Safe in Anchorage

Welcome sign along the Alaskan Highway at the border.

It was a frosty 16 degrees (Fahrenheit not Celsius as we were thankfully back in the U.S.) in Tok, Alaska when we started re-packing the car for the final leg of the journey five hours south to Anchorage.  As I packed I noticed the motel had posts in front of every room.  A quick glance at them revealed electric outlets on each post that explained their reason for being there.  The outlets were to plug in your car's circulation pumps that are necessary this far north when the temperatures reach fifty to sixty below zero and a car will not start.  The pump heats and circulates the antifreeze to keep the engine warm.  Another reminder that we're not in Pennsylvania any more.

After checking out of the motel/restaurant onto the Tok's main street, we made a right turn on the Tok Cutoff headed to Alaska's largest city where half the states population resides.  We could have continued up the Alaskan Highway toward Fairbanks to the turnoff at mile marker 1422 but this cutoff route in good weather cut hours off the trip.  The road, built high up on the permafrost, ran through muskeg tundra with high snow capped peaks in the distance.  This seems to have been a recurring theme the last 3000 miles.  During my first trip to Alaska the mountains had me in awe.  I can now say after making this journey that they not so much awe me as they do still excite and inspire me.  I have crossed the Rockies and the continental divide three times now in two weeks.  I have traveled north through length of the Canadian Rockies. I have seen the mountains change from high peaks and valleys to rounded hills surrounding northern prairie then barren high plains. The sight of the mountains is more common place to me but I still feel excited at the sight of them.  I still long to explore.

After a couple of hours on the road, meeting very little traffic, I had to stop the car suddenly in the middle of the road.  Eight elk bulls were blocking the highway.  Two were large 6 X 6 elk with the rest being young spikes. We tried to get pictures but they moved too fast as we heard them crashing into the brush along the road.  The road then wound up into the mountain passes and we could see the snow covered peaks rising above the snow covered valleys below.  As the highway wound it's way up through the passes of the Matanuska mountains the air became foggy then changed to snow.  The snow was several inches deep along the road covered the road surface making the going very slow.  Snow and ice colored the road white as we creeped along the mountain road. An hour of this and the road dropped in elevation. The snow on the road and hillsides abruptly disappeared.  This left us with the beautiful scenes of the mountains before us as we passed several glaciers grinding their way slowly out of the mountains.

The road then narrowed considerably along the glacial river and crews were working for miles to clear the roadsides of debris from landslides.  For sixty miles the signs warned of slide areas and rocks littered the road in places.  The small towns we did pass through had little to no activity or open businesses.  Palmer would be the next stop for gas on the trip south.  Palmer passed by as a suburb on Wasilla.  Both appear to be nice areas with the modern conveniences that Generica has to offer.  However, despite what Sarah Palin said I was unable to see Russia from there.  She might want to re-think her geography knowledge or get better glasses.  After a stop at a Fred Myers for lunch and to restock our bottled water supply, we were back on the road for the last 40 miles into Anchorage.  Traffic picked up as we neared the city and we were glad to see our exit to the university was one of the first we saw.  Through the thick rush hour traffic we quickly found where we had to go to meet our contact for housing.

The university is a beautiful campus with a large hospital and Tribal medical center.  New buildings are being constructed for the Engineering departments and new sports arena for the UAA Seawolves.  The dorm suite they have provided is nice and spacious.  We have use of it for as long as we need it at a very nominal cost.  A walk around the local portion of the campus revealed a nice campus with walking trail and restaurants nearby.   Tomorrow's agenda consists of meeting my new manager, setting up my parking and apartment hunting.

Glacier along the Tok Cutoff to Anchorage

Unfortunately with the overcast skies of the past two days, pictures didn't turn out well.  There will be plenty of other days for pictures.  I can't wait to explore Anchorage and Alaska.

One last tribute to Robert Service in honor of the trip through the north country.  I found this one appropriate for the journey north.

The Quitter

by Robert W. Service

When you're lost in the Wild, and you're scared as a child, And Death looks you bang in the eye, And you're sore as a boil, it's according to Hoyle To cock your revolver and . . . die. But the Code of a Man says: "Fight all you can," And self-dissolution is barred. In hunger and woe, oh, it's easy to blow . . . It's the hell-served-for-breakfast that's hard. "You're sick of the game!" Well, now, that's a shame. You're young and you're brave and you're bright. "You've had a raw deal!" I know -- but don't squeal, Buck up, do your damnedest, and fight. It's the plugging away that will win you the day, So don't be a piker, old pard! Just draw on your grit; it's so easy to quit: It's the keeping-your-chin-up that's hard. It's easy to cry that you're beaten -- and die; It's easy to crawfish and crawl; But to fight and to fight when hope's out of sight -- Why, that's the best game of them all! And though you come out of each grueling bout, All broken and beaten and scarred, Just have one more try -- it's dead easy to die, It's the keeping-on-living that's hard.