About Half-Way

Today marks 1 1/2 months in Alaska with just over that to go. Normally that lead in would indicate some sort of review of the events but in my case it is just to let those that miss me know that I will be back before you know it. I am loving my time in Alaska and am not overly eager for it to end though I do miss you all, especially the kids in my life. Sorry, adults.

The last week plus has been very interesting. Monday started my 4 days off, as usual that was spent running errands in Anchorage. Tuesday was pretty boring since I hardly remember what I did, though I did do quite a bit of research on my November trip to Europe. I never get tired of researching a vacation, especially one including Paris. Wednesday, I left the house intending to rent a bike and go for a nice long ride. However, the weather didn't cooperate so I walked instead. I wandered out the coastal trail and sat on one of the benches situated on a point out into the inlet. My intention was to sit and read for a bit while it wasn't raining but I kept getting distracted by the air traffic. Every time I looked up from my book I could see some sort of airplane in the sky. It was remarkable. To the south of me was the Anchorage airport and to the north was Elmdorf Air Force Base, so they did add a great volume to the traffic. However, the vast majority was small, private airplanes flying in from across the inlet, both with pontoons and without. They say that 1 in 60 Alaskans has a pilots license and after sitting there for about an hour, I believe. From there I continued out the trail and had my first moose encounter. Not to say I hadn't seen moose but this was the first time that I actually had to amend my actions to avoid them. As I walked the path with the water on one side and forest on the other I saw a calf cross the path about 100 feet ahead of me from forest to water, so I slowed down. Then I saw another brown flash on the water side. So I thought I was in the clear, mama and calf were together. Then I saw movement on the forest side and a large cow moose moved alongside of the path on the forest side. Now, you must understand that moose attacks are much more common up here then bear attacks and a separated cow and calf is never good, and 2 calves certainly wasn't making the situation better. At this point all traffic on the path has stopped, another walker behind me, a cyclist and 2 more walkers down the path from us. We are in a holding pattern to see what the mama will do. Then a, I hate to say it, rude cyclist just barrels past us, even though we warn him about what is ahead. He startles the calves and they begin running in my direction and the mama with a load snort starts that way also. So the other walker and I quickly start backing up, then down the slope toward the water, hoping to stay out of their way. Fortunately the calves veer across the path into the forest but the mama just slows down and goes back to grazing. At this point, no one is sure what to do. The rule is to stay more then 25 yards from moose but she is in the way and seems to have no intention of following her calves. Eventually after watching her, she seems to settle down a bit so slowly we start making our way past her as far from her as possible. We make it past her without provocation and continue on our way. Moose are amazing creatures but I do not wish to be that near one again.
The rest of the walk wasn't nearly as exciting but it was beautiful. Anchorage has a wonderful greenbelt system that runs perpendicular to the coastal trail and is only 5 short blocks from my apartment. I finished off the day with some Chinese food that satisfied the craving but was nothing like a Thursday night at Noodle Express.
Thursday was the day I finally got back on a bike. It had been months since I had been on one but the day was somewhat sunny and I needed to get out of the house. I rented from a shop in downtown and headed out. They provided a rudimentary map but I knew my way around for the most part. I headed toward one of the paths that crosses town and headed toward University of Alaska, Anchorage and then caught up with the other trail and headed toward the coastal trail. No moose on this day but it was a great 35 mile ride and it felt so good being on a bike again. I did receive a surprise of a different sort that day. While our for my ride, my phone rang and it turned out to be a certain UPS pilot friend of ours. He was in Anchorage, on his way around the world and want to catch up. We went to dinner at one of the local breweries with a great pub overlooking the inlet and had some great food. Then we walked down to Ship Creek to check out the salmon fishermen. He wanted to relive our evenings in Ireland but I had a 3 am coach to catch, so we parted ways hoping that he flies through town before I leave in September.
Well that was it for the four days off. Not very exciting but looking back I am very glad to have those days of rest since the following days were a big challenge. Stays tuned.

Thanks for reading.

Pic 1 - Self explanatory
Pic 2 - What you might think a bike path in Alaska would look like.
Pic 3 - The reality of the bike path system in Anchorage.
Pic 4 - A little Alaskan humor along the bike trail.
Pic 5 - View of downtown Anchorage from the coastal trail.