We got back to our home and took the rolls into the hangar office and shared them with Debby and Grant, Jim, a friend and part time employee of Grant's, and Mark, a friend of Grant's who happens to be an Alaska State Trooper. (Yes, he gets my total respect! Ever see Alaska State Troopers on the National Geographic Channel??) The rolls and company were good!
Peggy and I then left and loaded up to drive up to Hatchers Pass about 20 miles north of Wasilla. Located up in the mountains there is an old gold mine which is now an Alaska State Historical Park. Gold was discovered in the area in 1898. As the panning for gold (placer mining) waned so hard-rock mining replaced it to extract the gold from rock. Independence Mine was started in 1937 and continued until 1943. The history of this mine is worth Googling.
Many of the buildings of the mine still remain or were restored to their original condition when the mine was operating. Unfortunately, some of the buildings did not survive the years of idleness and are laying in ruins.
We walked the many trails around the mine, snapping photos and reading placards. It was an amazing process to extract gold from rock. It is the buildings where the extracting took place that were not restorable. But all in all, if you ever get to Wasilla or Palmer, this is very much worth the $5 day use fee.
After our self-tour of the mine, we drove the mountainous Willow Creek Road. This curvy gravel road is a popular summertime destination for many. One attraction along the road is Summit Lake. We could not find a place to park so had to drive on. We decided we will have the chance to come and drive this road much earlier in the morning when things are not so crowded.
It was forecasted to be in the mid-70's in Wasilla so we opened the camper's windows. As we drove the Willow Creek Road the clouds built up, got darker, and yup, you guessed it...rain, and off and on again hard rain! Luckily the road is on the north side of the first ridge of the Talkeetna Mts. while Wasilla is in the valley on the south side. Whew! Wasilla did not get a drop.
While munching rolls in the morning, Debby described a great place to eat as have the best french fries. And this place would be on the Parks highway going back into Wasilla from the Willow Creek Road. And, she was right! Awesome french fries, but in my opinion, their chili dog is super, too. Peggy had a hamburger that she said was very good, too. I have a feeling we will be going back to the blue with yellow trim building called Top Dog!
And, I should mention also that when we got back from the bakery, Debby greeted us with another surprise...a loaf of her Zucchini bread! WooHoo!!
Since we were both rather full from our late afternoon lunch at Top Dog, we had Debby's bread and a slice of sourdough bread for our supper.
Debby also dropped off our mail to us. She was telling us about this strange event with a loon at the lake we are on. The loon was lying in the grass on her property at the water's edge and wouldn't move. But later it had moved to the other side of a fence separating the property from a ramp to the lake on the other side. And there laid this loon.
Peggy and I grabbed the camera and walked to the fence. On the other side playing at the lakeshore was a family with a couple of small children. About 3 feet away in the water lazily swimming around was this loon. Very strange behavior!
Peggy had brought binoculars with her. She had spotted another loon swimming much farther out in the cove. But this loon kept diving and working its way closer to the shore. This loon then dove and came up next to the "friendly" loon and beat the holy you-know-what out of it with its wings. The friendly, and what we then realized, smaller loon clamored its way up along the fence where it hid in taller grass. We had just witnessed a territorial fight! And might made right as the resident larger loon reigned supreme. WOW!
The resident loon swam back and forth for a while and either unable to see the other loon in the grass or sensing victory dove and swam away. We left the weaker loon alone knowing that nature would run its course. Hopefully no neighborhood dogs will be running loose.
Thus ended another full, exciting day in Alaska!
A late addendum to the loon saga. Debby and Grant were good samaritans and used a blanket to pick up the smaller, young loon and moved it to their side of the fence. This will protect the loon from loose dogs overnight. In the morning if the loon is still there they will call the local game and parks office to see about what can be done.
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