It's a long ride from Columbia to Anchorage, but after the trip to Australia, this seemed like a short hop. The flight was fine and we arrived in Anchorage about 6:30 PM local time (4 hours earlier than Eastern Time). We came in with a great view of an unnamed glacier.
Our lodging for the next two nights is Susitna Place, a bed and breakfast in a quiet neighborhood on a bluff overlooking Cook Inlet, which stretches 180 miles from Anchorage to the Gulf of Alaska. At its northern end, the inlet branches into two "arms" which almost surround the city of Anchorage; these arms were gouged out by Ice Age glaciers. From the B&B, there's a nice view of Mount Susitna across the water and a short walk to downtown.
We figured our biological clocks would send us to bed early, but it was broad daylight here and we were wide awake. So off we went to have a short look at the city. Anchorage is Alaska's largest city - almost half of the state's population lives here. It is the only place in Alaska with all the modern fixtures of American life, such as a modern performing arts center, shopping malls, fast food restaurants, traffic lights, traffic jams and urban sprawl. Still – the city is home to nearly 3000 moose, and bears are sometimes seen in city parks and on local trails. The city is surrounded six mountain ranges: the Alaska Range, Talkeetna Mountains, Chucagh Mountains, Tordrillo Mountains, Kenai Mountains, and the Aleutian Range. This protective mountain barrier and the nearness of the ocean give Anchorage a relatively moderate climate. It's also known as the 'hanging basket capital of the world,' with flowers decorating every inch of public space in the city - over 100,000 hanging baskets is a lot of flowers.
I think it was Harriman Glacier that you spotted on your arrival.
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