7-21-2010 Fairbanks: Moose or Meese?

Even though I have been in Alaska for three days now I still don't feel like I have experienced any of it. Since I have gotten here it has been overcast and raining. All the locals say that it is an odd summer. I was expecting crystal clear skies with mountains in the background of the cityscape. Another issue that has led me to not feeling like I have experienced the real Alaska is that I have been trapped in the cities. It has been hard to get outside the city without having a car. This isn't necessarily a bad thing because my plan was to really spend a lot of time in downtown Anchorage and Fairbanks.

I have a few ideas of how to start escaping the cityscape and start experiencing what I want to. I think I need to visit some smaller towns that require you to be a little farther out in to the wild. If I buy a can of bear spray I will feel much more comfortable with going on hikes and seeing all that nature has to offer without fearing for my life, though I wish that I had a 44mag on me instead.

I woke up very early this morning, 4am, almost two hours earlier than I needed to. My initial plan was to get up at 6am, so I could get on the bus for Fairbanks at 7:15am. I got on the computer and wrote the previous two blog posts and then chatted with a friend from Kansas as I drank coffee.

When the bus finally arrived I realized it was going to be a tight fit especially for a trip that was 360 miles and 9 hours long. There were twelve people in a thirteen passenger van. Luckily all of our baggage was being towed behind in a trailer. Because Anchorage is surrounded with mountains I thought the entire trip would be over steep drop offs and deep gorges. There was some of that, but mostly it was tundra.

Along the trip we passed numerous rivers, all which looked like they were from the movie A River Runs Through It. At one point we passed over a bridge and the drop off must have been 300 feet; I could not get a picture since we were going seventy mph. I could tell there was much more beauty to this land that could be seen from the bus. The beauty was also limited due to the low laying clouds that hid the peaks of the mountains.

While driving we had to come to sudden stop. It wasn't caused by road construction, but two moose that were in the road. I think they were two females, since I didn't see any antlers growing. The bus driver pulled up close enough that I could snap off a few pictures, but unfortunately my zoom could not capture a close up of the moose. A few days from now when I am in Denali National Park I am sure I'll have another opportunity to see more moose.