Not all of the trip was spent in Anchorage; part of it was spent at a resort an hour or so southeast of the city.  Getting there was the best part, on an Alaska Railroad train ride along the Turnagain Arm, the huge waterway that stretches southeast from Anchorage.  The unusual name comes from Captain James Cook, who explored this area during the Revolutionary War searching for the northwestern end of the supposed Northwest Passage.  First thinking he had found the mouth of a major river, he sailed inland dozens of miles only to discover it was a very extended inlet, and had to “turn again” to take his ship back out.  This picture across Turnagain Arm was taken near sunset from the train.

A trip to Alaska isn’t complete without seeing a moose, and I saw this restful one the last day of the trip at an animal preserve.  Notice the unusual trees here; forty years ago, a major earthquake hit this area and tidal waves washed sea water many miles inland alongside Turnagain Arm, killing the trees.  Many, many trees throughout this area look like this.

The animal preserve included a large herd of elk.

The elk boss.  Seeing all the other elk spread out, he paced quickly to the far end of the herd, turned about, and then ran back at them, letting out a series of yelps that scared them enough to rush against a fence back where he started.

Earlier the same day saw a short boat cruise alongside the Portage Glacier, which flowed into this waterway.  Though the most popular site in Alaska, it wasn’t nearly as impressive as the earlier flightseeing tour - in fact, this glacier has been receding since the cruise was first set up years ago - but it did give the opportunity to see a glacier as it calves icebergs into the water.

A stripe of moraine within the glacier, indicating where two ice flows first merged, perhaps many hundreds of years ago.

The glacier will soon calve this huge chunk of ice into the water, which will then become an iceberg.  Much of the ice had this bluish tint to it.

The first day of the Alaska trip included a morning of kayaking.  A group of others on the Anchorage familiarization tour took part, shown here.

Another photograph taken from my kayak of the autumn color beginning to appear around the lake.  Occasionally, a small white dot appeared and moved along the distant mountainside - a mountain goat.

The same lake, photographed during my ATV travels later that afternoon.

The sun sets behind the Alaska Range, as seen from atop a hotel in Anchorage across the waters of the Knik Arm.  Besides all the activities shown in these pages, this very fast Alaska trip included visits to the Anchorage Museum of History and Art, The Alaska Native Heritage Center, and the Alyeska Resort, making for a very enjoyable trip.