Alaska Part IX , trip day 6; July 7, 2018

Traveling through Alaska was filled with intrigue. As none of the four of us had ever been here before, we didn’t know what to expect as we left one geographic area and headed to another. After leaving Bass Pro, we headed south of Anchorage for the first time of our trip, and eagerly kept our noses pressed to the windows to see what landforms we would encounter next.

The ocean came at us much sooner than I expected, with mountains rising straight out of its depths. We followed along the coast, winding around craggy cliffs and muddy flats, and even found the train snaking around the same path. We must have been traveling during low tide, as the water was a good ways out, but we could see evidence (mostly mud!) that it had recently been very near the road. We passed little in the way of civilization, lending the land an eerie and empty beauty.

While kept driving, the landscape changed yet again as neared the Chugach National Forest. Trees became plentiful once again, and we left the coastline and reentered the forest. Despite the beauty of the remote coast, my woods loving soul felt relief once we were back in the bush. We began to see streams fed by snow melt coming down the mountain, and even paths gauged out by glacier movement. Snow became more plentiful as the road took us higher in elevation and back up the mountains. We saw more signs for creeks, and even began to cross over rivers again. My beloved white spruces grew more plentiful, and all we could do was gape in amazement.

The Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center in Portage provided a nice rest stop about midways for our trip down the peninsula, and gave us all a chance to get out and stretch our legs and view some of Alaska’s critters up close and personal. This 200 acre sanctuary hosts injured and orphaned wildlife in natural habitats, and allows visitors such as us an opportunity to see this animals as close as “in the wild” as we can safely get. The center offers a shuttle tour around the facility with your admission fee, but we just missed one bus, and didn’t want to wait the two hours for the next one leaving out, so we chose the self guided tour.

When we first arrived at the center, I was shocked to step out of the vehicle. I’d not been out of it since Anchorage, where Brinn had walked around comfortably in shorts, teeshirt, and sandals. Portage and Anchorage clearly did not share weather patterns. After we all went in the gift shop to use the restroom, I returned to the Sequoia to add a pair of leggings under my jeans and pile on a couple of sweaters under my coat. I grabbed Ian’s coat as well, and then we were ready to meet the animals.

The caribou were cool, and came right up to the fence to greet us, but after our experience in Palmer, we weren’t nearly as impressed as we would have been otherwise. Brinn enjoyed seeing the adult moose and elk, while I found the eagle to be pretty striking. Little did I know that I had a much more imposing eagle experience in store for this trip. Just as Ian and I finished with the eagle, the staff announced feeding time for the Lynx, so we shuffled over to observe the female lynx come out of her house and climb around her pen to snag some snacks. I fully appreciated her anatomy and decided I am just fine never meeting her in the wild.

We saw black bears in Tennessee all the time, so we didn’t spend very much time with their exhibit, but instead made the hike out to the grizzly area. None of the brown bears were very close to the observation point, so we weren’t able to see any clearly, but Grandpoppa saved the day with his camera lenses. The bison were a bit easier to see from the road, but again, we see them grazing on Dodson Branch Highway often enough at home that we didn’t need to devote a lot of time to them. The musk ox were a new species for us, so we did observe them a bit longer.

Most of the nocturnal animals were hiding from the daylight hours inside a large barn, so we wondered in to check out some owls and foxes. Ian grew bored inside, so we ventured back outside to go check out the porcupine exhibit. Holy moly, I never expected the smell! We have our own menagerie of critters at home, so I feel fairly tolerant, and desensitized to the odors of most animals and their droppings, but porcupines have a pungent stench like nothing I can describe. Ian enjoyed viewing Snickers the Porcupine, but I decided to breakaway and visit the coffee cart to order some coffees for my dad and Brinn, cocoa for Ian, and a chai for myself. Our comforting drinks helped us warm up while we finished our tour.

We saved the wolf exhibit for last. Our culture loves wolves. We glorify them in literature and film, the fierce but graceful beast. The House Stark sigil features a wolf and the Stark children all raise their own pet wolves. Professor Lupin transforms into a wolf. Even vampire lit features wolves! I guess all of this fictional exposure convinced me that I’ve been around wolves, but upon reflection, I don’t recall ever viewing one in a zoo or a preserve. The television or computer screen are the closest I’ve come to seeing these giant killing machines. And giant they are! In my ignorance, I never had an opportunity to appreciate how truly gigantic these beasts are. I can’t possibly imagine overpowering one, and now better understand how justifiably terrified Laura Ingalls must have felt living out of a covered wagon while traveling the Dakota territory. Still, it’s hard to deny the beauty of these regal creatures. I guess that’s why we enjoy them in film and literature.