Alaska Part I - Anchorage

Welcome to my journal entry for my Alaska trip. I put in a crazy 7 hours of work in on Wednesday before my 5pm flight - two big meetings and the Architects from Atlanta in town. I ran home and scrambled to get everything together. I remembered everything except my hooded waterproof jacket. Diane's neighbor was kind enough to give us a ride. We had television on the flight and I watched the Republican presidential candidate debate. We had a 2-hour layover in Seattle. We watched the sunset and a jumbo cargo jet parking.

The flight to Anchorage was over 3 hours. We watched Anne of Green Gables on my IPOD. I brought a splitter so that we could both listen to it. We arrived at 11pm, which is 1am MST. We discovered that only two other people on our flight were on the cruise, and there was no one at the baggage claim to claim us. A kind girl helped us find a hotel shuttle.

Our 14th floor hotel room had a kitchenette and a living room. The hotel had 2 undersized and slow elevators, which made everything interesting. At one point I was jambed in the elevator with 6 Brazillians and their luggage. There were 8 Brazillian couples who were on our same cruise. Our room overlooked the Cook Inlet as well as the airport. We ate breakfast at the hotel restaurant. I found a fun for less person and found out what the plan was.

We did a day tour that took us up two hours north to Talkeetna, Alaska. Our bus driver was also our tour guide. Lawrence was from Georgia and had lived there since March. He knew a lot. Talkeetna is the furthest north I've ever been. At this latitude, only 5 types of trees can grow. The sides of the roads were lined with trees and fireweed. It is a red plant with flowers. When the flowers all go to seed all of the way to the top of the plant, you know you that snow is only a few weeks away. The seeds were at the top and they were awaiting snow at any day.

Our tour guide told us about how muddy rivers are filled with silt and are glacial-fed. Clear waters are spring or run-off fed. Glacial silt is triangular shape. The silt deposits are worse than quicksand, and if you get stuck, you can't be pulled out without a special air pump. U-shaped valleys are carved by glaciers. V-shaped valleys are carved by rivers. Any jagged peaks are above the elevation of glaciers, which round off all the rocks they pass over.

We passed the city that sells the most duct tape in the world, and Sarah Palin's home town - Wasilla.

At Talkeetna we took a river boat cruise. The boats docked next to the railroad tracks. The Alaska passenger train passed by while we were waiting.


One of the most direct routes to Nome is via the railroad.


On the river we could see Mt McKinley (Denali), as it poked its head through the clouds for only about 15 minutes. It is so large and magestic. It took my breath away. One can't look at that mountain and doubt that there is a God, who created it. The base of the mountain is at 2,000 feet above sea level, and the peak is at 23,200 ft. When people climb it, they drop them off at the glacier fields at 7-10,000 ft.

Midway on the river cruise, we went on a nature walk. Our "naturalist" carried a shot gun in case we ran into bears. She showed us replicas of a typical Inuit hunting camp, as well as a fur trapper cabin.

Dog sled at the fur trapper cabin.

We stopped at the Iditarod Headquarters. The symbolic start of the race is Anchorage -- where people put in bids to get a ride on the dog sleds as they pass through town. The real start is at the train station in Wasilla. The headquarters is also in Wasilla. We watched a film on the race at the visitors center.


These energetic dogs gave everyone a ride around a trail in a cart on wheels. I have video but will spare you.


There are fewer roads in Alaska than in the city of Los Angeles. Our guide explained that everyone gets around on ATVs. You can see in the picture above that just about everywhere a walking path, then dirt ATV trail parallel most roads.

Returning from our trip, we saw a moose at the intersection. The military base had moose gates to let them come and go freely through their base.

Sunset shot from our hotel room. The snow on the mountains is fresh snow.