It was still dark out when we woke up at Spencers at 8 am and it was dumping snow outside. Spencer had left for work at 6 am but soon after we awoke he returned and cooked potatoes for breakfast. We then loaded up and headed out. Visibility was nil and the roads were snow packed and we saw some cars off the road. We drove south on the Seward Highway to Huffman Rd and the Carrs Supermarket there. This was my go to food supply when I lived in Girdwood being an easy hitch in and out. It too has been remodeled and I spent $113 on food for the next week.
We then drove out of Anchorage on the highway along the Turnagain Arm. The mountains were all shrouded in cloud, the snow turned to rain and all before us was a palate of grays and browns and blacks with silty chunks of ice floating in the arm. We stopped at Beluga Point for the view and so I could make and eat my breakfast before continuing on. There are lots of new buildings in Indian and Bird including a huge Turnagain Arts Center. We stopped at Bird Point where I was hoping to run out to Spyder Island but the pull off was closed and it was all ice and wet, slippery and deep snow so we just headed into Girdwood. COAST Pizza, the Ice Cream Shop and the Alpine Diner are all still at the mini mall at the head of the Alyeska Highway.
Up the Alyeska Highway we drove, back in Girdwood am I, sharing it with Gaelen who was conceived here 20 years ago. Spencer drove us around the new Girdwood townsite; new Post Office, New library and fire station, lots of new condos next to the trailer park on what was the field Ben and I camped in when we first arrived in 1992. The school now has a second story and the Merc has been landscaped so there is no more big puddle for Colleen to wipe out in anymore.
Spencer drove us up Crow Creek Road, past the empty hulk of Max’s, looking for the spot where I spent the winter of 1997. I think I recognized the tree that marked the spot but with all the snow nothing looked familiar.
Out rental would not be ready til 3 pm but we were allowed to drop our stuff in the laundry room so Spencer dropped us there and then headed back to Anchorage to pick is kids up from school. Gaelen and I then walked the icy streets to the day lodge where we signed up for the Choice Pass which is a RFID card which charges my credit card when we board the lift thus bypassing the ticket office and saving us 20% off the ticket price.
The trail map has so many new double black diamonds on the North Face since last I was here it plus some the Headwall and in Glacier Bowl. There is even a summer map with all the mountain bike routes. We then walked Alpine to Timberline dodging the big earthmovers which were pushing the snow off the streets. It looks like there was a big snowfall recently has there is about 3′ of snow on all the roofs and the trees are all snow covered as well. Up Timberline we went past many new big ass fancy ski chalets and a few familiar homes to Virgin Creek Drive which has only 3 houses on it one blocking the access point to the creek that we used 30 years ago when Ben and I camped back here.
We then walked to the end of Timberline to the Virgin Creek Trail and up through the mossy woods to Virgin Creek Falls. Ahhh to finally be back to this most sacred spot in my personal mythology and to share it with Gaelen.
I brought him here in 2002 when Molly and he were visiting and now we are back in winter. The Falls are all frozen and covered in a deep blanket of snow, The shrine grotto on the opposite bank is empty having lost its caretaker when Walt and Tammy moved and being deemed and eyesore by the community cleared.
Gaelen and I held ceremony and talked and talked and talked then headed out of the woods and back down Vail and Timberline where we stopped briefly so I could check out the fancy new Girdwood Chapel. We were soaked by the time we reached Jim Jensen’s former house on the corner of Davos and Donner, the Animal House so called because of the mural of moose and bear that adorn the outside of the lower level. This iconic house which I remember well from my years in Girdwood is to be our home for the next week.
We let ourselves in and were very happy with what we found. Two bedrooms, a full kitchen with utensils, a bathroom and a living room with comfy couch and a big screen TV. We hung our wet clothes on a lamp over the Rennai heater filled the fridge and cupboards with our food and took long hot showers before I cooked us a pasta dinner with red veggie sauce and garlic bread. DRB is just around the corner and I connected with him via FB and he stopped by after dinner for a visit.
I’ve known DRB since I arrived in G’wood in 1992 so he knows all the skinny on everyone. Lots of people have passed; Harvey from the Denali Cooks, Matt Gay, Ben’s friend from Toledo, Dano of the Bake Shop, Photonz manager Danny. Lots of people are elsewhere in AK and a few are still here. He gave us each a DRB treat and we fired up an apple. It was good to see him. G’wood is different but it feels familiar, like Hawai’i it feels “normal” to be here as I spent the better part of 13 years here. I does not feel like ‘boy I wished I still lived here’ though VT is definitely my home now,
G listened to our conversation and answered the few questions lobbed his way He told me earlier he had been practicing the answers to the “What ar you going to do when you graduate H.S? question he knew he would be asked. After DRB left we vegged to a hyper tamped Netflix action flick and by 11 pm were ready for bed
