Active in Anchorage

We've had a busy week! In less than 7 days we've gone on two hikes and went to the zoo -that's a lot of activity for these two hermits. Finally our Alaska summer has arrived and we've taken advantage of the gorgeous weather and gotten out of the house.

Friday we visited the zoo. It was Brian's first and my 30th trip to view the exhibits of Alaskan (and other international) wildlife.

Brian posed with Maggie the Indian Elephant who has been with the zoo since she was a wee little thing, originally brought in to keep Annabelle, the African elephant, company. Annabelle has since passed away and now the will be moving Maggie back down to the lower 48 where she'll be with more of her kind. Honestly, without the elephants the zoo won't be near as fun to go to.


While Brian chatted with the watermelon-munching porcupines I yakked with the ...well, the yak.

The grizzly bears were pretty amusing. The pair were glued to their barred wall, staring at a small encasement advertised as the Brown Bear Expansion Area that was lush with overgrown grass and several unfelled trees, a drastic comparison to their normal area. The Brown Bear exhibit has been home to the grizzly for as long as I can remember -and that's near on 27 years. The once forested area with dense undergrowth and has changed to resemble a gravel pit. The trees are dead and bare, there's hardly any grass and basically nothing fun to do. These sad guys just stared out at their tiny promised land imaging all the destruction they could do if only they could get on the other side.

When we arrived home we spent the rest of the afternoon playing in the yard with the dogs. Brian and Savannah sang a few campfire songs and I made jewelry, warmed by the sun and covered in bug spray -the mosquitoes are particularly tenacious this year. Friday was a fun day.


Savannah rests in the shade at the halfway point on yesterdays walk. Brian introduced us to an area with many trails that this squad often used for group hikes. We parked at the trailhead and explored many areas, mainly all on the edge of military land. The weather was spectacular and we both have pink shoulders to prove it.


Smoke and Savannah would run far ahead of us, turn around until we were in sight, pause to make sure we were still coming, then run ahead again. It's amazing that with all the extra jaunting about they did that they weren't completely knackered after the first twenty minutes! We came across a fabulous stream where we ate lunch and let the dogs mess about in the water.

Another exciting part of this hike was an encounter with a black bear. Brian had read earlier that morning about a family who's son was dragged from his tent and mauled by a black bear just the other day and decided instead of his side firearm he'd bring the rifle. Well not halfway into our hike we heard a rustling in the woods to our right. We stopped and strained to see. The dogs started barking at the edge of the forest as a black bear poked his head out of the leaves. It was the first bear I've seen in the wild -especially that close- in all my years in Alaska. It was thrilling and frightening. Brian instructed us to back up slowly as the dogs kept barking madly at the bear. It seemed to approach a few more feet, pause, then it slowly turned and walked back into the woods. Brian, of course, had his gun at the ready but fortunately he didn't need to use it.
Today we're just a little achy, but all that work and sunshine was therapeutic and I feel great! Brian turns a bunch of his army gear in this afternoon and I have another group doctor's appointment (which I'm sure will be LOTS of fun...) but tomorrow we may be crazy and go for another lovely hike, taking advantage of our great weather.