Make friends with a pilot — and a foodie.
I have both in Kelvin, the kindest guy you could ever meet (pictured here by the river in Talkeetna, a summer tourist haven that is already deserted even before the termination dust falls). He flies single-engine planes and has spent about 18 months in Alaska working for airlines with big planes and giving lessons to students in small planes. And he knows good food and good desserts.
Since meeting in Anchorage 18 hours ago, we have flown over a glacier, past a mountain range and near Sarah Palin’s house. I also have had veggie pizza and an IPA in a famed brewpub that just hosted the great Hold Steady last week; Saag Paneer in a wonderful, small Himalayan restaurant, and hot chocolate in Talkeetna.
Here’s Knik glacier, just east of Wasilla, home of Sarah Palin. My small digital camera can’t do it justice, but it’s huge, stunning and more than a little imposing from about 100 feet over the ice.
At right is the view from about 1,100 feet.
At left is the view from about 500 feet. Deep cracks glow bright blue, the face of the glacier is like a white cliff, and the “ice cubes” floating in the glacial lake become the size of cars.
The only downer was the overcast weather, which meant we couldn’t see Russia from Wasilla.