Matanuska Glacier

I've thought for a long time that my bed is too soft, so I went north this weekend and spent Saturday night on a glacier.  Though I subsequently found out there is a much easier way to access the glacier, my route took me about five miles through the bush.  Of course, those who know me well, will tell you that I never have a problem diving into the bush.

The glacier is the giant ice slide on the left.



That's actually a pretty impressive fire, considering I'm camping on a giant block of ice.

This (hole in ice) was where I almost fell into freezing water of unknown depth with no one around to help except my Basset Hound, who is a complete wimp, by the way.  Fortunately, I caught myself on the sides of crevasse and only submerged most of the lower half of my body.  Needless to say, I was glad to have extra socks.

Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center

The Conservation Center is about 45 minutes outside town and a good place to see a lot of the animals Alaska has to offer.  The animals get a lot more square footage than they would in a zoo and live in a space that more closely resembles their natural habitats.  That said, they are all pretty domesticated - the Brown Bear pictured below gnawing on some giant bone is also trained to do tricks. 

A pair of moose in their formative years.

You can't tell from this picture, but this eagle only has one wing.  He was rescued by some very heroic people in some incredible circumstances that I can't remember at all right now.  Point of the story, don't feel bad that he lives in a cage - it's a pretty big cage too.

Black Bear pining for his long lost love.  If you look behind him, you'll see a rut that he's worn into the mud by pacing back and forth.  I don't hang out with a lot of bears, but it seemed like odd behavior.



Denali with Mom

My mom, by happenstance, came up to Anchorage for a business conference.  Before diving into her professional responsibilites for the week we took the train up to Denali National Park and stayed there for the weekend.

Mom, me and Denali in the background (Mt. McKinely to you, whitey).  In addition to the name being a source of great contraversary, Denali is also the tallest mountain in North America, standing well above 20,000 feet. 

Another view of the mountain, taken from the train on the way back to Anchorage. 

Bull Moose.

The famed Alaska Railroad.