An easy drive south our first day in Alaska

We spend most of our first day in Alaska driving south on the Seward Hwy. Just south of Anchorage, the highway runs between ocean to the west and mountains to the east. These mountains are not snow-covered, but to the north we see mountains blanketed with snow. They seem to emerge from the middle of the sea.
Each several-mile segment along the highway offers a hiking opportunity. Mark and I stop for a short hike along a Boy Scout rock trail.

Obviously, few people take the trail; the tall mountain weeds are thick and tough to get through in some areas. We forge our way in and hike to a spot overlooking the highway we just traveled. Up a little dried mud path, past some boulders and young trees, we climb and scramble and slip over rocks: my favorite type of hiking. But the afternoon is wearing on and we have far to go yet.

At Beluga Point we see no whales breeching, but one traveler whose scope is trained to the east lets us look through it to see a mountain goat and her two kids, just white specks to my naked eye. A Harley rider from Michigan, who’s riding north, tells us the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Park, just a little further south, is worth a visit.

We pay $10 apiece to drive through. A small caribou herd grazes; a stinky porcupine roots around; a black bear is being bored; moose, adults and youngsters, lie lined up along the fence; and an owl, an elk and an eagle do what they do. The lone action in the park is in the grizzly-bear encampment.

The three bears have 18 acres to roam, but lucky for us, two, a brother and sister, are hanging out at the homestead: a little cabin with a pond out front. She’s sunning herself behind the cabin, belly-down on a huge log, chin out, eyes closed, limbs dangling. It’s like the entrance fee pays for tranquilizers for all animals except Brother Bear. He’s playing in the pond. We can see a stump barely sticking up from the water, and he is just to the side of it jumping on all four paws on what we assume to be a branch he’s trying to break off. He’s enjoying himself and putting on quite a show. But we have far to go yet.

I drive to give Mark and break, and soon we’re right behind a tour bus. Great. Seriously, great because it slows us down and I can enjoy the scenery. (Mark’s resting.)

Mountains abut both side of the highway, and the glaciers among them are more plentiful the further south we’ve come. From what I see in my side mirror, the ride north is going to be even more spectacular.