The thing is, it's been darn near
40 degrees here in Anchorage for the past week or so. These temperatures certainly
aren't normal for this time of year, nor is the lack of snow.
Am I
complaining? No, of course not.. don't be ridiculous. It's 40 degrees in January!
Yet, it is such a drastic
contrast from last year when Anchorage beat it's all-time high
snowfall record that it is just a bit disconcerting. Let's not
forget the plethora of earthquakes that have been shaking our houses and nerves too! Something fishy is going on here.. damn Mayans.
Now I love
Alaska, but if it's going to break off from Canada and fall into the
freezing waters surrounding it, I'd rather be elsewhere. I digress.......
Speaking of water.
I went on an excursion down the Seward Highway with my youngest brother today, with the goal of getting water. Yep, you heard me, water.
Just past Beluga Point, at Mile 109, jutting out of the rocky wall that follows the contours of Turnagain Arm, protrudes a 5" pipe. From this pipe runs what some folks call:
"The purest water around!"
As someone who is naturally pessimistic and a bit dubious, I never, in a million years, thought I would drink water from a pipe coming from God-Knows-Where carrying water with God-Knows-What in it. But then.....
My neighbor brought me some one day after assuring me it was good to drink and saying (with a Polish accent):
"Well, it shit, must be good because we've been drinking it for 10 damn years!"
As the aforementioned skeptic, I took the water (you don't deny a gift from a Polack) and proceeded to research said water. He was correct, there had been many studies done throughout the years about that spring, all of which praised the alkalinity and mineral content. So, I drank it. It was good.. as good as any water can be I suppose. Then again, the water that comes from my 70+ year old cabin is often brown so I take that back.. it was good water.
In the end, I now get my water from the spring. Which is the whole point of this story and my excursion today.
To make a long story longer, my brother and I went to fill my water jugs and along the way, we took a detour down off the highway and to the water and up the McHugh Creek trail to the point where my lungs told me I had had enough "exercise" for the day.
It was a beautiful day.
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| I climbed up on the rocks overlooking the water. I attempted to "hold" the sun but the lighting wasn't allowing for it. The sound of the icebergs crashing against the rocks was pretty amazing. |
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| The railroad heading towards Anchorage with the inlet on the far left. |
