Ten diehard members of the Anchorage Volkswalk Club showed
up for the club's traditional New Year's Day walk. We gathered in the lobby of
the Westmark Hotel then headed out toward the starting point of the Anchorage Light Speed Planet Walk, the Sun. The Anchorage Light Speed Planet Walk is a scale model of
our solar system. Taking the walk, you experience the relative size of the
planets and their distance from the Sun. The scale was chosen so that a
leisurely walking pace mimics the speed of light. On this scale, each step
equals the distance light travels in one second (300,000 kilometers or 186,000
miles).
About this time, our group was joined by a homeless man. He followed us for the entire walk. We
continued past the downtown bus depot, City Hall, and a mural depicting
Anchorage's history along a timeline.
Next we passed the Dena'ina Civic and Convention Center and the Linny
Pacillo Parking Garage. Here you can see a series of plaques entitled
"Alaska History Walk - A Journey of Statehood 1867-2009" and another
mural entitled "Focus on Statehood."
We walked past the
Convention Center again, and then past the Conoco-Phillips Building and the
Marriott Hotel, before arriving at the Delaney Park Strip. It is 14 blocks long
and one block wide and was originally a
firebreak between the original town site and the wooded area to the south. It served as an airstrip from 1923-30.
At Resolution Park, you can see a statue of Captain James
Cook looking out over the Cook Inlet.
Continuing on, we passed the Hotel Captain Cook, the Holy Family
Cathedral, and the new state courthouse.
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| Engine Number One |
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| Alaska Railroad Depot, built in 1942 |
Heading downhill on Christensen Drive, we reached the Alaska
Railroad Depot. Engine Number 1 sits on
a pedestal in front of the depot. It was built in 1907 and was used to haul
dirt during the construction of the Panama Canal before it was shipped to
Alaska to haul freight. It was retired
in 1953.
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| Ship Creek |
We walked along Ship Creek for a bit before heading back
uphill to the Eisenhower Statehood Memorial.
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| All aboard the Ice Train |
Back in the downtown area we
passed by a bronze statue of Balto, the Fifth Avenue Mall, and the Egan Civic
and Convention Center. Across from the
Egan Center we entered Town Square Park and stopped to look at the ice
sculptures. They were a little worse for
the wear due to temperatures in the mid to upper 30's last week. From this point it was a very short walk to
to the Westmark and the conclusion of our 5k walk.
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| My trusty Yak Trax |
While it wasn't cold (about 30°F), it was somewhat icy. Most of us had Yak Trax, or similar ice
grippers and they worked quite well.
Walk Route: B
Walk Instructions: A-
