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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.

I break my vow of luxury, leave the sauna, stagger down the lodge’s dock, toss my complimentary bathrobe aside, and plunge into the ice-cold water of Tutka Bay. A true explorer must know his limits.

Photographer Annie Schlechter

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Sensory Overload

After namaste, I’m escorted straight to the spa. Have I spoiled myself too much by following yoga with a hot-stone massage then a lunch of pecan-crusted fresh halibut? I ponder this in the 130-degree sauna made out of locally harvested cedar planks. This is serious. I might have overdone it, and I have another day of the same. Could I be going soft? I break my vow of luxury, leave the sauna, stagger down the lodge’s dock, toss my complimentary bathrobe aside, and plunge into the ice-cold water of Tutka Bay. A true explorer must know his limits.

(Published March 2010)