Anchorage in May

I had to spend three days in Anchorage this past week- part of getting certified in schools in Alaska is a requirement of taking a Cultural Studies and Alaska History class. I took the history class- it was 2 1/2 days in Anchorage, and then a bunch of on-line assignments. The teacher was excellent, and I was surprised how much I liked the class.

I don't really like Anchorage much- maybe it's having lived in much cooler cities, or the extreme difference between the peninsula and the city, or more likely, just that it isn't that great. So Casey and I decided to try and explore some new places to try and like it better.

The first night we walked the Coastal Trail- it's a trail along the Cook Inlet- it was really pretty, and we were glad we went down there.


At least, it was nice until we walked along the shore- it was covered in broken glass- we were really worried about all the dogs running along the shore-I don't see how they couldn't get all cut up. But from a distance, this was a really nice trail, and probably nicer on bikes when you're zooming past too fast to see the details.


The second night, we went to Flattop Mountain- it's apparently the most climbed mountain in Alaska and is right above Anchorage by Turnagain Arm. We did not have the right shoes for it- it's pretty high up, so it still had snow, and was muddy where there wasn't snow, but we made a go of it, and it was a really nice little hike:


Flattop Mountain:


Looking down on Anchorage: (it looks a lot nicer from here)

Looking at Turnagain Arm (couldn't get many pictures because of the sun glare):

Looking down on the parking lot- not too shabby for open-backed shoes ;)

Hideout Trail

Today I sat down to work on my darn intern portfolio that thankfully will be done and turned in next week, and I got a call to go hiking instead. Since I was looking for any excuse to get out of working on the portfolio, of course I went.

Here's a view about halfway up:


We hiked Hideout Trail, it's a 3-mile round-trip trail that overlooks Skilak Lake. You climb about 850 feet, and at the top are at an elevation of 1,535 feet, so you get some great views. It's a 'moderate' climb- the way up was climbing the whole way- with switchbacks so it wasn't as steep, but I was breathing pretty hard by the end. Coming back going downhill was a lot nicer.

From the top:

At the top, there's a rocky ridge where we sat and ate lunch. It was beautiful, but would have been even better had the sun been out, by the end we were getting really chilly- a cold wind was coming up and on the ridge we were really exposed. The views were beautiful though.

The lake is Skilak lake- it's HUGE- what is seen here is only about half of the actual lake. The Kenai river runs into Skilak- you can see it in the picture, and it comes out a the other end of the lake. The water is that brilliant glacial blue, but didn't really show up well in the pictures. Bear Mountain and Russian Mountain are two that can be seen from here.

Two views from the top:

Clamming in Ninilchik

Today I joined Casey and a friend of her's from college, and we went clamming on the Cook Inlet in Ninilchik. It was my first time clamming. I need to get a pair of waders, but it was fun, and the views were incredible.
Old Town Ninilchik and the Russian Orthodox Church above:

The beach filled with clam diggers:


Casey digging for razor clams:

You dig for clams during low tide. You can see a little divet in the sand and you shovel and dig- the razor clams are really good at digging deep fast and getting away. I guess they stay in the same hole their entire life, until they get dug out. The clams have a long neck that pulls in the water and spits it out again, and a big foot they use for digging. We decapitated a lot of clams that kept digging and got away- we felt really bad, I'm sure they can't live long without their necks.

Boats going by on the inlet:


Baby crab:


Tons of cute sandpipers:


Some of the haul:

Homer Shorebird Festival

Last weekend I drove down to Homer with a friend for the Shorebird Festival. It was a beautiful day, really clear. From Homer sometimes when it's really clear, you can see the beginning of the Alaska Peninsula- this picture shows Mt. Augustine on the right, and in the left, faintly you can see Cape Douglas, part of the Alaska Peninsula.


I was dog sitting Shelby, and we brought her to play with Lenny, another friend's dog, on the beach... but Shelby didn't like sharing her frisbee at all. It was beautiful though.

Bear had surgery this past week on his tail- poor guy looks like a poodle now with half his tail shaved.


School will be out soon, which will be wonderful.

Walking Sled Dogs

This weekend I went with my friend Barbara to her good friend Dean's house. He won the Iditarod in the 80's and trains mushers- he trained a couple in the Iditarod this year, and they used his dogs to run it.

Some of the dogs- the one in the foreground is one of his main lead dogs- she's been in the Iditarod a bunch of times.


So we got there, and Dean suggested we take the dogs on a walk. Barbara and I just looked at each other.... it's doubtful those dogs had ever been walked on a leash in their lives. He picked out the smallest ones, and brought along an extra dog- we asked what that one was for, and he explained it was a decoy- he tied it to a tree near the ridge, and if any of the dogs got loose, they'd likely just go and visit the one tied up. Brilliant plan.


Dean lives on the bluff overlooking the Cook Inlet near Kasilof. The views were breathtaking today- we walked along the ridge and the Alaska range was beautiful

Barbara and Dean:


Buffalo Graveyard- those dogs need a ton of meat


3-day old puppies:

The Home Stretch

We finally have some spring- the birds are coming back, the crocuses and tulips are popping up, only to be eaten by the moose as soon as they've bloomed, and the sun is out. A lot. Sunrise is around 6 am, and sunset is after 10:00. After getting used to the sun setting around 4pm all winter, I am really not used to so much sun at night. I don't even think about going to be until it's dark, which is after 11pm now. There are a lot more behavior problems at school too, with kids not getting to bed on time.


The cats are loving the views in their new place- as you can see, their downstairs window is at eye-level with the ground. When the rabbits come and nibble on the flowers, they are just inches from the boys.

Last weekend we saw Ira Glass in Anchorage- it was great. He played a clip from the last time he was in Alaska, which was in 1989 covering the Exxon Valdez oil spill. His talk was a lot like the extra scenes you get on a DVD- he talked about how they make the show, how they get ideas for the stories, and he played clips they had to cut for various reasons- deleted scenes. On the way to the show we were walking through downtown trying to find a coffee shop open on a Sunday afternoon, and looked up and Ira Glass was right in front of us- very exciting:



The Wyland Whaling Wall with the mountains in the background in Anchorage, from the theater



I went for breakfast in Cooper Landing with some co-worker friends. We walked along Kenai Lake, the source of the Kenai River. It was cloudy and grey, but there were guys out fishing already:



Breaking in my new hiking boots:


Barbara on Quartz Lake:


Sunrise Inn, Cooper Landing: