Ever been touched an iceberg? We have!

Well, yesterday was such a big day, I had to have an extra day to recover and write about it!  In the morning, we left Anchorage and headed South. The high temperature was in the mid-70's and the skies were CLEAR!  So, we got on the Seward Highway and headed toward the southern coast.  It was a nearly perfect day and we had a lot of surprises in store for us!

It has been a few days since we went to the South, and we have had several warm days during that interval.  So, when we came through this time, the runoff from the Mountains was intense.  Every few hundred feet there was another huge stream of water flowing off the mountain.  With the sun shining down, it appeared as if diamonds were cascading down the rocks.  One of the prettiest sights I have ever seen in my life!

I had decided we would go to a little resort town called Girdwood, but the weather was so perfect we passed the turnoff to Girdwood and went on down to Glacier Point.  Obviously, there are many, many glaciers here in Alaska.  But what surprised me is how many of them are within 50 miles of downtown Anchorage, as impossible as that may seem! We wound our way off of the Seward Highway and back towards the Chugach mountains, and suddenly realized we were totally surrounded by ice-capped mountains.  It was sunny, 70+ degrees outside and yet everywhere you looked there was snow!

As we followed the signs we eventually found Glacier Lake. Here is Natalie in front of this lake...you can still see the ice behind her and the reflection of the snow-capped mountains on the water.  The ice floes are actually small icebergs, broken away from the glacier, which is just a little farther back in the mountains. The water was delightfully cold and we found the bottom filled with beautiful little pebbles of marble. It is just hard to believe that there are glaciers so close to civilization, but we have seen the evidence with our own eyes.  We didn't see the 'actual' iceberg, because you have to take a boat tour (read 'more money, please')...but it was still an awesome experience.

On the Seward highway we made another amazing and completely unplanned 'tour stop'. We were driving along and hit a spot where there was a little water and a LOT of people.  So, I pulled off the road.  I had prepared a picnic lunch for us, and we figured we would check out what all the folks were doing.  As we got out of the car, we noticed that most of the people were along the small shoreline and there were buckets lining the water's edge. As I walked closer, it became clear that some of them were actually wading into this freezing cold water, and were fishing!  But they weren't fishing with your usual rod and reel.  They were fishing with a large net, the kind we might help pull the fish into the boat with at home, and they were using no bait!  They were dredging the bottom of this creek filled with mountain runoff for a small fish called a hooligan. Apparently there is a short season here where these are running and folks (many of them Native Alaskans) gather at these spots and just catch buckets of them!

I had been told about a tram which takes you up the side of one of the Chugach Mountains where you can see for miles and miles and miles.  It is close to Girdwood, Alaska, at a 5-star resort there called Mt. Alyeska.  We had received a travel booklet with a buy one-get one free coupon, so we went up the mountain and not only found a BEAUTIFUL resort, but one that had a breathtaking ride up the mountains.  Now, heights are decidedly not my thing, but I just knew Natalie would love this ride so I sucked it up and rode up with her.

From the top, it seemed you were standing on the edge of the world.  Admittedly it took me a while to find my balance, but I finally did, and we were able to enjoy the stunning views from this mountain top.  They have a five star restaurant at the top of the mountain, and while we couldn't afford to have dinner there, we went to the bar and had a real cherry coke, and a cocktail that had rum and hot apple cider, cherry, and cinnamon. Both were delicious and the edges of the bar and restaurant were pure glass where it seemed like you could see forever! No wonder you need a reservation there...every spot was taken.  Here, Natalie has taken a photo of the glasses hanging in the window, with the mountain framed behind them!  I have tons of other photos from yesterday, and I will try and update the slide show this week with more pictures, so you can see and experience what we did.  This was truly our greatest day yet in Alaska.  This morning it was back to work, and we hope everyone has had an awesome start to your week! Much love to all, Ryan & Natalie