Day 8: Girdwood to Talkeetna

Today we had a lot of variety in our activities. We started at The Bake Shop for a hearty breakfast of sourdough pancakes, bacon, sweet roll (as big as Pete's head), oatmeal and eggs. Next we went to the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center. We parked and walked around all their animal enclosures so we could see the moose, elk, carribou, wood bison, musk ox and bears. All the animals are either orphans or injured, so the Center takes care of these animals for the rest of their lives since they would not be able to survive in the wild. The highlight for me was the bears. They were very active and playful. The black bears were tackling each other, then running off and finding a tree to scratch their back on. There were 3 grizzlies, 2 were litter mates and this is the female named Patron - she was the most active including interacting with the Center worker who was giving out food.

We then headed up to Beluga Point on the Turnagain Arm, with the hope of catching a glimpse of the bore tide. Since we had spent so much time at the Wildlife Center we missed seeing the 6 foot wave. But we did get a nice look at the bay, and the sun was shining. Next we found a spot for lunch: the Sourdough Mining Company hit the spot.

Once we had driven north of Wasila, we got on the bike to ride the last 70 miles to Talkeetna. The route started out great with a nice bike path that continued for about 15 miles, and the weather was perfect for just shorts and jerseys. We cruised past the usual Alaskan stores like Tundra Tanning and Taxidermy, and the Burger Bus which was a converted school bus with a polar bear on top who had a frosty cone in each hand. Then we were in forest with birch trees and some evergreens, and the cottonwood blooms were floating around. Next we were on our own on the highway, and there was too much traffic and not enough shoulder; it was a white-knuckled 40 miles or so including a stretch on gravel that seemed to go on forever. Finally we reached the Talkeetna Spur where we got another bike path and had a beautiful ride in for the last 15 miles. We rode past streams, lakes, forests and businesses like the Flying Squirrel Bakery.

Bill and Patty greeted us at the Chinock Winds Cabins with a bottle of beer. We quickly showered, then headed out to dinner together. After too much food, we took a shake-down stroll through the Talkeetna downtown, about 1 block long with shops offering airplane tours of Mt McKinley. We walked down to the Big Su, the Susitna River which runs through Talkeetna. It was 10 pm, and the sun was still high in the sky.

A few years ago San Francisco sponsored artists creating public works of art in a heart design that appear all over town; Chicago did a similar project with cows (a cow painted like a Matisse or a Picasso or a Renoir, perhaps). Well in Talkeetna they have a similar project but they use an icon of a moose. In front of businesses throughout town are these moose made of plywood that have been painted or decorated. For example, in front of a brewpub that a Rasta moose, a "Mooseafarian." This moose was in front of a sewing & tailoring shop named So Sew Sowing. The moose was called "Buttonwinkle."

We've already selected tomorrow's breakfast place! Then we'll head to Denali for some hiking.