Tuesday, September 10, 2019
Anchorage and around and homeward bound
We had an excellent hot breakfast at the Hyatt, included in the price of our free night's stay, then went back up to our luxurious room and took advantage of a 2:00 p.m. late checkout. It was raining this morning, so no hurry getting out. Our flight isn't till after midnight, so we have one last long and hopefully fun day to fill in Alaska.
By the time we left the hotel, the rain had petered out to just an intermittent drizzle. Luckily, we visited a scenic vista last night, because there are no vistas now with the clouds this low.
A half hour north of Anchorage, toward Palmer, we stopped for an easy 2-mile hike through a birch forest along the Eklutna River Canyon to a viewing deck overlooking 200-foot Thunderbird Falls, part of the huge Chugach State Park.
Thunderbird Falls
With no particular destination in mind, we checked Google Maps for nearby points of interest and ended up at Reflections Lake, part of the Palmer Hay Flats Recreation Area, where we hiked a nice 1-mile loop around the lake. We saw a beaver swimming in the lake, men training dogs to retrieve waterfowl, and there was a platform where we could view a bog with lots of moose trails. The fall colors made the lake especially pretty.
Reflections Lake
Part of Palmer Hay Flats Recreation Area
Moose trails
As we drove along, we saw a sign for Mirror Lake and pulled over at a peaceful and beautiful spot. The small lake shares its shore with a public park, a Boy Scout camp, and private homes with docks for float planes.
Mirror Lake
Airplane docks on Mirror Lake
In the early evening, we returned to Anchorage and visited Earthquake Park. The whole trip, we'd been seeing references to the Good Friday earthquake of 1964, a four-minute-long earthquake measuring 9.2 on the Richter scale which devastated the southern coastal towns of Valdez, Whittier, Seward, and more. In Anchorage, an entire neighborhood slid into the ocean at what is now this park, and you can still see signs of the violent upheaval.
Earthquake Park, Anchorage
Just down the road, we stopped at the dully-named Airport Park, where, with the sky finally clear, we were treated to a fantastic view of downtown Anchorage. Then continuing to the road's end, we reached Point Woronzof just before sunset.
Downtown Anchorage
Sunset from Point Woronzof
There was just enough dusk-light left for a quick drive around the Lake Hood Seaplane Base, the largest and busiest float-plane airport in the world, with around 200 daily flights, and then a circle through downtown Anchorage, before stopping at Chili's for a quick dinner. Then it was time to turn in our rental car at the airport and enter “the system.” At 10:20 we returned the car, having driven 2,069 miles.
Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport
Our flight left Anchorage at 12:59 a.m. on Wednesday, September 11. We flew to Seattle, Detroit, and finally to Knoxville, arriving home about 8:30 p.m.
Alaska is awesome! I can't wait to go back!
THE END
Tom
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