South to Anchorage June 19-29, 2011

South to Anchorage, June 19-29, 2011

It is almost summer solstice. Now I know what "Land of the Midnight Sun" means. It never really gets dark here in June (and July). Here I am at 1 am and it is light enough to read outside!
Yes, I was tired...














We finally had to leave Denali National Park. Our next stop was about 100 miles down the Parks Highway to Denali State Park. Here we could finally see "the mountain", Denali as the Alaskans call it or Mt. McKinley as others call it. It is the tallest mountain in North America.

Also at the state park is the Alaska Veterans Memorial POW/MIA which consists of an alcove and a semicircle of five 20-foot-tall concrete panels, one for each branch of service and each with a large star on the upper part and inscriptions on the lower part. Panels and plaques also memorialize the Alaska National Guard; the Merchant Marine; and victims of the Air Force C-47 crash on nearby Kesugi Ridge in February, 1954. Three flag poles stand at the site: the center pole flying the American flag, the
pole to the right the Alaska flag, and the pole to the left flying flags on special occasions. This area was selected because it is centrally located between Anchorage and Fairbanks, Alaska's 2 largest cities and there is a wonderful view of Mt McKinley/Denali from the entrance to the memorial.


Our next stop was at Talkeetna, a quaint little tourist town, population 848. Main street is full of little shops and cafes. Where else would you find a shop owner with a loaded rifle hanging on the wall behind him??

While in Talkeetna, we took a Mahay's Three Rivers Jet Boat Tour on the Talkeetna, Susitna, and Chulitna Rivers. (Na means river) Our captain and guide was Israel Mahay, the owner's son. His parents came to Talkeetna in the early 70, applied for a 160 acre homestead and lived in a small cabin there for 5 years. The cabin was 4 or 5 miles "off the road system" and you could only get there by boat.

We disembarked from the boat at a replica of an Athabascan fishing village and a homesteader/ trapper cabin. The native Alaskan Indians would set up "fish camp" on the banks of a river and fish for salmon which was a staple for them and their dogs. Fish was dried and smoked at the camp for winter use.







This is an exact replica of Israel's parents cabin where they lived for 5 years. The furnishings inside were from their cabin. It was only one room and, as you can see, not very big. The building on stilts on the back is called a Cache (pronounced cash) and was used to store their food out of reach of bear and other wild animals.

We found a wonderful (best kept secret in Alaska) municipal park in Palmer, Alaska were we spent several days. $15 a night with electric hookups! The sites were all grass and there were beautiful flowers and huge rhubarb plants complimenting the landscape. The area in front was a little picnic area, our rv is over by the trees.

On Saturday, we went to a car show in Palmer. There were lots of neat, old cars and a free lunch of hot dogs, 3 kinds of salad, chips and soda.

Palmer is the site of the Alaska State Fair and is located in what is known as the "valley". It is a very fertile region and where they raise the 50# cabbages.

Another day we took a drive up to Hatcher Pass. This is the Little Susitna (Little Su) River coming down off of the mountain. There is a lot of recreational gold panning in this river.
The water is very cold, this being a glacial river.

It was a cloudy, overcast day on Hatcher Pass. The clouds were sitting on the mountain. At the top of the pass is the Independence Gold Mine State Historical Park. Bill is looking at a little train that hauled dirt out of the mine so it could be washed for gold.

Restoration of the mine is on going. One of the largest gold producers in the Willow Creek area, the mine was operated from 1938 to 1941.

So far, Palmer is the nicest little Alaska town we have visited and my favorite. It is situated in a beautiful valley surrounded by mountains.

Once in Anchorage we visited the Alaska Native Heritage Center which allows visitors to experience Native Alaskan cultures in one area. Here some young people are demonstrating a dance. There are films every hour depicting their lifestyle.








This totem pole represents the Native Alaskans from the Ketchikan area in the lower coastal region. They were the only ones with large enough trees to carve a totem pole this size. An outdoor walk around Tiulana Lake takes visitors to 6 different regions, each representing one of Alaska's 6 Native cultures: Athabascan, Yupik/Cupik, Inupiaq, Aleut, Alutiiq and Tlingit/Haida/Eyak/Tsimshican. At each area a guide was there to explain their culture. It was extremely interesting.

Downtown Anchorage, population 300,000, is a beautiful, modern city with flowers everywhere. There were hundreds of hanging baskets along the streets. Due to the long daylight, flowers grow huge and abundantly. This is the downtown visitor's center. We learned about the Good Friday, 1964 earthquake, the most powerful quake ever recorded in North America at 8.2 on the Richter scale. It devastated the area in and around Anchorage, caused more than $300 million in damage and altered the composition of the city. We also visited the Ulu factory, State Troupers Museum, and went to the weekend Market.

We went to the Alaska Zoo and saw this shaggy musk ox. They use the rare underwool of the musk ox, called qiviut, to make hand knit gifts. It is very expensive! The Alaska Zoo has the largest collection of native Alaska animals on display.

We thoroughly enjoyed our stay in Anchorage. An interesting note: there are an estimated 1000 moose, 250 black bears and almost 60 brown bears in the city of Anchorage!