Deb is still recovering, so this is another quick update from Steve.
Today was another travel day; about 220 miles to the north and east from Seward through Anchorage to Glacier View (really small town) along the Glenn Highway.
The road from Seward north passed several glacial rivers and a couple of lakes. We weren’t making very good time, as I kept stopping to take pictures, like this view from Kenai Lake:
I mentioned yesterday that we hadn’t seen as much wildlife as we thought we might. On today’s trip, we stopped at the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center just outside of the former town of Portage. (Portage was wiped out by the 1964 earthquake, 9.2 on the Richter scale, strongest North American quake in recorded history.) The AWCC is a rescue facility for injured, orphaned, and nearly extinct wildlife like eagles, moose, elk, and wood bison.
It is mostly a drive-through animal park. Some people walk the 1.5-mile loop (the animals are all behind fences), while others ride a shuttle or tour bus. We were in a hurry and Deb had limited strength, so we drove the pickup with the fifth-wheel in tow.
The pens were large and the animals seemed to be quite tolerant of the tourists. We saw a black bear along the road to Salmon Glacier a month ago, but he didn’t stop to pose like this fellow:
And this was the first Grizzly I’ve seen on the trip that wasn’t stuffed and on display:
I think we learned that Musk Ox date back nearly to the time of the dinosaurs, or at least 200,000 to 90,000 years ago, and entered North America across the land bridge from Asia during the ice ages. They are well adapted to living in the Arctic polar region:
We’ve seen a number of moose, but almost always mom and calf, or solitary individual. This would have been way to close for comfort, except for the fence between us. Please note the mountains in the background:
The final portion of today’s drive was along the main highway (the Glenn Highway), which connects Anchorage to Canada and the lower 48 states.
You’d be forgiven for thinking this would be limited-access “Interstate” 4-lane divided highway. In fact, it is a two-lane road, frequently without shoulders or guard rails. The speed limit is usually 55 or 65, with occasional 30 MPH curves and steep hills (7% grade) that appear at random and mostly without warning.
With the help of our neighbors, we spotted a few Dall Sheep on the mountain behind our campsite. To the naked eye, they are nearly invisible white dots out our rear window, way up on the mountain. With binoculars, they are still very small and somewhat difficult to find.
My camera has the (35 mm) equivalent lens of 1440 mm (long telephoto). Even with it, the sheep are just small dots in the middle of the frame. But with a tripod and cropping the center of the picture, you can mostly see the sheep and its horns:
It was the preservation of the Dall Sheep near Mt McKinley that was the primary motivation for the creation of Denali National Park.
Tomorrow we’re on our way to Valdez, about 200 miles away.
A special reminder and request to our friends in Indiana: Gary Wolfelt’s summer concert series of oldies bands starts in a couple of weeks. Deb and I attended all three concerts last summer and had a blast. Gary could use our help. (We’ll be attending the September concert.)
The first concert features the Hit Men on Friday, July 24th, at 7:30 pm. They are former stars of Frankie Valli & the Four Seasons, Tommy James & The Shondells & other mega star acts of the 60s, 70s and 80s. Weather permitting, the concert will be at the Tippecanoe County Amphitheater with the Long Center as the backup location. You can find the details at
http://www.allstarentertainment.biz
