After a cloudy day on Monday, we woke to another blue sky day on Tuesday. While we were in the city of Anchorage, nature was not far away so we continued to enjoy the nature of Alaska. Chugach State Park is a short drive from Anchorage and offers a number of outdoor activities. We chose to go to the Eagle River section of the park for a hike.
Unlike our hike the previous Wednesday, this hike had little elevation gain. It was a loop trail near the Eagle River. We drove to the Eagle River Nature Center which was closed, but the trails were open, and there were a number of families out enjoying nature on this beautiful day. At the nature center they had posted updated information on the trails. We noted that there had been reports of bear sightings in the area. As we began our hike, we noticed bear scat around. There were probably five of six places on the trail where we noticed this. I wasn’t too anxious about the bears, but it did make my daughter nervous, and she didn’t relax until we left the park.
In general the hike was pretty easy. Near the river the trail it was muddy in places, and in one or two spots there were significant puddles to get around. I decided to use my trekking poles again. I wasn’t sure I needed them, but in the end I was glad I took them. There was more than once when they provided stability as I was hiking. However, the challenge was learning to take pictures while having poles attached to my wrists. That’s a work in progress.
The trail goes through a variety of terrain from low brush to tall trees forests. The wild flowers were out in force, especially the wild geraniums and wild roses. From that standpoint it was a beautiful hike. The river portion of the hike was also very nice. There are mountains around, and so with the view of the Eagle River, it makes for great photos.
With the hike over, we were hungry and thirsty so we headed over to the town of Eagle River and found a local cafe for some lunch. It was a very popular place so we did have to wait for our food. That gave us time to decide what we wanted to do next, visit the downtown Anchorage area.
Downtown Anchorage has a few interesting places to check out, but overall it’s like most larger towns with some city and government buildings along with the usual businesses. There are probably more souvenir shops here than in most larger towns as tourism is a major part of their economy, especially in the summer. One unique aspect of Anchorage is their love of wild animal statues.
We walked over to the memorial for Captain Cook, who had discovered this part of the world. There is a statue of Cook there along with a vista that looks over the Knik Arm to the west of Anchorage. One can see Denali from here on a clear day. On our visit it seemed there were more clouds than mountains in that direction.
Not being terribly impressed with Anchorage, we decided to go on a moose hunt. Yes, we were looking for moose. We were coming to the end of our time in Alaska, and we had yet to get a picture of a moose in the wild. My daughter had read about a park near the airport which moose frequented. She wanted to go and get her moose picture.
When we arrived at the parking lot, it was at the end of the airport runway, and we saw people on the bank nearby. Apparently they were there to take photos of the airplanes as they take off. Just as we arrived a large plane took off and seemed to skim just above us. These “airplane groupies” came to take pics and selfies of these flyovers. We got in the spirit a little bit and later took photos of a few planes taking off.
The trail that we followed led us through a fairly wooded area. The trail itself was paved and an easy walk. As we walked, we kept diligently scanning the forest on both sides looking for that photogenic moose. No luck. There was not a moose in sight. We walked over three miles on the shaded path. It was a lovely walk, just not what we hoped for.
We got in our car to leave the park. My daughter drove just a few blocks and suddenly shouted, “There’s a moose!” Sure enough, there next to a parking lot munching away at the grass and shrubs was a female moose. My daughter quickly pulled over to the side of the road, and we all got out our cameras. The moose seemed unperturbed by our presence and ignored us. The fact that no one else seemed to show much interest in the moose indicates that moose are more common in Anchorage than one might think. Experts suggest 1500 moose are in the Anchorage area. All we wanted to do was find one, and we finally did.
With that find our day was complete. We stopped for some ice cream and then headed back to our room for the night.
Wednesday was our departure day, and we had planned to visit the Anchorage Museum which had been recommended to us. After packing up, we were off to a breakfast place. That place, Snow City Cafe, told us our wait would be an hour and 15 minutes. Not wanting to sit waiting that long, we drove over to nearby Earthquake Park. As the name suggests, this is a memorial providing information about the 1964 earthquake, the second largest earthquake ever recorded. There are trails in the park, but the main part focuses on information regarding this historic earthquake and the impact it had on the city and Alaska as a whole. I remember the earthquake so it was a good reminder about this major event.
After we finally had our breakfast, we headed to the Anchorage Museum. This is in the heart of downtown Anchorage. The museum has a number of sections. A major section focuses on the indigenous peoples. Rows of cases display some of the clothing, art work, and utensils of the many tribal groups in the area. There is a lot of information to digest in this part of the museum.
Another area gives a kind of brief history of the area starting with the indigenous people and then the influence of the Russians and the Americans as they entered this land. Topics such as the fur trade, the gold rush, and the oil pipeline are all a part of the history of the state.
A third emphasis of the museum is upon the people of Alaska. Who are they? Currently there are two exhibits that deals with that very question. One is about women in Alaska. The exhibit highlights women’s struggles in this difficult land as well as their triumphs. It was interesting to read the stories of some of these women. A second exhibit focuses on the presence of black people in Alaska. We might not expect to see many African Americans in Alaska so this exhibit seeks to highlight their presence and contributions to Alaskan life and society.
Finally there is a very interactive and interesting children’s discovery center. Here children engage in various activities that stimulate their thinking and problem solving abilities. I visited this section with my daughter who teaches 2nd grade, and she seemed quite excited to see the things children could do. However, I took few pictures here due to the presence of children.
Before heading to the airport, we had one more place to stop, Kinkaid Park. This park lies at the corner of Anchorage with water on both the south and west sides. I was hoping to get some good pictures of the water. Unfortunately the parking areas are quite a distance from the beach areas. I got in a few pictures, perhaps even one of Denali. One surprise was seeing a bunker from the former Nike Missile site which was located here during the Cold War. Now it’s transformed to a recreation area.
Alaska turned out to be a place of great adventure. It was fun to see and learn about a variety of wildlife. The views can be amazing, and the mountains surround one in all directions. My biggest complaint about Alaska is the mosquitoes. I read that the worst time is the end of June to the end of July. I’ll have to keep that in mind.
Thanks for following along with our Alaska sojourn. If you have any further thoughts or comments on Alaska, be sure to put them in the comment section below. Next week we are off to Iceland. I hope you will join us.