BICYCLING ALASKA-Page 4
(of 6 pages)
On to points south of Denali!
The Alaska Railroad runs between Anchorage and Fairbanks with a stop at Denali inbetween. I inquired about adding some spice to my trip by taking the train to Anchorage, but they refused to allow me to load and to unload my bicycle on the box car so they were one passenger less! My bicycle was my sole survival system for 5 weeks and thousands of miles from home and it was much too fragile of a machine to randomly trust to some freight handler! So I didn't get to ride on the Choo-Choo.
From my journal... (July 7th;Day-25)..."After nine days I've gotten quite comfortable being at Denali with plenty of food, people, and cheap entertainment. Like anywhere that you spend enough time I'd figured out the system here, moving around comfortably and meeting my needs in the smoothest manner. "It is little wonder why I had some reservation this evening about leaving here, almost a feeling of lonliness set in just thinking about it. But I must leave soon, on to a new place, another situation, and a fresh discovery!"
This welcome sign to Anchorage was about all I saw on this trip!
The city of Anchorage has one of the best networks of bicycle trails that I've ever rode upon! And I never knew it until I rode into town on my two-wheel deal. It is really nice with painted lines, signs, the works!.
After flying by the Anchorage sidelines I continued to pedal southward toward Seward and Prince William Sound The Kenai Peninsula is so lush and beautiful with snow-capped mountains everywhere. If I lived in Anchorage this "playground" alone could easily keep me going for a lifetime!
Into the Chugach National Forest.
Oh how I so desperately wanted to explore those summer-clad snow-capped mountains. So much country, so little time. Arnold Schwartzanegger said it best, "I be back"!
This is a memorial to Benny Benson from the town of Seward and the child who designed the Alaskan state flag way back in the 1930's in a grammer school contest! The big dipper and the north star.
After a short visit to Seward I got a ticket to Valdez on the Alaska Ferry across Prince William Sound.
Except for a free hot shower I spent most of my time here on the top deck where I met Roy and Kurt. We were the only passengers who were traveling by bicycle so we all naturally gravitated to one another. To make the story short, Roy is a geologist from the University of Colorado who was spending the summer studying Columbia Glacier in Prince William Sound and Kurt was a writer from Seattle doing a story on the mission. Anyhow, before we arrived in Valdez they had invited me to spend a week with them on their boat! Wow, what an opportunity. Yes was the only sound that my mouth could make!
Anchorage!
Although Anchorage is the biggest city in Alaska I felt content to keep on pedaling through the busy place in one day. I had already spent a lot of time here in several past trips to the state so I didn't miss anything. Besides, after spending 10 days at Denali I was just ready to push on!
Seward, Prince William Sound, and Valdez!
As with most of my adventures nothing much is planned since I must have some kind of innate need to be spontaneous! And since I pretty well make things up as I go I had the unique opportunity to spend a week at the base of Columbia Glacier in Prince William Sound with a geologist. This would be the highlight of my summer so scroll ahead and the story will unfold before your eyes!
Join me for a week at the base of Columbia glacier on Page 5!...