An early call for meeting our group and guides meant a wake up call at 6AM. But since I’m still struggling a bit with the time difference and the endless sun I was up just after 5AM, with more than enough time to shower and re-pack all my gear. At breakfast we identified tables with a couple of the others in our group, identifiable by their tee-shirts or buffs. By the designated meeting time of 8AM, we were gathered and ready for introductions and a briefing.
As I have mentioned before, I am never disappointed with the people I meet on these excursions. Usually they are like-minded and well-traveled, but in this political climate, and with 3 people from purple Colorado, traveling in red Alaska, it’s hard to know. So I will have to be cautious with my #notmypresident rants if I want to have some friends at the end! And in an unusual twist, the group is evenly split between males and females, and singles and couples. Which is nice. So often they are heavily weighted to single females.
We set off southeast, leaving Anchorage behind and heading towards the Chugach Mountains, part of the 2nd largest national forest in the U.S. Driving down the Seward Highway, we had Turnagain Arm on our right and mountains and forest to the left. This arm of the Cook Inlet is said to be named Turnagain when Captain Cook sailed it attempting to find the Northwest Passage, and discovered that it didn’t lead to the sea as hoped. It is the home to a large pod of about 300 Beluga whales, but it was a little early in the season to see them. The Turnagain and Knik Arms are the only places in the U.S. where tidal bores occur regularly. These happen when the high tide comes in before the low tide has been completed. They flood rapidly, with a 35+ foot tide of the Cook Inlet creating a surge of water that becomes the bore wave. The Turnagain Arm’s tidal bore is a breaking wave that rushes in twice daily at a speed of 6 to 24 MPH. It’s a long, continuous wave that stretches across the arm and varies in height from 6 inches to 6 feet! We didn’t see it happen, but it’s a fascinating natural phenomenon that means that it’s not an ideal place for boating!
It was at a brief stop at Bird Point that we learned the above, and met Ken. Our guide, Frazier, was telling us we might see mountain goats or Doll sheep on the steep mountainside to the north. An older man with a huge telescope and camp chair chimed in with an opinion. Said he’d been sitting there for 16 years and had never seen a Doll sheep on that mountainside, and was unlikely to ever see one because it was the territory of mountain goats. And he had 3 mountain goats in the sights of his enormous telescope, and invited us all to take a look. He was also a nature photographer and had an envelope of prints of everything Alaska — bears, moose, whales, glaciers — which he offered to any of us who would appreciate them and make good use of those photos. To see those, and other images, check out www.birdpointphotography.com. A wonderful encounter with an avid Alaska booster.
Then it was on to the Alyeska Ski area, which is also a resort set in the Chugach Mountains. (The original name for the state was Alyeska — from which came Alaska). Our out-and-back hike on Winner Creek Trail totaled 5+ miles, along an easy wooded path set among birch and Sitka spruce trees. We were given the official bear and moose safety talk, but didn’t see any wildlife on this peaceful trail. At the turnaround point was a two person tram which ferried people across a river via hand powered rope pulling. We didn’t get off on the other side, so it was just an experience. For lunch we took the tram up 2 miles, and 2,000 feet to the top of the mountain, and were able to see several small glaciers on the peaks surrounding the ski trails. Not visible was the larger Eastern Glacier on the other side of the peak. None of these are accessible, and they are shrinking, but you could still see the bluish icy snowfall in the mountain crevasses.
A short van trip later brought us to Summit Lake Lodge in Moose Pass on the Kenai peninsula. We will spend the next 3 days in this part of the state; south of Anchorage, and home to the towns of Seward and Homer and the Exit Glacier. We are all staying in charming little rustic-designed cottages on a rather large lake, and will have a group dinner to learn more about the itinerary for the coming days.
