Not wanting to wait 45 minutes for a table at the Snow City Cafe, and also wanting to try a new place, we wandered across downtown in search of another option.
We ended up at The White Spot Cafe, near our next destination: the bike rental shop that also runs a shuttle up to Flattop Mountain.
We checked in with the shuttle/tour operator around 11 AM, and wandered around downtown for about an hour before returning for the shuttle departure.
The guy at the bike shop recommended going up to the rooftop level of the large parking garage across the street, to take in some views.
The rooftop level offered a variety of activities, including basketball, ping pong, skating (?), and exercise equipment.
Indeed, the views were quite good.
Around 12, we headed back to the bike shop to board the shuttle. By 12:30, we were fighting traffic to get out of the city, on our way out to Flattop Mountain.
It was about a 20 minute ride, up some long and winding mountain roads.
Our leisurely hike commenced at 1 PM. To quote the shuttle company's website: "On average, it takes one hour to hike from the parking lot to the summit." and "No guide is needed on this popular, easy to follow trail."
It started out easily enough, but quickly became challenging.
In hindsight, there were some signs that we should have picked up on... like the shuttle guy asking us, multiple times, if we all had water, suggesting that our footwear might be inadequate, emphasizing that we would have to turn around at 3 PM if we hadn't yet reached the summit, etc.
The trail was not especially well-marked, and it was often muddy, snowy, steep, narrow, or full of stairs. Sometimes, it was all of those within 10 yards.
I didn't get any shots of the particularly precarious parts, because we were all focused on not falling off the side of the mountain.
But the views were stunning.
An hour in, we were still nowhere near the top.
After watching people struggling to climb the final pile of rocks to get to the summit, and hearing reports from others, on their way down, who had given up near the top, we decided not to risk falling down the steep-and-snowy trail, and instead climbed up to the top of the ridge near the summit.
If you zoom in, you might be able to make out the American flag at the very top here.
The view from the near-summit ridge was incredible.
We took a bunch of photos at the top, while we caught our breath.
After considering how difficult some of the trail was going to be on the way back down, we began our descent around 2:30 PM.
Most of the unpleasant sections from the ascent were equally as unpleasant on the return trip. Several were worse.
Eventually, we made it back to the lower part of the trail, where we weren't worried about plummeting to our deaths.
From there, it was (comparatively) a pleasant stroll back to the parking lot.
It took us about an hour to get down; we returned to the parking lot just after 3:30, with enough time for a brief rest before the shuttle departed at 4 PM.
The shuttle returned to downtown by 4:30, so we walked around a bit and did some shopping before dinner; having not eaten more than a snack since breakfast this morning, we were all famished.
Those are photos of a random hotdog stand we passed. Following the recommendation of the waitress from last night, we tried the Glacier Brewhouse.
It was also only a few blocks from the shuttle dropoff location, which was a welcome convenience after our punishing afternoon. By then, Sabrina's Fitbit reported almost 20,000 steps, over 7 miles walked, and 90 flights of stairs.
Shannon and I rewarded ourselves with chocolate peanut butter pie.
After dinner, the original plan had been to return to the bike rental shop (AKA the shuttle location) and rent bicycles for a few hours, in order to ride the Tony Knowles Coastal Trail.
However, the thought of riding a bike for some large chunk of 11 miles (each way) was dreadful, no matter how paved and flat the trail might be.
Instead, we opted to walk the trail from 5th ave back towards the apartment. It was after 7 PM by the time we set foot on the trail.
The trail had steady traffic of cyclists, razor scooters, pedestrians, and dogs.
Unfortunately, the next place where we could leave the trail wasn't until 13th ave, which was a few blocks past the apartment.
After we exited the coastal trail, we finished the final 1/2 mile or so back to the apartment.
Inexplicably, this involved more stairs; by the end of the night, the Fitbit was up to 99 flights.
Back at the apartment, some time after 8 PM, we packed up some bags in preparation for tomorrow morning.
Tomorrow, we take a scenic train ride down to Whittier, where we'll board the cruise ship. Depending on timing, this will probably be the last post until Tuesday, or possibly later.
This concludes the Anchorage Pre-Cruise Adventures part of the trip.
P.S.: It looks like the Airbnb hosts just got back from walking the dog, and are now watering their flowers. It's after 11 PM.
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