Our last day in Alaska! We have a 4 hour drive to Anchorage but our plane doesn't take off till 11:15 PM so we still have a full day of adventures ahead of us. Kim and Terry will be on the same flight as us to Chicago...from there they will fly to Rochester and Mike and I fly to Syracuse.
We stopped at a Russian Orthodox church in the village of Ninilchik. Very picturesque with views of the volcanic mountains across Cook Inlet. Russian colonists moved here from Kodiak Island in 1847 before the Alaska Purchase.
Girdwood is year-round ski resort community. It lies in a valley in the Chugach Mountains near the end of the Turnagain Arm of Cook Inlet. It is surrounded by seven permanent glaciers. Summer activities include hiking, fishing and rafting, but Girdwood is best known for winter at Alyeska Resort
on Mount Alyeska. Girdwood has the northernmost rain forest in the world. Originally called "Glacier City," Girdwood was founded as a supply camp for gold miners with claims along the creeks feeding Turnagain Arm. It was renamed for Colonel James Girdwood, an entrepreneur and linen merchant who staked the first four gold claims along Crow Creek in 1896.
The town was moved 2.5 miles up the valley after the devastating Good Friday Earthquake of 1964, when the land under the original townsite subsided into Turnagain Arm, putting much of the town below high tide.
Standing 3,939 feet above Turnagain Arm at sea level,
Mount Alyeska has great views of Turnagain Arm, the Girdwood valley,
several nearby glaciers, and many mountains and glaciers of the high
Chugach Range to the north and east. Our plans are to take the Alyeska Aerial Tram, a seven minute scenic ride from
Hotel Alyeska to 2,300 ft in elevation and the top of the mountain. Mike surprised us all by opting not to take the tram and I surprised everyone by taking it! In addition to soaking up the gorgeous views, ( yup ..another day of gorgeous views!) we visited the Roundhouse Museum at the top of the mountain and learned a lot about the history of the Mountain and the ski resort. We met a couple from Syracuse, NY and rode the tram down the Mountain with them. By coincidence they had been to Denali the same day we were but had taken the bus tour to Wonder Lake. They said that they wished they had taken the trip to Eielson Center that we did ..the extra 3 hours that they were on the bus did not afford them any better views. To access the Reflection Pond at Wonder Lake you would need to hike another
2 1/2 miles ..and then 2 1/2 miles back and hope to find room on a bus heading back to the visitor center. On a 11 hour tour to throw in the 5 mile round trip hike would make for a very long day! They thought that it's called Wonder Lake Tour because you "wonder" why you took it. So guess we made the right choice on the 8 hour tour instead of the 11 hour one! Heading back to Anchorage on the Seward Highway, we saw a Tidal Bore in the Turnagain Arm A bore tide is a rush of seawater that returns to a shallow and narrowing inlet from a broad bay. Bore tides come in after extreme minus low tides created by the full or new moon. Bore tides occur all over the world—there are around 60 of them—but only a few are large enough to make a name for themselves. Alaska’s most famous bore tide occurs in the Turnagain Arm and climbs up to 6 – 10 feet tall and can reach speeds of 10 to 15 miles per hour. It takes not just a low tide but also about a 27-foot tidal differential (between high and low tide) for a bore to form. The Turnagain Arm bore wave is the only one that occurs in the far north and the only one bordered by mountains, making it the most unique and most geologically dramatic bore tide in the world. No pictures since when we saw it we weren't near a pull off but was neat to see just the same.
Back in Anchorage, I had an idea that our life would be easier if we checked our bags at the airport since we were driving close by. After dragging the bags in, we were informed that you can't check bags or check in more than 4 hours before departure. Live and Learn! Back in the van the bags went! We headed downtown for dinner at the Glacier Brewhouse, a popular restaurant and brewery that features brick oven cooking. The place was packed but we were able to get seated fairly quickly in the bar area. Enjoyed our dinner and talking about what we liked the most and enjoyed least on our great adventure! We all did agree that being able share this experience with good friends made the trip all the more special!
After dinner, we did head back to the airport to drop off our bags and get that out of the way before returning the rental van. The office was already closed but they had a key drop off slot and Russ Beck picked us up and ferried us back to the airport.
It seems that most of the flights out of Anchorage are late at night.. and of course there is the 4 hour time change. We will arrive back in Syracuse at 1 PM on Tuesday and then a 2 hour drive to get home. I thought a "red eye" flight would be great and we would sleep all night on the plane...didn't really sleep much but that was okay. I sat next to a girl who was from Alaska but currently living in Watertown, NY. Her husband is stationed at Fort Drum. They also had recently bought 10 acres of land right by Montana Creek where we had camped and fished.
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