McCarthy, Independence Day and Anchorage.

I well and truly landed on my feet yet again, and this time I landed on a Kashmir rug.

Here I was expecting to be camping and cooking oats each morning and munching on spinach leaves and peanut butter during the day.....  but instead I woke to a cooked breakfast from Mike and then Julie making sandwiches for us all.  

It was the 4^th July and there was a parade to attend.

Peter and I cycled on ahead bumping our way down the hill towards McCarthy. The sky was blue and the views were stunning. As we arrived the parade was just getting started. Stars & stripes, cowboy outfits, folks dressed as salmon along with many other costumes and vehicles crawled through the tiny community of McCarthy under the blazing sun.

Patriotic...

The temperature was over 80 degrees which is hot for Alaskan standards. Water was being sprayed and sweets were being scattered by the parade goers.

Gay Pride?
No, Independence Day

After the parade games ensued.

The slow bike ride, the egg toss and the pie eating contest being my personal favourites.

As Peter and I watched the slow bike ride race we picked out our winners.

I was watching a young guy in a off white t shirt. He seemed to be
balancing effortlessly on his bike. He's my man I told Peter. He flew through the first round, and made the final....

As I watched him more closely I was amazed at how much he looked like Sam Hiltenbrand, John and Kathy's son from Fairbanks. This made me favour him that bit more. A couple of minutes later I realised it was Sam! I charged over and we hugged, great to see him.

He made the final and was pipped after a 10 minute battle of balance and slow movement.

Due to the amount of folks wanting to get involved in the pie eating
contest we were arranged in to groups of three. I can inhale food, so a vanilla custard topping on pastry would be a cinch. 

Catweasel Custard Chops!

My partners mouths weren't quite as vacuumous as mine, nor did they seem as hungry. My facial hair collected much of the topping but my stomach was ready for whatever was thrown at it.

We made it through a couple of rounds but were penalised for breaking the crust with our hands just before we started. Ah well. It still tasted great!

I think if Sam & I had been on the same team......
His face tells a similar story to mine!

The egg toss was great fun to watch.

We were briefly involved but the ashamedly I let our egg fall.... sun in my eyes, crosswind etc etc! Ha ha! There finished up with a distance of almost 35 metres between the last few pairings.

If you look closely you'll see the flying egg in a couple of pictures.

Contenders Ready!

A lady who can catch!!?  They made the final!

Here comes the egg.... See it!?

Left him short!

Egg Shower.
The shell smashes on a wire across the street!  Umpire calls 'Let'.

Second 'chuck' (ha ha!) goes no better....

Good fun, great sandwiches and a couple of delicious beers made for a great day.

Peter and I were on dinner duty, so we headed back to the cabin for 5pm.

The next day Peter and I cycled 18 miles then trekked up to Bonanza Mine. The 'ruins' of which are still hanging on to the top of the mountain.

Old mining machinery from decades ago lies scattered and rusty brown among the rocks. Deep blue green veined stones pepper the mountain side, the treasured Copper that for so many years sustained this small community.

On the little peak.

Looking over the back....

The views from the top were stunning, looking all the way to the glacier in the distance.

The following day when Peter and Jeremy, Allene and the little ones departed Mike and myself headed to the glacier. Mike is always keen to get out and about, and rather than let me head off on a 20 mile round cycle to the glacier he decided to be my guide.

Had Mike not been with me I would have seen less than half the great spots he managed to put us on to. We searched for Mullans, deep blue holes in the glacier where melt water tumbles in to the depths below the glacier.

Ice Ice Baby

Huge Deep Mullan....
Mike launches a rock in to the depths from the surface of the glacier.

I marvelled at the electric blue cracks, holes and bowls that sat amidst the dense ice.

Tiny dust and dirt covered mounds hid crystalline ice pyramids which lined the streams of water which ran steadily toward the mullans. A sight to behold.

Blue icy stream...

Ice Pyramids

Climbers....

Shapes and contours....
This hole was huge!!!!!!!!

On returning to the bikes, I had a puncture. Unsurprising really considering the super rocky track we took up. Mike was surprised I made it up there on the Tricross, but my trusty stead is part of me now. It felt like it was literally part of me at times! A quick repair and we were back on the tracks. We took it slow through Kennicott, checking out the old mine house, and exploring more of the mining machinery and left overs from times gone by.

Ye Olde Kennicott Copper Ore Processing Plant

I dropped by Ma Johnson's Hotel as we passed through McCarthy. I needed to touch base with George, my ride back to Anchorage the next morning. When I arrived the Discovery Channel were in the process of doing a re-take for a reality show called 'On the Edge of Alaska' something like that. A reality re-take, should that happen? Ha ha!

I arranged to meet George, a 78 year old chap who had spent a large portion of his life travelling around the world due to his involvement in the oil industry, at 8.30am the following morning. I was looking forward to hearing some of his tales.

I spent my final evening with Mike & Julie, then headed off to meet George the next morning. At midday I offered to buy him lunch as a way of thanking him for the ride, but he would hear nothing of it saying he would be buying lunch and that he can't take his money with him!  George regaled many stories of his working life all of which were either interesting, funny or both. We arrived in Anchorage at 4pm.

Lucy was to be my host whilst in Anchorage, but as yet she hadn't arrived home from work. I sat on her step and did some work. Her kind neighbour Kayley allowed me to sign on to the internet, whilst another neighbour Eric wandered up the path for a chat. By 6.15pm I decided to email my new pal Peter. He had left Mike & Julies' the day before and was back in Anchorage. He emailed me back arranging to pick me up at 7.30pm for dinner and beers.

We had a lovely evening and at the end of the meal whilst sitting with Peter and his friend John I grabbed my Amex card to pay, but John and Peter had already agreed to split the bill unwilling to have a guest contribute anything.  'Let me pay for the beers then!'  I said.  'Nope'.  Good heavens!!! Alaska seems to be a nation of kindness and generosity. It really does!

When I returned from the bar I was welcomed with a big, warm hug from Lucy. She was all apologetic about not being there when I arrived, but she needn't have been, especially as she was being kind enough to allow me to sleep on her sofa for three nights! We sat up late that night chatting over a bottle of red.  The following morning I headed in to town. I was driving Lucy's car as she'd forgotten her wallet and keys and I needed to deliver them to her.  Of course I got lost. Once I eventually made it back to the house I decided if I went cycling I'd only get lost again, so stayed put. Lucy cycled home from work, and suggested we head out for some Oysters & Beer, followed by a bike ride on the coastal path.

We headed to a restaurant where she works part time around her full time job where she is a landscape architect for the park services.  At the restaurant over the river I enjoyed my first taste of raw oysters on ice, and cooked oysters with a crumbly parmesan topping, followed by King Crab cakes.

Whilst Lucy headed to the restroom I tried to pay the waitress, 'It's all been taken care of.' she said.... I told Lucy I wanted to pay, and once again she wouldn't have it.  I'll just stash some money in her house somewhere before I leave!

We headed out on our bikes to the coastal path and knocked out 35 miles in total before we made it back to her home! It was 9.53pm. I made a big salad whilst Lucy grilled some salmon on the BBQ. Cracking evening.

Today before Lucy headed off to work I asked if there was anything I could do whilst she was there. She said yes, and then ordered me to mount her new mountain bike on the roof of her Subaru and to get out and ride the trails of Kincaid Park.

So by 10.30am that's exactly where I was. These single track trails are fast, narrow and crazy. I rode Mighty Bike and Bolling Alley, both of which were amaaaazing!

At one point I absolutely stacked it from a narrow, but high plank obstacle. I went piling over the handlebars in to the hogweed. The bike was undamaged thank heavens. I was scuffed but none the worse for wear. I remounted and got back to pedalling like a lunatic.

Having unloaded Sam's bicycle and emptied the panniers, this evening I shall see if everything will fit in to my backpack. I am now the proud owner of a Goretex waterproof jacket, a stove and a pot. The pack was already at bursting point, so I'll have to see if things fit..... Two t-shirts did fall apart and were binned at the end of Nepal so there's a tiny bit of room there.

Tomorrow I fly to Frankfurt, then on to London. Arriving in the big smoke around midnight on 11^th July, where I'll meet one of my very best buddies, Stu.  I'm looking forward to it.

The Journey that Amanda & I started out on during 2012 is now almost complete.

I have a bit more to say about this journey and folks I've met along the way (surprised?).  There was a lot of images to digest in this post, so I'll let you all breathe.

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