Hmmm, which is the most dramatic picture we took today? Hard to choose so I guess I’ll put them in chronological order. We headed into Girdwood today, a cool town with an upscale vibe. Maybe it’s the ski resort that adds to the laid-back nature of the place. Streets with names like: Telemark, St. Moritz, Innsbruck, etc. One look at the homes in the area and I knew that I didn’t need to check them out on Trulia. Most have A-frames somewhere in them with lots of windows and all on acre+ lots.
But we heard rumors of a good breakfast joint with cinnamon rolls and a neat trail with a hand tram. Gotta check them out.
Yes, the breakfast was very good: veggie with potato omelet, sourdough toast, never-ending coffee (sometimes a problem on the trail) and 5” tall cinnamon rolls. At first glance they looked a bit dry but we took a chance. Luckily we did, were they ever good. Warmed from the oven, bits of apple in them with almond flavoring, almonds and a sweet caramel bottom. Can’t fault these at all. We recommend them. No pictures - it was gone too fast.
The trail begins behind the Alyeska Resort: skiing in the winter, tram to the top, mountain biking and trails in the summer.
Every trail can’t be a winner but this one surely is. First off - it’s named the Winner Trail. Ha, ha. Secondly, well, let’s get to that in a minute. Oh, oh, Looks like I’ve found a nice bench to relax on. ‘Go on ahead, Big Gar, I’ll wait for you here.’ Oh, crap, Gary’s really expecting me to hike today.
Very woodsy trail, in fact it really is a lush rain forest and has all the moss, big leaves and ground cover to prove it.
But, it’s a trail in an upscale town - lots of boardwalks, railroad ties and well-made bridges over rushing water through a narrow gorge
This bridge is over a narrow 15’ wide canyon with thundering, churning water with power you can feel. It shoots through the gorge like a cannon, spewing frothy white water. Look just below the bridge, and you’ll see the river go over a series of 5-10 foot drops.
Lots of others on the trail, lots of families, well, actually, lots of mothers with children. Where are the fathers? Golfing, fishing? Probably one of the two.
OK, here’s the fun part - the part that really makes this trail a ‘Winner’: the hand tram. There was a line and everyone was laughing and having a good time. The tram will only hold 400 lbs: 2 adults or 1 adult and 2 kids. And, it’s a lot of work - especially if you’re alone. We were not. Cross the creek one direction and pull the rope one way. Come back and pull the rope the other way, Whichever way, your arms are going to hurt - guaranteed.
The easy part is when the tram is going down towards the middle but, pulling the tram up to the platform on the other side - oof-da. That was hard. Here is some of the action we saw when we got there.
There’s a biker in the tram here with a bike hooked on the side. Clever tram builders. We took our turn at the rope and helped the people in the picture cross and then came back. We pulled so hard that our shoulders felt like they were being pulled out of the sockets. Then it was our turn. That’s when questions popped into my mind:
Hey, where’s the certificate of inspection for this tram?
Will it hold us?
Check those ropes? Are they frayed?
How far down is that water?
We were in, the tram was moving - too late for questions. Pull that rope. Luckily we had others to help us cross - and luckily we were there to help them, too.
Back down the trail and we were back at the Alyeska Resort. We then headed out to visit the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center. However, as we were driving down Turnagain Arm I was looking at the water flow.
‘Is the tide coming in or out?’ Gary asked.
‘Hmmm, I can’t figure it out. I think it’s coming in. Hey there’s a paddle boarder out there. Oh, Gary, it’s a bore tide. I can see the wave coming in.’
Tides usually don’t come in as a wave like this one and this one was small for the Turnagain Arm. they come in imperceptibly slowly. Two things are necessary for a bore tide, a shallow narrow channel and rapidly rising tides. Thus, when tide comes in, it comes in all at once, like a tidal wave. Sometimes bore tides can be 6’ high and travel at up to 15 mph. And, they sound like a wave hitting shore - all the way down the Arm. It’s a long, long, wave. And we watched it roll towards us and then roll on by us to the end of the Arm, miles away. So cool.
The birds followed it possibly thinking that fish would be stirred up by it.
A few days ago Gary spent time trying to figure out when the best bore tide was going to be and we’ve planned our time around this. The best bore tides are during a full moon when the difference between the low tide and the high tide are the most - like on my birthday this year in 2 days. We’ll be looking then too for a bigger bore tide.
Ah, serendipity. Who knew we were going to get this today?
But, there’s still more to the day. What next? I certainly wouldn’t have said ‘getting slimed’ but that’s what I did.
Alaska is the only state in the Unites States to have coastlines on three different seas (Arctic Ocean, Pacific Ocean and the Bering Sea)
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