We’re back in Sunnyvale! We returned the rental car to Anchorage International Airport this morning and boarded a flight for Seattle/Tacoma International Airport. After a quick layover, we were on our way to San Jose. We took an Uber ride back to the apartment and are resting after our long journey from Iowa to Alaska.

Before leaving Girdwood, we headed to the Winner Creek Trail near Crow Creek Mine. Part of this trail consists of a hand tram across a river. Valerie was excited to try the hand tram since we missed the one in Homer. Unlike the hand tram in “Out of the Wild”, this tram was very well maintained and looked quite safe. We took turns pulling ourselves across and then walked about a quarter mile to the Winner Creek Gorge before making the return trip.

On our way out of town, we stopped by Indian Valley Meats, a shop famous for their caribou sausages. We ate some of the spicy caribou sausage for lunch before heading to Anchorage. We have been avoiding staying in Anchorage for the past few weeks because hotel prices in the city are much higher than pretty much higher than anywhere else we’ve been in Alaska. However, since our flight leaves at 07:00 tomorrow morning, there was little choice for our final night.

Tonight, we’re staying at the Anchorage Walkabout Town B&B. This B&B has bikes available for free checkout, so we took a ride along the Tony Knowles Coastal Trail. After our ride, we were hungry so we drove to the nearby Bear Tooth TheatrePub and Grill, which as its name suggests, is a theatre and a pub and a grill. Sadly, we had no time for a movie and only were able to experience the grill portion.

The families from Wasilla that we met yesterday suggested that we visit Hatcher Pass and the old Independence Mine. Much of Hatcher Pass was still closed for the winter, but we were able to drive up from Palmer to the mine. Along the way, we saw signs indicating that recreational gold mining was allowed. Intrigued, we stopped at a pullout and walked down to the stream and picked out some golden flakes that we thought might be gold dust. Once at the mine, we learned that what we had collected was actually biotite. Valerie was excited to look for more gold, so we borrowed some rudimentary panning equipment from the Alaska State Parks rangers and went down to another stream. We failed to find any gold, but had fun trying.

Because the hostel in Girdwood was full last time we visited, we decided to head back to Girdwood to try our luck again. Along the way, we stopped at several turnouts along Turnagain Arm on the Seward Highway. At Bird Point, a sign noted that a bore tide was going to occur just about an hour after we arrived. Valerie was excited, so we stayed to watch. The bore tide was a relatively small wave and relatively boring. However, up on the nearby hill, some people spotted a grizzly bear that had killed a cub and several bears fighting for the carcass. While we couldn’t see anything without binoculars, other tourists gave us a blow-by-blow of the events on the hill.

We’re staying at the Glacier View B&B in Girdwood. The owner recommended a restaurant called Jack Sprat for dinner where Valerie ordered some king salmon that was cooked perfectly.

Originally, we planned to stay 2 nights in Talkeetna before heading back to Anchorage. However, Valerie’s research suggested that there isn’t enough stuff to do in Talkeetna to fill two days, so we amended our plans to just stop by the town for lunch. We ate some delicious pasties at the Talkeetna Roadhouse where we met two families from Wasilla who drove all the way over just for the pie. After lunch, we weren’t quite ready for pie, so we hiked a few minutes along the Talkeetna River and then to the remains of an old barn in town. I’m not sure why there was a historical trail to the barn remains, but the hike was a nice way to pass the time. Afterward, we stopped by Naglee’s General Store to see feline mayor Mr. Stubbs, but he was nowhere to be seen. To cheer ourselves up, we headed back for some tasty pie at the Roadhouse. On our way out of town, we stopped by the Flying Squirrel Bakery and bought some cookies and a vegan brownie (all of which was delicious).

Tonight, we’re staying at the same cabin in the same B&B in Wasilla and luckily had much more success lighting the wood stove than last time.