Day Four

Again woke up really early. Partly due to brain still thinking it is in the UK and partly because we had to be at a rendezvous at 8am. Showered and breakfasted and then set out at 7.35am. Walked north into downtown Anchorage and by 7.50am we were stood outside the Anchorage Visitor Centre waiting to be collected.  There was a bus already there except it was for a tour which we were not doing. Further down there was a small white minivan and a woman stood by it. 

We waited for a while thinking that our ride would turn up in a clearly marked vehicle. Eventually Ann dispatched me to go and talk to the woman. It was our ride so I beckoned Ann over and we got in. The woman introduced herself as Katie and then we set off on our journey. 

Three quarters of an hour later we ended up at our destination - 49th State Motor Tours

Katie introduced us to Jerimiah who was going to be our tour lead. We were the first there so Jerimiah started to get us ready and gradually other people arrived. We had deliberately brought old clothes over with us just for this day. We then were given waterproofs, wellies, helmet, googles, gloves and a company branded neck gaitor. 

Once everyone else had arrived and got suited up we were installed into our vehicles. We had booked a side by side ATV as opposed to a quadbike each, a decision that later turned out to be wise. Ours also had a windscreen whereas all the others didn't. This would to turn out to be both a positive and a negative. 

We got given our safety talk, instructions and then hand signals we would need throughout the day. Then after one practice loop we were off. We headed out down the drive then across the road and then into the wilds. Jerimiah led from the front, then there were three quads, then us, followed by all the other side by sides. At the back was Latrael, who was mopping up ensuring everything was ok. 

We covered a couple of miles at a decent pace before making a first stop. Saw an eagle.

After a brief interlude we got told to go into 4 wheel drive and low range gear and we headed up a large sand bank and then into the river Knik. I bazzed along merrily over different terrains, water, rocks, sand and dust. Ann held on for dear life. We stopped occasionally for signals to change gear or between 2 and 4 wheel drive. All was going well until, as we left the river to climb a steep slope, the chap in front of us on a quad turned it over and fell off. We stopped and did the given hand signal we had been shown to show there was an emergency (the idea being each vehicle would pass the signal down the line until Latrael saw it and then he would radio Jerimiah). Before anything could happen the bloke picked himself up and pulled the quad over and then sped off. By the time we had started moving he had gone so far away we could no longer see him which meant we had no idea of the route to take. To start with there was just the one path which we followed but then it split into three. So we stopped as did all behind us and then Latrael appeared. We explained what had happened so then he radioed ahead then led us up the right path so we then could join back up again.

We had the occasional stop for a drink or the use of the outdoor toilet, i.e. find a bush. Also there was a breakdown so the guys had to get the toolkit and repair one of the vehicles which took about twenty minutes.  At one point Jerimiah told us we were halfway and that if we thought the first part had been dusty we hadn't seen anything yet. He was right. As we continued most of the time there was just dust everywhere. Trying to see where the vehicle ahead was pretty much impossible but it also meant you couldn't see what you were driving towards or on as well. Here the windscreen proved both good and bad. It meant we didn't get hit in the face with the dust like everybody else but then it became dusty meaning it made it even worse to see.

Eventually after a long while we made it to our destination, the Knik Glacier.

Knik Glacier

Ice ice baby

Beast

It's gripped, it's sorted, let's offroad

All the various parties

Jerimiah cooking

We ate lunch. Jerimiah cooked some salmon quesadillas for anyone who wanted them. There were other tour parties there as well. At one point there were three gunshots just behind us. Initially we thought someone was trying to scare off some wildlife, i.e. bear, but eventually came to the conclusion someone shot one of the icebergs to try and break some of it off, as you do! One bloke got in the lake wearing just shorts for a photo shoot. Someone else fell in the lake in all their clothing. What a bunch of characters.

Jeremiah then gave us a talk about the glacier and processes behind what we could see. It turns out there were actually seven glaciers visible from where we were. This led to him talking about silt the glaciers form and the danger it poses down stream in mud flats. He told us some urban myths about a woman being stuck and a helicopter being sent to get her. They dropped a rope and she tied around her waist. As they pulled her up her legs were stuck so much that it pulled her apart at the knees and she bled to death hanging from the bottom of the helicopter. Total bollocks. Although when people get stuck they often drown as the river has a bore.

His next story was true about serial killer Robert Hansen Robert Hansen - Wikipedia

Eventually when the stories ran out we turned and headed for home. At one point Jerimiah filmed us crossing a river. We are the third vehicle back not including Latrael on the quad. I had to cut the video length as it was too big for the website. 

All in all we covered 50 miles there and back and got covered in shite. It was great.

Once back at base we removed all the wet gear and then took the minivan back to Anchorage.

We then walked back to the apartment passing a large outside yoga happening.

Yogas

Once back we thought about what we were going to do for dinner. I suggested getting something delivered. To do this we needed to know the zip code for where we are staying. Ann said it was on her phone. Cue twenty minutes of unsuccessfully looking for her phone. Eventually we rang 49th State Motors using my phone. They rang back ten minutes later saying they had located the phone in their little shop where we had been buying t shirts before leaving. Unfortunately they are not doing the pick up run to Anchorage tomorrow which meant they could have brought it down to us. We are hiring a car for the day tomorrow, so now we will have to head back up there before doing tomorrow's stuff. The other pity is Ann filmed most of the day on her phone which means I can't use it in the blog! She is now asleep. What's new I hear you ask!

States visited - 2

Gunshots heard - 3

Phones lost - 1