June 13 - South Anchorage & Turnagain Arm

We slept in Friday morning like we have most days this week. Leon was feeling nearly 100% so we decided to make this a more active day. After reviewing our hiking options, we headed south to explore the area around Turnagain Arm. 

First, we found the Potter Marsh Wildlife Viewing Area. There are some extensive boardwalks over a watershed where you can see wildlife, most often birds. As we entered, we heard of a moose in the area so we headed that way and could see the moose laying down partially obscured by the brush. We watched her for a while, but she wasn't moving so moved on.

That brown thing in the middle of the picture is a moose's head. She was laying down and disinclined to move (it was a pretty warm day for AK, so she was probably enjoying the shade.)

The wooden boardwalk gave us some great view of wetlands surrounded by mountains.

The boardwalk was quite extensive and provided views into environments that would otherwise be inaccessible. 

These tree swallows were the most common bird we saw in the boardwalk area - their iridescent feathers were eye catching. They seemed unphased by all of the humans, so I was able to get several close-up shots.

We spotted a pair of Canada geese, with their brood of 4 goslings. They were pretty camouflaged, protecting them from the eyes of the many bald eagles we saw.

We explored the boardwalk area about an hour then went back into South Anchorage for lunch. We found a diner where I had clam chowder (delicious) and a sandwich. Leon had corned beef hash breakfast plate was big enough for two people, so he saved half for a future meal.

From there we headed south again to review our hiking options. We first found the southern end of the Turnagain Arm trail. However, this hike was so steep that we turned back after about 15 minutes and ended up with just a 30-minute hike here. Still the views were epic, providing the opportunity to see the arm and surrounding mountains from a different angle. We also got to see several varieties of Alaskan wildflowers.

This panoramic shot is one of my favorites. 

Wild geranium

Chiming bells - we started seeing these everywhere we hiked. So pretty!

We stopped at 3-4 more scenic points in the area, seeing small waterfalls and a narrow point in the arm. 

Heading back toward Anchorage, we stopped again at a different part of the birdwatching area and found many more interesting birds to view. There were some arctic terns that were active, plus a pair of trumpeter swans with four signets. One of the adults with one signet got close enough for us to get some good pictures. They were harassed by the terns when they got near their nest. 

This piece of driftwood was a prized perching point - here you can see 2 terns vying for the spot.

This otherwise beautifully white swan had a dirty head and neck from his search for food in the mud. His mate didn't have this discoloration.

We stayed here a good 30 minutes before ending our day and heading back into town. I was craving veggies, so we decided on Chinese for dinner and found Charlie's Bakery and Chinese Restaurant. These unusual combinations in restaurants seemed pretty common in Alaska. Leon had Thai curry chicken and I had a seafood/veggie dish over crunchy noodles (I hadn't had anything like this before). I really like mine and Leon like his ok. Since it was also a bakery, we got dessert for later (and eclair and a piece of opera cake). We ended the evening early and relaxed the rest of the night.