mdc57
Jan 3, 06, 4:56 pm
ALASKA - A WINTER’S TALE- NOT TOO COLD, BUT WATCH OUT FOR MOOSE
It's December 25, 2005 and I'm off to Anchorage (ANC) from Newark (EWR) on Continental Airlines. The trip is essentially free because I volunteered my seat on 12/24 and received a $300 voucher and an upgrade to First Class for 12/25. My return is set for 5 pm on 12/26. That’s about 25 hours on the ground!
The flight was uneventful. Departing EWR at 9am, 1 brief stop at Seattle (SEA) and arriving in ANC at 3:40pm, about 10 hours of flight time. First Class was full and I was in seat 2A. It’s a good location for me at 6'5" as it comes with extra legroom. My seatmate was a 60ish retired female school administrator from Seattle returning from Punta Cana with her husband, a dentist. He declined my offers to switch seats so that he could sit next to her. Humm, must have been a lousy vacation in the Dominican Republic.
The movies were age inappropriate for the adult passengers, Charlie & the Chocolate Factory followed by Rebound, an inane teenage basketball movie. The FC food was OK, but, watch out for the "Philly Cheesesteak". I had to discreetly remove the alleged "steak" from the sandwich as it was inedible.
Because it was a daytime flight, I was looking forward to aerial views of large swaths of the US and Canada. Forget about it. There was cloud cover coast to coast.
Upon arrival at SEA, I hurried over to the Alaska Airlines Boardroom in anticipation of its legendary food & service. Ugh, it was closed for Christmas. Back I went to the Continental President's Club for crackers and a Coke. But wait, as I'm sitting eating my
Saltines and spring water, in walks a gorgeous blonde from Houston (IAH) on a mileage run. Hubba, hubba. Just as I was about to introduce myself, she starts making cell phone calls to her friends & family back in IAH. Merry Christmas this; Merry Christmas that. She then starts talking about her airline pilot boyfriend who is flying in from Asia to meet her upon her return to IAH. Sigh, I go back to my crackers, water and newspaper.
The flight from SEA to ANC was pretty empty in FC. I had 2A & 2B for all my stuff.
The landing in ANC is a little hairy. The aircraft flies west over the Turnagain Arm (fjord) at low altitude with mountains on either side and is severely buffeted by very strong tailwinds. Once exiting the Arm the aircraft turns sharply over the Cook Inlet to the north and lands at ANC. The view on approach is ominous; grey skies, sea ice, deep cold water and snow covered mountains. Who goes to visit Alaska in the winter?
Upon entering the Terminal, I am surprised to see that my Nextel cell phone has service. I specifically purchased a Tracfone for $50 with an AK number for the trip. Now I can call myself. Great!
I arrive at the Hertz counter. (They are the only agency open on Christmas Day). I decline the Collision Damage Waiver@ $23.00 per day.(Hint, hint) and get in my 2005 Ford Taurus and leave the airport garage. The first thing I notice upon driving outside is the really poor job of snow plowing that is done on ANC roadways. The total accumulation on the uncleared surfaces is no more than 6-8 inches, but the roads are slick and ice covered. It appears that salt is not applied to the roads, only dirt. This concoction melts and refreezes into a slick mess. I see cars, trucks and SUVs sliding all over the place.
I'm looking for the Comfort Inn as darkness is falling. The sun rises at 10:15am and sets at 3:45pm. There is a lengthy period of arctic dawn & dusk. With all the snow cover, visibility is quite good in the city with reflections from the street lights.
As I'm driving east down 3rd Avenue for a few blocks, I see a police car traveling in the opposite direction with turret lights on but driving directly towards me. Oh my goodness, I'm driving the wrong way down 3rd Avenue ! I immediately pull over and the cop directs me to turn around in a parking lot and head back in the correct direction. I tell him that it appeared to be a two-way street when I entered a few blocks back. He says "yes, but at the last intersection it becomes one- way" I drive back to the strategic intersection and look for the standard big red signs that say "WRONG WAY" or DO NOT ENTER" but there are none. Instead, on the traffic signal above the intersection there are two small signs with arrows directing all eastbound traffic left or right. In any event, the cop took pity on me and directed me to the hotel w/o a summons but with a hearty Christmas handshake.
As I had made this joy ride to Alaska to see the Northern Lights, the weather was of great concern. With clouds or precipitation falling, there would be no Lights. I had been following the weather forecast very closely for weeks. The temps were quite warm for December; mid 20s to mid 30's but there were cloudy skies or precipitation falling almost every day. I knew that it would be necessary to travel as far north as possible outside of ANC to get the best view, if the weather cooperated. I also knew that the farther I drove away from the sea, the more likely that the maritime cloud layer would disappear.
So, after quickly unpacking, I headed north along Alaska Highways 1 & 3. I drove through the small towns and villages that are scattered throughout the vast wilderness. It was over 300 miles to Fairbanks and about 200 miles to Denali National Park and Mount McKinley. I intended to drive until the clouds disappeared, but no more than 100 miles.
After about 30 miles, I could see the stars beginning to peek through the overcast. At about 50 miles, the sky was looking brighter. Even at that distance there was still an orange glow in the sky from the lights of ANC to the south.
At about 75 miles, I began to get hungry and I stopped at a convenience store for a snack. There were pre-made sandwiches which are reheated in a self-service microwave. Each sandwich has the recommended cooking time printed on the package. I selected a cheeseburger. I set the microwave for a minute and for good measure I cook it for another 30 seconds. The package is hot upon removal from the oven. I unwrap my cheeseburger and take a bite. Aargh. It’s frozen inside.
I continue on north through villages with names like Wasilla, Kashwitna, Talkeetna and finally Trapper Creek. There is almost no traffic on the two lane road, perhaps one vehicle every five minutes. Deep forests line both sides of the road with surprisingly little snow on the ground, maybe 6-10 inches. The temperature drops steadily from the low 30’s to near zero. I stop the car at the crest of a hill and get out. The sky is sparkling. I can see the Milky Way and all the winter constellations. Polaris is very low in the northern sky. There are “shooting stars” every few minutes. I stand outside the darkened vehicle for about 20 minutes. There is only silence and hoar frost on all surfaces. No wind, no cars, no people. I look towards the northern horizon searching for the Aurora., but alas, no Lights for me.
After a while, my nose starts to hurt from the cold and I get back into the car. I had given it my best shot. I had driven almost 100 miles and it was time to return to ANC.
The drive back began uneventfully, a quick stop for gas ands a cup of tea. There was almost no traffic as I drove south. Eventually, after about 45 minutes, civilization began to reappear along the side of the road. The lights from homes could be seen every few miles and closed businesses stood silently at sparsely populated intersections. I would switch from high beams to low beams for oncoming traffic and then back to high.
Then, in an instant, it happened. A huge bull moose galloped out of the darkness across the roadway from my left to my right. There was nothing I could do to prevent the collision. I remember seeing its face and antlers towering over the hood of my car.
The impact was very heavy. The entire windshield shattered and I felt my self being pelted by glass. I pulled over to the side of the road. There were two vehicles traveling behind me and both drivers stopped. I got out of the car and walked back down the road. Lying in a ditch was the enormous beast. He was still alive and struggling to get up.
Local and State police responded to the scene. A State Trooper shot the animal to end its suffering. Its carcass was picked up by a charity that distributes the meat to the needy.
My rental car was very badly damaged. The hood, roof and passenger side were crushed. I was covered with moose hair, blood and glass. An ambulance arrived and paramedics examined me and determined that I was uninjured.
After the paperwork was completed, I sat in the trooper’s car for 45 minutes waiting for a cab to pick me up and drive me back to my hotel in ANC. An hour later and $90 lighter, I returned to the hotel. I did not sleep well that night.
The next morning, I was at a loss as to how to spend my day. It was 8am, still dark and I was stuck in a hotel without a car. I had planned to spend the daylight hours driving south on the Seward Highway to the Portage Glacier and then onto the Kenai Peninsula before returning to ANC for my 5pm flight. I wasn’t in the mood to deal with Hertz so, I rented a second car from Thrifty and I was on the road by 9:30am.
Anchorage is located in a bowl. It is surrounded by the Chugach Mountains to the east & south, the Talkeetna Mountains to the north and the Cook Inlet the west. As such it is protected from the fierce storms that blow off the Gulf of Alaska from the south and east.
As I left ANC and drove southeast on the Seward Highway, the weather was cloudy, but dry. The Seward Highway runs along the north shore of the Turnagain Arm, a fjord with mountains on both the north and south sides. The Turnagain Arm is famous for its bore tides. These are extreme tidal fluctuations that are second only to the Bay of Fundy in North America. If you are lucky, you can see the tidal bore as a large wave, stretching from shore to shore traveling east down the fjord. I was told that in summer, there are
surfers who seek to ride the wave for miles despite the 38 degree water temperature.
The Turnagain Arm is also known for its very high winds which can gust to 80-100 mph or more. There is a huge electronic road sign on the Seward Highway at the entrance to the Arm which provides warnings to motorists in the event of high winds.
I reached the darkened sign and noticed almost immediately that the sky had lowered
and thickened. Upon passing below the first mountain and entering the Arm, it began to rain. The rain quickly became heavy and at times mixed with snow. The temperature monitor on a building indicated 34 degrees. The farther east I drove, the worse the storm became. My first stop was the Portage Glacier, some 24 miles away. I drove past the famous Alyeska Ski Resort with its spectacular views of the mountains and the sea. (Only on sunny days of course!) The Arm and the mountains to the south were obscured by low clouds and precipitation. As it was low tide, I was able to see the famous Turnagain mud flats. Many people have become trapped in the quicksand-like mud and, as recently as the 1990’s, a woman drowned as the incoming waters covered her despite valiant rescue attempts.
I continue driving east along the Arm. Traffic is light as it appears that most folks are driving west. The east wind begins to pickup and I can feel the effects whenever I make a turn. The mixed rain and snow is falling so heavily that my wipers are only one level below max. I eventually reach the US Parks Service Begich-Boggs Glacier Observation Center at Portage Lake. The wind and rain/snow is so fierce that I have difficulty opening my car door. With visibility less than ¼ mile, it’s unlikely that I’ll see anything from the enclosed east facing observation room. At least it’s dry and warm inside. Aaah.
After 10 minutes of watching raindrops and snowflakes melting on the observation window and, by using the building walls as shelter, I return to my car. I then drive a bit further down the road towards the entrance to the Whittier Tunnel. Once strictly a railroad tunnel some 2 ½ miles long, it was recently opened for one lane of vehicular traffic at 15 minute intervals to allow direct access to the town of Whittier on Prince William Sound. As I stopped at the waiting area to watch the exiting traffic, I noticed that all the vehicles leaving the tunnel were covered with snow and ice. Humm. I decided not to spend $12 to drive into blizzard with my crummy rental car. Instead, I headed back up the Portage Glacier access road toward the Seward Highway. As I am driving, I see a male bald eagle flying low over my car. I slow down and watch as he circles above me and disappears behind a line of evergreens. I pull over, get out of the car and cross the road to the line of trees. There is a small pond and marsh beyond the tree. In the middle of the pond there is a fallen tree. Sitting on the tree branches are three male bald eagles and four females. WOW!
After observing the eagles for a minute, remember it’s still raining, I get back into my car and continue on to the Seward Highway. At the intersection of the Portage Glacier access road and the Seward Highway lies the remains of the old community of Portage. In April 1964, South Central Alaska was struck by the most powerful earthquake ever recorded in North America. Anchorage was devastated. Tsunamis wiped out villages along the Gulf of Alaska and Prince William Sound and old Portage, at the eastern end of the Turnagain Arm was destroyed. All that remains are the shells of some collapsed buildings sitting in what is now marshland.
I re-enter the Seward Highway which now turns south along the eastern end of the Arm.
After a brief passage through partially frozen wetlands, the road enters the Kenai Peninsula and begins to gain elevation as it runs up towards Moose Pass(yes, how ironic) and then eventually down to Seward some 40 miles away. The only problem with elevation in the winter is the temperature drop. As I begin the drive up the mountain, the heavy rain gradually changes to heavy snow. Soon everything is white including the road surface. Uh oh. Having just totaled one car the night before, I’m not about to risk life, limb and another $500 deductible. So, I make a u-turn and head back down the hill towards the relative safety of a wet but, ice-free roadway. No Seward for me.
My drive back to Anchorage is uneventful. As expected, the closer I get to the City, the lighter the precipitation. Soon the clouds lift and as I pass below the last mountain and onto the coastal plain, the sun comes out!
I drive to downtown Anchorage which was laid out in a grid by the Army planners who designed the city back in the early part of the 20th century. The downtown area has a mixture of older single story commercial structures and a handful of high rises, mostly hotels and a few office buildings. I get the sense that if it weren’t for North Slope oil, this city of 250,000 would still be a frontier town. I made the obligatory stop at a souvenir shop for AK shirts for the family and then drove around the western edge of the city which sits about 100 feet above and about 300 yards from the shoreline of the Cook Inlet
and the Knik Arm. The Knik is another fjord running north and east along the western side of Anchorage and the northern suburbs. Its scenery is not as dramatic as the Turnagain as it surrounded by flat landscape rather than sharp mountains. I stop at an observation point and look out across the Cook Inlet towards the sparsely populated western shore, I can see the volcano Mount Sustina rising in the distance as well as the mountain ranges beyond. The sea is dark with small ice floes. The land is white and cold. The sun is setting. It is time to go home.
Upon my arrival at the ANC airport, I am surprised to learn that I will be sitting in First Class again for the trip home. Three hours to Seattle, one hour in the Alaska Airlines lounge and then five + hours to Newark. I’ve flown the “redeye” before, but never in First Class. What a difference. I actually slept for about 3 ½ of the 5 +hours. I also declined the meal, another “Philly Cheesesteak” which saved me from sleep-depriving indigestion. Upon arrival in Newark at 6am, I went straight to the President’s Club for breakfast and then it was home to Suffern.
Was it “Citrin’s Folly” to visit “Seward’s Folly” for 24 hours just after the winter solstice? I think not. You may disagree. But how many can say “… been there, done that”?
MDC
12/29/05
It's December 25, 2005 and I'm off to Anchorage (ANC) from Newark (EWR) on Continental Airlines. The trip is essentially free because I volunteered my seat on 12/24 and received a $300 voucher and an upgrade to First Class for 12/25. My return is set for 5 pm on 12/26. That’s about 25 hours on the ground!
The flight was uneventful. Departing EWR at 9am, 1 brief stop at Seattle (SEA) and arriving in ANC at 3:40pm, about 10 hours of flight time. First Class was full and I was in seat 2A. It’s a good location for me at 6'5" as it comes with extra legroom. My seatmate was a 60ish retired female school administrator from Seattle returning from Punta Cana with her husband, a dentist. He declined my offers to switch seats so that he could sit next to her. Humm, must have been a lousy vacation in the Dominican Republic.
The movies were age inappropriate for the adult passengers, Charlie & the Chocolate Factory followed by Rebound, an inane teenage basketball movie. The FC food was OK, but, watch out for the "Philly Cheesesteak". I had to discreetly remove the alleged "steak" from the sandwich as it was inedible.
Because it was a daytime flight, I was looking forward to aerial views of large swaths of the US and Canada. Forget about it. There was cloud cover coast to coast.
Upon arrival at SEA, I hurried over to the Alaska Airlines Boardroom in anticipation of its legendary food & service. Ugh, it was closed for Christmas. Back I went to the Continental President's Club for crackers and a Coke. But wait, as I'm sitting eating my
Saltines and spring water, in walks a gorgeous blonde from Houston (IAH) on a mileage run. Hubba, hubba. Just as I was about to introduce myself, she starts making cell phone calls to her friends & family back in IAH. Merry Christmas this; Merry Christmas that. She then starts talking about her airline pilot boyfriend who is flying in from Asia to meet her upon her return to IAH. Sigh, I go back to my crackers, water and newspaper.
The flight from SEA to ANC was pretty empty in FC. I had 2A & 2B for all my stuff.
The landing in ANC is a little hairy. The aircraft flies west over the Turnagain Arm (fjord) at low altitude with mountains on either side and is severely buffeted by very strong tailwinds. Once exiting the Arm the aircraft turns sharply over the Cook Inlet to the north and lands at ANC. The view on approach is ominous; grey skies, sea ice, deep cold water and snow covered mountains. Who goes to visit Alaska in the winter?
Upon entering the Terminal, I am surprised to see that my Nextel cell phone has service. I specifically purchased a Tracfone for $50 with an AK number for the trip. Now I can call myself. Great!
I arrive at the Hertz counter. (They are the only agency open on Christmas Day). I decline the Collision Damage Waiver@ $23.00 per day.(Hint, hint) and get in my 2005 Ford Taurus and leave the airport garage. The first thing I notice upon driving outside is the really poor job of snow plowing that is done on ANC roadways. The total accumulation on the uncleared surfaces is no more than 6-8 inches, but the roads are slick and ice covered. It appears that salt is not applied to the roads, only dirt. This concoction melts and refreezes into a slick mess. I see cars, trucks and SUVs sliding all over the place.
I'm looking for the Comfort Inn as darkness is falling. The sun rises at 10:15am and sets at 3:45pm. There is a lengthy period of arctic dawn & dusk. With all the snow cover, visibility is quite good in the city with reflections from the street lights.
As I'm driving east down 3rd Avenue for a few blocks, I see a police car traveling in the opposite direction with turret lights on but driving directly towards me. Oh my goodness, I'm driving the wrong way down 3rd Avenue ! I immediately pull over and the cop directs me to turn around in a parking lot and head back in the correct direction. I tell him that it appeared to be a two-way street when I entered a few blocks back. He says "yes, but at the last intersection it becomes one- way" I drive back to the strategic intersection and look for the standard big red signs that say "WRONG WAY" or DO NOT ENTER" but there are none. Instead, on the traffic signal above the intersection there are two small signs with arrows directing all eastbound traffic left or right. In any event, the cop took pity on me and directed me to the hotel w/o a summons but with a hearty Christmas handshake.
As I had made this joy ride to Alaska to see the Northern Lights, the weather was of great concern. With clouds or precipitation falling, there would be no Lights. I had been following the weather forecast very closely for weeks. The temps were quite warm for December; mid 20s to mid 30's but there were cloudy skies or precipitation falling almost every day. I knew that it would be necessary to travel as far north as possible outside of ANC to get the best view, if the weather cooperated. I also knew that the farther I drove away from the sea, the more likely that the maritime cloud layer would disappear.
So, after quickly unpacking, I headed north along Alaska Highways 1 & 3. I drove through the small towns and villages that are scattered throughout the vast wilderness. It was over 300 miles to Fairbanks and about 200 miles to Denali National Park and Mount McKinley. I intended to drive until the clouds disappeared, but no more than 100 miles.
After about 30 miles, I could see the stars beginning to peek through the overcast. At about 50 miles, the sky was looking brighter. Even at that distance there was still an orange glow in the sky from the lights of ANC to the south.
At about 75 miles, I began to get hungry and I stopped at a convenience store for a snack. There were pre-made sandwiches which are reheated in a self-service microwave. Each sandwich has the recommended cooking time printed on the package. I selected a cheeseburger. I set the microwave for a minute and for good measure I cook it for another 30 seconds. The package is hot upon removal from the oven. I unwrap my cheeseburger and take a bite. Aargh. It’s frozen inside.
I continue on north through villages with names like Wasilla, Kashwitna, Talkeetna and finally Trapper Creek. There is almost no traffic on the two lane road, perhaps one vehicle every five minutes. Deep forests line both sides of the road with surprisingly little snow on the ground, maybe 6-10 inches. The temperature drops steadily from the low 30’s to near zero. I stop the car at the crest of a hill and get out. The sky is sparkling. I can see the Milky Way and all the winter constellations. Polaris is very low in the northern sky. There are “shooting stars” every few minutes. I stand outside the darkened vehicle for about 20 minutes. There is only silence and hoar frost on all surfaces. No wind, no cars, no people. I look towards the northern horizon searching for the Aurora., but alas, no Lights for me.
After a while, my nose starts to hurt from the cold and I get back into the car. I had given it my best shot. I had driven almost 100 miles and it was time to return to ANC.
The drive back began uneventfully, a quick stop for gas ands a cup of tea. There was almost no traffic as I drove south. Eventually, after about 45 minutes, civilization began to reappear along the side of the road. The lights from homes could be seen every few miles and closed businesses stood silently at sparsely populated intersections. I would switch from high beams to low beams for oncoming traffic and then back to high.
Then, in an instant, it happened. A huge bull moose galloped out of the darkness across the roadway from my left to my right. There was nothing I could do to prevent the collision. I remember seeing its face and antlers towering over the hood of my car.
The impact was very heavy. The entire windshield shattered and I felt my self being pelted by glass. I pulled over to the side of the road. There were two vehicles traveling behind me and both drivers stopped. I got out of the car and walked back down the road. Lying in a ditch was the enormous beast. He was still alive and struggling to get up.
Local and State police responded to the scene. A State Trooper shot the animal to end its suffering. Its carcass was picked up by a charity that distributes the meat to the needy.
My rental car was very badly damaged. The hood, roof and passenger side were crushed. I was covered with moose hair, blood and glass. An ambulance arrived and paramedics examined me and determined that I was uninjured.
After the paperwork was completed, I sat in the trooper’s car for 45 minutes waiting for a cab to pick me up and drive me back to my hotel in ANC. An hour later and $90 lighter, I returned to the hotel. I did not sleep well that night.
The next morning, I was at a loss as to how to spend my day. It was 8am, still dark and I was stuck in a hotel without a car. I had planned to spend the daylight hours driving south on the Seward Highway to the Portage Glacier and then onto the Kenai Peninsula before returning to ANC for my 5pm flight. I wasn’t in the mood to deal with Hertz so, I rented a second car from Thrifty and I was on the road by 9:30am.
Anchorage is located in a bowl. It is surrounded by the Chugach Mountains to the east & south, the Talkeetna Mountains to the north and the Cook Inlet the west. As such it is protected from the fierce storms that blow off the Gulf of Alaska from the south and east.
As I left ANC and drove southeast on the Seward Highway, the weather was cloudy, but dry. The Seward Highway runs along the north shore of the Turnagain Arm, a fjord with mountains on both the north and south sides. The Turnagain Arm is famous for its bore tides. These are extreme tidal fluctuations that are second only to the Bay of Fundy in North America. If you are lucky, you can see the tidal bore as a large wave, stretching from shore to shore traveling east down the fjord. I was told that in summer, there are
surfers who seek to ride the wave for miles despite the 38 degree water temperature.
The Turnagain Arm is also known for its very high winds which can gust to 80-100 mph or more. There is a huge electronic road sign on the Seward Highway at the entrance to the Arm which provides warnings to motorists in the event of high winds.
I reached the darkened sign and noticed almost immediately that the sky had lowered
and thickened. Upon passing below the first mountain and entering the Arm, it began to rain. The rain quickly became heavy and at times mixed with snow. The temperature monitor on a building indicated 34 degrees. The farther east I drove, the worse the storm became. My first stop was the Portage Glacier, some 24 miles away. I drove past the famous Alyeska Ski Resort with its spectacular views of the mountains and the sea. (Only on sunny days of course!) The Arm and the mountains to the south were obscured by low clouds and precipitation. As it was low tide, I was able to see the famous Turnagain mud flats. Many people have become trapped in the quicksand-like mud and, as recently as the 1990’s, a woman drowned as the incoming waters covered her despite valiant rescue attempts.
I continue driving east along the Arm. Traffic is light as it appears that most folks are driving west. The east wind begins to pickup and I can feel the effects whenever I make a turn. The mixed rain and snow is falling so heavily that my wipers are only one level below max. I eventually reach the US Parks Service Begich-Boggs Glacier Observation Center at Portage Lake. The wind and rain/snow is so fierce that I have difficulty opening my car door. With visibility less than ¼ mile, it’s unlikely that I’ll see anything from the enclosed east facing observation room. At least it’s dry and warm inside. Aaah.
After 10 minutes of watching raindrops and snowflakes melting on the observation window and, by using the building walls as shelter, I return to my car. I then drive a bit further down the road towards the entrance to the Whittier Tunnel. Once strictly a railroad tunnel some 2 ½ miles long, it was recently opened for one lane of vehicular traffic at 15 minute intervals to allow direct access to the town of Whittier on Prince William Sound. As I stopped at the waiting area to watch the exiting traffic, I noticed that all the vehicles leaving the tunnel were covered with snow and ice. Humm. I decided not to spend $12 to drive into blizzard with my crummy rental car. Instead, I headed back up the Portage Glacier access road toward the Seward Highway. As I am driving, I see a male bald eagle flying low over my car. I slow down and watch as he circles above me and disappears behind a line of evergreens. I pull over, get out of the car and cross the road to the line of trees. There is a small pond and marsh beyond the tree. In the middle of the pond there is a fallen tree. Sitting on the tree branches are three male bald eagles and four females. WOW!
After observing the eagles for a minute, remember it’s still raining, I get back into my car and continue on to the Seward Highway. At the intersection of the Portage Glacier access road and the Seward Highway lies the remains of the old community of Portage. In April 1964, South Central Alaska was struck by the most powerful earthquake ever recorded in North America. Anchorage was devastated. Tsunamis wiped out villages along the Gulf of Alaska and Prince William Sound and old Portage, at the eastern end of the Turnagain Arm was destroyed. All that remains are the shells of some collapsed buildings sitting in what is now marshland.
I re-enter the Seward Highway which now turns south along the eastern end of the Arm.
After a brief passage through partially frozen wetlands, the road enters the Kenai Peninsula and begins to gain elevation as it runs up towards Moose Pass(yes, how ironic) and then eventually down to Seward some 40 miles away. The only problem with elevation in the winter is the temperature drop. As I begin the drive up the mountain, the heavy rain gradually changes to heavy snow. Soon everything is white including the road surface. Uh oh. Having just totaled one car the night before, I’m not about to risk life, limb and another $500 deductible. So, I make a u-turn and head back down the hill towards the relative safety of a wet but, ice-free roadway. No Seward for me.
My drive back to Anchorage is uneventful. As expected, the closer I get to the City, the lighter the precipitation. Soon the clouds lift and as I pass below the last mountain and onto the coastal plain, the sun comes out!
I drive to downtown Anchorage which was laid out in a grid by the Army planners who designed the city back in the early part of the 20th century. The downtown area has a mixture of older single story commercial structures and a handful of high rises, mostly hotels and a few office buildings. I get the sense that if it weren’t for North Slope oil, this city of 250,000 would still be a frontier town. I made the obligatory stop at a souvenir shop for AK shirts for the family and then drove around the western edge of the city which sits about 100 feet above and about 300 yards from the shoreline of the Cook Inlet
and the Knik Arm. The Knik is another fjord running north and east along the western side of Anchorage and the northern suburbs. Its scenery is not as dramatic as the Turnagain as it surrounded by flat landscape rather than sharp mountains. I stop at an observation point and look out across the Cook Inlet towards the sparsely populated western shore, I can see the volcano Mount Sustina rising in the distance as well as the mountain ranges beyond. The sea is dark with small ice floes. The land is white and cold. The sun is setting. It is time to go home.
Upon my arrival at the ANC airport, I am surprised to learn that I will be sitting in First Class again for the trip home. Three hours to Seattle, one hour in the Alaska Airlines lounge and then five + hours to Newark. I’ve flown the “redeye” before, but never in First Class. What a difference. I actually slept for about 3 ½ of the 5 +hours. I also declined the meal, another “Philly Cheesesteak” which saved me from sleep-depriving indigestion. Upon arrival in Newark at 6am, I went straight to the President’s Club for breakfast and then it was home to Suffern.
Was it “Citrin’s Folly” to visit “Seward’s Folly” for 24 hours just after the winter solstice? I think not. You may disagree. But how many can say “… been there, done that”?
MDC
12/29/05