Alaska: Part Two

Saturday, Gail and I left early for a hike up Flat Top Mountain just outside of Anchorage.  After the hike, we met Sarah for lunch, and walked around downtown.

As we drove out of town, we saw a moose and her calf in a front yard.

Shortly into our hike, we came upon a bull moose who, fortunately, seemed to have no interest in us.

That's Flat Top Mountain looking smaller than it is.

We spotted another moose grazing on the mountainside.

An Arctic Ground Squirrel -  the biggest ground squirrel in North America.  They put on a lot of fat for the winter.

On top of Flat Top Mt. there were more and larger mountains all around us.

There is a great view over Anchorage and across the Cook Inlet to the Aleutian Range.

 We were humbled by a girl's cross country team running by us and on to the next peak.

 We made our way down and over to a nearby valley and onto the Powerline Trail.

 The fireweed was turning red in places.

 We hiked a ways up a trail that crossed this stream.  It looked like prime grizz habitat, and some of the hikers we passed were carrying bear spray.

Moose don't need perfume, urine works just fine!

After lunch with Sarah, we all went looking around the downtown area.  The Kobuk store, built in 1915, survived the great quake of 1964,

We bought some delicious Moose Nuggets which looked just like the real thing.

Real moose nuggets.


We also visited a wonderful art  program for disabled adults where Gail bought a necklace by Raymond, a gifted artist with roots in the desert.

Sarah's backyard frog.