Biking the Tony Knowles Coastal Trail

Wednesday, July 17, 2019

Hi Blog!

We arrived in Anchorage on Monday and began the arduous task of cleaning out the RV fridge and freezer in preparation of putting Buster in for service. As you may recall, Buster lost his leveling legs back on May 23rd. We've had to manually level the RV with blocks ever since.

We started the adventure by taking the cats to the kitty care cottage for a week's vacation. Then, we checked into our hotel and made our first trip back and forth to start unloading the fridge. Normally, we wouldn't bother, but we managed to catch 20 pounds of sockeye salmon and didn't want it to go to waste.

On Tuesday morning, we drove over to Karen's RV to get in line for our inspection. They had us checked in before 7:00 a.m. We found a great place for breakfast called the Red Chair where we enjoyed a Philly favorite - scrapple! After recovering from our scrapplefest, we spent the rest of the day trying to get settled in our new home.

By Wednesday, we were ready to get out and explore. One of the things on our list (which was actually on our list from 2016) was a bike ride on the Tony Knowles Coastal Trail. First thing in the morning, we drove back to the RV Park and picked up our bikes and drove them over to the trailhead.

The Tony Knowles Coastal Trail is billed as one of the most beautiful coastal trails in the nation. It did not disappoint. The trail gently winds along the coast 11 miles from downtown Anchorage to Kincaid Park. The bike path shares the coastline with the Alaska Railroad. There were several times we had to cross under the tracks using tunnels like this one.

We were wondering whether or not we would see a train and suddenly one appeared. We tried to get a photo, but this was the best we could do. Wildlife never seems to cooperate.

Originally constructed in the 1980s, the Tony Knowles Coast Trail was completely renovated over a two year period 2013-2014. Here is one of the new tunnels under the rail line.

The trail passes a numbers of small pocket parks. One of the larger parks, Margaret Eagan Sullivan Park, contains the Westchester Lagoon. We stopped and looked for moose, but didn't spot any.

The outflow from the lagoon was completely revamped creating a natural looking stream which allows salmon to swim up and spawn.

Alaska’s animals love it in the lagoon. It is possible to spot beaver, muskrats, red foxes, otters, and minks. Westchester’s varied habitats make it a great place for birding. We stopped to watch momma duck try to keep all her ducklings in a row.

As we turned the corner, we saw this Artic tern on the railing. We tried to get him to turn around, but he just turned away.

After leaving the Westchester Lagoon, the next pocket park we hit was the Fish Creek Estuary. This pocket of urban wilderness along the Tony Knowles Coastal Trail, contains the lower reaches of Fish Creek. Juvenile silver salmon and other resident fish thrive here, along with more than 100 species of birds, including sandhill cranes, warblers, eagles, and owls.

As we worked our way toward Earthquake Park, we were treated to expansive views of Cook Inlet and the windswept shore line. Off in the distance is Point Woronzof Overlook and the beginning of the runways for the Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport.

Next, we made a brief detour through Earthquake Park. In 1964, an entire neighborhood slid into the ocean during last century's most powerful earthquake. The earthquake was measured at 9.2 on the Richter scale and lasted 4 minutes. We spent some time reading the interpretive signs before continuing our journey.

We continued to ride along the top of a bluff overlooking the mud flats. Dave decided to take a trail down and explore. As the bluff erodes, trees fall. The wind and tides pile them up against the bluff, making for interesting photos.

The 11 mile trail ends at Kincaid Park. The park is bounded on the south by Turnagain Arm, on the west by Knik Arm, and on the north by Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport.  The park was created in 1978 and includes the location of a deactivated former Nike missile site. For our lunch spot, we watched the planes land at the airport while we munched our peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.

On our return ride, we stopped to explore some of the ponds next to the trail. After the earthquake, the land was tossed and turned. There are numerous sinkholes that have now become ponds.

As we made our way back toward Anchorage, we got a great view of the downtown and port area.

The End!

As I was writing this blog entry, we got a call from Karen's RV. Dusty has been repaired! We can pick him up tomorrow. It may be a couple days before we blog again. Until then, stay thirsty my friends.