We'd planned yesterday to head to Hatcher's Pass to go sledding, but when we woke up, it was 45 degrees and very windy outside. It seems Hawaii decided to send Alaska a mean weather present this year, which is really throwing a wrench in our snowshoeing plans! So we decided it might not be the best idea to play around in the wind and rain, but we met up at Hilltop to take the dogs (Ripley and Nuka hit it off like old pals, despite only meeting a couple of times over the summer) for a walk and to plan the day. Anna's brother, Andrew, was with them and he had never been to Alaska before so Brian wanted to find something ultra touristy. We settled on a trip out to the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center in Portage. The five of us (and the two dogs) jumped in the Subaru and headed out.
We thought it was more of a zoo, but it was a drive through park where you can get out and look at the animals. To say that the weather conditions were less than ideal for this outing would be an understatement. With the warm temperatures, the snow that was on the ground from before, the high winds, and the rain/sleet that was falling, it was basically treacherous. We still had fun checking out the wildlife though.
Elk! Haven't seen one of those since Oregon!
Pretty nice digs, huh? (Also, did you know that elk and moose were friends? Here they are!)
MUSK OX! I love the musk ox. Our back up option was to visit the musk ox preserve in Palmer. That's still on our Alaska to-do list. Maybe when the weather improves.
Baby moose! Why are there baby moose in December?
A grizzly bear being smart and sticking to the cabin.
As I mentioned, the roads in the park were total ice rinks. Thanks to careful planning, I was wearing my running shoes. Anna, Andrew and I spent most of the time there trying not to break our necks. Brian and Andy had no issues walking on the treacherous roads. I think Alaskans are born with magic balance or something. They were generally several yards in front of us on the trail. See?
Anna and Andrew trying to keep up. I was far behind. No surprises there.
As a tough love measure, Andy made sure to park as far away as possible from anything we wanted to see, so we could skate around on the road.
The preserve is known for having a large herd of wood bison, which are extinct in Alaska. (We saw a whole lot of them on the ALCAN in Canada...remember?) They are raising them, growing the herd, and plan to release them back in the wild when they are ready. Pretty cool!
The pamphlet, and several signs, explained that it was "unethical" to harass the animals. Here's a picture of Brian teasing the elk. I think he made some inappropriate comments about the one's mother.
The preserve also had two lynx, which are the only wild cats in Alaska. I hear they have sightings of them in town even! This one growled at me when I got close, which is why I took a blurry picture as I was peeing my pants.
Black-tailed deer (or so Andy says, he never turned around so I could check).
Anna and Andrew with the black bear.
Despite the horrible conditions, we had a great time! Maybe next time we'll check it out in the summer...
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