Beautiful sunny day here in Anchorage. Temps got up to 45 degrees. It stays light for 12 hours 15 minutes now. The sun doesn't set until about 8:15. To make the most of the delightful late afternoon weather and sunshine, we headed out onto the Coastal Trail. Our goal was to walk to Earthquake Park. This is an area of Anchorage that shows the effects of the Good Friday earthquake that shook the city in 1964. During this 9.2 magnitude earthquake many of the more exclusive homes that had been built here on the bluffs were dropped into 30 foot crevasses and destroyed. A major tsunami followed and did more damage. In fact, only 15 people died in the earthquake but 110 died in the tsunami.
The sky was partly cloudy and the sun was beginning to set as we walked along this awesome snow covered trail. About 2 miles into our walk, we came upon a sign describing appropriate behavior during moose encounters. It described an angry moose as one with its ears back, hackles up, and a lowered head. When this happens it is time to leave the area quickly. As we rounded a curve about 1/2 mile further down the trail, Greg heard a noise in the woods. We didn't see anything. We walked a little further and Greg said, "MOOSE!". I turned, looked deep into the forest and asked, "Where?". He told me to look over my left shoulder. Sure enough, not 10 feet from where I stood, was a moose eating tree limbs. We actually saw 4 moose in this part of the woods. Exciting! Another 1/2 mile down the trail and Greg said, "What is that big thing making that moose shape over in the woods?". I said, "A moose." This bull was so big that Greg had actually thought it was trees or dirt that had been pushed up into a heap. This animal was huge!
Snapped a few more pictures and made our way to Earthquake Park. We didn't have time to explore it very thoroughly since the light was beginning to fade. We left the trail here and walked toward Northern Lights Boulevard. We walked at least a mile until we got to the Safeway Grocery store. Got a Coke and a few essentials and hit the bus route in hopes of catching the last bus home, which we did. All told we probably walked about 6 miles on our trek today but the payoff was well worth it.
The sky was partly cloudy and the sun was beginning to set as we walked along this awesome snow covered trail. About 2 miles into our walk, we came upon a sign describing appropriate behavior during moose encounters. It described an angry moose as one with its ears back, hackles up, and a lowered head. When this happens it is time to leave the area quickly. As we rounded a curve about 1/2 mile further down the trail, Greg heard a noise in the woods. We didn't see anything. We walked a little further and Greg said, "MOOSE!". I turned, looked deep into the forest and asked, "Where?". He told me to look over my left shoulder. Sure enough, not 10 feet from where I stood, was a moose eating tree limbs. We actually saw 4 moose in this part of the woods. Exciting! Another 1/2 mile down the trail and Greg said, "What is that big thing making that moose shape over in the woods?". I said, "A moose." This bull was so big that Greg had actually thought it was trees or dirt that had been pushed up into a heap. This animal was huge!
Snapped a few more pictures and made our way to Earthquake Park. We didn't have time to explore it very thoroughly since the light was beginning to fade. We left the trail here and walked toward Northern Lights Boulevard. We walked at least a mile until we got to the Safeway Grocery store. Got a Coke and a few essentials and hit the bus route in hopes of catching the last bus home, which we did. All told we probably walked about 6 miles on our trek today but the payoff was well worth it.
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