ANCHORAGE
Anchorage, Alaska’s largest city, has all the amenities you would expect in a big American city, but is located, as all Alaskan cities are, in the midst of some of the most gorgeous wilderness in the hemisphere. Over 278,000 (July 2008) people live in Anchorage, some 2/5ths of Alaska’s human population. That’s a lot of people if you are accustomed to a city of only 70,000. The traffic is awesome! Our purpose for being here is a shower, a swim, and overnight parking. Our choice, to meet these needs, is The Alaska Club, a health spa affiliated with our Fairbanks Club. We seem to be the only couple spending the night, but that poses no problem, they are always friendly and accommodating. Hey, the WiFi is free!
SEWARD
The drive between Seward and Anchorage is 128 miles. It is a two and a half hour drive if you can manage the drive without stopping, however, if you take the time to enjoy all the sites along the way, it can take days. We sacrificed a stop in Girdwood. Although Girdwood is just 37 miles south of Anchorage, the weather can be dramatically different, in part because the tiny community is nearly ringed by the Chugach Mountains. So in the summer, when Anchorage is overcast, Girdwood is often cool and rainy. Girdwood's ski-addicted residents don't complain much about summertime rain. After all, they know that in the winter, the community is often snowier and warmer than Anchorage. In fact, it's not uncommon to get three feet of snow from one storm. Locals love all that fresh powder for skiing, and many people from Anchorage come down to enjoy the fun. Neither did we stop at the Portage Glacier; we will visit there on the return leg of this journey. It will be from the Portage Glacier area that we enter the Whittier Tunnel. The last small community we pass through before arriving in Seward is Moose Pass. Here it’s always wise to be on the lookout for critters on the road!
(Mt Marathon in forground)
What Can I say? Seward is just another beautiful Alaskan coastal community. The major industries are summer tourism and fishing. I should add, in the hope that a local official reads this, and does something about it, Seward is fast becoming a large commercial parking lot. It is difficult to find a spot without a sign, PARKING BY PERMIT ONLY. Seward is also the southern terminal for the Alaska Railroad, which stretches all the way north to Fairbanks. The Seward 4th of July Parade and Marathon attracts personalities and athletes from across the
state, Canada, and the USA. The Marathon begins downtown, on Fourth and Jefferson, in front of the First National Bank, and ends a block south of where it began, on Fourth and Adams. The halfway point is a stone marker atop Mt Marathon, 3022 feet above sea level, and a mile and a half from the finish line. The total race course distance is about 3.1 miles (5 kilometers). Leading racers will typically reach the peak from the starting line in 33–40 minutes, and reach the finish line from the peak in 10–15 minutes. Average speed uphill is 2 mph. Average speed downhill is 12 mph. It is not uncommon for the racers who finish to cross the finish line injured or bleeding and covered in mud.
