Alyeska

Here are some views of Alyeska Ski Resort south of Anchorage. We took the tram up to the top to eat lunch at one of the restaurants. It was such a gorgeous day, we wished we all know how to ski!

Turnagain Arm

One day we followed part of the Seward Highway south from Anchorage to the Alyeska ski resort. The body of water that flows from the Gulf of Alaska northward to Anchorage is called Cook Inlet, named for the famous English explorer Capt. James Cook. Capt. Cook took his ships up the inlet in search of an illusive Northwest Passage. He was fooled once by sailing up a wide passage called the Knik Arm. It was a deadend. He was fooled again by trying another passage, ended up turning his ships around again. Thus, this waterway became known as Turnagain Arm.

We drove along Turnagain Arm and were amazed at what we saw on another clear day in Alaska. The mountains were clearly visible surrounding us. We saw valleys shaped like a "U," which means they were carved out by glaciers. In the distance we saw Augustine Volcano (4,134ft/1260m), an active volcano last erupting in January 2006 and often causing the Anchorage airport to shut down when it spews ash and steam. Nothing happening when we were watching, thank goodness.

We looked out over the water, but saw "chunky ice soup" with circular ice pads scattered here and there. Seeing many pull-off places to stop and look, we decided to stop and take some photos. To our amazement, when we got out of the car, we discovered the ice soup was moving very quickly inland. You did not see the movement just looking out the van window. We couldn't believe how fast the ice was moving. It made a quiet shushing sound as it moved. We concluded that this was the tide coming in. This body of water is known for its "bore tides," which are the second highest tides in North America. Sometimes the tides come in so fast, they come in as a wall of water. We were so curious as to how fast the ice soup was moving! Some of us guessed 20mph, 30mph, 10mph. We hopped into the van and tried to slowly start moving, so we could match the speed of the water to the speedometer. Not very scientific. Not very accurate, I bet. The ice soup seemed to stop moving at 3 mph! I read later that the water can move 10-15mph. Maybe the ice topping made a difference.

On our return trip about three hours later, we stopped the van again. The water had reversed! It was moving just as quickly in the opposite direction as the tide was going out. Just amazing. We will have to return someday to explore the Seward Highway in warm weather. This is a great place, I understand, to see beluga whales and lots of other wildlife on the Kenai Peninsula.

Alaska Railroad, Part 6

As we looked down hundreds of feet into deep gorges, it was interesting to see places in the frozen river where water was running clear and cold. Can spring be around the corner for Alaska? I say yes - that sun is strong and warmer everyday.

Alaska Railroad, Part 5

Snow blowing off a mountaintop, and another gorgeous mountain view. I took over 200 pictures that day!

Alaska Railroad Stops, Part 4

We stopped where the conductor showed us caribou tracks where a herd was seen by the northbound train the day before. We stopped again and waited until everyone could see four dall sheep, tiny moving specks on the mountain cliff on the other side of a gorge. I am hoping you all can see them if you enlarge the cliff picture. This train was not worried about keeping an exact schedule!