A Buddy Shower, Surfing the Tidal Bore, Floatplanes, Sarah's Town, and the Susitna!

Tuesday, July 22, 2014

Yesterday morning we left Hope behind and drove off the Kenai Peninsula. Heading back to Girdwood we were in search of a shower. Years ago there was a laundromat and shower for the locals, but we didn't see it last week. We looked on line and found the Laundromall; laundry, ATM, hair salon, internet hotspot, and showers all in one. It had supposedly been voted the best laundromat in America a few years before by a laundry trade magazine. We found it in a brand new area of Girdwood, and checked it out. Individual shower rooms with a very large shower and a sink were $7 for 14 minutes. Whoa! Too much money and too much time. Hmmm...time for another buddy shower? We got our coins and decided we could share a shower and easily be done in 14 minutes. Here is where the narrative stops, behind the locked door!

A short time later we felt like new people, ready to journey out of the wilderness of the Kenai and back into Anchorage. Traveling back along the Seward Highway and Turnigan Arm, we made a quick turn into a viewpoint looking over the water, to fix lunch. Maybe we would see beluga whales or dall sheep. What we saw was a young man in a wet/dry suit standing on the rocks at the top of the embankment looking out towards Cook Inlet through binoculars. Anytime you see someone in Alaska looking through binoculars, you look, too. Usually you'll see wildlife.

Heading up the Seward highway from Girdwood

No wildlife to be seen, but, we had been noticing that there were a lot of mud flats, and the tide should be turning soon. He was looking for the tidal bore! When the large tides come into Turnigan Arm, the incoming tide pushes against the still outgoing tide, and creates a wave that carries all the way to the end of the Arm. We had seen a very small one when we lived here, in a wide part of the Arm. We were now looking at a narrower section with a greater chance of a big bore.


As we noticed a small wave beginning to form on the mudflat just upstream from us, the young man threw down his binoculars and scrambled down the steep rock slope. Soon we saw him paddling out on the surfboard he had stowed at the water's edge. Cowabunga! He was going to try to surf the single fast moving wave that was forming in front of us! A few other spectators joined us to watch, (2 men from Towson, Maryland), and we all cheered him on. He managed to catch the wave on his stomach, then rise to one knee and briefly stand up before he lost the wave. It continued on up the Arm without him. No second chances with the tidal bore. One wave, one chance!

One wave, one ride every 13 hours

The surfer rode the rapidly outgoing tidal current to meet the incoming bore wave.

The bore was about 4 feet high and chaotic until forming a well defined set of waves.

Nice single bore wave for a hundred yards or so until it broke up again.

The bore reformed as a single wave just past the point and headed up the Arm.

Finishing lunch we resumed our drive into Anchorage. This time we knew our way around better, so we concentrated on chores. The fridge got replenished and so did the fuel tank and the propane. Another free night in the Cabela's parking lot was in order, so we joined some other RV's, about a dozen in all.

Potter Marsh and lots of new housing on the hill behind it.

This morning we drove near the Anchorage International Airport, which is a lot bigger than when we used to fly in and out of it. The Lake Hood floatplane basin is next to it, where many locals and flight companies keep their small planes, with floats on for the summer, and skis for the frozen lakes in the winter. We visited the Alaska Aviation Heritage Museum and enjoyed the exhibits and outdoor planes. Greg was excited to find a plane donated by Alaska Airlines, that was one of the nine that were flown to more remote areas of the state. The jet was a Boeing 737 Mudhen, configured for mixed passengers and cargo and for landing on gravel airstrips. He figures he may have flown on this very plane when he worked in Dutch Harbor out on the Aleutian Islands when he first came to work in Alaska in 1991.

We had to drive and walk across active taxiways to get to the museum.

Custom, high performance floatplane retired after 30 plus years of Alaska Fish and Game service

Inside the 737, set up now for parties.

Helio Courier used for decades on Mt. McKinley. Note the skis attached to the wheels.

Bush plane from the 1930s waiting for restoration. Note tundra tires for landing on gravel bars in rivers.

Grumman Goose

Grumman Widgeon in the restoration hanger

The museum rents floatplane moorings on Lake Hood to raise funds.

Grumman Goose driving down the road, probably built in the 1950s, still in active service

Bush plane with big tundra tires rolling by the museum.

After our trip to the museum it was time to say a final goodbye to Anchorage. It is no longer the Anchorage we knew during our time there. It's grown up and moved on without us, so we will cherish our memories that are frozen in time. Getting back on the Glenn Highway we set our sights for the Mat-Su Valley, Wasilla, and the road to Talkeetna and Denali.

Crossing the Knik River at the top of Knik Arm

Pioneer Peak

Near Palmer we took the road northwest onto the Parks Highway and through Wasilla. That was another shock. The small commuting community is strung out along the Parks Highway, lined with big box stores and national chains. The road has been widened to four lanes, and we encountered construction further north of Wasilla, which will encourage more growth. Sarah Palin's town is a congested, sprawling mess! Eventually we passed out of town and into a wilder area. Driving through Willow we saw the Willow United Methodist Church where I preached my first sermon in Alaska. It is now three times bigger. I guess the population is growing that far out from Wasilla, too.

The Alaska Railroad runs near the Parks Highway, carrying coal and tourists down to the ports of Anchorage and Seward

Before reaching the turnout for Talkeetna, we decided to stay the night at Susitna Landing, at the confluence of the Kashwitna and Susitna Rivers. There is a large boat ramp here, and we expected to see lots of people fishing. It is very quiet. Apparently this is the fourth year that the King Salmon fishery has been closed to fishing, due to low numbers of the fish returning to spawn in these rivers. The Silver Salmon are just beginning to run, so they expect the campground to be very full this weekend.

Our camp along the Kashwitna River

Looking up the Kashwitna

The river front next to our campsite looking out at the Susitna.

We talked with the campground manager and watched as his father took out his jet boat. The rivers here are very swift and shallow, so the boats need to be powerful and shallow draft. His father and a friend took off up the river with a very noisy engine, and soon came back as the engine sputtered out and they were taken swiftly past the boat ramp by the current. They quickly threw out an anchor, and we watched as they worked on the engine. The temporary repair to a blown-out hose was made with that indispensable Alaskan tool, duct tape! While we watched from the bank we had a conversation with a couple who have lived for 56 years in Alaska. They came with the military while in their 20's and never left. They live in Wasilla and keep a trailer here all summer so they can easily fish and put their boat in. She admitted to me that she has never gotten used to the dark winters, but still loves it here.

Jet boat anchored for quick duct tape surgery.

Air and jet boats waiting for the weekend silver salmon run.

Tonight the only other couple here are tenting. They are visiting from Finland! We have at least a dozen RV's in the campground with us, but they are parked here for the summer and only used when the owners come to fish. The couple from Wasilla caught some silvers, closed up their trailer and went home. Tomorrow we'll visit Talkeetna, the base for people climbing Mount McKinley (Denali). On a clear day the mountain is visible as you drive this section of the Parks Highway, but today was cloudy and we didn't see it. Hopefully tomorrow will be better. For now we are going to sleep in the Alaska dusk, beside the Susitna, knowing that Denali, the Great One is nearby.