the Secret Places--Alaska

Take yourself to Alaska at the end of the season after the last cruise ship has departed Seward for the South and the tour buses have been parked. Yes, you will need a jacket and some 'proper' shoes, but it will be worth it. You can stay in Anchorage and make day trips out or rent a car and meander down the road of your choice. Don't worry, Alaska is just around the corner. You will enter an Alaska of huge mountains and hidden valleys that seldom see a crowd of people from October through May. Such size! Everything is big from the wind to the size of the hamburgers served in the road houses. You will feel small and very human in this land of giant works of nature. It's a humbling feeling as Mother Nature sets you straight. Oh yes, you better have a Subaru steering wheel between your nervous hands or you might be negotiating with a toe truck driver who only thinks in amounts of 3 digits and I'm not talking decimal points here. Be patient and a Subaru will get you where you want to go. Out south of Anchorage to the most amazing and beautiful place on earth--Turnagain Arm. I added photos to this journal for the pleasure of seeing the places again.

Quick Tips:

I like to take a few days-- yes I did say days-- to tour around Turnagain Arm. The same trip that the tour buses make in a couple of hours. I stop at Alyeska for lunch at the bakery and a walk about. I've even been to the wee village of Hope where they get HUNDREDS of visitors each year. Keep you eyes open as you may find a gold nugget lying on the ground. Take along a Thermos of coffee or tea and stop at every view spot along the highway/road. Dress for the weather! Watch for the Tidal Bore, the leading edge of the turning tide. Buy a copy of Click here for the MILEPOST.

Enjoy seeing Alaska without all the traffic & expense of high season. Get out into the bush if you please, but the better part of Alaska is hardly more than a stone's throw from Anchorage. Aha, something else, the bears likely have denned up for the season and the mosquitos are dead. Heaven on Earth!

Best Way To Get Around:

Rent a car, drive a bit, walk where you can, enjoy! Hire a friend or relative of mine to drive for you if you feel it's too hard to do. Public transport exists in Anchorage.

The Bake Shop is a fantastic place for a great breakfast, lunch or snack. Open long hours during ski season (they ski under lights in the dark in Alaska), shorter hours in summer, this is a very popular place. The breakfasts are huge and very good. Buy a loaf of bread or some rolls for 'road food'. There are no excuses for missing this. Take the Girdwood/Alyeska highway off Alaska Route 1, Milepost S 90. Follow the road to until you see the turnoff for Alyeska Ski Resort. Follow your nose from that point. click here for the Bake Shop.

At Milepost S90 off Highway 1, Girdwood is an old gold mining village that survived the 1964 earthquake in fair shape. There are a lot of ski condos (don't think Vail, this is Alaska) and some curious and very good restaurants. Less expensive than the Colorado resorts. Trails are narrow and can be busy on weekends.

It is possible to ski from nearly the top of the mountains to sea level. The view from the top is fastastic, if not heart stopping. Wonderful hiking and walking in the warmer months. Obvious winter sports. Skiing is for the serious minded! I won the record for being the worst skier in Alaska! Years ago, the old hotel was torn down and the fancy new Alyeska Ski Resort opened. The hotel at Alyeska is now called the Westin Alyeska Prince Hotel & Resort. The best of everything, rooms & dining. The 60 passengers per car aerial tramway means that you can go up for the view in the summer without having to ride the ski lift! Click here for Alyeska Resort.

Anchorage is bounded on the east by the Chugach mountains. There are so many of them that I've been told that some don't even have names. Not far from the various trail heads are wonderful things to see and do. Almost all cost you nothing but your own time and effort. Get a few hundred feet up and the views start to be spectacular. Above the tree line, distances can be deceptive so plan carefully and don't walk any further out from you can than 1/2 the distance you can manage. My favorite walks in this area start at POTTER MARSH which is next to Highway 1 southbound out of Anchorage. In season be extremely careful of bears. I've been scared by a lot of brown trash cans! Many of the 'turn-outs' along Alaska Route 1 offer terrific views.

As recently as about 10 years ago, Portage Glacier was easily seen from the visitors' center but the glacier has been making a speedy retreat and is now 'around the corner' and visible only by boat. (boat tours (907) 783-2983 (800) 478-6388) May 14 thru Sept. 20.

In winter, don't walk on the ice of the frozen lake. It's a good way to get yourself killed as the ice bergs sometimes roll and shift the ice on the lake's surface. Be careful of bears on the trails as they aren't pets! Icebergs 'calved' off the gracier are usually easy to spot. 'Fish' out some small chunks of ice for your ice crest, Alaskans do! Moose can often be seen from the road to the Visitors' Center.

There's a new place to view Portage Glacier from land. If you drive the new route to Whittier, there's a place between the 2 tunnels where a staging area has been established. The new tunnel is 430 feet long. After you drive that (25 mph speed limit, cars have to stay 100 feet apart.) There's a good view of this glacier that previously could only be seen for a few minutes as you rode the train from Highway 1 to Whittier. You wait your turn in the staging area for your chance to drive through the second tunnel, that you will share with the trains. One hopes, not at the same time! In winter the views can be either outstanding or non-existant depending on the fog. click for Alaska info.

for Alaska Magazine!

The next edition of the MILEPOST will be up-to-date about the new driving route to Whittier.The Milepost

(907) 258-9276. Call for operating hours. Often beautiful handmade sweaters are for sale here. A real 'find.' I always 'hunt' for yarn when I travel. This shop is wonderful. Also, you might meet some REAL Alaskans. Now and then handmade sweaters are for sale.

(907) 258-4544, (800) 240-4148, open 7 days. Alaskans are big on reading; those winter nights are long. This book store is very convenient to the major hotels downtown. Lots of great books including a huge selection on and about Alaska and Alaskans. Very good place to get local travel information and stories. Don't worry about buying too much to carry, they'll ship stuff home for you. A great alternative to chain book stores. Better Alaska goodies than the sourvenir shops over on 4th Avenue. Click here for Cook Inlet! After you get home and realize what you really wanted to buy but talked yourself out of....use their 800 number and make yourself happy.

Look for the little brown house with the musk ox mural. Over 200 Eskimo knitters hand make the items that are sold in this shop. Certainly an Alaskan original. They are also on the web at www.qiviut.com (907) 272-9225, (888) 360-9665. Perhaps in touring around Alaska you'll get to see some of the pre-historic appearing musk ox. They don't look real, but they are! Their wool makes wonderful warm garment. These knitters use patterns from the Alaskan villages. This wool is very soft, light & extremely warm.

The nights in Alaskan winters are very long, dark and cold. Many an Alaskan has passed the time productively by making quilts either for sale or home use. One of my nicest Alaskan memories is of sleeping under a bed with 12 handmade/homemade quilts!

There are quilting contests in Alaska that are part sewing marathon part all night quilting bee. Fabric and quilting books and supplies could make a very nice souvenir of Alaska. I promise you that the average visitor to Alaska doesn't get to meet real people in such friendly circumstances.

Anchorage does have a public transportation system, the 'People Mover' which works fairly well in town and is handy when the snow gets too deep to shovel your car out. When running or walking, consider the same safety precautions you would take at home. It may look like paradise, but crime does happen. Be aware that there are many fine trails that are hike/bike in the summer & cross country skiing in the winter. Many go for miles through some of the most incredible scenery in the world. Do not hike or walk along the shore of Cook Inlet, Turnagain Arm or any other shoreline without local information about safety. There are huge tide falls in the Anchorage area and it is all too easy to get trapped in a bad situation where it is almost impossible to be rescued.

In the summer, even if the sun is up and it's light outside, don't go walking/running alone in unfamiliar areas. This is also true for late nights. Your body clock may say it's time to get up and go, but if it's 4 am in Anchorage, it may not be the best time to go for a walk. Be careful of dogs that are lose. As for the bears, yes, sometimes they do come into downtown Anchorage, as do moose. These are wild creatures who have ventured into town for their own reasons. Leave them alone!! Don't end your vacation by getting hurt.

I have been fascinated by moose for a very long time. On the other hand I have learned to respect them. The second worst scare I've ever had in Alaska was caused by a moose. He crossed in front of me on the old trail to Exit Glacier. He came crashing through the trees: BANG, BANG, BANG! I didn't know what it was. My first thought was bear. My second thought was that I might die immediately. My family has always had problems with bears.

But it wasn't a bear. It was a huge male moose. Nearsighted and ugly, ripping through the trees that lined the old trail for about 500 yards. It can't print here what I said then, but I think that I jumped into the air and spun around about 3 times before putting my feet back to earth.

Moose in the wild are not pets. They can be dangerous most especially when a cow has a new calf (calves). That mother moose will defend her calf from anything real or imagined. She will run you down faster than a lost tourist driving an SUV on the Las Vegas Strip. The three photos I've included with this entry are 1. a bull moose going away from the camera (very, very good for him to do that) 2. a mother moose with a new calf and 3. a young bull moose munching a potential Christmas tree.