Anchorage Highlights So Far

Flattop Mountain Trailhead

Life is hard for trees on this mountain

Monday the 6th we hiked the Flattop Mountain Trail with Ralph and Jordon Matukonis.  Even driving to the  parking lot at the trailhead there are great views of Anchorage, but as we ascended the 1300 feet of elevation gain through the stunted trees at the base to above tree line the vistas were worth the effort.

Anchorage from above

Don, Jordon and Ralph

There is still snow on the side of the mountain.  If you look right in the center at the bottom of the snowfield you can see three tiny people...that is us!  It gives you a feel for the scale!






This trail is easy to access from Anchorage so it gets heavily used.   A lot of effort has been put into preserving the fragile vegetation.  Timbers are built into many steep parts to keep hikers from straying and keep erosion to a minimum. 

Stairs built into steep parts of the trail

A little tree growing out of a rock right at treeline

At this point you can see the trail heading higher.  That bump you see is not the summit!

There are no stairs on this part!

You can see the last bit of the trail and the summit ahead

The uphill hike is aerobic, but not difficult until you get to the last bit.  The last part requires scrambling up a steep rock face.  For a person with a huge aversion to “edges” it was just too much to contemplate.  I chickened out and waited at the bottom of that last stretch to the 3525-ft peak, taking photos and soaking in the views as clouds materialized and floated away. 

Victory!

As Don and Ralph and Jordon arrived back to my altitude the sky began to clear and we had some sunshine on the surrounding peaks as we hiked back to the truck.  It was a perfect ~3-mile way to get a taste of hiking in Anchorage.

See those blue skies!

The reason for hiking!

Tuesday night we saw The Whale Fat Follies at the TapRoot

It's hard to "explain" the Whale Fat Follies.  It's part musical cabaret, part Alaska tourism satire, part dinner theater and part political commentary, mostly local, that you might not "get" if you are from away.  My attempt:  "high-energy, irreverent and outrageously funny with very good live music."  There was a piece on "fishing wives" that contained a put-it-on parody of striptease with Alaska spin -- no taking it off, but layering on jacket after coat after boots after hat until the singer was encased and unrecognizable, but undoubtedly warm.  In a great appearance by "Sarah," she explained the last year or so of invisibility in her classic and articulate style!  Mr. Whitekeys, the star and originator, did an unbelievable harmonica solo that involved half of the audience.  We loved it and were glad Diana and John thought of doing something so quintessentially Alaskan!

Diana and John after the Follies