Terrisue W.
We visited Stillpoint from Texas as a party of 8. My husband and me (60's) with our three adult sons and their wives (late 20's early 30's). We try to take an active vacation with family and plus ones every other year. Before grandkids join the party I wanted to do something wild, adventurous, fun and luxurious. Alaska delivered! Stillpoint Lodge took the experience to epic. Here's a recap. We arrived Anchorage Friday night in late July 2024. We grabbed beer and dinner at 49th State Brewery and overnighted at the Hilton (hot rooms, great gym, crowded lobby) near the train station. Saturday morning we took the glass train to Talkeetna (this is cool, breakfast on board, fun commentary from the purser and beautiful scenery). We wanted to tag Denali and this was a cool way to do it. We checked in early to Talkeetna Lodge (seems like most everyone in Alaska works to make guests happy). We explored town and took a Denali flight seeing tour with glacier landing. OurTalkeetna Air Taxi pilot, Luke let one of our boys DJ and explained Denali and surrounding peaks from a climbers point of view. Stillpoint arranged for us to be picked up by seaplane Sunday morning and flown directly to Stillpoint Lodge in Halibut Cove to begin our six days of luxury excursions. Stillpoint was much more than a home base for our excursions. It was a diverse loving family that made us feel welcome and almost Alaskan. You'll read reviews about how terrific the food (thank you Matt, Carlos & Brightly), cabins (always magically clean, cozy, perfectly stocked and comfortable), massages (thank you Tara), staff (Zach, GM has assembled a team that is insanely awesome) and Halibut Cove (otters, eagles, seals, flowers, views and beauty) all 100% true! Our family book club read "The Great Alone" which perfectly set the tone for our trip. I wanted this trip to be physically and mentally challenging. I wanted us to explore Alaska in a less touristy more wild (yet safe) way. Beka, our point of contact pre trip took note and came up with a perfect itinerary. |1. Hike Grace Ridge (12 challenging miles and 3800 feet of vertical change). Dan and his dog, Griz were our lead guides and Captain Coree (because she wanted to check it out) brought up the rear. The change of terrain and weather through the day were insane (sweating, freezing, sledding, bounding barefoot through moss and the views!!!!) Do the point to point hike. It's tough on the way up but not as hard on the knees on the way down. I was really glad to have poles. Younger crowd did fine without them. |2. Remote bear viewing with Eric and Spencer. Floatplane took us to Moraine River about an hour inland where the salmon were running and the bears were abundant. We spotted the bears from the air then landed in a pond and hiked over to the river. We followed the bears up and down the bank and crossed the river for a closer look. It was amazing. Spencer is a photographer so the photos are insane. (Note: return to the lodge after excursions there is no better place to relax and happy hour and you will be ready for the Stillpoint vibe.) |3. Will, guide and JT, Stillpoint owner took us e-biking and to lunch in a cool little town, Seldovia. I'm glad we did this because it was fun spending time with Will and JT and some locals. But it was more normal... Normal to the extent anything in Alaska is normal. Still way fun! JT suggested night fishing after dinner. I didn't go but those who did loved it and the photos and fish (wow!) |4. Guys went deep sea fishing and caught a ton (loved it). Ladies hung at the lodge for nature hike, kayaks, glass beach, cooking class, massages, etc. An amazing day. |5. Hike and glacier lake with Will and Dan. We hiked to a lake (6 miles round trip) that was full of glaciers. Stillpoint had inflatable kayaks hidden for us. We paddled among the glaciers, built a fire, made smores on the beach and one of our knuckleheads took a cold plunge. Yikes! After hiking down from the lake the big Stillpoint boat captained by JT picked us up on the beach. On board he had 2 wetsuits and a wakeboard. The crazies among us spent the next hour wakeboarding in the bay surrounded by glaciers, otters and mountains. Beyond crazy fun! Thank you JT, Zack and Dan. |6. Stillpoint is far from the main Salmon runs but Chef Matt knew of a small run we could get to. Matt and Carlos (the other chef) guided us on a river fly fishing hike in waders that was a totally different kind of experience and very cool. |With Stillpoint as our home base we were able to touch and feel a wide variety of unique Alaskan activites. We had so much fun with the the Stillpoint staff and enjoyed meeting other guests. We played cornhole and threw axes and sat around the fire at night. Days are long (20 hours) and we were busy. As I share with you from back home in Texas I am exhilarated and bone weary. If Alaska is on your bucket list. Thank you Stillpoint!
