Alaska Photos Page 9
Dinner Train

On the evening of Thursday (April 23, 2009) Jodie and I boarded a dinner train with the rest of the COPAS crew and departed for Girdwood, 38 miles south of Anchorage. The train tracks make their way along the Turnagain Arm of the Cook Inlet, running parallel with Seward Highway, with that route providing us with yet another perspective view of Turnagain - this time from the vantage point of a railway dinner car - and in the twilight of the evening hours to boot. Watching the outgoing and incoming tides was great, and the change in the appearance of the Turnagain Arm from low to high tide was beyond incredible.

The train ride was great, and the food was fantastic. Entertainment was provided by the voice of Alaska, singer-guitarist Hobo Jim. I shot a lot of photos, and Jodie kept her eyes out for moose. By this time, I was thinking about buying her a Bullwinkle T-shirt.

An eagle flew by our train, low to the ground and at very close range - actually just outside our window - but I missed my photo op because it all happened so fast. Oh well - you can't get them all.

Near Girdwood is the Toothpick Forest. This area was once a beautiful timberland, but during the devasting Good Friday Earthquake of 1964, the forest actually dropped four feet in elevation and subsided into Turnagain Arm, putting Girdwood and the surrounding areas well below high tide. The salt water from the inlet poured in, flooding the forest and killing all the trees - hence the name Toothpick Forest. The original town of Girdwood was completely destroyed by the earthquake and resulting flood. Eventually, Girdwood was rebuilt on much higher ground, two and a half miles off to the east.