Mountains, Mountain Water and Mooses!!

We got up early this morning to catch the hotel's continental breakfast and then we put on our layers and headed out for a day of adventures!! First stop was a marsh just on the out skirts of the city called Potter's Marsh... it's known for it's birds, bears (when they are awake) and of course moose.  Unfortunately, we were too early... there were only a few birds and "Determined Diver" ducks... but it was absolutely amazing to stand on the boardwalk and listen to the birds and the ice cracking.  We were told yesterday by a local that April is called the "break apart" month because the snow and ice are breaking up and April is the official break-up between the Alaskan winter and true spring.

 The marsh and part of the boardwalk

 A "Determined Diver" Duck... these little guys would literally disappear as they dove under the water

Still haven't figured out what this little guys is yet but I really like them!!

After the marsh we drove farther south and found the perfect pull-off to stop and take pictures of the snow water melt that has formed waterfalls on the side of the road.  I can remember as a kid driving through Skyline and stopped with bottles to collect spring water to drink so I had three empty bottles in the car to fill up!!  The water as you can imagine is COLD but it tasted so good... so fresh!!

 The water rushing off of the mountain causing a small rainbow

 Me, collecting the first sample to taste

 It was soooooooooooo good!!

 Filling bottle number 3 and just got hit on the head with a chunk of ice that fell (I was bent over laughing after I took this picture, I just couldn't help it)

 Can you see the rainbow?

We then took our water and found a hiking trail which is rather easy to do since they are pretty much everywhere as you drive down the road. We happened to stop at Falls Creek which was BEAUTIFUL!! Creeks up here aren't like creeks at home, especially when all the snow in the mountains is melting.  The water was rushing so loudly that you couldn't tell that the road was just at the base of the mountain.

 The end of the creek by the road

 Me!!

 Jason, in the middle of the creek as I sat under the tree!!

 It sounded like thunder and I could have sat there all day and listened to it!!

The view from one point on the trail

After walking and hiking we were both pretty hungry so we headed to a local place called Moose's Tooth that is famous for their pizza.  It was soooooooooooo good!!  We each got a 10" pizza that was split between two different kinds of their pizza.  Jason had 1/2 Southwestern Taco and 1/2 Chipotle Chicken... Me, I had 1/2 Shrimp Fiesta and 1/2 Cajun Rockfish... they were the best pizza that I have EVER had!!

After lunch we dropped the car off at the hotel and decided to walk around downtown to do some shopping.  We were quite disappointed with some of the shops as they had a bunch of beautiful Alaska stuff that had "Made In China" stickers on the back.  We managed to find two shops that had beautiful "Made In Alaska" stuff and we picked up a few things.

After a few hours of walking around downtown we headed into a local restaurant that we had heard good things about (and it was even featured on Man vs. Food).  Humpy's is a bar and that is VERY apparent when you enter but we had been told that they had great Halibut & Chips so I was on a mission to try it... and I was not disappointed at all... it was great and not very greasy at all.

My Halibut & Chips and Jason's Halibut Tacos

Then it was time for more walking.  I'm a little ashamed to tell this story, but I better do it before Jason does!  We drove done to Earthquake Park, a park about the earthquake and tsunamis that destroyed a lot of Alaska's coast on Good Friday many many years ago.  The park is attached to another portion of the Coastal Trail that we were on the other day but this area is heavily wooded and still has quite a lot of snow on the ground.  We walked down to an area that gave a beautiful view of the city and then turned around to head back to the car... we got a little ways further when I spotted it... a moose... just 20-30 yards away.  She was beautiful, just eating away at some fresh vegetation that was peeking through the snow so I pulled my camera out of my pocket and turned it on and then she looked right at me, at that second all of the signs that we have seen about how moose have razor sharp hooves and have been known to attack and kill people who get in their space flashed in my mind... I turned the camera off and just kept walking (probably at a sped-up pace)!!  Jason gave me a hard time because all I had talked about was how we hadn't seen a moose yet but I quickly learned that I want to see moose at a distance or from my car because they are HUGE and SCAREY!!  But we made up for it later when we drove out by the marsh again and saw FIVE more moose (from a good enough distance to feel comfortable but get pictures and even get to hear them talking to each other)!!

Just two of the five... the rest were too deep in the bush to get a decent picture.

From there we went up to some trails at one of the Chugach State Park pull-offs and hiked them for a while.

 There was lots of moose poop, but no moose!!

 *Notice the new headband that I bought today from a Co-op... it was handmade by a lady in Unakleete Alaska (a village on the far Western coast of AK)

After this last walk we headed back to the hotel to call it a night.  Tonight is our last night in Anchorage, we leave early tomorrow (Tuesday) morning for Fairbanks!! We may not have internet (or cell service) up there so there might night be a blog for the next few days but I'll catch up when we get to Seward on Thursday!!