After hiking to Portage Lake in the morning, we backtracked just a few miles to the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center in Portage. Perhaps you've seen it featured on the National Geographic channel. I have a hard time with zoos. While I understand their educational and conservation missions, I'm generally not OK with removing animals from the wild merely to entertain humans. Fortunately, the AWCC rehabs a few animals but mainly provides those without the skills to survive on their own with a safe place to live. This, I can live with and even support, knowing that my entry fees will be going to a good cause.
On a now sunny afternoon in high tourist season, the place was overrun with people, most of them walking the 1.5-mile loop, the remaining few inconsiderate ones driving along spewing dust from the dirt roads on everyone else. We had a decent enough time, but it was not one of the highlights of our trip. We'd much rather have seen animals in the wild.
 |
| A Common Alaskan Pairing: Angelica and Fireweed |
 |
| AWCC is Situated in a Beautiful Location |
 |
| Surprised by How Small Musk Oxen Are |
 |
| These Goofball Ravens More Entertaining than Captive Animals |
 |
| Elk, Non-Native, Introduced to Alaska |
 |
| JB, Orphaned Brown Bear, Catches Carrots |
 |
| We're Used to Elk in Oregon; Caribou are so Small |
 |
| Plains Bison Calf |
 |
| Wood Bison are Huge and Have Massive Humps |
 |
| Pretty Sensational Digs for a Sitka Deer |
 |
| Silverweed Cinquefoil, Argentina anserina |
I really didn't take that many photos, not finding all that much joy in shooting captive animals. Also, given the COVID rampage currently happening, I wasn't going to wade into the large crowds of people just to get a shot. Animals that did not make blog: black bear, lynx, coyote, timber wolf, bald eagle, red fox, great horned owl.
As a bonus for someone who is curious about the world around him, I got to study a deadly poisonous plant closely. Call me nuts, but I like to be able to identify quickly and unequivocally things in my world that might harm me. In my walk about the property, sandwiched on a triangular island formed by two branches of Portage Creek and the tail end of Turnagain Arm/Placer River, I did get to see the first plant that I could definitely identify as the deadly water hemlock.
Girdwood Brewing
Heading north from AWCC on Seward Highway, we made a beeline for Girdwood Brewing and a late lunch. Having been at the brewery earlier in the week, we already knew that their beer was excellent and that they have a rotating series of food trucks from which to score some grub.
 |
| Hazy: "No Woman, No Cryo" |
 |
Izakaya Girdwood Food Truck: Okay Pork Belly Bao,
Kind of Meh Premade Sushi Rolls |
 |
| Beautiful Fire Pit out Back |
 |
| Ann Holds Court, Meeting Couples from Denver and San Diego |
 |
| Pair of Black-billed Magpies, Pica hudsonia |
After our small lunch, we sat and chatted with two couples, one from Denver and one from San Diego, both drawn to Girdwood because of its ski town vibe. We hung around the fire pits until closing time at 8pm. Reluctantly, we said our goodbyes and headed back to Anchorage. We were going to order more food from the food truck, but didn't realize that everything shut down at 8pm. Once in Anchorage and realizing that we were starving, we grabbed a to-go pizza from Great Alaska Pizza Company on the way to the Airbnb. The pizza was as shitty as it possibly could be and still be called pizza.
This being our last night in Anchorage, we spent a bit of time before hitting the sack getting our belongings ready to hit the road for Homer in the morning.
No comments:
Post a Comment