Eklutna and Thunder Bird Falls

July 14, 2016 was an easy day.  We got started about 10:00 A.M. and made the short drive to Anchorage with no problems.  The joint bases of Elmendorf and Richardson (J-Ber) have very nice campgrounds and we were lucky to get spaces here at Black Spruce.  After getting set up, we went to the HUGE Exchange and commissary, then had happy hour where we were joined by a guy from Middleburg, just down the road from us in Florida.  Seems as if Alaska is full of Floridians this year!

You have to love a Post Exchange that has
a fast food halibut stand outside!

July 15, 2016
We started the day with a great breakfast at the chow hall ($3.49) here on base.  Our choices were a variety of cereals, a fruit bar, French toast, pancakes, waffles, eggs cooked to order, omelettes, biscuits and gravy, sausage and bacon, muffins, toast, breakfast sandwiches,  coffee, juice, and all the fixings to go with the above.  What a bargain!  The chow hall, called the Wilderness Inn, is very nice.

After breakfast we went to Eklutna, about 25 miles from here, to visit the Eklutha Historical Park.  This is a very interesting place that shows the blending of cultures between the Russian Orthodox Christians and the Athabaskan Indians.  The old church of St. Nicholas is one of the oldest log structures in the Anchorage area, built around 1870.  The newer church was built 1954-1962.  There are no seats except 2 benches in the back  of the churches as  Orthodox Christians stand for the services showing reverence to Christ.  

The old log church.

Icons in the new church.  

Of great interest is the graveyard near the two churches which is an Orthodox Christian cemetery still in use today.  The Athabaskans believe that the spirit of the deceased remains on earth for a year, so spirit houses are placed over the grave 40 days after the burial to house the spirit of the deceased and his possessions.  The colors of the houses are specific to the family, and blankets are placed upon the grave instead of flowers because of the severe climate.  Today, plastic flowers are sometimes used.



After leaving Eklutna, we went for a hike up to Thunder Bird Falls in an Alaska State Park.  It is about a mile up to the falls, and we were a little worried due to the fact that Jackie and David have been under the weather this past few days.  They made the hike like troopers, however, and we all had a very nice time.  It is beautiful all the way up, and of course the falls are beautiful too.  Salmon were not yet running in the stream below us, but they should be here soon.



An interesting couple of guys got to the lookout over the falls while we were there.  As Alaska is an open carry state, we should not have been surprised, but we are not used to seeing people walking around with a  44 Magnum, an AR 15, and  45 pistol  where we could see them. Naturally we had to chat with them a while before they leaped over the side of the lookout and disappeared in the underbrush between us and the falls!



A vendor at the exchange yesterday, a native Alaskan, had a booth with beautiful glasses hand painted with Alaskan flowers, but she had no martini glasses. She said she would paint one for me and have it ready today, and so she did.  I chose forget-me-nots, Alaska's state flower, and she added the word Alaska and my name.  I just had to have another picture of me and an Alaskan artisan and a martini glass.

  
Dom Boyer painted my martini glass.