Saturday in Anchorage

We weren't as ambitious this weekend.  It's dark til nearly 9:30 in the morning, so some of us especially tend to sleep in!  We had coffee at the Fire Island Bakery a couple of blocks away (and great scones and foccacia!) then walked to West High School where they were having a big ski swap, only to find out we were too early -- long, crispy walk anyway!  Went back later by car, but it was more of a downhill swap than Nordic, and the cross-country stuff was pretty picked over by the time we got there.  Next weekend there is a swap with the Nordic ski club.  Went to our first social event -- dinner at Carl and Diane's and met two other couples -- and what a dinner!  Courses started with Salmon Tartare with Sweet Red Onion Creme Fraiche and champagne and went on from there -- way beyond great -- a real treat.

There are more than 100 km of skiing only trails in Anchorage, and 1/4 of those are lit!  This is besides the multi-use trails that you can also ski on.  Four of the Olympic skiers in Vancouver were from Anchorage, and many of the trails are world class for racing. More about that when we start skiing! 

Sunday hike on Turnagain Arm

Tonight (Sunday) we have a lot of peanut butter cups and Snickers bars for trick or treaters, but only 1 group has come to the door -- uh-oh!  Neither one of us needs to eat those, and if you put them in the freezer, I've discovered they only taste better!We went for a milder hike today along the Turnagain Arm Trail -- we'll try to put in a map -- it starts south of Anchorage running along Cook Inlet, and there are four trailheads.  The trail was originally built in 1910 to carry a telegraph line and later provided an access for workers constructing the Alaska railroad.  The tracks run down below, alongside the road.  The Chugach State Park renovated the trail in the 1980s - it's a 9 1/2 mile one-way traverse if you do the whole thing.  Turnagain Arm boast the second largest tidal bores in the world - tidal bores occur in bays and inlets with extreme tidal fluctuations.  The Bay of Fundy in Nova Scotia is the only one larger.  In a tidal bore, according to the guidebook, "the incoming tide builds to a flood that overpowers the outgoing tide.  The resulting tide resembles a wall of water ranging from several inches to several feet high."  We hiked what was said to be the highest part of the trail, though only 950', from Rainbow to Windy Corner, about 4 miles round-trip and mild up and downs after the intial climb up.  It started snowing on the way, and we took a couple of pictures that show the mountains appearing through the fog - we'll see how well it shows up!  The high point of this hike, other than the views across the water and the mountains in clear weather, is the Dall sheep that inhabit these craggy slopes - though we haven't seen them yet!  We ran into a young guy in the Air Force who is on his second stint in Alaska, which he loves, with a big tripod and a tent who was headed up to wait out the sheep, who he said will come down further as it starts to snow.  He intended to set up his tent and spend about 3 hours up on a level grassy spot waiting for them!  A bald eagle flew over as we were talking to him.  He told us in the winter we can come back and they'll be all over the lower trails.  It was a pleasant hike and will be a great place to bring anyone who wants a milder day, beautiful views across the water, and not the more strenuous climbs.

Greetings from Alaska: Flattop to Ptarmigan Pass

Greetings from Alaska: Flattop to Ptarmigan Pass: "Lots of climbing and lots of moose sightings today! A long hike today, seven hours, with a quick elevation gain to Flattop Mt., the most-cl..."

Flattop to Ptarmigan Pass

Lots of climbing and lots of moose sightings today!  A long hike today, seven hours, with a quick elevation gain to Flattop Mt., the most-climbed mountain in Alaska, and then continuing along a ridge to two higher peaks, unnamed, all of the way to Ptarmigan Pass -- then you drop down for "the easy part" to the lake, partially frozen, that you see in one picture, and then to the Powerline Trail, an mostly flat and maintained trail back to the trailhead.  We saw 30 bull moose along the Powerline Trail in an hour and a half walk back!  Some were quite close to the trail, and we shared a picture here -- this is not taken with a telephoto lens!  The bull moose are evidently through womanizing (otherwise known as rutting), and now they're just hanging out together!  This was a spectacular hike, and one that includes some scrambling -- you're almost always exposed and it's always loose footing -- with a long way down!  At least you can pause and catch your breath since every step is a scenic overlook!  The people and the dogs with us are from a MeetUp group. 

Hike from Basher Rd. to "The Dome"

Saturday afternoon we took a hike that started just up the road from the house where we were house-sitting - that finished on Friday.  Basher Rd. dead-ends in a trailhead that was about a 3 hour hike, some of it pretty steep, pretty views from the top out over Anchorage and Cook Inlet or toward other peaks in the Chugach Mts.  We didn't start til 3 and came down at 6 to end up having wine at Carl and Diane's -- Brian's friend -- she had been on a day flight with a friend up to Denali and had a wonderful clear day flying.  Sharing a couple of pictures from that hike -- Brian says we saw more dogs than people - everyone in Alaska has at least one dog, it seems -- and they all go hiking! 

Housesitting (and animal sitting) in "Stuck-Again Heights"

We're up in them thar hills -- house and cat and dog sitting for Brian's friend Carl - the house looks down on the city of Anchorage and the area that he lives in they call Stuck-again Heights for reasons that you can imagine -- no snow yet though!  They did see 3 bears down the road in the park just before they left to go to New York.  The cat, Picasso, and Krishna, doggie, have been keeping us company this week - sometimes very early.  The house is beautiful, and Carl built it himself, also all of the cabinets and shelves.
You drive through a park that has a lot of hiking and skiing trails to get here, and in the winter, also the "mushers" (dogsleds).  The stream that runs through it has salmon so often bears during August, Sept. and sometimes into October.  We'll be going back to our apartment tomorrow and have a full weekend of hiking planned -- Friday night full moon hike, Saturday morning Nordic ski swap then hike up in Eagle River, and Sunday, if we're still moving, a 6-7 hour hike with the Meetup group.  Posting pictures here of our animal friends and the house they shared with us this week -- their parents will be back tomorrow afternoon!

Was it cold on the ferry?

Answering another question with a picture!  Brian was comfortable outside during the day - lights inside went out at 9 pm, and that was pretty much bedtime!  Here is a picture of Judy joining Brian for the last 4 1/2 hours on the trip.  Judy flew to Juneau (1 hr., 20 min) on a Sunday morning and did some hiking (and shopping) in Juneau - took the bus downtown from the hotel where I stayed.  Juneau is a very pretty town, old mines on the hiking trails, very picturesque downtown, steep streets, called little San Francisco.  Met Brian Monday morning at about 5:30 am - we hadn't seen each other in 7 weeks!  The ferry took off about 6:45 am, and it docked up in Haines, where we drove the U-Haul off and began the road trip around noon.  Judy laid on the deck on a deck chair for part of the journey, but you can see both she and other people are a little bundled up!  Brian recommends the ferry trip to anyone coming up -- you could fly to Seattle or even Vancouver - check out the Alaska Marine Highway on the Internet!