Singularly Good Day . . . long but great!

Yesterday was another one in a long series of days that seemed to go on forever. I had a job meeting for the new super Walmart we are building in Kenai Alaska at 9 am which meant that I needed to be out of the house by four in the morning to make it to the shop, load up items we were taking down, and make the almost three hour drive to the jobsite.

We are still in our “light gain” period for another three weeks so we gain about three and a half minutes a day now as the sun slows it trek northward for Solstice on June 21^st. Sunrise is 4:34 AM and sunset is 11: 24 PM leaving the five hours between with a semi-full light for about 3 hours and twilight ‘dusk’ period for the other two.

I went to bed Sunday evening just after midnight with the birds still singing their songs and when I awoke at 3:30 AM the light was on again with no clouds to block the soon to rise sun rays peaking out from behind the Chugach mountains to the east of my house. I was not tired as I headed from my house and turned onto the Glenn Highway ramp to go into town.

As I accelerated I saw running toward me a moose cow and her two day old calf. They ran along the bicycle path heading towards a stand of trees on the round about exit ramp. The local moose tend to hang out in the trees there even with the many vehicles who exit the highway as it has great cover and plentiful food.

The newborn calf was trotting on wobbly legs and had that great look of nature’s life renewed once again a certain rite of spring in the north. Many moose have dropped their calves this last week or two so many new photos are making it into the newspaper or other media.

Seeing moose the first thing in the morning seems to always set a nice tone for the day and this one was no different. I arrived at my shop and after a quick stop for fuel, coffee, and a bagel we headed out for one of the most beautiful drives in the world along Turnagain Arm of Cook Inlet.

Driving past Beluga Point we saw many Dall Sheep up along the cliffs above the road but could not take the time to stop and view them. Past Girdwood we saw many bald eagles feasting on the hooligan fish which were also being caught by the dipnetters who had gotten up early as the sun was just poking its head above the glacier topped mountains close by.

We climbed the mountains heading to Summit Lake where we found a road crew repairing the road from the avalanche damage over the winter. We had to wait for about 25 minutes until the guide car came back with those waiting on the other side of the construction to go by. We were slowly having our time dwindle away as we reached Cooper Landing and ran across a two year old grizzly bear eating on the side of the road. It caused another stop to take a couple of pictures on Frank’s camera phone. I snapped 4 or 5 photos of the bear about 10 feet away in the marsh along side the road as he happily ate tall grass looking up to watch us and the several other vehicles now stopped for another Alaskan photo opportunity.

We were almost to the jobsite when I spotted several caribou from the Kenai herd wandering in the brush about 30 yards off the roadway. We finally made our meeting only 15 minutes late and it was great to see the progress of the work. We made our jobsite visit, saw several vendors in the area and worked getting more beds for our crew’s apartment. Creature comfort is always welcome working away from home. The temperature today is in the mid 60’s almost normal for this time of year.

Looking across Cook Inlet we could see Redoubt Volcano with a small plume of steam rising from its summit lava dome. They say it could blow again anytime as the pressure inside the lava dome builds until it has to escape.

Frank and I made a few other stops before heading back to Anchorage. The sun was still high in the sky and the Kenai River looked inviting but the fish are a few weeks away from making the long swim from the ocean to their spawning grounds. It is weird seeing the parking areas empty knowing soon the hordes will descend upon the river for that bounty of Red, King, and silver salmon.

The rest of the drive back to Anchorage and home was uneventful with several more sightings of moose as the sun still in the sky made its way towards the horizon. It was almost ten o’clock with plenty of light outside, a hunger pain in my stomach from the long days drive and the desire to stop and smell the flowers as I walked up to the front door of my house.

Ice