Anchorage Life

(2018 Alaska Ep 34)

On Monday, July 2 we left Valdez for Anchorage (RabbiTRAILS Alaska Map, pt #38).

With nearly 300,000 people, Anchorage is the first city since Edmonton three weeks earlier.  The city has high rise buildings, four-lane limited access highways, a very busy major airport, just about every chain store and fast food restaurant imaginable including real Super Walmarts and Fred Meyer, the cheapest gas since leaving the lower 48, and homeless people.

We camped next to an industrial area just north of downtown.  Although the campground didn’t have a lot of fancy amenities, it was very conveniently located about five blocks from the downtown area.

We enjoyed a US Army band during Fourth of July celebrations in a city park and the Anchorage Farmers’ Market and Festival in large parking lot, both less than five minutes away.  We connected with several bike trails crisscrossing the city.   The weather was clear and unusually warm by Alaska standards – about 80 during the day and 60s at night.

Look west from Anchorage and you’ll see the Cook Inlet and distant mountains. Closer to the east are the mountains of Chugach State Park. We drove 30 miles to hike a state park trail along the Eagle River.  The destination was a waterfall on one of the forks of the river.  We had to settle for a soaring eagle and sunny picnic lunch on the riverbank when we couldn’t cross the river due to swift and deep water.

We fared better with Anchorage Bike trails.  Named for a former Alaska governor, the Tony Knowles Coastal Trail extends 11 miles from downtown along the Cook Inlet.   It parallels the Alaska Railroad for a couple miles and then goes through various wooded areas, wetlands and open fields.  We were told Denali could be seen on a clear day from one open area, but haze kept us from seeing the high one on that day.

On another day we rode the Chester Creek trail after connecting via the coastal trail.  Moose had been spotted in the area (we didn’t see any) and salmon spawn in the creek (wrong time of year).  Nonetheless, we enjoyed the shaded trail as it wound several miles across the city.

We saw and heard large jets as they landed and took off throughout the day.  Because of its location, Anchorage is a major air hub for global shipping and Alaska tourism.

Many tourists take the Alaska Railroad north to Denali and Fairbanks, and then return south to Seward or Whittier to cruise to Seattle or Vancouver.  Three northbound passenger trains in the morning  and three southbound passenger trains in the afternoon passed within 100 yards of our campground.  The train horns – two long, one short and one long – were very loud!

Our time at Anchorage came to a close as we left for Whittier on Monday, July 9.  The weather was about to change.