The Big City

We arrived in Anchorage after a rainy and uneventful drive from Denali. After setting up, we set out to find something to eat and happened upon a great little Mexican restaurant. We were definitely missing that bit of home.

On our first full day in Anchorage, we took ourselves on a city tour and briefly explored the downtown area. Anchorage is Alaska’s biggest city and it’s downtown is bustling. After getting a feel for that part of the city, we headed to the Lake Hood Floatplane Base. Anchorage is home to the world’s busiest floatplane lake where up to 800 planes take off and land per day. It was fascinating to watch. Located next to the actual airport, the lake has individual “slips” and a small “terminal” (think large wooden shed) for each plane. The take offs and landings were constant and we thoroughly enjoyed watching the everyday spectacle that is a way of life for Alaskans.

After observing the seaplanes, we headed to Kincaid Park, a large urban park with numerous walking paths and trails. We decided to take the Coastal Trail and set off. Now we had heard that moose inhabit the park environs, but we didn’t think much of it until we rounded a bend in the path. There before us was a large bull moose, nonchalantly munching away. It was both exciting and terrifying to be so close to such a large animal. After taking many pictures, we quietly scooted by him (crazy, I know). As we continued our walk we saw two more moose off in the distance. After making it to the water, we turned back. Sure enough, our boy moose was still in his same spot. But apparently, he decided he’d had enough, and so he crossed the path directly in front of us and went on his way. This was definitely not your typical walk in the park!

We decided to spend one of our free days exploring the area south of Anchorage called the Turnagain Arm (part of the Cook Inlet). It’s a beautiful drive with water on one side and steep, glacier topped mountains on the other. While driving we noticed several white “fish” surfacing in the water very close to shore. I did a quick Google search (we still had cell service at that time) and discovered that I

was seeing beluga whales. Beluga whales are white Arctic whales and those in the Cook Inlet are considered critically endangered. So, of course we pulled over immediately. Apparently, seeing a large pod of these cetaceans is somewhat of a rarity. We can only assume that the salmon were running close to shore and the whales were following. After leaving the whales, we continued on to Portage Glacier and Visitors’ Center. With multiple glaciers in the background, we had a picnic lunch and then spent some time in the Visitors’ Center before heading back to Anchorage and our group potluck dinner.

On our last morning in Anchorage, we took another long walk on the Coastal Trail. Alas, no wildlife, but we had some beautiful views along the way.