Aug 22-23: Anchorage

RainAnchorage

We woke up to a gray, rainy day in Anchorage. The weather forecast was for 100% chance of rain with breezy conditions and low 50s for a high. We had booked an excursion and were not especially looking forward to it. Later in the day our bus driver told us to "always be flexible and you will never get bent out of shape." Without having heard that until later, we put on our rain gear and warm clothes and headed out on the excursion. We took an hour bus ride to the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center. They take orphaned animals or animals they are trying to reintroduce into the wild and give them homes. We saw brown and black bears, moose, elk, caribou, musk oxen, and woodland bison. Even though it was raining I got some good pictures.


BrownBear Claws

Brown bear.                                                               Check out those claws

BlackBear MuskOx

Black Bear                                                               Musk Ox

Caribou Caribou2

Caribou Itching his antlers.                                           Look at the antlers on the big guy

After the WCC we boarded a boat and went to within 300 feet of Portage Glacier.  The weather on the water was nasty. Raining, 30+ mph winds, white caps on the lake. We later heard reports of 61 mph gusts. Remarkably the boat was quite stable. When we got near the glacier we went up top on the boat to get a good view. Caroline didn’t say long. Chuck stayed for about 20 minutes, long enough to get very wet pants and socks. Here are some pictures. (Follow the link above for picture taken in good weather.)

CarolGlacier ChuckGlacier

You can see the glacier in the background through the rain.

Glacier1
Glacier2

After the boat ride we bused back to the ship. It was on the ride back that our driver talked about flexibility and it fit the day perfectly. It was a good time in spite of the weather.


© Charles Eklund 2012