Fun in Anchorage

So today we did Anchorage – Earthquake Park, Lake Hood where all the float planes are kept, the Alaskan Aviation Museum, Ulu factory which was fascinating – they are making a knife that has been used since the times of the early indians, JC Penny – we went there since we've never been to one before and I won't be going to another either, then last but by no means least the Native Alaskan Heritage Center.

Now we don't usually buy ready made food, however since we were on a flying trip, backpackers and all plus I didn't have the cooker with me, this time we did. We stopped in at Carr's also known as Safeway (a big supermarket) and they had all sorts of stuff in their deli section. We all chose either a salad and then something hot since the weather was cool. There was mexican, chinese, american …. you name it, it was there. Reagan chose sesame chicken. Oh she said, it's good. We should go back and get a big container to share.

Outside the Alaskan Aviation Museum, right on Lake Hood

The Aviation Museum had a flight simulation machine which is always popular with my family. There was a sign that junior pilots required adult supervision. I am happy for them to have a good go. So waited patiently while the both took a turn. Then said it's time to move on, which we did. When I turned around our girl had disappeared, so I went back and here she was on the simulator again. Insert a big voice here - I'm alright, I'm an adult! When we were outside checking out the Alaskan Airlines plane they had open for inspection, she touched and opened everything. Now on a good day she would have touched and opened, however this day you would swear her hands were shaking she just had to, and I mean had to touch everything at such a great speed, even stuff that was sign posted “do not use”. I couldn't believe the transformation. Honestly she needed a straight jacket, she was like an energizer battery that wouldn't stop. Looking back, I'm thinking the sesame chicken might have had some colour or additive that set her off. Needless to say we didn't go back for more.

Anchorage here we come!

Next stop Anchorage.

Why do we have to go? That was how our trip to Anchorage started. Surprisingly it went quite quickly. First stop the tourism information center. Now, accommodation is very pricey in Alaska, and also in short supply when one hasn't booked in advance. So it was the Alaska backpackers for us. The first backpackers the children had stayed in. It was all that we needed with 4 bunk beds in a room all to ourselves.

We arrived at mid day, so decided the best plan of attack would be to drive half way to Seward and about 10 miles south of Girdwood to the Alaska conservation center. The road is mountains one side and sea the other. Bradley caught sight of a beluga whale, which apparently roam in groups of 20 to 30 in this area during the summer. Unfortunately I had to keep my eyes on the road, much to my disgust and had to wait for some distance to pull off the road.

At the Conservation Centre, I got some fantastic photos of grizzly bears, the rare musk ox, caribou which are also called reindeer – by golly they are tiny things with great racks where the antlers are about the same height as the reindeer. Two abandoned moose babies were huge despite their young age – about the size of a horse and two herds of bush bison of which one herd will be released in 2013, that was exciting to read about.



An official had just thrown some apples to the bears while we were there and they had a little cabin the bears went into to try and find it, got some great shots of that. We also saw a bald eagle which had been shot at and had to have its wing amputated, plus two owls whose home had been invaded by a silly magpie, how it got in who knows. The magpie sent the owls into a spin when someone tried to shoo it out without much luck. They were also preparing an enclosure for two female lynx cubs who were in a forest fire with paws that were badly burned. The glaciers in the background looked eerie with blue ice shining through.

Brown Bear painting, by Desray

The tough side of Alaska

Read the saddest story in the local frontiersman newspaper. The title is “Some students just want a bed of their own” Here is a little of what the article said; The district identified more than 900 students who were either homeless or don't have a stable place to call home. Some students are younger (primary school aged) children and either living at local church shelters or with friends, teens couch surfing etc. More than 300 of them were at the one high school. All having to figure out where your next meal is coming from or where you're going to sleep that night, if they will get to shower, some haven't seen mum or dad for 3 or 4 months.

Get this, “..recalls the desperate look on the face of one girl who had her backpack stolen. Everything she had in the world, including clothing, was in it........ The look of a young man who was talking about “how it's so undignified to not have a place to put your stuff, …....It's not like I'm looking for luxuries like running water or electricity.” Can you imagine what it might be like here in winter when temperatures plummet to minus 72 F? Well I for one felt like crying reading that. I had visions of opening up a school boarding house. My god, these things tie you in knots. One positive action is the school authorities are having a stuff the bus project to supply students with school supplies. That is a little something that we can contribute to. I am so appreciative of what I have and what my darlings have, oh how we take these things for granted.

Fishing



The view of Denali from Willow



 

The day had cleared for the first time this week, blue sky, Mount Denali as a magnificent backdrop when I drove home with the kids. It's a wonder that there aren't a few accidents with people mesmerised by the scenery.



 

Horseshoe lake didn't result in the large catch we thought we might bag. Despite having all the local knowledge in our favour – night crawlers, corn and just the right jigs. Rain for the last week may have had something to do with it. Regardless it was magical. Brent and the children were out, a ripple making its presence across the lake and those magnificent mountains in the distance. If only I had my paints on me.



A couple of things we did see, one was a young muskrat swimming in the water and diving under every now and then. Brent and the kids saw a loon and its beautiful plummage, also diving. Then when everyone was out of the water and we had loaded the boat into the van, I noticed that Bradley had a leaf stuck just under his ankle and said stop, so that I could brush it off before he got in. Except that it didn't brush off, and if felt slippery, and it stuck in the one spot regardless of which direction I swished in. I quickly came to the conclusion that a leech had attached itself to his ankle. He said you could only feel it if you concentrated. So Brent burnt it off, and that was interesting in itself. The leech kind of melted barely leaving a mark on Bradley's ankle and then fell off, right into Brent's sandal and was quickly flicked out. A little bit of excitement for the evening.

Fishing on Horseshoe Lake, Alaska



Rain rain, go away!

There has been so much rain that the river is muddy coloured and despite our best efforts, the little side pond we have discovered was also brown, leaving us unable to discern which fish we would like to try and catch. Bradley is not interested in pulling in anything but a keeper, whereas Reagan just loves the thrill of hooking a big one and hauling it in, while the fish puts up a mean fight. It sure gets her squealing. She even had the cheek to tell Bradley he better get in the water to net that really difficult fish that just had other ideas about coming in. Of course he was quick to swat that idea away and let her know all about it. It sure is fun watching and listening to them, I am also very pleased at how capable they are taking care of fishing business.

We had a real lark late this afternoon. We have brought 2 bikes with us, which is fine except when we three decided to go collecting cranberries. So we doubled up, Reagan riding on the handle bars. Nice quiet country roads and lots of laughing from all of us. Bradley was keen to be doubled too, not sure how I would have handled that though. We quickly found a good patch of cranberries and I set about collecting while my two larked about squishing berries and laughing about the results – Bradley got a surprise cranberry face wash.



High bush cranberries

So now we have blueberry jam, raspberry jam, raspberry juice and now cranberries. We sure are spoilt, although I'm not sure how we would store much more.



Melon berries, good for fillers





Gold in them hills!

A big day out, back in the car. It's drizzly and cold. The kind of winter weather you might expect in New Zealand or Oregon in the middle of winter. We are heading into the hills, to Hatchers Pass. Hatcher was the first person to look for gold/put in a claim. Later there was quite a gold mining industry that was built up on the mountain side.

We stopped on the way to cast a fishing line in the river, which was somewhat dirty, you never know though! Then grabbed the pans out of the car and had a go at panning for gold. Needless to say Brent will have to continue to work. Brent and the kids walked up the side of a couple of mountains into the icy stuff, I walked ¾ up one steep one and then we walked the mine.

The Hatcher valley opens up and looks down towards Palmer. The day was cold and bleak. The water that runs down the hillside would be freezing all the time. There was still snow on the tops surrounding the gold mine and it is the middle of summer. Trips into town would be a once a year event if you were lucky. I read one story where a lady hung her laundry outside expecting it to freeze dry and woke to find it covered in snow. Although the scenery was stunning with beautiful tarns, I am way too soft and would never have wished for a life there.

Fishing

Second day fishing and Reagan was determined to have a go too. She had been complaining to me that she wasn't even allowed to hold the line let alone the net! Our girl got hold of that rod the next morning and boy she wasn't going to let go of it, even when she did hook a tree and the small branch had to be cut so that we could get our lure out.

Well talk about squeal. She hooked the grandaddy of all salmon, he must have been about 20 pounds and was a real fighter. It was fun to watch her, of course she was busy issuing orders at the same time to Bradley who was working the net. Reagan was very disappointed when we had her put him back. She was very keen on eating him, however once they are coloured like that one was, they have spawned and don't taste pleasant at all. We weren't willing to indulge her on this request.


Can you make out all the salmon in there? There is no substitute for polarised glasses!

Since we could actually see all the fish in this pool, Bradley was more picky about which one he would take, aiming for a nice sized, silver salmon. He hooked a nice five pound pink, full of eggs. We have kept some and will ask what people do with them. Otherwise they will go out.

Have also made another discovery – Alaskans use jars to drink out of. The family we stayed with used them, even at the swanky lodge they used them. Like agee jars, they are perfectly fine for drinking out of too. Here in our cabin they have glasses. I asked my family why that might be. The answer, the owners are from Michigan, they're not Alaskan.

The entire family are enjoying themselves. I am kept busy on the end of the camera and collecting berries, I've made some very tasty raspberry jam from the ones I collected. Brent is busy advising, organising and directing. Both children are the only fishers in the family and they are hooked. What fun, so far the verdict is that we'd be happy coming back here each summer.

We have brownie in the oven and then we are off to explore Big Lake and stop by Brent's work. Our fish is ready for dinner tonight, can't wait. Picked wild blueberries along the road side. I am in heaven. Raspberries, blueberries, what's next?

Alaska 2

We stayed at another amazing place that I would highly recommend if you are ever in Alaska. It's the Log Cabin Wilderness Lodge, Mentasta just out of Tok. Our hosts were Jill and John. John was out of town, so Jill had her daughter helping her out. Brent stays with them when he is working and although it was only about half an hour from his friend Pauls, he really wanted us to check the place out.

The Lodge!

John did a two day log house building course, then went out and built the main log cabin/house. They are also in an unincorporated area so do what they want. It is huge and amazing. There were already about four smaller cabins on the property when they bought it, so they moved them down along the streamline. The main house is the center of attention where they serve dinner and breakfast, and have the internet. All the furniture is log cabin style, big and chunky. Then they built two more medium cabins just as you enter the property. The attention to detail is phenomenal from the furniture and decorations right down to mugs with the log cabin logo on.

Jill and John have also installed eco showers and toilets, which I had never seen before. For the toilets, you push the pedal to half fill the bowl with water and then depress it again when you have finished to empty the bowl. The downside is that they are noisy, being so efficient with water use is the upside.

There is also a track down to the most wonderful arctic greyling fishing spot. Bradley is our fisherman for this trip, he caught several and we decided one was perfect for eating. Brent lit the barbeque the next morning and cooked the fish up to share at breakfast.

Both Bradley and Reagan had fun on the zip line, there was one going across the stream and another coming back. Brent even joined them and had fun too. The dog was named Denali. Reagan has been looking for a stray that might be able to fit in our car to take home, we wondered if Denali might be the one. The name should have been a give away being the biggest mountain in North America (I think). Well Denali the dog is surely the biggest, meaning tallest dog we have seen, he had really really long legs and stood at least waist high. I forget what breed he is. Anyway he wasn't going to fit in the car unless we left both kids behind.

There were about 15 of us in all. The meals were delicious – chicken pot pie with salad and fruit coated in whipped cream for dinner, then cheesecake and sour cherries for desert. For breakfast we had delicious greyling, boiled eggs, yoghurt, home made granola, caribou sausages, a fresh fruit platter and the most delicious rhubarb muffins. We were even given muffins to take with us on our trip, I was very happy.

 

Looking forward to Alaska

I am planning a trip to Alaska, so won't be wired for a bit. However I am excited to be collecting new material, new ideas, new perspectives as we go. I have a travel kit that a friend organised for me and am all set! Alaska here I come!

Will let you know what I find when we get back, or when I have internet access. Have fun and see you soon!
Desray