After having a good breakfast at the Anchorage Hampton Inn, we started studying maps to determine a good route for the day. While we and numerous other guests were enjoying the morning and eats and drinks, one hotel guest came into the lobby and dining areas and entertained us all, though not in a good way. A plump (not Santa Claus plump, but heavy-set), middle-aged man of some Asian descent came over to the coffee pots a little underdressed for the venue – wearing only his boxers and an undershirt. Several comments were made regarding his attire, which he ignored, and soon departed. That was not the image any of us wanted/needed to start the day.
Ed had spoken to someone at the hotel who had told him there was a place close to downtown where you could watch the salmon run, and there was supposed to be a port within view where the tourist/cruise ships boarded. We decided we’d try to find those two places before we left town. It was during this downtown excursion where Mark noticed the fire hydrant with the locator pole attached. For reference, Mark and Ed modeled how high the snow would have to be before the fire department couldn’t locate the hydrant during the snow season. We finally found the stream where the salmon apparently do run, due to the number of fishermen in the area, but they weren’t running today. We hung around for awhile but never saw any fish. We never found the cruise ships either, so considering all of the above, the day as yet wasn’t going so well.
Things started going much better after leaving Anchorage and heading south and east toward Girdwood. Our route took us right alongside the Cook Inlet/Turnagain Arm, and though it was cloudy/overcast in some locations, the views were spectacular. There was a large marsh area with a long boardwalk constructed for viewing and picture taking. Along this route, we were alongside a railroad track, and going to and returning from Girdwood, we were met by a commuter/passenger train. In one picture taken in this area, you’ll see a small, black speck. That’s one of the many small planes we saw in the area used for sightseeing. That particular plane had wheels, but many we saw had pontoons, allowing for water take-offs and landings. Girdwood was close to the eastern end of Turnagain Arm, and once we got there, we turned around and headed back to Anchorage.
We gassed up just to the north of Anchorage and motored on to Palmer along Highway A1. We stopped for lunch there, and then headed toward Glenallen. It was along this highway where we saw the Matanuska Glacier. Matanuska Glacier is 27 miles long and four miles wide and moves/expands about a foot each day. We only could see a small portion from the road, but it was truly a sight to behold (and take a few pictures of…)
We made it to Glenallen, stopped for gas, and took a very long break. Several other riders stopped while we were there. We engaged them in conversation and made a few telephone calls. West of Glenallen was another stretch of “heave” highway. It seemed like there were more dips along this 30-40 miles of highway than the bad stretch we had encountered a few days before, but it wasn’t raining and none of these dips were as bad, so “no worries.” At one point along this highway, we saw several bald eagles circling (above a large pond). Though you can’t make them out, the two small, black specks in the upper, right corner of one picture is a couple of bald eagles. Not stopping to watch them for awhile (and take better pictures) was definitely and by far the biggest error we made during the day.
As we had seen in other numerous places in Alaska and the Yukon Territory, we passed a spot again today that had some “stone art.” From what we can tell, people use stones of a contrasting color from the underlying sand/dirt/rocks to spell out names and short expressions, normally regarding their love for another. Some hills alongside the road contain dozens of individual names, etc.
As you can tell by most of the pictures, we spent most of the day in mountainous territory; however, close to Tok, it was almost like we were riding in south Louisiana or along Highway 90 in the Florida panhandle. There was one stretch of road that was almost straight and almost flat for over five miles – quite a contrast to most of our riding for the past week. We made it to Tok about 7:00 p.m. AST. Mark had already taken care of getting us reservations at a local hotel, so we didn’t have to worry about finding a room. We had a nice dinner at Fast Eddie’s Restaurant, and retired for the evening.
We traveled 414 miles today. We’ve been gone now two weeks and have logged over 5,500 miles. We’re planning on making it to Whitehorse tomorrow; however, we must re-travel the nasty stretch of heave highway just to the east of the Canadian border. We’re about 90 miles from the border now, so we’ve got some time to mentally prepare for the back/butt pain to come. It looks like it’s going to be a nice day tomorrow, so at least the weather is cooperating.