Down the Road: Anchorage, Bore Tides and Gold Panning

Anchorage, Alaska

Creekwood RV Park

Himalayan Blue Poppies. Prettiest flower I've ever seen!

It was a very short drive into Anchorage. We had a full day so we started downtown at the Alaska Mint. We enjoyed looking at all the gold (like the large nugget in Rick's hand), coins, jewelry and other artifacts.

Nearby was the Ulu Factory. Very touristy, but we took a quick look around. An Ulu is an all-purpose knife used by native peoples for skinning, cleaning and cutting.

As we strolled down the street we popped into a small museum and had a little fun with the props.

There was a guy who just caught a nice salmon and was cleaning it.

After all the walking and shopping we visited the 49th State Brewery. We had a nice table on the rooftop with a view of the Knik and Turnagain Arms.

The green drink was mine. A Spruce Tip Soda. These became my favorite in Alaska. The pretzel was a perfect pairing.

We decided to overnight at the Creekwood RV park. It's a small private park in town. $54 a night, FHU. Time to top off tanks and do some laundry.

The next day we got up early and out to the Anchorage Museum to soak up all the information on the land, people, history and art. They did a great job showing all the clothing, shoes and tools over the years.

They used different parts of animals for everything. I loved the tiny beading work.

Many different styles of Ulu's.

Thousands of tiny beads.

I really like the art too.

The rose is made of baleen. Baleen is the filter feeding system in a baleen whale. Very delicate.

A colorful polar bear exhibit.

Just down the street was the William Jack Hernandez Sport Fish Hatchery. We had hoped to see a lot of Salmon, but it's not time for the Chinook or Coho. We did see some Rainbow fingerlings.

There is a creek outside but it was too early for the July run.

Huge mosaic salmon hanging in the hallways.

After another full day we left Anchorage and continued south down AK1 to our next destination. Another short 45 minute drive along this beautiful section of road. We wanted to get a couple of nights along the Turnagain Arm to see the bore tide.

The train also runs along here too. You'll see all kinds of things being transported. We saw trailers, tractors, boats, cars and plenty more.

These trains transport so much to Alaska.

So what is a bore tide? It's a rush of sea water that thunders up the narrowing shallow inlet. There are only about 60 places in the world they occur. Here it can create waves about 6-10 feet tall and travel about 10-15 miles per hour. Harbor Seals and Beluga Whales are known to come up just after the waves. Unfortunately, we did not see any. But we did see some surfers! They wait out there just for these special waves.

It's really weird to see. All of a sudden a wave rushes in and it's game on for the surfers. They can ride this wave all the way to the end, about 50 miles.

Surfing the Bore Tide!

I'm glad the timing worked out because I really wanted to see this. Once it goes by you can drive down a couple of pull outs and watch it go by again.

Anchorage, Alaska

Bird Creek Campground

We had site #24, $20. This is dry camping.

We were very lucky to get the last 2 campsites. This place is very busy because of the bore tide and nearby Girdwood. There is a nice hiking/biking trail out of the campground up above the water. We took a couple of nice walks on it.

It was very warm here. Steve and Rick kept getting smoked out.

One night we ate the rest of the crab we had with some steak.

The next day we spent on a fun hike that Jim & Barb told us about. It's a short hike to Virgin Creek Falls. You start out with an interesting display of mannequins. Or parts of them.

It was a beautiful hike through the forest. The mist cooled us off.

Roaring Falls

After hiking and a quick drive through this tiny town, we stopped in at Girdwood Brewery.

Steve liked the beer and I had a cold coffee. It was good, but very strong!

Girdwood, Alaska

Girdwood Gold Mine

We camped right in the gold mine. They have a few sites for dry camping. $25.

Rick and Angie had a tricky very downhill site.

There were trails leading down to the Glacier River which we took. There were many types of mushrooms we pointed out to Rick and Angie and they'd tell us what they were.

Fomitopsis

At the bottom was a river crossing cage. You pulled yourself across with a rope. Unfortunately it was closed but you could see it and read about it.

(an example I got off the internet)

The water was really rushing.

Slime Mold

Pretty Columbine.

Meadow Buttercup leaf.

Our reason for coming here to Girdwood was to pan for gold on the Glacier River right in Girdwood Gold Mine. The grounds here are absolutely gorgeous! There were old buildings and amazing flowers.

We enjoyed walking around the grounds. We got our pans and rented a small sluice box and lugged our stuff about 1/4 mile to the river.

WOW! I've never seen blue poppies! I was in love with these. Stunning!!

We really spent a lot of time here. Moving and adjusting and panning. We were so hopeful.

Sluicing for gold!

The guys really worked hard. But we got ZIP! Nada, zilch.

We did actually find quite bit of gold, but it was in the big troughs they teach those that have never panned before. Well, they drop a lot and so we found it! We panned for hours and had a ball.