Highlights Map
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On the last day we check out and then we drive to the first goal for the day, the Alaska Aviation Museum. Finding the entrance is surprisingly difficult as the front side is door-less with the door hidden at the back of the building.
We are almost the first people in the museum which allows us to browse the gift shop in peace and choose our souvenirs before entering the first hangar. This museum is by far the largest aviation museum in Alaska spread over multiple hangars and also covering an outdoor area that we saw initially when we arrived from a distance.
As it is a custom here there are quite a few exhibits centered on airlines that served Alaska but are not here anymore. The most famous of these disappeared airlines seems to be Wien Airlines that served besides Alaska also the rest of the USA and even some foreign countries before going out of business.
There are also more funny exhibits with the one for Reeve Airways being the funniest one and some about expeditions that we never knew about like the first Zeppelin flight over the North Pole.
The last of the first three interconnected hangars is dedicated to the battle of Attu, that we to our shame never knew about. It was the only US territory conquered by Japan to protect their flanks and then eliberated in 1943 by US troops. It also shows how unprepared the US troops were for the Arctic climate as most other battles happened in tropical climates.
Next we continue to the outside aircrafts that are a motley collection of different airplanes from Alaska Airlines early planes to small bush planes that made derring flights across the state.
The last hangar that can be visited is the maintenance one where planes are repaired and refurbished before being exhibited. Some are in good shape and some we cannot see how they can be repaired but it is cool that they even let us in.
It even has a few exhibits for a grand exhibition flight that started in the lower US and ended in Nome and then returned over a period of a few months.
The second outdoor are closer to the lake is surrounded by planes that seem to be less restored. Still most of them have a history behind them which make them more interesting to see and explore.
The last place that can be explored outside is the former control tower for water landings on the nearby lake for seaplanes. You can climb it and watch the seaplanes prepare for landing or departure and even see them land.
And that is exactly what we do, we want a couple seaplanes land and one depart, it looks quite scary but likely it is as safe as a normal plane landing or departure.
Before we leave we take one more look at the planes outside and notice that a seaplane that we thought is part of the exhibit, actually is a private plane and that the parking spot is marked private. This on museum grounds, quite fun.
Next in our long last day is Kincaid park, a huge park with very confusing information on what to do and where to park. The trail map looks like an alien map also so in the end we stop at the end of the road and start randomly on a trail, I am sure we will find something interesting!
At least in the beginning the “something interesting” turns to be flowers, from fireweeds to dandelions that already went through their whole life cycle this early in the spring.
Next we start finding a few of the expected birds here like Fox Sparrows and Alder Flycatchers but they can be quite skulky and difficult to find in the vegetation unless they go to the top to sing.
The park is surprisingly popular even though we wonder if some aren’t trapped forever inside the maze of trails that criss cross everywhere in the park. Maybe we won’t be able to find our way back too either, who knows. For now we decide to avoid as much as possible the asphalt trails were the bicycles are going around blind corners at high speed, it is an accident waiting to happen.
After some time we start to lose the crowd and with it we see more birds and even a very tame Northern Red-backed Vole. The vole is near the trail and moves quite slowly, it might have been a juvenile in fact.
Then we finally understand where we are after studying a map for a few minutes and decide to loop back on a different trail to the parking lot. This trail is also quite birdy and we enjoy the many sparrows delighting themselves in the spring’s bounty.
We still do not exit the park though, as we return to the entrance we decide to stop a couple more times, once for a cache and once to investigate a lake.
The cache is in a quiet area of the park covered by the ubiquitous “Snow in June” phenomenon and where black-capped chickadees follow us through the trees to ensure that we do not do anything weird or illegal, or so we guess.
The Little Campbell Lake however is very popular, it is difficult to even find a parking spot and therefore there are no birds or any other interesting wildlife and soon we decide to move on as our next attraction is closing soon.
We arrive at the Anchorage Museum about 1 1/2h before closing time which seems enough unless like us you have to lose half an hour to find the parking garage then to understand how to get to the museum, as you have to exit again to the find the actual entrance to enter it. We do make it in time though and soon we start our harried exploration of the exhibits.
We start with a very interesting temporary exhibit. You enter a room which is made, including the floor, of screens showing news around the world while a voice calmly recites lies that sometimes almost seem like truths. It is quite disconcerting and interesting.
We started from the top floor so down we go using the stairs to minimize the downtime between the exhibits. We continue through a few temporary and permanent exhibits but we cannot enjoy them as much as we want as we are always in a hurry, pushed by the inexorable passing of the time.
There are some interesting exhibits related to maps and one related to an earthquake survey done for a year trying to understand the seismology of Alaska.
The major attraction of the museum are the Native American Inuit artifacts. It shows here the many cultures across Alaska and how they differ in clothings, tools and weapons.
Next is the art section, where we instantly fall in love with the dancing bears, the only bears we have seen in Alaska. The art iself is also quite interesting also.
We move fast through the exhibits as we only have 20 minutes left at this point in time and only stop if something really speaks to us to examine it closer.
Another section seems to be dedicated to seafaring ships and also contains Native artifacts. It is has a few ships that seem to have been built recently to show how Native boats look like which we find quite interesting.
Of course there is also a small exhibit about gold the driver of early Alaska’s economy and population boom. And then the loudspeakers start announcing that the museum is closing so we run to the gift shop so we can explore it before exiting at exactly closing time. And then…we get to the parking lot and it is closed. Like metal door closed with no way to enter. We return to the museum and now it is closed to and we feel quite annoyed and a bit scared at this point given that we have to return the car today to the airport. We return back to the carpark and notice a button to call security and we do just that and after a few calls they answer and let us in so we can take our car. A very weird experience but luckily we were able to exit with the rental.
After all the excitement it is time to eat and we choose a restaurant close to the airport that seems to be open and has good reviews. It even has an airplane exhibited in the parking lot so you know you are at the airport.
It takes a bit to bring out the food which is ok as we want to catch our breath and when it arrives it is quite good so satiated and less tired we are ready for the late afternoon portion of our program.
The one last big place we want to visit is Westchester Lagoon however we are not sure how to access it. We follow the GPS through built up areas until we find a cul-de-sac that seems to allow parking and also accesses the trail to the lagoon, phew.
Almost immediately we see lots of birds from gulls to wigeons, it is a birdwatchers paradise so we decide to continue on the trail.
As we continue on the trail we find out that we actually need to find a toilet after eating and drinking so much so that becomes the major goal of the walk. Still we have to stop to look at the grebes and terns that are similarly stopping to watch us pass by. I wonder if there is a peoplewatching hobby for birds?
As we turn round and round the lagoon we find another entrance with a bigger parking lot that even has toilets – a big success for our quest!
The lake is used for water sports both paddleboarding and kayaking and probably even canoeing even though we don’t see any during our visit.
Returning we explore a few marshlands were we add to our Alaska birdlist a few interesting birds like the Short-billed dowitcher. We also see a few Lesser Yellowlegs, always fun to see them.
As we return to the parking lot we say good bye to the marshlands and the birds, we are going to miss them even though we are not going to miss the cold, rain and the mosquitoes.
There is still a bit of time left before we have to return the car so we drive to Point Woronzof overlook for a great view of the sunset. Which takes forever of course so we walk a bit along the beach before returning to the car.
In fact the parking lot has a party atmosphere with lots of people and even a foodtruck parked, quite interesting and we are not sure if this is daily or it is a special occasion.
After returning the car with no issues we pass security, wave to the moose for the last time and then it is time to leave the snow covered peaks of Alaska for the stiffling heat of Arizona after a trip that was quite special and allowed us to explore a wild and mostly unspoiled region of North America. We saw muskox and beaver, lots of special birds and even a collared pika so for certain we will call it a successful trip!
