Settling in

Cook Inlet, North Pacific Ocean

The picture shown above is of Cook Inlet in the North Pacific Ocean that Anchorage sits on.  The tide ebbs and flows revealing mud flats that stretch for miles.  The foreground in the picture shows the mud flats while the darker area in the middle is the sea water.  The mountains in the background were illuminated by the setting sun giving them the pinkish hue on the snow capped mountains across the inlet.  The sun at this time of the year barely climbs high in the sky during the day in South Central Alaska.

Autumn Mushrooms in Kincaid Park

It's been unseasonably warm and lacking of snow in Anchorage this year.  I certainly don't mind as it made for a safe trip and the chance to explore a little before the brunt of winter settled in. Finding a nice place to live and exploring what the city has to offer were the first things to accomplish.  A nice apartment on the south side of Anchorage with a view of the Chugach Mountains has been leased.  It was a little wait to move in as the owner was replacing all the flooring and the dishwasher so everything should be nice.  Furniture shopping complete to fill the apartment with the necessities and it was time to explore a little.

Anchorage is built on on a triangle piece of land with Turnagain Arm and Knik Arm of the Cook Inlet hemming it in on two sides.  The third side borders Elmendorf Airforce Base and Richards Army Base.  This prevents further growth in the city and causes half the states population to live in a small area.  Military families are everywhere you go in town and businesses all ask if I'm military as they offer discounts to those that are.  It must be the buzz cut I guess.   I now sometimes ask if they give a military discount and if the Salvation Army counts.  Some stores have actually given me the discount.

Cloudy day on Turnagain Arm, Cook Inlet, North Pacific Ocean

Cook Inlet sunet

A trip one afternoon to Anchorage's Kincaid Park on the point of land between Turnagain and Knik Arms revealed a huge city park with biking, hiking and cross country skiing trails.  The park also had soccer fields and a frisbee golf course.  This seems to be popular here as I've seen people practicing all over the city.  The walk through the park was pleasant and revealed over 10 miles of bike trails and views of the water.  At low tides the mud flats stretch out into the ocean revealing lines and designs in every direction.  Moose scat littered the ground in some places.  Moose are prevalent in the city and coexist with humans in this tight place.  I'm told a few years ago on the UAA campus a gentleman was killed by a moose when he inadvertently walked between a cow and her baby.

Cook Inlet Sunset

They are in city parks and back yards.  A family of 10 black bears also reside in the city virtually undetected.  Alaska State Naturalists discovered them this past year and keep track of them.  In addition to the moose and black bears, grizzly bears reside within the city limits although closer to the mountains.  The city for the past 40 years has expanded off the flats and crept up the hill side.  The area is named Hillside.   Alaskan's apparently are not known for their originality.  One of the worst bear attacks in the states history took place in that area a few years ago when two joggers rounded a corner in a park and met a grizzly bear with a fresh moose kill.  The bear instantly killed the joggers and another man who came to help.  These stories were related to me by Marco, the leader of the Eagle River Camera Club that I joined.  The conversation revealed what I had already begun to figure out about Anchorage.  The small city is filled with urban city dwellers.  Yuppies if I may label them.  They live in a city that only precariously exists on the edge of a vast wilderness.  The city has one road in and one road out.  These going only north and south.  There is only one supplier of electricity and one for cable in the entire state.  The city exists in the wilderness and a lot of the residents have long forgotten this. The saying in Alaska is that "once you step off the pavement you enter the food chain".

Glacial Ice, Byron Glacier

A trip down Route 1 south along Turnagain Arm revealed beautiful views of the water and a dramatic sunset.  This only fueled my desire to explore farther.  Another day's trip led down toward Whittier, Alaska.  The road winds along the Arm hugging the base of the tall snow capped mountain.  Gates along the highway in places wait to close the road off when avalanches occur.  Avalanche signs warn to not stop for the next X amount of miles as the road winds it's way east around the end of Turnagain Arm.  At the end of the Arm, before it turns to the south to cross the glacial rivers that feed the Arm, the Whittier Road turns to the left.  In the distance, in the tall mountains, Portage Glacier looms in the mountain pass.  The road passes the National Park for Portage and Byron Glacier and Portage Lake.  After going through a small tunnel along the rail line, you come to a toll booth.  At this point the road will enter a long tunnel carved through the mountains to the landlocked coastal town of Whittier on the Prince William Sound.  Until a few years ago the town was only accessible by sea, plane or the railroad the government installed when the town was converted for military purposes to a staging point during World War II.  Now the vehicle tunnel goes through the mountain as well but is only open for 15 minutes each hour for traffic going in each direction.  The one lane tunnel carries all the traffic to the town and the waits can be long.  Deciding not to pay the twelve dollar toll, I turned around and headed back to Byron Glacier.

Byron glacier is nestled in a valley next to the valley that Portage Glacier fills.  While Portage glacier ends into a lake, Byron glacier ends with a stream exiting the bottom of the glacier and is a hanging glacier.  The blue ice, compacted by pressure, fills the valley turning the air cold around it. The stream under the glacier has carved a cave revealing blue ice and interesting geometric shapes. The ice is hard and smooth from the wear of ages of movement.  After exploring the cave and awing at the view of the valley below with snow covered mountains glinting in the sun, we climbed up the moraine to the base of the glaciers toe (the end of the glacier).  The moraine's jumble of huge rocks and boulders was a challenging climb that took some time to cross to view the glaciers toe. Mounds of boulders filled the valley at the end of the glacier where it had unceremoniously dropped them on it's retreat as the world warms.  I never had dreamed a year ago that I would be standing on and under a glacier in my life.  I have always wanted to see a glacier before they melted and disappeared. Now I have many within a few hours drive of home.  Plans are being made for next summer to hike along Exit glacier to view the Harding Ice field.  

Exploring the city itself has been an interesting adventure for me.  I'm used to being very rural and have been having fun exploring Anchorage.  Anchorage is a small city by comparison to those in the Lower 48.  I'm told it's about the size of Toledo, Ohio.  I've never been there so I'll take people's word on that as Toledo is not on the list of places I want to visit.  I'm actually not sure if it's on anyone's list of places to visit.  Anchorage has a three story mall downtown, art galleries, a performing arts center and the requisite souvenir shops.  I feel safe walking downtown but parking appears to be difficult.  I'm hoping to photograph the ceremonial start of the Iditerod in March as the dogsleds start on 4th street.  The actual start is the following day in Willow, Alaska just north of Anchorage.  I'm planning to attend both.  It would be fun to see the finish in Nome 1100 miles northwest on the Bering Sea but that is certainly out of my price range at this point.

Anchorage is a lot bigger than I first thought it to be.  It doesn't take long to travel across it but the different sections and areas get confusing.  I've been in the University area and now moving to the Huffman area in the south.  This is a whole different set of roads, loops and all the same businesses as other parts of town.  Generica all begins to look the same to me and gets confusing.  At least I know it's an easy commute to work (around 15 minutes) if I don't forget to turn where I need to. That happens often with me here.

Monday is my first day of work for the University.  It should be interesting.  My first non private sector job.  I'm told the politics at the University is interesting due to being a state university but that doesn't concern me.  My position doesn't require a lot of interaction with people that would involve that.  I was brought on board to run/fix print engines and some IT functions.  A new chapter in a place.  I'm homesick for my mountain, friends and family but determined to live here for a while.  There's so much to explore, see and do.  The point will come when I'll return to Pennsylvania but not just yet.

Eagle near Exit Glacier, Seward, Alaska