Travel»Pacific Northwest»Alaska’s Softer Side

Alaska’s Softer Side

Avid adventure traveler David Hanson sets out to discover coastal Alaska’s less rugged, more indulgent attributes: hot-stone massages, gourmet food, leather-bound wine lists, and complimentary bathrobes.

Retreating to the woods at Kachemak Bay Wilderness Lodge

Photographer Annie Schlechter

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Safe Haven

Back at the lodge, I treat myself to the sauna and take my first nap since college. Over more mussels that night, Mike points into the mountains where he and Diane have a small cabin on a remote lake. On my next trip here, I’ll ask him to fly me to the backwoods, as he does some guests. But now it’s time to leave the McBrides and board a boat taxi that carries me a few inlets away.