The swans return

Finally -- swans -- at Potter Marsh, and Alyeska. Trumpeter swans migrate through the Anchorage area spring and fall on their way to nesting grounds. Eighty percent of North American trumpeter swans nest and breed in Alaska. Some winter over here, but most disperse to different areas in the continental U.S. for the winter. Occasionally a pair will nest near Anchorage where they can be seen throughout the summer, but most go further away from large communities. These are still gray, which means they might be just a year or two old.

This swan, in the wetlands across from the entrance to Gridwood on the Seward Highway, is  white.

Plenty of geese at Ship Creek -- this gaggle seemed to be engaged in a lot of splashing about.

The tide was rolling in, with opaque gray waves that looked like Bootlegger''s clay come to life.

It didn't bother the gulls lined up at the water's edge.



We drove to Alyeska, in part to look for the swans, and in part to see how much snow was left.

Around Anchorage, great road trip weather. Further south, rainy and a chill wind.

Alyeska on Easter, April 5, two weeks ago.

Same area today -- no snow at all on the lower trees, and not so much higher up. Light rain, and clouded slopes.

There's no snow in the avalanche chutes along the Seward Highway. Not sure that I've ever seen that before at this time of the year. This chute (other than the brown grass) looks like it might on an August day after a very warm summer.

The sap is rising in the trees and shrubs, yellows, greens, and reds.

Later in the day we walked along Ship Creek. The Totem North Star is getting ready to sail to Tacoma; the tugs are in place. Looks like a barge with containers might be heading out too.

The wooden trestle railroad bridge across Ship Creek. A nearby sign says that the original one was built in 1916; it was rebuilt in 1938 and 1956. The railroad stopped using it in 1987, and it was converted to a pedestrian bridge. It now has a private restaurant on it. The higher concrete bridge in the background is part of the A Street- C Street couplet that goes up to the Government Hill neighborhood.

Yesterday the horse and carriage was giving free rides to people at Kids' Day; today it was filled with a wedding party that was on a little outing before dinner at the restaurant on the bridge.

Johnny-jump-ups at the railroad station -- they've survived the winter, and are beginning to thrive.

Sourdough legacy at Alyeska Bake Shop

Turnagain Arm, north of Alyeska Bake Shop. Photo by Teri Carns.

What’s older than you, and me, and anyone we know, but still bubbling along cheerfully? Answer: The sourdough starter at the Alyeska Bake Shop in Girdwood, Alaska. Those tasty sandwiches and pancakes that tempt you after a brisk winter ski are made with historic Alaska yeasts. A gold miner near Fairbanks gave some starter – a mix of flour, water, and colonies of living yeasts and edible bacteria –  to the owner of the Sourdough Lodge on Richardson Highway in the late 1800s. Those same yeasts have been growing and multiplying, raising and flavoring Alaskan breads ever since. In 1964, Werner Egloff who built the Alyeska Bake Shop stopped there on his way north, and the lodge owner gave him both starter and a pancake recipe.

Lucky me – on Easter Sunday, half a century later, I overheard a woman asking the staff if she could have some of that same starter. The answer was “yes,” so emboldened, I asked for a bit too. Brooke Bjorkman, baker and chef, gave me a cup half full with fragrant, creamy batter (leaving room for the starter to grow), and talked about its lineage and care.

“We double the starter twice a day,” she said, by feeding it two parts flour to one part water. The mix stays about the consistency of a good milkshake, a little thicker than pancake batter. The frequently-fed starter gets used for white sourdough bread and pancakes. But “Michael Flynn, the owner, lets some of the starter go a couple of days or longer between feedings. That makes it more sour, and suits the rye and whole wheat breads that he experiments with.”

Bjorkman said that the starter is sturdy stuff, as might be expected for something still going strong after a hundred years or more. When the Bakeshop closes in late October for its annual cleaning and refreshment, the starter goes into the refrigerator and is fed only every other day. Bjorkman said that her aunt dried sourdough starter for traveling by spreading a thin layer on waxed paper. Once the water evaporated, the aunt packaged up the powdered starter, then rejuvenated it by mixing with flour and water.

Alyeska Bake Shop treasures its starter. “If the building is burning down, save the starter,” is the staff motto. Years ago, a new employee accidentally threw out the starter. The owner hastily drove two hundred miles to Homer where another colony of the same starter was growing to bring some back to Girdwood.

My kids don’t know this yet, but along with the family jewels (of which there aren’t many), they’ll inherit something maybe more valuable – a sourdough starter, way older than me, that came to Alaska during the gold rush days.

Alyeska Bake Shop is in Girdwood, Alaska, next to the day lodge at the ski resort. It’s open year-round from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. (8:00 p.m. on Saturdays). Check out the menu,. Seating is available in the restaurant, or get your food to go. The Sourdough Lodge is still at Mile 147.5 on the Richardson Highway (according the the Copper Valley Chamber of Commerce), but as of this post, does not have a web site.