alaska–day 7

 

Our visit was winding down; and we only had one more day in Alaska.  Brother’s ankle was still quite tender and swollen so we decided to take a bike ride on the Tony Knowles Coastal Trail.  The path is paved and winds through the woods above and along the coast of Cook Inlet.  We were about one and a half miles into the ride when I moved over to allow another biker to pass.  Somehow I went off the trail and found myself airborne, followed by a hard thud to the ground.  Immediately I knew something had cracked in my chest-underarm area (rib or ribs, later confirmed by x-rays).  After catching my breath and dusting off, we kept cycling down the trail; but after a few more miles, I asked that we cut the ride short and head back to the car.  On the way, we encountered another momma moose and her baby at the trail’s edge (she was really close, but we didn’t get any good shots because we wanted to make sure we stayed out of her way). 

[Four weeks have passed since this little adventure and my body is recovering nicely although at a slower pace than I would like.  Still have tenderness and a little pain in the area, but all is well.]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                      the only picture I took on this adventure, before the ride

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                  looking out over cook inlet        (photo by Russ Almond)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                      driftwood in the marshy area  (photo by Russ Almond)

 

        pink clover     (photo by Russ Almond)

 

a few favorites on the way . . .

glenda

alaska–day 6

 

Day 6 found Sonja and my brother itching for a more strenuous challenging hike, so their destination was Rabbit Lake.  While they went to explore the area, Stacy and I, along with the kiddos, went to downtown Anchorage.  During the summer months, vendors and artists man booths every weekend offering colorful T-shirts, various artistic creations, and all kinds of tasty treats. After browsing around for a while (and digging into a greasy-sugary funnel cake), we headed back to the house.  When bro and Sonja returned, we found that Russ had found a little trouble on the trail.  Seems like Leo (wonder dog) wasn’t ready to come home yet, so Russ had to go after him, getting a nasty ankle sprain in the process.   He put in the ibuprofen, put on the ice, and was out of commission for the rest of the evening.  What an adventure . . .

 

 

 

 

 

 

         funnin’ around downtown

 

 

 

     roar!

 

 

 

trail to rabbit lake

(photo by Russ Almond)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                                      rabbit lake (frozen)  (photo by Russ Almond)

 

 

 

 

rollin’ leo

(photo by Russ Almond)

 

 

 

 

  self-portrait

                                                                                                                        (photo by Russ Almond)

 

                                              rabbit lake      (photo by Russ Almond)

 

more excitement on the way . . .

glenda

alaska–more of day 5

 

Later in the day we made our way from Seward to Exit Glacier.  Although the day was winding down according to the clock,  the sun was still shining as we approached.  From the highway we viewed the glacier and the runoff below; then we drove to the trailhead going up to the glacier itself.  Sonja and bro took the short hike-run up the trail and captured some up close views while I rested in the car with my good friend, Kindle.

 

 

 

 

       sonja and russ

 

 

  sonja and g

 

                                                                             exit glacier, highway view

 

                 trail to exit glacier  (photo by Russ Almond)

                                                         

 

 

 

                    sonja at exit glacier (photo by Russ Almond)

 

                                                       one more view (photo by Russ Almond)

 

still more to come . . .

glenda

alaska–day 5

 

After a cozy night in the remote cabin at Dolly Varden Lake, we loaded up the boats, paddled to the car, and headed to Seward.  Summer months find this area buzzing with tourists . . . taking photographs, fishing, boating, shopping, eating, and cruising.  

We fit right in . . .

 

                                                                                showing off the halibut

 

             fish-cleaning stations

 

                                                                                                                    water taxi

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                    big boat, little boat

 

                                      black  beach

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                                                                                reaching

 

         downtown reflection

 

the journey continues . . .

glenda

alaska–wildlife

 

Everywhere we went during our weeklong visit in Alaska, we were on the lookout . . . for moose, bears, Dall sheep, fish, eagles and all kinds of other birds.  We had successful sightings of all but the bears . . . deep sigh of relief.  Although the animals were just doing what they do, we were always surprised when we encountered them in their natural habitat.  As long as we didn’t get too close, they were quite cooperative about letting us take their pictures.

 

                                  two young bulls

 

        eagle at low tide       (photo by Russ Almond)

 

                                    non-bear sighting         (photo by Russ Almond)

 

                                                                         gulls at the river

 

 

 

 

 

 

young dall sheep

 

 

 

 

 

moose mom with twins

 

 

 

 

         our favorite wild animal, leo

 

more fun on the way . . .

glenda

alaska–more of day 4

 

After the salmon and the gulls and the fly-fishing, we made our way to the remote cabin located on Dolly Varden Lake.  After driving 14 miles down a gravel road, we arrived at the lake, loaded up our gear in the canoe and the kayak, and started paddling.  About a mile of zig-zag canoeing (out of practice?) brought us to the cabin where we were greeted by the buzzing mosquito welcoming committee.  No fear . . .  we donned our fashionable mosquito-netting headgear and went about our business. 

We unloaded the boats and immediately headed down to the lake to soak our weary aching legs in the cold water (see day 2).  Bro kept the cabin nice and cozy with a wood-stove fire, filtered some water from the lake, and cooked up some dehydrated meals for dinner.  What a pro!

 

                   paddle to the cabin   (photo by Russ Almond)

 

  

 

 

     

         unpacked

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

      almond nuts

 

                           aaahhh . . .                                             (photo by Russ Almond)

 

                               sunrise through the trees

 

          our outside facilities

 

   

              back to civilization  (photo by Russ Almond)

 

wildlife ahead . . .

glenda

 

 

 

 

alaska–day 4

 

Our destination for later on during this rainy day was a remote cabin on a small lake; but first we detoured to take a trail leading to the Kenai River-Lower Russian Lake.  We hiked up a graveled path to a viewing platform situated above the river where we watched salmon leap and struggle-swim their way upstream.  Seagulls stood sentry duty, looking for the opportunity to snack.  We then navigated a narrow-slippery-muddy-rocky trail down to the riverside where fisherpersons and bears competed for the turning-pink fish.

Thankfully, we encountered only the “persons” part of that equation . . .

 

  warning

 

   mr. pinkfeet waiting for a bite

 

salmon heading upriver

 

  salmon leap

 

trail to and along the river (pictures above and below)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

          

             fly-fishing

 

  riverside instructions and warnings

 

    kenai  / russian river

 

movin’ on . . .

glenda

alaska–blooms

 

Today I take a break from the action and share with you some of the vibrant blooms of Alaska, including a few wild ones.  By the way, I think I saw more dandelions (in every stage of development) than I have witnessed anywhere else.  Due to extended daylight hours and because of the abundance of rain, plants and trees of all kinds flourish during the summer months in the Anchorage area.

        pansies

 

     pansies

 

         pink hydrangea

 

         poppy

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                     

                

               blue bells

 

         wild rose

 

columbine

 

       dandelion puff

 

    fireweed

 

variety is beautiful . . .

glenda