We had a great week in Alaska with many adventures. The week started with a Jet boat ride on the Sustina River to Devils Canyon with rapids that have only been run twice in history. The boat Captain being the son of one the men who what run the rapids. He took the jet boat through the rapids to the edge of the class 6 rapid and then told us that the water was the strongest he had ever run the boat up this far.
Our boat was sitting in class 5 rapids and we were looking at class 6 rapids. The wall of water behind us is over 6 feet tall!
The rapids were huge and beautiful!
On they way back our tour boat stopped at a trapper's camp. We were able to see how the trapper camp was set up & what animals they trap.
The boat tour we took was a jet boat.
We also went on a glacier plane tour. It was great! Dennis got to sit in the co-piolet seat.
We saw the paths of the rivers below.
The peak of Denali was peeking out above the clouds.
There were several snow covered peaks & glaciers.
Nancy made a snowman on the glacier.
This was our plane.
On our way out of town we stopped at the Willow jail.
This little critter (Marmot) & several of his friends live along the road.
The road to the pass leads by Summit Lake.
Even though it was July the lake still was frozen.
Hatcher Pass Summit is 3886 feet above sea level. Some people had drove up to the pass just to go skiing.
On the other side of the pass is Independence Mine. It is a historical park which depicts how the mine was run.
We went to the 4th of July parade in Wasilla.
It was very much a small town parade. They had everything from tractors & horses to people running for political offices.
After the parade we went to the Alaska Transportation Museum. They had sea planes.
Only in Alaska could you find a stuffed moose pulling a covered wagon. The moose even left droppings behind the wagon.
The history of sleds was displayed.
This bear was coming through the wall to give "big hugs!"
There were several trains at the museum. One we were able to walk through & read about the railroad history.
There were military planes & helicopters.
Even a postal vehicle.
We went to the Iditarod Trail Headquarters where we watched a film.
They also had a pen of puppies & a sled that you could ride on.
We drove to Palmer & took the walking tour. Because of all the daylight they are able to grow record breaking vegetables.
The families that first settled the land were from Michigan, Wisconsin, & Minnesota. The Michigan people were from the Upper Peninsula & upper part of the lower peninsula of Michigan.
Palmer has a Presbyterian Church that was hand built in the 1800 by the congregation. The church is called the church of 10,000 trees.
These are replicas of some of the amazing sized vegetables that they grow here.
After Palmer we went to Anchorage & took the red bus tour. The tour shows where the most popular area attractions are.
One of the stops was Earthquake Park. In 1964 there was big earthquake that swallowed up a lot of the land & houses in the area.
After the tour we walked to the river which has salmon viewing at high tide each day.
We stopped at the Alaska Mint. It was filled with beautiful items with large price tags.
Nancy found another new friend. Big Foot was out walking his pet bears.
We went to the Alaska State Troopers Museum. We watched a movie on how the Alaska State Troopers began.
There were displays of uniforms,Safety Bear, badges, & all the tools of the trade used by Alaska State Troopers.
We stopped at Indian Valley Mine. It was a small mine that had the original mining equipment and had never developed into a paying mine, but did provide for a living.
On the way back we stopped at Potter Marsh Boardwalk. It is a very peaceful area with a boardwalk through the marsh.
We saw a moose and waited for her to get up.
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