"My first trip to Alaska." "alaskamap.jpeg" "Alaska is a big place." "comparison.jpeg" "For this trip, I planned concentrate on the Anchorage area with a couple of side trips - South to the Kenai Peninsula and North toward Mount McKinley." "southcentral.jpeg" "Anchorage. Seen here in a photo stolen from the web." "skyline.jpeg" "Anchorage devastated by the 1964 earthquake. 9.2 on the Richter scale." "earthquake_03.jpeg" "Anchorage after the 1964 earthquake." "earthquake_01.jpeg" "Anchorage after the 1964 earthquake." "earthquake_02.jpeg" "Anchorage after the 1964 earthquake." "earthquake_04.jpeg" "Home base for this trip was the Sheraton Anchorage hotel." "sheraton_view.jpeg" "Sheraton Anchorage. Tasteful design, with accents remiscent of native art." "sheraton_lobby2.jpeg" "Sheraton Anchorage. More native touches." "sheraton_nativewall.jpeg" "Sheraton Anchorage. And some moose print wallpaper! I can tell you where to get it if you want some for your next remodel." "047.jpeg" "Wednesday. State Trooper Museum - surely a high priority stop on any tour of Anchorage, especially if it is more or less next door to your hotel." "trooper_museum.jpeg" "1952 Hudson Hornet- one of the hottest cars of its time." "car.jpeg" "Surplus paraphernalia for sale." "paraphernalia.jpeg" "Mugshot of Steve McQueen after being arrested for speeding." "mugshot.jpeg" "Anchorage Museum." "030.jpeg" "Flowers grow well here due to cool, moist weather and long hours of sunshine in the summer." "008.jpeg" "Multiple exhibits on display." "032.jpeg" "After looking at the art on display, I headed up to the Alaska Gallery - an extensive exhibit chronicling the history of Alaska." "009.jpeg" "There were miniatures." "013.jpeg" "Old forts." "015.jpeg" "And life-size dioramas." "022.jpeg" "Even better was the Yuungnaqpiallerput - Masterworks of Yup'ik Science and Survival." "034.jpeg" "Salmon net. Salmon swim in; fisherman haul them out." "028.jpeg" "Lots of hands-on exhibits, like this one that allows one to build a miniature qasgiq." "029.jpeg" "Another hands-on exhibit - curing with aged urine. There is even a bottle of the fluid in question and some examples of its results. Next stop - the washroom." "007.jpeg" "Don't be distracted by the sexy model in this photo. This is a serious piece of Yup'ik hunting technology; it increases the wearer's auditory acuity." "026.jpeg" "Stories read in English and Yup'ik. Note the running times." "006.jpeg" "Thinking about language after that last demonstration, I was struck by this sign. Just what does this mean? Why must there be two men for one woman? And why is only the woman allowed to go up and down?" "025.jpeg" "I began to notice other signs. Here we clearly have a men's only elevator." "273.jpeg" "And obviously an elevator for just one person." "274.jpeg" "After the museum, I trotted down to the University of Alaska to confer with some colleagues." "uaa1.jpeg" "University of Alaska at Anchorage." "uaa2.jpeg" "University of Alaska at Anchorage." "uaa3.jpeg" "University of Alaska at Anchorage." "uaa4.jpeg" "Thursday. I started off with the idea of driving to Seward, mostly to scope it out for my next visit." "southcentral1.jpeg" "However, I did not realize the scenery on the way would demand so much attention. Around every bend in the road, there was an even better view. I ended up stopping every mile or two." "149.jpeg" "Called Turnagain Arm. Cook sailed up the Cook Inlet, turned right, and sailed up Turnagain arm only to discover that it was a dead end, so he had to turn again to get back. Honest." "turnagain.jpeg" "Before long, it became clear I was not going to make it to Seward. Just as well - something for next time." "055.jpeg" "The Hotel Alyeska is an upscale resort on Turnagain Arm, about 40 miles from Anchorage." "alyeska_hotel_01.jpeg" "View from the road." "120.jpeg" "Dining Room." "123.jpeg" "Special rooms?" "067.jpeg" "Sitting area on the pond." "068.jpeg" "Back Door." "118.jpeg" "Tram to the top of the mountain." "069.jpeg" "Stairwell to second floor." "059.jpeg" "Second floor sitting area." "alyeska_hotel_03.jpeg" "Hallway." "060.jpeg" "Do Not Disturb." "061.jpeg" "Obligatory polar bear exhibit. It seems that every hotel has one of these." "polar_bear.jpeg" "I decided to take a hike on one of the trails behind the Hotel." "092.jpeg" "Many boardwalks along the way." "071.jpeg" "Workmanship where the boardwalk curves." "078.jpeg" "Boardwalks necessary at some points to cross streams." "087.jpeg" "A particularly vigorous torrent." "088.jpeg" "This stream was too big for a bridge; so they built a hand tram. Climb in, tug on the rope, scream in terror as the car lurches out over the river, and pull yourself to the other side." "103.jpeg" "Nicely, they did not put in a solid floor, allowing skittish passengers an unobstructed views of the rushing water below." "097.jpeg" "Instructions. Which I read carefully after getting back. While nursing my pinched fingers." "106.jpeg" "After Girdwood, I decided to make my way to the head of the arm." "136.jpeg" "Large comfortable theater inside. I watched a short film about glaciers on the very large screen (located just behind those windows). Impressive. When the film was over, the screen went up, the curtains opened, and we were treated to a spectacular view of the lake with glaciers all around. Chill up the spine time. Great staging." "portage_visitor_center.jpeg" "The lake." "131.jpeg" "Oh, yes, and there are (small) icebergs even in the summer." "133.jpeg" "Tunnel under the mountain. A second tunnel leads to the town of Whittier, the only way to get there from anywhere." "137.jpeg" "The lake from the other side of the tunnel (with iceberg)." "iceberg.jpeg" "Portage Glacier viewed from the lake." "portage_glacier.jpeg" "Portage glacier viewed from above." "glacier.jpeg" "Friday. Headed North." "southcentral2.jpeg" "Wonderful Fall day, a little chill in the air, light breeze stirring the trees, much autumn color." "161.jpeg" "View across the river." "160.jpeg" "Bridge." "162.jpeg" "My first stop was Bodenburg Butte, a thousand foot hill standing all by itself in the terrain. Supposedly left behind when the glaciers swept through here. The 'park' is privately owned." "163.jpeg" "I parked in a little lot on the side of the road." "164.jpeg" "Across from this house, which may be where the owners live." "181.jpeg" "The trail to the top was very steep, but I liked the falling leaves." "180.jpeg" "Atop the butte." "177.jpeg" "View to the Southwest." "butte2.jpeg" "View to the South." "butte5.jpeg" "View to the East." "173.jpeg" "Afterward, I stopped by the reindeer farm across the street." "191.jpeg" "Reindeer." "reindeer.jpeg" "Caribou." "caribou.jpeg" "Elk." "elk.jpeg" "Musk Ox at the Musk Ox Farm" "musk_ox.jpeg" "More musk oxen." "musk_oxen.jpeg" "A bull moose in the wild." "bull_moose.jpeg" "They are everywhere." "mooses.jpeg" "I did not see any bears in the wild." "brown_bear.jpeg" "Though they were evidently around." "135.jpeg" "Palmer is a pleasant little town, originally agricultural, becoming a bedroom community for Anchorage. I found a hippie coffee shop with great soups and home-made bread. Also a pizza restaurant selling pizza with reindeer sausage, evidently a local specialty." "palmer.jpeg" "Defunct mining town near Palmer." "mining.jpeg" "Back in Anchorage for a visit to St. Innocent's." "155.jpeg" "Russian Orthodox church." "154.jpeg" "Turrets." "156.jpeg" "Even the lady bugs here are large. And oddly misshapen." "159.jpeg" "Saturday. First order of business this day was to climb Flattop Mountain, a popular destination in Chugach State Park just outside of Anchorage." "flattop.jpeg" "To get to the trailhead, you need to take this road up to the parking lot." "199.jpeg" "Interesting trees on lower slopes." "223.jpeg" "Road to the top" "221.jpeg" "Fellow climber." "emily2.jpeg" "Fellow climber on a different day." "stylish_portrait.jpeg" "Summit." "211.jpeg" "Words of advice." "212.jpeg" "After climbing, I headed back downtown for some last minute sightseeing. Visitors' Center. Grass roof. Lots of flowers." "visitor_center.jpeg" "Oscar Anderson, a Swede, claims he was the 18th resident of the city. He built this house in 1915, the first permanent house in the city." "oscar_anderson_house.jpeg" "Planet Walk. Starting at the sun, the solar system is laid out around the city, each planet at a distance that you can walk in the time it takes for light to get there from the sun." "sun.jpeg" "For example, it is an 8 minute walk from the Sun to the Earth. Notably, the walk to Pluto takes 5 hours and 30 minutes." "earth.jpeg" "Qiviut is material woven from fur on the underside of musk oxen. Very soft and four times as warm as wool. Oomingmak is a collective of native villagers who weave scarves and hats and such from qiviut." "oomingmak.jpeg" "Bought Maureen a scarf." "qiviut.jpeg" "In front of the Ulu factory. I bought Maureen an Ulu and also one for Bodega." "231.jpeg" "Ulu factory bus." "225.jpeg" "The Bridge restaurant." "227.jpeg" "Take a walk on the footbridge over Ship Creek, look down, and this is what you see." "141.jpeg" "There was something about this building that really appealed to me. Can you guess what it is?" "234.jpeg" "I drove around the corner and took some pictures. Note the reflection of car in the doors. I figured they wouldn't mind my snooping around their building and photgraphing them. Nevertheless, just to be safe I took the photos surreptitiously from my car." "235.jpeg" "Sunday. Headed home. Dream Lifter parked at the airport." "197.jpeg" "I did not see Mt. McKinley." "wow.jpeg" "I did not get to see Seward or Resurrection Bay." "resurrectionbayview.jpeg" "No Northern Lights either. Next time." "northern_lights.jpeg"