Anchorage and Eagle River AK

We stayed in the Anchorage area twice on this trip.  The first time was July 8-12 after leaving Valdez, and the second time was July 20-25 after leaving Seward.  On both occasions we parked at the home of a friend who lives in Eagle River, a town about 15 miles north of Anchorage.  Game is from my home town in North Carolina and is one of my brother's best friends.   Game and Deb have lived in Alaska for many years.  I stayed with them on my trips to Alaska in 1993 and 2011 as well.

Our camp at Eagle River

Game and Deb built a house near the top of a mountain that backs up to Chugach State Park.  It is located at ~ EL 1500' and has outstanding views of the mountains beyond and the valley below.  On a clear day Denali can be seen from their living room window about 130 miles to the north.

The driveway up to the house is a little daunting in a big rig.  It's narrow and steep and not for the faint of heart.  Click HERE to see a video of the drive up to the house.  Myron, watch out for those low overhanging limbs, and don't run over that pile of bear poop!

Click HERE to see a video of Dorcas directing me onto the concrete pad.  She uses clear, well-accepted hand signals .... most of the time.  I'm not sure what the gesture at the 16 second mark in the video means.

5 Star accommodations.  Check out the paved parking pad

At camp Eagle River we had paved parking, 20A electric service and all the hospitality we could wish for.  I had suspended our DirecTV service shortly after entering Canada the 3rd week in May.  Here we had a strong over-the-air TV signal and enjoyed watching TV for the first time in almost 2 months.  I missed my Jeopardy!!!

The view from Game and Deb's dining room window on a clear day

Dinner with Game and family

This stop was the first stop on our trip when I had a little time to perform some mechanical chores.

My air horn has not been functioning properly.  Sometimes it will blow, but most times it will not.  I figured the problem was either in the switch on the steering wheel or the solenoid passes air to the horns.  The solenoid was probably the easiest thing to check .... if I could find it.  With Dorcas mashing the horn button and me listening for clicking at all likely air fittings I found.  Turns out the solenoid was sticking shut.  A few taps with a hammer and some light oil and it was fixed.

For a long time my entry steps have been squeaking terribly and no amount of lubricant would stop the squeaking.  Prior research had reveal the culprit was likely worn step stops.  The stops act like bumpers when the step accordions out.  I had ordered a set before leaving home.  Sure enough when I pulled the old stops they were trashed.  New stops solved the problem.  Heavenly silence!

Can you tell the old step stops?

I also fixed the switch that warns when the steps are extended.  Previously, a warning light that advises the steps are out stayed on all the time.  A little shimming did the trick.  Now the light goes out, as it should, when the steps are retracted.

Finally I used Game's pressure washer and gave the coach and the car a well deserved bath.

Game sent this selfie to my brother back home. Ran, eat your heart out!

 Anchorage is a large city, even by lower 48 standards.  The greater metro area has a population over 400,000.  It was a big shock when rolled into Anchorage and there were 6-lane highways, heavy traffic and stop lights.  We had been in the boonies so long, we had forgotten about those things.  I can't say we missed them.

I lifted this photo from Wikipedia showing the USS Anchorage with downtown in the background

The iconic log house visitor center in downtown Anchorage

We spent some time poking around downtown Anchorage. 

It was nice of the City of Anchorage to plant flowers to match Dorcas' outfit

Dorcas and friend in downtown Anchorage

If Anchorage is the Air Crossroads of the World, why is this signpost on the ground?

We visited the city market which is open on weekends in downtown.  There was good live music, but most of the vendors sold food, junk or artwork that was beyond our budget.  There was one vendor however, that really caught my attention.  John Schwieder is a local photographer who had quite a few outstanding prints for sale depicting Alaska wildlife and landscapes.  I was tempted to buy a print or two from him, but soon realized he had a book that contained much of his best work.  I talked with him a while, and he was a very interesting guy.  I splurged and bought his book "Endless Alaska Journey".  If you want a good coffee table book depicting Alaskan nature, this is it.

Ship Creek flows through downtown and empties into the Knik Arm on Cook Inlet  There are some great king salmon runs up Ship Creek and the art of  "combat fishing"  is practiced here, where fishermen duke it out elbow to elbow.

Fishing on Ship Creek

"Combat fishing" on Ship Creek while the Chinook (king) salmon are running (photo from Wikipedia)

Ship Creek, perhaps the greatest urban sport fishery in the world

There are at least a dozen craft breweries in Anchorage.  We visited a smaller one, Odd Man Rush Brewing.

Waiting for our brews at Odd Man Rush Brewing

The Alaska Public Lands Information Center has a wealth of information on all public lands in Alaska, including national parks, national forests, state parks, BLM, etc.  They have visitor centers in Anchorage, Tok, Fairbanks and Ketchikan.  We visited the center in Ketchikan last month, and I expect we will visit the centers in Fairbanks and Tok later in our journey.  In addition to lots of maps, literature and human knowledge, they show some really neat films all day long.

The Alaska Public Lands Information Center in Anchorage 

If you have never seen a fish wheel, I'll tell you, it is a sight to behold.  A fish wheel is a device built on a raft with a large paddle wheel mounted so it is turned by the current.  It is used to catch salmon as they come upstream to spawn.  The current turns the wheel and two baskets scoop up the fish, and they slide down a chute to a hopper on the side.  The use of a fish wheel is strictly controlled by the state of Alaska and is only allowed on the Copper and Yukon rivers during certain periods of time.

Fish wheel model

Click HERE to see a YouTube video of a fish wheel in action.

Grizzly bears at the Alaska Zoo

We ventured out south a ways along Turnagain Arm to see the sights. 

Turnagain arm

 The Alaska Railroad runs from Seward to Fairbanks.  It was crucial during the early settling of Alaska and is still important today.

Alaska RR equipment has a distinctive yellow and navy paint pattern

Portage Glacier

Salmon exhibit at the Chugach National Forest Visitor Center at Portage Glacier

Combat fishing on Sheep (not Ship) Creek south of Anchorage

Faithful readers will know that I am not averse to using a bridge that has a lower weight rating than the weight of our coach.  But sometimes I go a little too far.   OOPS!!!!  Just kidding we didn't break this bridge.

Sway-backed bridge off the Seward Highway

We visited the William Jack Hernandez Sport Fish Hatchery located on Ship Creek.  It is a huge facility completed in 2011.

Oh no!  Who caught who?

In the visitors gallery there are more than a dozen pieces of artwork on display.  Following are a few examples.

This photo depicts salmon negotiating a fish ladder

Salmon schooling to enter the weir at the hatchery

While using Google Maps to navigate in downtown Anchorage we saw a street named "NC St".  Being from North Carolina and a graduate of NC State University (aka NC St), I found this interesting.  It turns out that Maps was referring to North C Street, which crosses Ship Creek near downtown.

We left our fine Eagle River camp at Game and Deb's house (for the second and final time) on July 25 and headed up the Parks highway to Denali National Park.  Will we be lucky enough to see The Great One?  Stay tuned and see .....