Girdwood and gold panning

So we left Denali, drove south, and spent one night in Anchorage. The next day we took the time to get the truck serviced and do some running around that was needed. Then we treated ourselves to a lunch at our favorite restaurant, Ginger, that would remind you of the Winds with a Thai bent. We had been there before when we stayed in Anchorage to get Pat's wrist cast and found their food really to our liking. We were not disappointed this time. We'll probably find an excuse to go there again.

We left Anchorage and drove the 40 or so miles south along Turnagain Arm to Girdwood. We were here before and had decided to stay in the Ski run parking lot, but couldn't because there was a festival going on. This time we settled in and have been here for two days. These are gold panning days for Bob, the prospector. I went to the Crow Creek mine and paid for access to their land. After 6 hours of panning I had a couple of specks of gold, answering the question, "If you inherit a played out gold mine from your grandfather, what do you do with it?" Answer: "Charge tourists to try to find gold there." Saturday we drove down onto the Kenai Penninsula and tried panning a creek down there. No luck. I guess if gold were easy to find, it wouldn't be valuable. The salmon have run into the rivers and there will be another run in a week or so. As a result, you have to be careful where you pan so as not to destroy the fish nests. That stopped me from trying a more extensive panning expedition. This is not an issue around Chicken, so I will try up there next. So far, if you want to find your fortune panning for gold, get a job as a greeter at Walmart, the pay is better.

We drove to Hope, AK. It is a vanishingly small town on the south side of Turnagain Arm. I guess the fishing was on there because the place was packed with fishermen. Watching the action, I did not see any fish being caught, but it was between tides. Lunch on the side of the road while we wished Sheila Happy Birthday. As I enjoyed the beauty of having green marshlands, snow capped mountains with glaciers and the sea all in one place, I realized what was making this so unusual. On one range of mountains that ran down to the water you went all the way from sea level up so high that you were above the timber line and on up into tundra. That is an amazing range of climates on one hill.