Nomad of Mid-America
For the Birds
The Turnagain Arm of the Cook Inlet is subject to extreme tidal fluctuations, among the highest in all of North America, as in and outgoing flows can change the water depth by nearly 40 feet at its maximum. Near the arm's elbow, roughly halfway down to Portage, the craggy outcropping of Bird Point juts into Turnagain's north side, forming a prominent habitat for aquatic fowl for which the landform gets its moniker. With the adjacent tide near its higher levels, Bird Point is truncated by Alaska Railroad train 120S--three Geeps taking containerized freight and carloads for the contiguous states to the deepwater port of Whittier--as low hanging cloudcover envelopes the tips of the Kenai peaks that rise along the opposite side of the Turnagain Arm.
For the Birds
The Turnagain Arm of the Cook Inlet is subject to extreme tidal fluctuations, among the highest in all of North America, as in and outgoing flows can change the water depth by nearly 40 feet at its maximum. Near the arm's elbow, roughly halfway down to Portage, the craggy outcropping of Bird Point juts into Turnagain's north side, forming a prominent habitat for aquatic fowl for which the landform gets its moniker. With the adjacent tide near its higher levels, Bird Point is truncated by Alaska Railroad train 120S--three Geeps taking containerized freight and carloads for the contiguous states to the deepwater port of Whittier--as low hanging cloudcover envelopes the tips of the Kenai peaks that rise along the opposite side of the Turnagain Arm.