Anchorage to Girdwood, AK – 54 Miles
The day started like a broken record – low 50’s and rain all night. We have re-developed a leak above the coach door of the motorhome. I’m not sure if it’s the same leak in the seam between the fiberglass top and aluminum sides of the coach body or if it’s leaking around the little side window in the upper bunk area, or even if it’s a static leak or caused by blowing rain while we’re driving. It’s not bad, just enough to wet the fabric liner inside the fiberglass tub form of the roof. It just needs to quit raining for a couple of days so I can do some checking from the outside.
We checked out of the campground at about 9:30, stopped for gas and to fill our propane tank, and drove downtown to do the tourista bit. Knowing we only wanted to spend only a day for sure in the city, we opted for a city tour in one of those fake trolley buses that drives around town with a driver babbling on about all the local landmarks. It’s a quick and easy way to get the lay of the land, so to speak. The most interesting parts of his narrative were the discussion of the 1964 earthquake and its effects on the city of Anchorage and the surrounding area. After the tour, which took only an hour, we had a reindeer sausage hot dog from a corner hot dog stand (quite good), spent several minutes in a very nice fine art gallery (couldn’t afford anything in the store), and wandered around the heart of the old downtown area.
From there we drove over to the Botanical Gardens on the far east side of the city, almost into the Chugach foothills. This is an informal garden, set in a virtual rainforest. It consists of several small theme plots connected by winding paths paved with gravel and mulch. The forest bed is sea of ferns. Tree stumps and, indeed, the bases of the living trees are mini-environments of various mosses and fungi. It was dark and damp, and made me think of Hansel and Gretel, lost in the woods. I must have taken close to a hundred photos, mostly close-ups of the colorful flowers. I am really beginning to appreciate the capabilities of my Nikon D7000, which does an outstanding job in these dark settings.
By the time we left the Botanical Gardens we decided we had seen enough of Anchorage so we jumped on the Seward Highway and headed southeast along the banks of the Turnagain Arm. I think I read somewhere that this fjord-like branch of the Cook Inlet was given its name by Captain Cook as he sailed up into yet another dead-end bay and had to “turn again” to return to the main body of water which bears his name.
We didn’t want to go too far since it was getting late in the day, so we consulted our favorite campground guide, Mike and Terri Church’s Traveler's Guide to Alaskan Camping, to see what camping opportunities were nearby. One caught our eye, the Crow Creek Mine. The mine was one of the first placer mines in Alaska, and is listed on the register of National Historic Places. It allows camping in its parking lot and in several pull-outs along the entrance road – all dry camping, of course. The mine is located about five miles up a dirt road off the Alyeska Road, which turns off the Seward Highway at the little town of Girdwood, about 40 miles southeast of Anchorage. Tomorrow we’ll tour the old mine diggings and maybe try our hand at panning for gold before continuing down the Kenai Peninsula.
Update: It rained all night and still raining this morning, so we blew off the mine tour and decided to get going. I’m sending this from a wi-fi café where we’re having breakfast.
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