Palmer to Anchorage, Alaska – 28 July 2024

The following day we left for Anchorage along a very windy but very scenic road – more towering mountains and mineral rivers. There was a lot more traffic on this road. As we were passing through a very small town I noticed a pull out to a store and casually glanced that way. They had what looked like a large statue of a female moose. The moose suddenly raised its head and in an instance I realized it was real. My second Moose sighting!! Would have loved to go back and take a better look but no way that was going to happen with the rig in tow.

We arrived and settled in at the Gold Nugget Campground. The Campground was ok – bit of grass and at least spacious enough. It was situated in an area which consisted of many rundown mobile homes, but it was also very conveniently situated a stones throw from Costco. As we arrived early, we decided to go for a walk along the Tony Knowles Coastal Trail (named after the 7th governor of Alaska), a popular walking/cycling trail from downtown to Kincaid park. The trail meandered past miles of mudflats reminiscent of the Bay of Fundy and forested wetlands filled with birds and moose (hiding for the day), stretches of rippling creeks, still lakes and the sparkling waters of the Cook inlet. We were surrounded by scenery coloured in shades of gold, pink, lilac, brown and green, offset by pale blue mineral water. Just gorgeous.

While in Anchorage we also opted for a trolley tour around Anchorage. It seemed a quick and easy way to see the highlights of the town and to learn something about the history. It turned out to be quite enjoyable. The bus was driven by a young Inupiat, ginger haired Alaskan Native who also told us about Anchorage and surrounding areas. Anchorage began as a construction camp for the Alaska railroad in 1914. We saw a small steam engine mounted on the waterfront that used to be used to push Moose off the railway tracks (ahead of the Alaska railroad engines) as Moose are so large and so plentiful here, they could easily cause a derailment. We also saw hundreds of small aircraft. Alaska has more small, non commercial aircraft and particularly around Anchorage than anywhere else on earth. We passed Lake Hood Seaplane Base which has the largest floatplane airport in the world. 1 in 70 Alaskans fly planes but only 1 in 20 are licensed. Hard to enforce over such a large area. We also visited Earthquake Park, the site of the Turnagain Heights neighborhood which slid into the ocean after the deadly Good Friday 9.2 magnitude quake. It took just 3 minutes to forever change Anchorage’s landscape.

The highlight of the Anchorage trip was the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center who provide shelter and rehabilitation for abandoned and injured animals. We were able to see many of the famous Alaska wildlife including two Moose cows – Pip and Jo who were happily lying in the grass snoozing, occasionally putting up their long nose to stare at people before closing their eyes again. There was a young Black bear who seemed to be all by himself in an enclosure, performing an incredible baton routine with a long stick. Apparently he is given a new Christmas tree every three weeks which he then totally strips and uses for his next show. He was really good! My favourite part of the day was the Bear enclosure which had a number of Grissly and Black bears. The large fenced enclosure had a large metal bridge over it where you could see them from. It was a fantastic opportunity and we were so happy to get some great photography. We also saw a number of Musk ox, Elk, Caribou, Deer, Bison and Porcupines.