Spirit houses and waterfalls

July 19, 2012  Spirit Houses and Waterfalls

 Another beautiful day here in Anchorage--sunshine and a blistering 74 today!   Love it!

The "new" St. Nicholas Church

We started the day with breakfast on the base, then set out on the 26 mile drive to Eklutna.  This charming little village is a blending of the Athabascan and Russian cultures.  The best example of this is at the little Russian Orthodox Church of St. Nicholas.  The cemetery there displays many "spirit houses" that incorporate the old ways of the natives into the Russian Orthodox religion.   The houses are very creative and symbolic of the lives of the deceased and represent their family histories as well.

The old St. Nicholas Church

Interior of the "old" Church

Spirit houses

Spirit houses and Russian Orthodox Cross

Interesting grave marker

Natives cover new graves with a blanket.

A modern spirit house

After leaving the village of Eklutna, we visited Mirror Lake, then stopped for a 2 mile hike up to Thunder Bird Falls.  It was a beautiful hike, and half-way up at an overlook of the Eklutna Canyon we finally saw a salmon that seemed to be swimming "in place" in the water below us.     Gary thinks it was stuck in shallow water, but I think it was spawning.  The falls were very pretty, but the hike was the most fun.

Thunder Bird Falls. 

Hiking and talking on the phone. 

The afternoon was spent doing laundry, shopping on base, and dining at the Wilderness Inn.  We have decided to stay here a couple of days longer than we had planned.  It is a good campground, cheap and convenient, so we plan to do a bit more sightseeing and catching up on chores  before heading to Valdez.