AK2006 -- Heading Home

I had a few hours to kill before my overnight flight, so i was able to explore the area around the airport and take in the views one last time. . .

On Point Woronzof, there is a park overlooking the Cook Inlet just outside of the Anchorage Airport property. This was sunset from that overlook. . .

. . .a FedEx MD-11 leaves for someplace other than there. . .

. . .Anchorage Airport has a unique crossing down the middle of it where normal traffic crosses general aviation aircraft taxiways. These crossings come down when the planes come by. . .

. . .a view of the taxiway from the road crossing. . .

. . .Alaska Airlines has converted a few of the 737's for both cargo and passenger service to the really rural parts of the state. This was one of them, with the cargo being unloaded from the front - while the passengers depart from the back.

AK2006 -- Along the Glenn Highway

Day 7 was one final roadtrip down the Glenn Highway, an area i had yet to explore on the trip. It was originally built during WWII to connect Anchorage to the Alaska Highway and (at least in the part i was able to explore) generally flollows the Chugach Mountains east along the area's natural glacier rivers. While most of what i saw on the trip differed from one day to the next just because the state is so vast and different -- most of what i saw this day mimiced the sights from Day 1, making for an ironic circle with the best scenic parts of the trip. . .

Down the Old Glenn Highway, the East and West Twin Peaks. . .

. . .cloud covered Chugach Mountains down the Knik River. . .

. . . Pioneer Peak beyond the foot hills. . .

. . .a cloud covered Matanuska Peak from the Old Glenn Highway. . .

. . .the clouds break for a clear picture of Pinnacle Mountain across the Matanuska River. . .

. . .another panoramic shot of the Chugach Mountains from the Glenn Highway. . .

. . .Kings Mountain across the Matanuska River. This was where i ran out of time and turned around to head back to Anchorage. . .

. . .one of the locals has a sense of humor. . .

. . .and a lot of time on their hands. . . the rocks on the side of the road have been set to name people and to mark other messages. . .

. . .a sun lit western view of Kings Mountain. . .

. . .another spiffy panoramic shot of the Chugach Mountains. . .

. . .the Chugach Mountain peaks through the birch trees on the side of the Glen Highway. From highway to river bottom was about 100 feet at the edge. . .

. . .from a distance, Mount Wickersham over the Matanuska River. . .

. . .the beginnings of the Matanuska Glacier. . .

. . .the rolling hills of the Matanuska-Susitna Valley. . .

. . .i found these all over southern Alaska, and i *think* they're Indian Paintbrush -- but ive yet to be able to confirm that. .

. . .the rockface above the Glenn Highway. . .

. . .an eastern view of the Chugach Mountain peaks. . .

. . .another one of my favorite shots of the trip, rellections of the Pinnacle Mountain across the Matanuska RIver. . .

. . .the parting shot of the Lazy Mountain Peak.