamy honeymoon photos at Hatcher Pass with Emily Battles. Being able to document our honeymoon in such a special way was pure kismet; returning to the same place we had our engagement photos to celebrate being married is something I can’t quite describe. Even if you are traveling somewhere brand new for your honeymoon, I can’t recommend a romantic honeymoon photoshoot enough. 

Day 5: Travel to Homer, Alaska

The day arrived for us to leave Eagle River and travel to Homer. Although we visited Homer the last time we traveled to Alaska, we didn’t spend nearly enough time exploring it. We stayed at Land’s End Resort in Homer and absolutely loved it. If you’ve never been to Homer, I highly recommend. The ambience is just so quaint and picturesque! The last time we had visited, Homer was poppin’. But because we were visiting during shoulder-season this time, it felt like a ghost town. But hey, we weren’t complaining! 

Day 6: Change of Plans

I cannot recommend adding a buffer-day after any “big ticket” excursions planned. Ethan and I initially had planned to fly to Katmai National Park for a scenic flight (and some bear viewing!). We did actually fly about halfway to the park from Homer before we had to turn around due to the conditions; Alaska’s weather is ever-changing. Luckily, I had added the buffer day so we were able to reschedule the flight for the following day.

Day 7: Katmai National Park

Day 7 arrived and we were stoked to take in some killer views. Believe it or not, our drive from Anchorage to Homer (and back) was the longest we spent in a car for this trip. The rest of our travel was done by floatplane! We actually weren’t prepared for just how cold the floatplane was – so make sure to bring extra layers for any flights. The flight from Homer to Katmai was about an hour and a half, and we felt like a can of sardines! However, the views were 100% worth it.

When we arrived to Katmai, we were taxied to the shore before being ushered to orientation. I have a podcast episode coming where I give a much more in-depth recap of our Alaska honeymoon itinerary, but I have never experienced anything quite like the Katmai National Park bear viewing. Because we spend so much time in Glacier National Park and exploring in general, we are no strangers to bears. But the way Katmai is set up felt so foreign! 

Brooks Falls at Katmai National Park

Honestly, Ethan and I were a bit nervous as we sat through orientation. Every single building at Katmai was surrounded by bear fences. Any (and all) food had to be kept in one area; you couldn’t even have hand-sanitizer on your body! But the kicker was that NO bear spray was allowed. Ethan described the environment as some serious “Jurassic Park vibes” with how controlled and reinforced everything was. 

But once we headed to the viewing platforms at Brooks Falls, we were just astonished at the bears catching the salmon. Because we visited during shoulder-season, we weren’t sure just how many salmon (and bears) we would see. To say we were pleasantly surprised would be an understatement. The coastal brown bears were just fiends over the silver salmon. We could’ve honestly watched the bears all day. I’m just so thankful we visited when we did though because you only get 3 hours at the viewing platforms! During the summer, rangers literally time you; you get 40 minutes per platform. Ethan and I truly felt so spoiled with how much we got to just enjoy of the experience. 

Day 8: Kachemak Bay State Park

After spending the prior day taking in the views and riding in the floatplane, we were ready to get our bodies moving. We took the Mako’s Water Taxi to Kachemak Bay State Park where we hiked about 5 miles to Grewingk Glacier. It was an easy hike, the weather was perfect, and we enjoyed a picnic in the park. Something that we were so thankful to have brought on the trip was actually our rain-boots! Ethan and I both have Extra Tuff Rain-Boots but we have never worn them more than we did in Alaska. Alaska always just feels damp, especially in the forests. 10/10 can’t recommend good rain-boots enough for hiking in Alaska!

Day 9: Homer to Soldotna

On our way to Soldotna from Homer, we found a little lake to take the packrafts out on. The lake was packed with rainbow trout, and we just had a blast fly fishing before making the short drive up to Soldotna. Ethan and I were just buzzing to get started with All Alaska Outdoors for our fishing experience. 

Months earlier when we began planning our honeymoon, we saw a random video on YouTube of All Alaska Outdoors from Wild Fly Productions. The video honestly was what sold us; they walked through everything included in their trip, what makes them different, etc. On a whim, I looked them up, saw that their prices were pretty reasonable, and took a chance on reaching out to see if they had availability during our trip. Thank God they did! You can actually hear more about why we decided All Alaska Outdoors on my husband’s podcast (Hunt Fish Conserve) if you’re interested!

Day 10: Kenai River Fishing | Alaska Honeymoon Itinerary

Our first day of fishing began with a float day at Kenai River. We truly lucked out with the best guides for this entire trip. Something unique about All Alaska Outdoors is that they work with vetted contractors in the area to act as guides. Our guide Eric made the trip just more incredible than we could’ve hoped for. The way he taught us, encouraged us, and just poured into our experience was something we’ll never forget. Pro Tip: bring cash to tip your guides — they work hard to give you the best experience. 

Not to sound like “that” fisherman, but I did indeed catch a freaking HOG of a fish. After taking pointers throughout the day from our guide, it felt so exhilarating to make such an incredible catch. 

Day 11: Lake Clark National Park

Our second day with All Alaska Outdoors didn’t actually include much fishing, but it was still such a fulfilling day. We took a floatplane to Lake Clark National Park for some wildlife viewing. We spotted so many bears and just had the best time relaxing, taking in the views.

Day 12: Kenai Fjords National Park

Two words: this day. Ethan and I cannot wrap our minds around our 3rd day with All Alaska Outdoors. The owner of All Alaska Outdoors, Dr. Bob, took us out on his floatplane and into Kenai Fjords National Park (we actually didn’t even know we were in the park lol). In all honesty, this day felt like a fever dream/out-of-body experience. Dr. Bob is such an educated, passionate guide who values the conservation of wildlife (which my husband and I are super passionate about as well). The flight itself was insane. We spotted countless bears, caribou, goats, and the most wild landscapes of Harding Ice Field.

We landed in the Bay of Pigs area with the goal of just catching salmon. The guides all just cared so much about our experience and wanted to do everything to ensure we caught fish. When we were having tough luck catching fish off the shore, Dr. Bob actually had us hop back on the floatplane to taxi us around. That’s right, we literally fished from the plane! It seriously was just such a bucket list item that I never knew that I even had and we still talk about how cool it was. 

But honestly, the craziest moment of this entire trip actually included a bear encounter. When we were at the Bay of Pigs, Dr. Bob had us hike through the forest to a secluded inlet. The hike was low-key pretty sketchy but you already know we are always down for an adventure. When we finally reached our destination, Dr. Bob said he was going to head back for the floatplane and leave us there to fish. As luck would have it, as we were fishing, a bear began to approach us. But, you’ll just have to listen to Ethan’s Podcast for a recap on that experience. Spoiler alert: we lived to tell the tale!

Day 13: Trout Speying | Outdoorsy Honeymoon Itinerary

Our last full day in Soldotna with All Alaska Outdoors was a much more chill day. When we booked the trip, we did have the option to do a deep sea fishing expedition, but we opted to do another river day since it was a bit late in the season. We had Eric as our guide again, and Ethan mentioned he wanted to learn how to trout spey. Eric took us to an inlet where Ethan and I both caught a silver salmon at the same time on the fly! I know that might not sound like a big deal, but the silver salmon run was already winding down so it was just such a cool experience to both catch them at the same time AND on a fly rod! Core memory in the making! 

Day 14: Alaska to Minnesota

Yep, you read that right! We headed back to Minnesota for a wedding literally two days after we landed. The grind never stops! So we traveled from Montana to Alaska to Minnesota and back to Montana in two weeks 😛

Alaska Honeymoon Itinerary | Sydney Breann Photography

And that’s all she wrote, folks! Recapping our Alaska honeymoon itinerary really feels like a walk down memory lane. Ethan and I have had so many incredible opportunities and adventures throughout our relationship. We’ve traveled all over the US, but we can both confidently say that this trip exceeded any expectations that we had and Alaska is still one of our favorite places on earth. It was the perfect duration, we had plenty of time to relax, and got to experience things that we had only ever dreamt of. 

Interested in checking out more of Ethan and my adventures? You can find them here. And of course, the best way to keep up with me and all things travel is by following along on Instagram (@sydneybreannphoto). So what do you say, are you ready to wander?