A walk in Girdwood, AK interrupted by three moose

 We did two nice hikes in Girdwood, AK.  In the morning, we took the tram at the Alyeska Resort.  The gondola takes you up the side of the mountain.  Ski season was over, but there was plenty of snow up there.  The view is wonderful, especially of the Turnagain Arm waterway.  We had lunch at the cafe and looked at the small museum about the town and resort.  The tram and restaurant are open seasonally.

In the afternoon, we walked the Winner Creek Trail.  The entrance is to the right of the stairs for the tram.  The Resort has a sign up with a small map that directs hikers to the back of the resort and onto the trail.  It is a pretty trail and we walked until we encountered a section of the trail that was snow filled.  We turned back.  Then, one of us spotted a moose with two babies about 100 feet off the trail.  One of the babies, wandered up onto the trail and peered at us with curiosity.  The mother and other baby soon ambled up and slowly moved into the deep woods.  It was an amazing experience!

                                                        Baby moose

                                                        View from the top of the tram

The other hike we did was to Exit Glacier.  This was a fun hike, but was a bit sad.  There are about a dozen signs marking the almost mile retreat of the glacier over the course of about a century.  We stopped at the National Park Service Office, where there are nice restrooms and helpful rangers.

                                                        Exit Glacier

We used Girdwood as a base for three days.  It is a small town, but has several good restaurants, a store and an art gallery.  We had originally planned to take the train from Seward to Girdwood, but learned that there are no car rental agencies, taxis or ride share in the town.  This was surprising, because the Aleyska Resort is well known for its black diamond skiing.  We rented a car in Seward and made the easy drive two hour drive into Girdwood.  The town is technically a suburb of Anchorage  is a 45-minute drive from downtown Anchorage.

                                                                Mother Moose