Day 16 - Palmer, AK to Anchorage, AK (and back to Palmer)

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They've been predicting rain for the past two days, but it still hasn't arrived (yea!!). At 16 days into my trip, I've only had rain for two of those days and both of those were traveling days when I had no plans to hike or do anything outdoors. Pretty amazing!

I went to Anchorage today, a city that some folks avoid and speak disparagingly of. Anchorage is to Alaska as Honolulu is to Hawaii; a typical, large, American city that seems out of place in a state that is otherwise so beautiful and enticing. Some Alaskans like to say that the only good thing about Anchorage is that it's just an hour's drive away from Alaska (i.e. when you're in Anchorage, you're not really in Alaska).

When I was planning my trip, I read about an 11 mile coastal trail on the fringes of Anchorage that is popular with walkers and bicyclists (in the winter the trail is used by cross-country skiers). So, today I drove into Anchorage on a 4-lane freeway that became a 6-lane freeway and soon started seeing all of the malls and shopping centers that you might see in any large American city. I went straight downtown, rented a bicycle and started pedaling. It was great! The guy at the bike rental shop was really helpful and put me on an excellent bike, gave me a map and gave me some excellent advice for taking an alternate return route after I finished the coastal trail.

The return route took me around Lake Hood which is the world's largest and busiest seaplane base. There are more than 700 seaplanes based here and they average 190 takeoffs and landings each day! I'm sure that these planes are used for both commercial (charters and tourist trips) and private (recreational) but it's still hard to fathom why so MANY seaplanes would all be in one spot (Anchorage).

Along the trail I encountered my first moose; a big mama moose and her youngster. I was beginning to think that all these moose in Alaska were just a myth because I hadn't seen any. Well, now I have! I was in a wooded area on the trail and thought I saw some movement to my left and stopped. There, about 30 feet away, was the youngster and about 50 feet away was mama. They were both munching on grass and other vegetation. Little moose was moving slowly and coming right towards me. I didn't want mama to think that I was a threat to her kid, so I kept moving further away. At one point the youngster was only about 10 feet away from me and still munching grass. The youngster seemed oblivious to my presence, but I'm sure he knew I was there. Finally the kid walked across the trail and mom decided it was time to follow. They slowly disappeared into the brush and I was content that I had finally had a friendly encounter with some Alaskan moose.

At one point on the trail they have a park ("Earthquake Park") dedicated to the monster earthquake that devastated Anchorage in 1964. I certainly remember the earthquake, but I obviously didn't pay enough attention to the news at the time (it's the same year that I was smitten with my first serious girlfriend, I graduated from high school and I joined the Air Force; I guess that I had other things on my mind!). Anyway, the earthquake was HUGE (9.2 on the Richter scale) and many parts of Anchorage were damaged or destroyed, and yet only nine people died in the city.

During my bike ride I passed the Anchorage International Airport and saw the Boeing "Dreamlifter" aircraft which is a heavily modified 747 designed specifically for moving large parts and sub-assemblies for the new 787 Dreamliner aircraft. Many of these sub-assemblies are manufactured in locations scattered around the globe and Boeing sends the Dreamlifter to these locations to pick up the goods and deliver them to the plant in Everett, Washington for final assembly. The Dreamlifter was first certified for use just two years ago and the Dreamliner is in the final testing phases (way over schedule) and I think is expected to have its first flight sometime late this year or early next year. I'm not sure why the Dreamlifter was in Anchorage, so I'll have to research that later.

I ended up logging 25 miles on the bike today and my butt was sore, so I called it a day.

Tomorrow I'm driving down to Seward for a couple nights at a B&B and then I'll be starting the long drive home. That's it for now!

Jack

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Comments

[Scott]

Jack, Sounds like a good day but next time you see something move of your left about 30 yards in the Alaskan woods.....keep it moving!!! LOL

[soytnly]

mooses
Scott, Mama moose definitely was giving me the eye. Next time I'll be more cautious. Good to hear from you and glad that you're following the blog! Later! Jack