My passion for Alaska began over 15 years ago when I visited friends in Anchorage. Not only did they drive me everywhere around Anchorage and show me all the sights, but they showed me an Alaska that few people actually get to experience. I found myself on a five day private tour to remote areas that I had only dreamed about seeing someday.
Anchorage itself is a huge metropolitan city and the largest city in Alaska with over 300,000 residents. When I arrived in Anchorage, I had a vision of snow everywhere. After all, it was “Alaska”. But, what I found was a city very much like every other American city with a Walmart, Sears, and even Starbucks. Everything is quite accessible in town, and it does not take you much time to get from place to place.
My friends, Patty and Joe, took me out beyond the city so I could experience a different aspect than most tourists are able to experience. We drove out to the “tundra”. I have to tell you that this completely took me by surprise. I guess I envisioned tundra to be frozen snow. Not so. Tundra may be frozen in the winter, but in the summer, it is a thick, mushy grass that you will sink into if you walk on it. You cannot drive on the tundra unless you are driving a vehicle with huge rolling treads that keep you above the ground. When we were in the back country, I saw many such vehicles with huge, long flat trailers. When I asked about that, I was told it was hunting season for moose and that it the only way they could haul those large animals out once they were down. It was fascinating.
After going to see the tundra, they wanted to show me “the tree line” and an actual abandoned gold mine. One thing about the mountains in Alaska is that there are not a lot of trees on them to begin with. The pine trees up there are quite different than the thick, plush redwood or Douglas Fir pine trees that we have in the lower 48 states. Alaska pine trees are known as “scrub” trees. They are tall, but scrawny with few branches and fewer pine needles. If you can picture a sad “Charlie Brown Christmas tree”, that is what they reminded me of.
The mountains in Alaska seem to jut directly up into the sky. There are no rolling hills that gradually incline to a mountaintop. It is flat, ocean level land that dramatically juts up to these dramatic mountains. If you are looking at these mountains all of a sudden you will notice there are no more trees. And, as you glance in either direction, you see that there is a definitive “line” where the trees stop and the granite continues up. The tops of the mountains seem to be pointed; perhaps this is because the weather is so harsh and cold that there is no dirt up there because nothing would grow.
After we saw the tree line, Joe took us to an abandoned gold mine near Hatcher Pass. This is north of the little city of Palmer, Alaska. Now mind you, I’ve seen mine shafts before – but I have never seen a mine shaft in the middle of a mountain that the miners would have had to climb down from the top of the mountain and rappel down to this mine shift to get into the entrance. I could not figure out why or how they determined that there was gold in them thar hills! Why there? It was amazing! Down in the little valley below the mine was a small café that was supposedly well-known for their berry pie; and Joe took us there. Our mouths were watering in anticipation of this delicious pie. We all asked for our pie to be warmed and served with a scoop of ice cream. It was delivered to the table, and we all could hardly wait to dig in for that first delicious bite. Wow! Were we surprised when we all took our bites and each one of us puckered up, looked at each other, frowned and grabbed our coffee to try to wash it down! It was so sour! Did they forget the sugar? We don’t know, but we laughed and laughed and left most of the pie on the plates at that point. Maybe it was supposed to be “sour berry pie”?
From there, the three of us visited many more places around Anchorage. They took me south of Anchorage to Girdwood and Alyeska. We went inside an Alaska Jade Factory at the Alyeska resort. I saw the largest piece of Jade I’ve ever seen! There is an aerial tram at the Alyeska Resort that you can ride up to the top of the mountain where there is a nice restaurant with a view to die for of the Turnagain Arm and over to the Kenai Peninsula.
Moose Valley is down below, and in the late afternoon, you might get lucky to see a moose grazing on the local brush and berries. The little stream running through the valley was full of salmon running up stream. The water was so clear and the most gorgeous color of grayish turquoise. Because of the clarity, it looked like the water was not as deep as it was and that I could have just walked into the water and picked up a fish!
Another place we Three Muskateers went to see south of Anchorage was Portage Glacier. Now mind you, the first time I went here was back in 1993. Things have changed since then. But, the first time I saw Portage Glacier, we drove into the parking lot near the visitors’ center and right before my eyes were the more magnificent chunks of floating ice before me. Deep blue turquoise that is difficult to describe until you’ve actually seen it. These icebergs were floating before me in a small body of water that was a gorgeous color of aqua ice water. It was incredible! It was the first iceberg I had ever seen! I understand now that the glacier has receded and you will not have the experience that I did back then. Now, 14 years later, you can take a small boat out onto Portage Lake and get up close to Portage Glacier and experience it that way. There are hiking trails around there and beautiful opportunities for some fantastic photographs.
On our way back to Anchorage, we drove along the Seward Highway following the Turnagain Arm. The Turnagain Arm was named for Captain Smith who was exploring the area and he kept going down this area and turning around hoping to get farther than he did. He did it over and over again, thus the name “Turnagain”. Driving along the highway, on the opposite side of Turnagain Arm, you see the Kenai Peninsula with its’ thick, plush green tree growth. On your right side as you are driving back into Anchorage, we came upon a wildlife sanctuary called Potters Marsh. There is a boardwalk going through the area where you can walk and observe these gorgeous birds and wildlife in a beautiful setting.
This was my introduction to Alaska. I cherish these memories. Now, 14 years later, I have been back to Alaska 9 times on land and by cruise ship. I have a love for Alaska because of its’ pristine beauty and untouched natural beauty. Living in Alaska is at a slower pace and incredibly relaxing. I hope you all get the chance some day to experience some of what I did on my first trip. You’re gonna love it!
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