Anyone stayed at the Alyeska Resort recently? I would love your comments/concerns/recommendations (ie. perhaps which roomtype to "hope" for...view, etc..) Thanks bunches...heading there in 3 weeks...

Hi visormom,

We just stayed there on June 12 for 4 nights with a group. It is in a gorgeous location since it is really a ski resort. It is owned by an Asian company so the decor is more Asian. A little on the dark, stark side for me but it was very nice. I am not up on all the room types so I can't really help you there.

We ate dinner one night up in the SEven Glacier restaurant. It was wonderful. The views are great and the food was very good but it is pretty high dollarwise. Taking the tram up there is worth the time just for the views alone. Take your camera on up there. I forgot mine.

The group we were with had most of our functions catered by the hotel and the food was excellent. Can't tell you too much more about it.

If there is anything more specific, let me know. It is about 45 minutes south of Anchorage and about a half hour north of Porter Glacier visitor center. Unfortunately, the resort does not rent cars. You have to get them from the airport in Anchorage.

Ginny

Thanks so much for your replies. I am curious about the hiking around the resort. What is the level of difficulty, and is it as good (view wise) as other trails nearby? Has anyone done a PMS boat with Honey Charters? Thanks in advance

I crack myself up...that would be a PWS boat...ha

We also will be at Alyeska in 3 weeks and I would love any advice on hiking in the area. We have fishing trips planned for 2 days, but we love to hike.

Our favorite hike on the Kenai was the Winner Creek Trail behind Alyeska Prince Hotel. Look for the trailhead to the left (facing uphill)of the tram. It is a beautiful trail through rainforest to a roaring gorge where two rivers meet. I think it is about 5 miles, fairly easy rolling terrain, with a few steaper climbs. It was muddy in the spring but still worth it. They were in the process of laying wood boardwalks on the first part of the trail in May. Enjoy.

Another question--do you need reservations for the Seven Glacier Restaurant or the Japanese restaurant? And has anyone eaten at any other, less expensive, places nearby that are good?

The best restaurant in Girdwood, hands down, is the Double Musky Inn. The Double Musky is a logged cabin restaurant in the woods on Crow Creek Road, Girdwood is a small town, the locals will give you directions once you're there. The owner is the chef and has been running the place for 25 or more years so the quality control is a 10 on a scale of 1 through 10. Make sure you save room for desserts and get the cajun delight, it's out of this world.

The Seven Glaciers has a beautiful view (on top the mountain) but you could always go up for drinks. You can take the tram up any time, which I highly advise, you don't need to have dinner or drinks to do it. The Japanese in the main hotel is just a typical tepenyakki (sp?) bar, nothing special.

For outdoor recreation there is also a great hiking trail up Crow Creek Road. You take the road (about 5 miles) to the top where there is a parking lot. It is a beautiful hike. Another thing to do is to take the road up 2.5 mile where Gold Creek Mine is, you can gold pan in the rivers for a small fee, it also has beautiful views.

I don't know anything about your fishing charter but there are lots and lots of small operators that do a great job. I'm sure you'll have a good time.

Alyeska is owned by Seibu, a Japanese corporation who owns the Prince Hotel Chain.

Gr

Thanks Mariann!

I agree with Barblab that the Winner Creek Trail is a winner! What she didn't mention though is where the rivers come together, there is a handpulled cable car across the rivers that is great fun. I'm not usually a fan of going over gorges, but this was an experience. Enjoy your trip.

I've never heard of this with the cable pull car at least not in Girdwood, I've heard of the one at Kennicott. How far is it? 5 miles? Sounds a little scarey but fun. Is this something you can do with kids about the ages of 10 & 12? or is it a little dangerous?

Going up Crow Creek Trail you have to drive 5 miles up the mountain and while it's a well marked trail it does have a slight incline to it so it can leave you a little winded if you're out of shape. You're up in the mountains the view is breath taking.

Girdwood is probably one of my favorite towns. It's small but quaint with beautiful scenery. Maybe you can spend a few days there and discover a few of the hiking trails.

Girdwood is in a valley surrounded by mountains so sometimes it can get rainy. Make sure you plan for it.

Also, I failed to mentioned that the Bake Shop, on the property of the old hotel has the best breakfast's and great homemade soup for lunch.

The following is from an earlier post I did. I think the kids would love it.



We did the trail you're talking about last summer and found it to be quite interesting.

It's the Winner Creek Trail, which begins behind the Alyeska Resort. The bridge is listed as being 2 3/4 miles from the hotel. Just beyond the bridge on the left, we found a wonderful spot for lunch overlooking the creek and enjoyed hearing hiker's comments as they crossed the bridge. The tram is about another 5 min walk. I'm not good with swinging bridges, but thought the tram was great. People on the banks pulled us, almost too fast, across the creek.

We continued on the trail to make a loop which became the Iditarod Trail. This was a bit more difficult to follow and before we arrived back in town, found ourselves fenced into a school yard. Seems they had fenced the area off to remove toxic waste from the school grounds. We were eventually able to go over or under the fencing and make our way back into town. I'm sure everything is nice and cleaned up by now.

Wow, I remember reading an article years ago about the toxic waste problem they were having in the school yard in Girdwood. Kids were getting sick and if I remember correctly there was some stinky slime coming out of the ground. At the time of the article they didn't know what was buried there but they must of figured it out by now. Is this still an issue? I forgot all about that it was so long ago. There still must be a problem if things are fenced off. Maybe you should ask around Girdwood once you get there, just make sure you don't sit and have lunch on top of it.

What article?

Actually we were in Girdwood during summer of 2002 so imagine that work has been completed by this time.

I don't remember how long ago I read it. It seemed that it was a lot longer than two years ago but I can't always trust my memory.

You should pull up the Anchorage Daily News website and do a search for "Girdwood School" and see what sort of information comes up. This would be the best place to look for it.

I went over to www.adn.com and typed in search words "Girdwood School" and "Toxic" and this is what it pulled up. It was the only article about this so it doesn't appear to have been an on going issue (although I didn't search too long so there could be more). It was only in 2001, not long after Clousie was there so I bet you he is right and the place is cleaned up.


Anchorage Daily News (AK)
April 23, 2001
Section: Nation
Edition: Final
Page: A1





Safety questions bubble up at school built over landfill

District says water OK; parents want to know more



Zaz Hollander
Anchorage Daily News

Staff

GIRDWOOD -- Girdwood K-8 is grappling with the legacy of a 20-year-old decision to build the school over a landfill. A horrific smell clung to the snowsuit that Kate Chandler's daughter wore home from school in early January.

That snowsuit went through three washings before the smell -- ''like an infected wound, a sweet, foul smell'' -- finally disappeared.

Heavy rains over winter break sent groundwater percolating through a ball field next to the playground. The day students returned to school, they came back from recess coated with a mysterious brown goop.

''They were sliding in it,'' recalled Chandler, a nurse. ''They were all kidding about it: Sliding in the sewer water.' ''

Teachers noticed the smell immediately but couldn't trace it. The next day, crews from the Anchorage School District surrounded the ball field with an orange plastic barrier.

The orange mesh is still there.

But parents, school officials and environmental regulators still don't know what that foul stuff was -- or whether it poses a threat to the school's water well, downhill from the buried landfill.

Parents like Chandler want to know more. Many have had questions about the landfill for years.

Chandler and three other parents formed a task force to research the landfill and its effect on their children's health. The group is holding a public meeting with the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation to share what it has learned at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday in the school gym. An open house will start at 3 p.m.

The parent group is emphatic: They don't want to create hysteria; they just want to know more.

Julie Jonas, another parent in the task force, and some other parents send their children to school with bottled water.

''I'm not saying anybody else should,'' Jonas said. ''I'm not saying there's a problem, but until I'm convinced that everything is safe, I'm doing that as a precaution.''

This isn't the first problem with the landfill, she added. Through the years, other parents have reported pink ooze percolating out of the ground, a rusty car fender emerging, and a doll surfacing.

The water at the school is safe, district officials say. The district installed a water treatment system in the mid-1990s.

Monthly water tests reveal no problems, said Girdwood principal Jim Cox.

But Cox is the first to say the school is battling at least a perception problem that deserves action.

''I think something has to be done out there,'' Cox said. ''Even if it's not a health concern we should do something because kids shouldn't be playing in a smelly mess.''

He hopes the community and officials find consensus on what to do about the landfill within a year to 18 months.

Samples taken in February and more recent preliminary tests by a district consultant at two sites around the field revealed no problems. But the consultant couldn't locate any of the smelly goo, according to Michael Franks, the district's construction manager for major maintenance.

The district also wants to make sure contamination isn't permeating through water lines, Franks said. The lines are triple-lined, but they do go through an old honey bucket dump area.

A November report from the DEC rated the school well's vulnerability as high for bacteria, viruses and nitrates and very high for synthetic compounds like toxic agents in gasoline.

The study doesn't reflect ongoing problems or even real risk, said Michael Crotteau, the report's author. The well's rating is high because the landfill is so close and because of a 3,000-gallon above-ground diesel tank used by the school.

''It's only potential risk,'' Crotteau said. ''It doesn't reflect whether it for sure is going to happen. It doesn't even go on a percentage of what might happen.''

School officials, the parent group and DEC staffers are still looking for answers to numerous questions. Among them:

* What kind of protective cap covers the landfill? There are some indications that the cap is several feet of dirt and gravel as opposed to the low permeability membrane or a clay barrier regulators would require today.

* What's in the landfill? Chandler has interviewed 50 people, some of them simply people who dumped garbage there, to gauge whether the garbage is household items or could also consist of more hazardous materials like motor oil or herbicides.

* What's the best way to clean up the landfill if there is a problem?

Community members hope a new water system makes at least some of those questions moot.

The Anchorage Water & Wastewater Utility is proposing a new $4 million water line along the Alyeska Highway, coupled with new water storage facilities. The utility needs $1 million to finish the project, and officials hope to snare a grant.

But utility and district officials say the project is not connected to the landfill or water quality issues.

The school does need water for fire protection, Franks said, because the well doesn't produce enough.

''We don't have anything from the health department that says Girdwood school has a health problem associated with its water,'' he said. ''We need to view them as separate things. There is no fire flow at that school.''

Reporter Zaz Hollander can be reached at [email protected] or at 257-4591.











Copyright (c) 2001, Anchorage Daily News