I managed to sleep ten hours, largely because our bed is built into the wall and I couldn’t get up until RRZ did and he goes to bed later than I do. Plus, breakfast isn’t served until 9 AM, so why bother? I couldn’t manage walking over to the main A-frame/restaurant/shower room this morning for a shower with a armload of towel, clean clothes, etc., so made do with “moist” towelettes.
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| View from our cabin |
We walked over at nine and the young woman on duty made us the best breakfast of the trip: Veggie omelets with feta cheese and potatoes fried with onions and peppers! Really delicious! The Lodge is decorated with many paintings various people have done of the lodge and area - some very good.
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| The Lodge in Wiinter by Lili Buitron |
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| Arctic Ground Squirrel |
We drove the very short distance over Hatcher Pass, 3800’, and immediately encountered fog, rain, cold wind. We attempted to hike and were passed by two young Alaskan men in shorts and t-shirts running along. We turned back and returned to the Lodge side of the pass and identified some flowers and saw a Hoary Marmot sitting on a rock!! Another new mammal!
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| Hoary Marmot |
Our lodge is located within Independence Mine State Park land so we drove up to see the mine itself. For some reason the Visitors’ Center was closed today, but there are so many informational signs and trails around the mine that it was no hindrance. The only upsetting aspect was that the mine operated in the 1930s-40s - an historic park covering a period when we were both alive!! How to make one feel really old!!
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| View from the Independence Mine |
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| Men's Dorm at the Mine |
We walked around the old 3-story, very narrow dormitories, various machinery, woodworking shops and up to the mine itself. Lots of very interesting information. I spotted a Pika that lives in old crumbling mining ruins, carrying a colorful sprig of Dwarf Fireweed to its den for winter storage.
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| Pika |
It was past noon, so we returned to our lodge and split a piece of Razzleberry pie a la mode which was indescribably delicious with really flaky crust.
As the weather showed no sign of brightening, we decided to drive down towards Palmer, a distant suburb of Anchorage, and visit the Musk Ox Farm, a non-profit operation that started 50 years ago and has one of three domesticated Musk Ox stocks in the world. We read some signage about these animals who live in the really frozen north and defend themselves against their only enemies (except us, of course), the wolves and bears, by forming circles facing outward with their horns or by lining up alternating forwards and backwards - really smart creatures! We walked around the large pasture land looking at the bulls, cows, yearlings and babies. The runt of this year’s young, little Pearl, was very cute and, at the age of abut two month, about the size of a large collie!
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| Adult Musk Oxen |
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| Two-month old Little Pearl |
We drove through Palmer which actually has a downtown, I think because it was started as a New Deal project, called “The Colony”, for some dust bowl farming families to start again during the Depression. It is located in a mild micro-climate, has very fertile soil, and is still farmed by the original families.
We returned to the lodge and started organizing our gear for tomorrow‘s departure to SoCal. At 6:30 we went over to the restaurant and split another grilled roast turkey sandwich and another piece of raspberry/blackberry pie.
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