#49, what an amazing state.
Apart from Yellowstone, Alaska is the only geographically discrete
area with less roads per square mile. Unfortunately, during my
short stay I didn't venture off the roads too much, but it gives me
an excuse to go back.
My week started in Anchorage, Alaska's center of commerce and
largest city. Alaskans are serious about their recreation, so the
city features a "green strip" that runs the entire length of the
city, criss-crossed with bike trails, frisbee golf courses,
playgrounds, picnic areas, park benches, ponds for swimming and
fishing, and lots of greenery. You can cover most of the city
without touching a city street, encountering only joggers, cyclists,
and rolerbladers. In the long winters, these trails turn into ski
trails.
I spent the first 3 days in Anchorage, adjusting to the 20-hour
sunlight and checking out the city, doing the "tourist thing". Had
an interesting 4th of July celebration which didn't start until
midnight (too much light in the sky until then). The strange thing
about the long daylight hours is that you'll find young children
outside playing until it gets dark, which doesn't happen until after
midnight. Presumably, they make up for it by sleeping lots during
the dark winters. Had plenty of opportunities to check out the
interesting bar scene. Some were quite rough & tumble, with sawdust
on the floors and bouncers throughout the bar. Some were quite
small and mellow, with only a single bartender. All of the bars had
some sort of shtick to draw in customers. Most had a pool table or
shuffleboard. All of 'em had some type of free bar food. Popcorn,
hard boiled eggs, fried chicken...anything to bring in people who
want to spend money. After only 3 days in Anchorage, I realized
that the week I had taken to enjoy it wasn't going to be enough. I
called my boss and begged for a few extra days. Since she took off
the better part of a month to hike Denali last year, I think she
understood the draw of Alaska and let me stay.
Right outside of Anchorage is the eclectic community of Girdwood.
It's home to a ski mountain, a restaurant on top of a hill that no
roads lead to (but there is a nice tram), a yearly paragliding
festival, and the Girdwood Forest Fair. The Forest Fair is somewhat
similar to the Common Ground Fair with less agriculture and more
music. The three rules were "No Dogs, No Politicians, No Religious
Orders". Plenty of vendors with delicious Alaska-made food (Halibut
Taco's seem to be the State's favorite food), and lots of good folky-type
Alaska music. Girdwood is a hippie enclave, and they all seem to be
doing quite well for themselves. The architecture is beautiful and
extremely eclectic, and the houses are grand with few right angles
and lots of interesting deck/garden/window configurations.
After fulfilling my touristy obligations in Anchorage, we cruised
down the Kenai Peninsula for a week of camping. Our first night we
ended up in Deep Creek State Park, near a little town called
Ninilchik. We picked up some fishing licenses and some clamming
shovels, and spent the better part of two days camping on the beach
and digging for razor clams. The razor clams are between 2 and 5
inches long and they move quite quickly once they sense movement.
When there's a negative tide (lower than normal), you have to find a
small dimple in the sand from where their neck retracted when the
tide went out, and dig like hell. We camped out on the beach with
views of the salmon fishing fleet in Cook Inlet and Mt. Illiamna and
Mt. Redoubt (both 11000'+ volcano cones) in the background. Most
beautiful sunsets ever. We met some people from Freedom, Maine who
had driven their RV about as far as they could and were camping down
the beach from us. They shared some fresh halibut that they had
caught earlier that day, and we shared some Crown Royal. It seems
only fitting, since we had come the length of the continent from the
same state.
After a couple days of engorging ourselves with fish on the beaches
of Ninilchik, we headed south to the end of the road, Homer. Billed
as "A quaint little drinking village with a fishing problem", we
found another state campground on the Homer Spit, a 4-mile long
sandbar that extends into Kachemak Bay. It's probably the biggest
recreational halibut fishing harbor in Alaska, and there were
hundreds of charter boats coming in and out of the harbor every
day. hey have a summer-long Halibut Derby with monthly and
summer-long prizes. The largest fish for July thus far was a 180-lb
monster that was pulled up a few days before we arrived. A large
sign in the middle of the Spit's tourist district announced the
monthly totals and leaders for the cash prizes. The views from the
beach were slightly less impressive than in Ninilchik (we looked out
to the open ocean), but we were surrounded by 4000-5000'
spruce-covered peaks. Homer is somewhat of a tourist town,
especially on the spit. We ate out at some fantastic seafood
restaurants, visited touristy shops, and went drinking at Homer's
most famous saloon, the Salty Dog. Again, sawdust floors (to make
cleanup from rough nights that much easier), and people from all
over pin up hats, dollar bills, pictures, and underwear all over the
walls and ceilings. I have a dollar bill on the wall there
somewhere.
After we had experienced all that Homer had to offer, we drove to
Seward. Named after William H. Seward, Secretary of State under
Andrew Johnson and the negotiator of Alaska's purchase from Russia,
Seward is a Commercial Fisheries harbor and another quaint little
town nestled in between high mountains, a deep fjord, and an ice
field containing more than 40 glaciers. It was a Friday, and every
campsite in town was occupied. We decided to head back to Anchorage
instead.
We spent the next four days bumming around Anchorage. They have a
delightful Sunday Market in the downtown with food vendors and local
crafts. We cooked up some more fish on the Grill (fish is expensive
in Wyoming, and it's not terribly fresh) and hung out in the
sunshine. The weather was perfect for the entire time - Sunny and
high 70's. The only day it rained was the day we drove back from
Seward.
It was a great trip, and I know now what I need to go see when I go
back. The interior of the state is HUGE, and I didn't get to see
any of it. The southern part of the state is also a beautiful (from
what I hear) and very inaccessible area (unless you have a boat or a
float plane). Plenty left to explore for the next time around...
Nick
