Alaskan Journal: Part 1

Our first day and we eased ourselves into holiday mode slowly. After meeting up with the bridal party (just in case you weren't aware that we are over here for a wedding), we took ourselves off for a very pleasant three mile walk from the Eagle River Nature Centre through the forest there and then headed back to Anchorage for a trolley tour of the city. And that was enough for one day.

The Eagle Rover Nature Centre was at the end of a 20 mile road into the mountains. Lots of snow still around on the peaks.

OK, a vapour trail. So what? I found his bit of the 21st century intruding on a pristine landscape rather incongruous and more than a little irritating. I shook my fist at it but to no avail. Gross hypocrisy, of course, because someone could have been doing exactly the same thing at the plane we came in on yesterday. 

 

More mountains but this shot was taken from the middle of the main street in downtown Anchorage. What a backdrop to a city.

I wonder if they get many polar bears shopping around here? We started to go in but the place was too cold for us. And we weren't that interested in seal meat.

Absolutely no idea what the flower is but it was growing on the 'green roof' of a tourist centre and looked rather attractive.

A European Swallowtail Butterfly. The last time I saw one of these was when we were on Cyprus last year.

It's use your imagination time. Despite being shot through the window of a tourist trolley and despite being focussed on a rather attractive wire-link fence, you can just make out a moose feeding on the branches of a tree.