This was a private fishing lake on the way to Glennallen, off the Glenn Highway. There was even a boat ramp!
This mountain has a brilliant coloring of red, orange and yellow. Known as Sheep Mountain, there are six different hiking trails. Due to the efforts of 1930s trapper Ed Ueeck, sheep hunting is illegal.
Glenn Highway descends westbound in a long straightaway toward Glacier Point, also know as Lions Head, an oddly formed rocky dome.
There were wildfires along the Glenn Highway; the Nelchina Glacier and the Chugach Mountains are in the background.
We saw this hungry bear alongside the road on a trip up to Arctic Valley. He was very close (within five feet of our truck) and calmly walked slowly up the shoulder eating the flowers.
After moving on to Anchorage, we took a ride to Eagle River to find the place where Thomas Merton, a Trappist monk and author was a guest in September 1968. At that time it was the Convent of the Sister Adorers of the Precious Blood (Roman Catholic). In the upstairs living room he gave lectures on the subject of community, which are published in the book “Thomas Merton in Alaska: The Alaskan Conferences, Journals and Letters (1968)”. Merton died less than two months later on December 10, 1968 in an accident in Bangkok, Thailand.
Years later, the covenant was closed and the buildings and land sold to the orthodox community which would go on to build their church.
St. John’s Orthodox Cathedral was established in 1980, when the State of Alaska made the first distribution of the Alaska Permanent Fund Corporation to all residents of the state. The fund was established in 1976 and has distributed revenues generated from the Alaska pipeline oil since 1980. The local residents did not want to squander their windfall, but do something meaningful for their church community. They agreed to give their allotment to a fund to build this cathedral. Using the monies gathered from the community, along with untold talent in woodworking, construction, painting, and other occupations, this church was built.
This was the original convent but has been updated and is now the St. James House, part of the school complex.
The construction of this cathedral was unbelievably perfect. The woodwork was done by local talent. The altar alcove was painted by a visiting priest. The icons were painted by parishioners; including the ceiling, which took several weeks with the painter laying on her back on a floor that was temporarily built at roof level.
This was taken, looking up from the floor level. You can see some of the windows letting light in. The ceiling woodwork was perfect. I cannot cut a straight line but the angles here all fit! Children helped with the paintings circling Jesus.
Cathy is with Debbie (a parishioner we met and who generously spent at least an hour with us) who is explaining the paintings of Alaskan saints. The painting on the right is of Sister Olga, a recently canonized Native American midwife and mother of 13. Olga is their patron of midwives and sexual abuse victims.
This was the upstairs living quarters in the convent, now used as a meeting room for current parishioners.
This is the dining hall used by the sisters in the convent. The pictures on the wall are yearly photos of the youth groups who gather here.
This is the “Merton Room” where Thomas Merton stayed for two weeks while in the convent. It is now used for guests.
Travelling with the Schinglers 