Veilbreaker Skywalk

8th August

Today we are heading out to Aleyska Resort at the head of Turnagain Arm. One of the phenomena of this area is that at certain times of the month they have what is called a Bore Tide. This is a breaking wave that rushes in twice daily at speeds of 6 to 24 mph and can be up to 6 feet high. The length of the Turnagain Arm bore tide is about 50 miles and takes up to 5 hours to travel from the mouth of Turnagain Arm to the end. We were just driving along not really taking much notice until Philip noticed a couple of surfers out in the waters, surfing the bore tide wave. Pulling over we watched the wave, (this time fairly small probably 2’ (600mm) in height), for a while. It’s quite a sight to see this wave spread across the width of the arm. Pretty hard to take photos of it but gave it a shot.

Then it’s on to the Aleyska Resort for Philip to take on the Veilbreaker Skywalk while I enjoyed a lovely hike along the Winner Creek Trail. I would rather keep my feet firmly planted on the ground especially today as the clouds are hanging around the peaks.

(P- On April 1st this year, I saw an advert for an adventure walk across some peak to peak suspension bridges. These were located near Girdwood, Alaska. I thought this is for me and I will book that, but the advert disappeared and I just thought it was an April “Fools “ joke! Phil fooled again! We were in Homer, Alaska and the advert came back announcing the Veilbreaker peak walk at 2500’ elevation had just opened. A mental note was made to make sure I can fit this in our unplanned wander around Alaska. Yesterday was the day! We went up on the Sky Tram to 1500’, had lunch and I met the guides with 6 others. Harnessed in safety gear and helmets off I went without Judith – there is no way she would think this was gunna be fun! We had about 3/4 of a mile hike up to the summit the first peak, the cloud randomly engulfing us then clearing we get to the first “bridge” consisting of a couple of wire ropes supporting some 9” (225mm) wide galvanised steel walkway material plus a safety line to clip to just in case! 2 of the 7 victims never made the first bridge and turned back after seeing the approx 330’ (100m ) long bridge with about the same measurements to the steep valley below. I did it solo as my wife was miles away ( walking without her bear defence pepper spray! ( which was in the pickup)! Every step the bridge would bounce and twist under my weight. The second bridge was up another steep climb and longer with a deeper drop underneath. Because there was only a few of us the guides allowed us to turn back and do bridge number 2 a second time. A fantastic adventure experience with great guides – It was well worth Judith’s effort worrying about me on it (as I certainly wasn’t! )Another top Alaskan Day.)