Byron glacier

In Chugach National Forest, America's second largest national forest, you can get up close and personal with some glaciers.  As the glaciers slowly move they gradually carve out the mountains under them.   The glaciers are formed by the accumulation of numerous snowfalls. Due to their immense weight they form dense compact ice without air pockets.   This unique ice absorbs all colors of light except blue light which gets reflected giving parts of the glacier a bright blue color.  These glaciers can be huge.  The stream was formed by the melting glacial ice and the entrance to the ice cave in the glacier face was easily thirty feet tall.

Photography lesson

So I went on a photography lesson on Thursday night and was actually taught what the heck all those numbers on my camera's display actually mean.  Here are some of the photos that I took. Some moose and some deposits of glacial silt.  My photography skills are still a work in progress. 

Downtown Anchorage

Some photographs on a walk through downtown Anchorage on Sunday afternoon.  It is a busy tourist city with an outdoor market held downtown on Saturday and Sundays.  The Alaskan railway station is located across from the market along the waterfront.  There were lots of colorful flowers and interesting artwork to photograph on the walk.  Some interesting facts about Anchorage and Alaska that I learned today:  Anchorage's population is 277, 638 (almost half of the state population) and the land area of Anchorage(1,955 square miles) is nearly the size of Delaware.  Six mountain ranges can be seen from Anchorage (don't ask me to point them out to you, they all look the same to me).  Anchorage is as far north as Helsinki, Finland and as far west as Honolulu, Hawaii.  Alaska is the northern-most, western-most and eastern-most state in the Union.  The tip of the Aleutian Islands Chain are on the other side of the 180th meridian, putting them in the Eastern Hemisphere.  It is closer to Tokyo than to Anchorage!  One last not so fun fact:  Alaska has 27 species of mosquitoes!  Trust me, i've had the bites to prove it.

Kincaid Park

Kincaid Park is 14oo acres of rolling, forested hills  on the west side of Anchorage.  There are 37 miles of trails that offer great mountain bike riding in the summer and world class cross country skiing in the winter.   The U.S. national cross country championships were held here this past January and the park boasts the hilliest certified 10K course in the country.  There is also a biathlon range in the park.  Oh yeah, the park also has Anchorage's  largest moose population.

Flattop Mountain Trail

While Anne and Scott have been busy with their new addition to the family I have been doing some more hiking.  The trail was rated as moderate in difficulty, but by my Indiana standards it was hard.  It was 3 miles round trip with an elevation gain on the hike of 1252 ft.  The summit was at an elevation of 3550 ft.  The last few hundred feet involved climbing up rocks hand over foot without a defined path.  As the name implies the top is an area of level land about the size of a football field, which provides great views of the surrounding Chugach Mountains.

Nighttime

These pictures were taken from my balcony at about 11:30 pm.  No flash required!  
Sunrise this time of year is about 4:45 am and sunset is about 11:25 pm.  Solar high noon is about 2:00pm.  Pretty cool!  I also took some pictures of the Chugach Mountains, which boarder Anchorage to the east.  This is a rather hazy view of the mountain range.  There are several wildfires currently burning in southcentral Alaska contributing to the poor visibility.  I can now check wildfires off my list of natural disasters to experience while in Alaska.  Still waiting for earthquakes and a good volcanic eruption.

Salmon sighting

Ship Creek in downtown Anchorage is popular for salmon fishing.  However, due to the slow King Salmon run this year there is no fishing allowed until July 13.   I still was able to easily spot some salmon from a bridge and catch them on camera.  When fishing is allowed, I have heard the term "combat fishing" referring to the fight for fishing space along the shore.  For me this means lots of fish hook injuries to eyes.  If you ever try "combat fishing" make sure you stand between two guys who know how to fish and cast a lure.  In other words don't stand next to me.

Coastal Trail

There is some great scenery up here.  Not that the cornfields in Indiana aren't beautiful.  Here are some pics of the coastal bike trail along the northern coastal border of Anchorage.  It was about a 20 mile round trip bike ride.  I did it 3 days ago and my butt still hurts.  Check out the trail map:  http://dnr.alaska.gov/parks/aktrails/ats/anc/knowlsct.htm

Apartment living

My housing is great.  Cordova Square Condominiums is a mix of corporate housing and privately owned condos.  Very clean with a distinctive early 90's feel to it on the inside.  It seems to be somewhat of a retirement community.  It hasn't been unusual to see someone with a walker and oxygen tank enjoying the great weather at the entrance to the building.