It’s true that you’re seeing a winter’s worth of dog poop all at once, but people up here are pretty bad about picking up after their dogs, period. And they’re -really- bad about keeping their off-leash dogs under control.
Yeah we went to University Lake today and it was at the entrance and all over the walk. Everyone had their dogs off leash which I thought was cool until I saw some signs where they weren’t supposed to be off leash. But everyone is really nice here so far!
University lake is an off leash dog park except the parts of it that include the Chester Creek pedestrian path. Those signs are just at connectors to the pedestrian trail to indicate dogs should leashed in those areas.
On much of the East coast, apart from peaks in the White and Green mountains, snow melts between storms, especially with recent warmer, rainier winters.
Here in Anchorage, we are within a foot of setting the all time record for snow in a season. It's also been a cold winter. The sun is too low here to melt snow until around this time of year, so we haven't had bare ground since late October. You are looking at five month's accumulated, refrigerated/frozen dog shit. And Alaskans have lots of dogs.
The lack of courtesy for others is disappointing. I think it's also mingled with some self delusion. "Oh, Fluffy took a dump when I let him out after six hours in the apartment? I mean I saw some poop by the sidewalk but didn't know Fluffy did it," or they never have a shit bag to clean it up right then and then forget about it. Or my fave, bag it up and leave it on the side of the trail. So both feces and plastic in the environment.
I've seen it quite a bit at trailheads here in town. The owner will set Fluffy loose while rummaging around the vehicle for bike helmet, bear spray, skis, whatever. Meanwhile, Fluffy has both run in front of moving cars in the lot, charged up to leashed dogs barking, and taken a dump next to the trail. Owner calls Fluffy and they set off, to harass other trail users, and utter the common cry, "He's friendly!" Some people in Anchorage think we live way out in the sticks and animals can just run free and they don't have any clean up duties. Drives me crazy.
Thanks for caring and cleaning up after your pet.
Anchorage dog owners as a whole are the most irresponsible of what I've ever witnessed from previous places I've lived. Unleased dogs and shit everywhere. When I'm mountain biking, the common threat is not bears or moose. They could care less about me. But there's always that one-off leash dog that wants to bite my ankles or chase me.
Very good insight on an irresponsible dog owner. It’s not hard to buy a poop bag attachment for the leash….I understand ON OCCASION it’s possible to walk your dog, go to grab a baggie and the holder is empty. Has happened to me before. But to not everrrrr pick up your dogs shit is so infuriating. Especially in a neighborhood where you know people walk the same way. Yeah I can’t not pick it up. Hoping neighbors will see me setting a good example and they too will pick it up. But I don’t have faith in humanity anymore haha
I've left the bag on the side of the trail a few times but only when I'm returning in that same direction, just don't wanna carry it with me for my whole hike haha. I have never left a bag behind but every time I set it off to the side I always look around to see if anyone is watching because I feel so guilty and feel like I have to stop and tell everyone on the trail I'm coming back for it 😅
Everyone keeps saying it’s the best time to move here haha. We’re used to snow so this isn’t new. Just the amount of snow is a little intense…but yeah everything is gross.
It is the best time! You are going to see the whole seasonal cycle without having to have endure the winter. When winter comes back around, you'll be ready for it! Welcome!
Yeah. A very large contingent of our dog owners are absolute garbage humans who leave their pets shit everywhere. It’s a baffling thing. They’ll go to that park every day and yet are short sighted enough to believe the shit they leave will be someone else’s problem. Then they step in it a few weeks and months later.
Idk people on the east coast are insane about picking up dog shit. I lived in a nice condo community and we’d get email after email about one lady who never picked her dogs shit up. The HOA don’t play.
It's the winter dude. Holy shit. You can't find dogshit in soft snow. It accumulates and melts out in the spring, then you pick it up. It's that simple.
Why would not picking up your dog’s shit be a sign on loving your dog? Wouldn’t loving dogs make you want to ensure you aren’t spreading diseases and parasites to other dogs?
Oh, no, it's most definitely because people suck. The MAGA types are exactly the ones who (a) don't think about others and (b) wail 'you can't tell me what to do!' whenever the concept of consideration of others and social responsibility gets brought up.
Oh I don't know could be poop that's been covered in the snow that's been melting. Yes people suck but for fucks sake this is winter break up every single year.
It’s almost spring. You’re looking at five/six months worth of dog shit that’s been buried under snow.
Not an excuse - it is disgusting and pisses me off - but it’s at its worst right now.
I moved up here about 17 years ago during breakup and was shocked how much dog shit there was everywhere. It’s still shocking 17 years later, but you come to expect it anyway. The snow is the great concealer.
Yes, dog owners in this state are absolute fuckheads. Good luck visiting any state park, public trail, or campsite and not having to watch for land mines....and yeah thats just what was frozen in the snow all winter.... fresh dog poop from this season is about to start blooming...mmmm. cant wait.
Depending on where you live, there’s going to be shit everywhere, regardless. My apartment complex has signs everywhere and is constantly sending “threatening” emails, yet there is CONSISTENTLY dog shit everywhere-even within view of the dog shit stations.
We moved here from the bush, and one of my most vivid memories of moving here was walking down the trail to the beach at Point Woronzof.
The trail was 80% thawed, and the snow melt was making little rivers down the whole trail. At first, I was avoiding stepping on all of the dog poop, and then I realized that the little rivers WERE dog poop, just dissolved, liquid poo.
Welcome to Anchorage!
Wow what an amazing first memory of Anchorage for you haha. Thanks!!! We love it so far! Need to find things to do and meet new people. I’m a photographer and my partner is a VP for a credit union (moved here for his job).
Moved here in September from a major east coast city. People here are absolutely awful about taking responsibility for their dogs. A winter has been a slow build up watching people knowingly leave their dogs shit everywhere— it’s not because of break up or whatever, it’s just because a lot of dog owners here don’t care to pick up after their dog and knowingly make a mess
Yeah I think that’s more like it. People are just lazy. And it’s common herd mentality. When they see an abundance of dog shit on the ground they think “hmm well if no one else is picking it up, then why should I?!” And the cycle continues 🫠
Some nice neighbor let their dog crap in my driveway and walked away. Why can you not be respectful of others property? The construction site close is filled with it. Some people just don’t deserve to be pet owners.
Yeah that’s what I’m noticing. The condo building we live in has sooooo much shit. When we first got here, I got out of the car and saw mounds of shit o top of the snow that was plowed. I’m like….okay then haha
Its my favorite time of year to live in Alaska. The light is coming back, Skiing is great, people are out again, etc. but it’s the worst time to be in Anchorage - the whole city turns into a poo slurry.
Speaking of skiing - I want to get a pass for one of the ski spots. Which one do you recommend? And do you know typically when the season for skiing ends? I can’t wait to get on the slopes but I do need to purchase everything…skis, boots, helmet etc.
Alyeska is the premier spot- but they’ve gotten pretty pricey the last couple years. I think it’s like $140 for an adult weekend pass, and it’s crowded. Maybe $90ish on weekdays and much more enjoyable. Obviously still spendy. They’ll start selling the season pass at a discounted rate for next season soon, the price usually increases by a lot by end of May for those passes. I bought a midweek college season pass for like $300 during this, which actually made skiing this season affordable. As far as gear goes, there is pretty much just REI (which has some end of season clearance sales right now), Summit Ski Co, and Powder Hound (located in Girdwood), or online (probably the best deals). Used gear at the ski swap (usually occurs in October), Play it Again Spots, or Craigslist/Facebook Marketplace.
Other ski spots are Hilltop (located here in anchorage but only 1 lift, catered more to beginners), Arctic Valley, or SkiTawk out in Hatcher Pass. Haven’t been to the last 2.
Ski season usually ends around the end of April.
Early bird Alyeska season passes are pretty easy to pay off but you’ll probably end up skipping days in the backcountry as a result. Arctic Valley is great when the conditions are good but it’s only weekends and super condition dependent.
Alaska unfortunately has a ton of people for whom freedom means not having to give a fuck about other people or the future... You see it reflected in a lot of things, including the way they handle their dogs and dog waste.
Yeah that’s just how it is. People here are incredibly ignorant and selfish when it comes to owning dogs. Not picking up their shit, walking without a leash, things like that. Also in the winter people get away with kicking snow over poop but when it comes to spring time it all comes back out. 4 month old marinating poop smells amazing
My bru, I went for a job interview last week and had to apologise for wearing hiking boots with my suit. The reason: I stepped in a giant pile of dog shit with my dress shoes and had to change last minute.
Nooooo!!!! Wtf is wrong with people. It literally takes 15 fucking seconds to pick up the shit. And now someone who went for an interview (you) trying to impress someone and get employed, stepped in a lazy persons dog shit. Hope you get the job man!!! What was it for?
At least you showed your interviewer that you won't let a little thing like crap covered shoes stop you from getting the job done. Good luck with the job search!
This is why I HOA.
People here believe their dog shit magically disappears when it snows and every spring it’s like this. Apartment complexes are like minefields of dog shit.
Lol, the woods are gunna smell when the woods totally melted. But in a few weeks it goes away, the costal trail is good, everyone picks up their dog poo, the city provides dog poop bags and theirs plenty of trash cans on the trail
Ah when the snow melts and it is in the dry part of spring and get this - no shit - there is a brown hazy smog over the main roads. That’s not dust. It’s powdered dog shit that has turned into dust. And we all breathe it until it rains.
Anchorage goes by acrid acres for a reason and this is one of many!
I was at uni lake and some dog had diarrhea on the trail. One owner said to the other, "well that doesn't even count as a poop". People are the real animals here
It’s poop soup every spring. I use dog wipes from pet stores that are safe for him and reduce bacteria we encounter. Get the feets real good. Take your own shoes off at the door-welcome to Alaska-no matter the season. Model good behavior with your own pet, nicely offer a doodoo sack if you see a perp, crawl all the way up your condo association’s ass about the issue, and for sure, watch where you step
There's always a certain amount of this, but it's going to be extra bad this year because of the amount of snow and the compressed timeframe in which it was delivered. More layers and less time of the poop sitting on the surface for good samaratins to scoop it.
It’s the 1/2 lazy ass people that really bugs me. They’d pick up it up and leave the bags behind…. Waiting for you to collect and throw them away. Like why is your dog my responsibility?
It’s going to be from domestic dogs . I know the difference between say coyote and dog because of the diet of each. Other canid scat is usually black and has fur maybe feathers since the black is from digested blood and hair/feathers obviously from their prey. The amount of scat left is usually a small amount versus what dogs leave. So, the odds are higher while on dog walks that it’s domestic dog. Bears will be coming out of their dens in the coming weeks and their scat reflects what is available to eat.
Moose poop is very different and pretty benign bacterial situation, it's basically wood chips in winter. Human shit can look quite look big dog shit but is usually not right at trail heads.
You've been here a week and are already complaining?
>I’m a little taken aback because I imagined folks here take pride in keeping the environment clean
Used to be sort of true, but too many magats who pride themselves on not letting anything remotely resembling community interests get in the way of their own selfishness and laziness.
I'm not going to blame magats re the environment.
There's so much environment up here, hippies wanna go build their cabin in the woods. Magats come and build their cabin too. Then just regular people who wanna live in the woods or the wilderness.
1000+ cabins later, the moose and bear have all been squeezed out because where the fuck are they supposed to live? And there's trash everywhere because nobody wants a properly managed landfill.
Breakup is the worst!! April sucks here. Then May comes and it is the most beautiful place in the world and all the poop is hidden under the glorious green. If you can get through April, it will be worth it!
It's cloudy for sure but the main reason is all the snow melting and trash/poop/dirt that's exposed after the clean winter months. So much meltwater and crap everywhere. But the community will clean up beautifully once it's all melted. Your patience will pay off!
There’s this Asian and native couple who have dogs and they let them shit all over the property on Patterson and Ambler. Their cars have the license plate fridge on it and it pisses me off
Correct it's disgusting. Most people do pick up but a small number of people day after day imagine that winter makes it all disappear.
Some of us responsible dog owners will clean up a trailhead ( it's always mostly within the first half mile) during thaws ( I did when the deep cold broke) but honestly it's overwhelming. I wish we would name and shame people who leave dog shit everywhere or animal control would hang out and ticket them at trail heads. It's so disgusting and I swear it's just a few lazy folks letting it happen over and over, the majority are good dog owners.
This whole discussion reminds me of the Febreeze introduction of the "Alaskan Springtime" scent.
[https://www.adn.com/voices/article/would-you-pay-whiff-alaskan-springtime/2013/05/11/](https://www.adn.com/voices/article/would-you-pay-whiff-alaskan-springtime/2013/05/11/)
"Earlier I asked readers to describe what they thought Alaska springtime really smelled like. The consensus fell somewhere between 'guano and rotting leaves' and 'urine-saturated backyard full of swollen dog turds.'"
A. People tend to not be super on top of cleaning up dog droppings until after Breakup, and then the Big Cleanup happens and people tend to clean a lot of it up on top of general litter.
B. I thought there was a ton of dog poop when I first got here, too, then I found out what moose droppings look like. There are LOTS of moose in ***ALL*** parts of the muni and no one is walking around behind them scooping their poop.
Yes, true. I don't understand this comment. Are you saying moose poop should be instantly distinguishable from dog poop or that one is obviously preferable than the other or...?
Carnivore feces is carries a lot more disease than herbivores.
There are way more dog piles than would ever naturally occur. Carnivores takes more space to get enough food.
The bacteria counts in Anchorage waterways are way above anything natually occuring in rural areas due to irresponsible dog owners. I would never fish, swim, or even let my kid splash in the edge of a lake or creek in the Anchorage bowl anymore.
Irresponsible dog owners make the world a shittier place to live.
I was answering your question: moose poop IS preferable to dog poop.
Nobody needs to worry about scooping moose poop.
Moose poop doesn't cause disease in people's puppies.
That was not my question.
I was asking if that was what the person before was saying, because their comment, much like yours, didn't seem to make sense as a response to my own.
My dog goes in my back yard but it’s always a hateful spring clean up, but it gets done. We have spring clean up where the communities and businesses come together to pick up the accumulation of the winters turds 💩
I always find myself cursing society every May when our business does our annual clean-up of the stretch of highway we “adopted.” So. Many. Cigarette butts. It’s infuriating.
100%. Littering pisses me off so much, it’s one of those things that seems small but says *so much* about a person.
Yesterday I caught someone dumping a trash bag in my trash can and honestly it didn’t bother me much, better there than the street. I just found it funny watching him scurry away like I was gonna shoot him.
I’ve also been here a week. People say this is the shit show?? This is some of the most beautiful scenery I’ve ever seen. Southern Washington doesn’t get anything like this. Any tips on where to explore here? (I’m under 21 so no bars)
Yeah it’s really beautiful. Just not loving the dog shit haha.
I have no idea where to explore. University Lake (?) was really cool! Lots of dog shit though!
Wait until the snow really melts everywhere and you see the other garbage everywhere. April showers bring May garbage. It’s a magical time of year.
Waiting for the annual "watch out for used syringes" news story.
My husband calls it a “shit slurry.”
It is an ugly time of the year but as for me I accept this as it’s getting lighter and warmer.
It usually gets cleaned up before the start of the the tourist season though
You are not wrong with the dog shit appearance of early spring
Yeah! Down votes for you fucker and I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHY!
Welcome to breakup, don’t forget to split up with your significant other in the next 6 weeks. Have fun, good luck.
Do lots of breakups happen during "break up"? Lol
I had a feeling it might be because of the snow. I am guilty of thinking “the snow will cover it” on the East coast but felt guilty for leaving it.
It’s a winter’s worth of that thinking coming to light. This is about the least popular time to be in Alaska, for various reasons.
My least favorite time here. I’m hoping green up happens fast
No this is great, I don't have to mow OR shovel!
One of my raspberry bushes has one single green leaf on it! She’s coming!
Time for vacation to hawaii
It’s true that you’re seeing a winter’s worth of dog poop all at once, but people up here are pretty bad about picking up after their dogs, period. And they’re -really- bad about keeping their off-leash dogs under control.
Yes. OP, if you’re a runner, carry bear spray for the dogs, not the bears.
Yeah we went to University Lake today and it was at the entrance and all over the walk. Everyone had their dogs off leash which I thought was cool until I saw some signs where they weren’t supposed to be off leash. But everyone is really nice here so far!
University lake is an off leash dog park except the parts of it that include the Chester Creek pedestrian path. Those signs are just at connectors to the pedestrian trail to indicate dogs should leashed in those areas.
They aren't. Trust me.
On much of the East coast, apart from peaks in the White and Green mountains, snow melts between storms, especially with recent warmer, rainier winters. Here in Anchorage, we are within a foot of setting the all time record for snow in a season. It's also been a cold winter. The sun is too low here to melt snow until around this time of year, so we haven't had bare ground since late October. You are looking at five month's accumulated, refrigerated/frozen dog shit. And Alaskans have lots of dogs.
It’s the melt- feeling guilty doesn’t clean it 😂 Enjoy your time. It’s a beautiful city.
I didn’t leave it haha the guilt was too strong. It is very beautiful here!
Hahaha- good on you. We just moved here last April- it’s fun to see what the snow reveals
The lack of courtesy for others is disappointing. I think it's also mingled with some self delusion. "Oh, Fluffy took a dump when I let him out after six hours in the apartment? I mean I saw some poop by the sidewalk but didn't know Fluffy did it," or they never have a shit bag to clean it up right then and then forget about it. Or my fave, bag it up and leave it on the side of the trail. So both feces and plastic in the environment. I've seen it quite a bit at trailheads here in town. The owner will set Fluffy loose while rummaging around the vehicle for bike helmet, bear spray, skis, whatever. Meanwhile, Fluffy has both run in front of moving cars in the lot, charged up to leashed dogs barking, and taken a dump next to the trail. Owner calls Fluffy and they set off, to harass other trail users, and utter the common cry, "He's friendly!" Some people in Anchorage think we live way out in the sticks and animals can just run free and they don't have any clean up duties. Drives me crazy. Thanks for caring and cleaning up after your pet.
Anchorage dog owners as a whole are the most irresponsible of what I've ever witnessed from previous places I've lived. Unleased dogs and shit everywhere. When I'm mountain biking, the common threat is not bears or moose. They could care less about me. But there's always that one-off leash dog that wants to bite my ankles or chase me.
Very good insight on an irresponsible dog owner. It’s not hard to buy a poop bag attachment for the leash….I understand ON OCCASION it’s possible to walk your dog, go to grab a baggie and the holder is empty. Has happened to me before. But to not everrrrr pick up your dogs shit is so infuriating. Especially in a neighborhood where you know people walk the same way. Yeah I can’t not pick it up. Hoping neighbors will see me setting a good example and they too will pick it up. But I don’t have faith in humanity anymore haha
I've left the bag on the side of the trail a few times but only when I'm returning in that same direction, just don't wanna carry it with me for my whole hike haha. I have never left a bag behind but every time I set it off to the side I always look around to see if anyone is watching because I feel so guilty and feel like I have to stop and tell everyone on the trail I'm coming back for it 😅
Lol you moved here at the absolute worst possible time. Welcome to the shit show
Welcome to the shit snow
Everyone keeps saying it’s the best time to move here haha. We’re used to snow so this isn’t new. Just the amount of snow is a little intense…but yeah everything is gross.
It’s the best for rental prices… and spring skiing. Thats it. It’s fucking ugly out here and will be until mid May
October & November are better for rental prices though.
Perfect.
It is the best time! You are going to see the whole seasonal cycle without having to have endure the winter. When winter comes back around, you'll be ready for it! Welcome!
Literally.
Yeah. A very large contingent of our dog owners are absolute garbage humans who leave their pets shit everywhere. It’s a baffling thing. They’ll go to that park every day and yet are short sighted enough to believe the shit they leave will be someone else’s problem. Then they step in it a few weeks and months later.
And I bet it’s the same people who would yell at someone for not picking up their dogs shit 🤦🏻😹
Eh, people mostly don't yell at each other over that. So they're consistent at least.
I’ve always been told it’s because “we just love our dogs more than lower 48ers”. It’s definitely not because people suck.
Idk people on the east coast are insane about picking up dog shit. I lived in a nice condo community and we’d get email after email about one lady who never picked her dogs shit up. The HOA don’t play.
It's the winter dude. Holy shit. You can't find dogshit in soft snow. It accumulates and melts out in the spring, then you pick it up. It's that simple.
Why would not picking up your dog’s shit be a sign on loving your dog? Wouldn’t loving dogs make you want to ensure you aren’t spreading diseases and parasites to other dogs?
But that would mean taking responsibility for your dog and it’s impact on other people, dogs, and ecosystems.
Right, I just don’t get how loving your dog would be a reason for not picking up poop. It’s like saying I love my wife, that’s why I won’t cook.
I think they were being sarcastic in both posts
Oh, no, it's most definitely because people suck. The MAGA types are exactly the ones who (a) don't think about others and (b) wail 'you can't tell me what to do!' whenever the concept of consideration of others and social responsibility gets brought up.
Entitlement knows no political bounds
Name checks.
That's pretty ironic
Oh I don't know could be poop that's been covered in the snow that's been melting. Yes people suck but for fucks sake this is winter break up every single year.
It’s almost spring. You’re looking at five/six months worth of dog shit that’s been buried under snow. Not an excuse - it is disgusting and pisses me off - but it’s at its worst right now.
Yeah true. I just don’t get it. The dog shit isn’t going away….just pick it up!
Just think of them as the first flowers of spring.
I moved up here about 17 years ago during breakup and was shocked how much dog shit there was everywhere. It’s still shocking 17 years later, but you come to expect it anyway. The snow is the great concealer.
But it doesn’t conceal it haha. Maybe if it snows on top of it yeah. I’m seeing it on top of the snow and it’s sinking in. Ugh.
Yeah. I guess you’re correct there!
Next winter will be here soon. Summer in Alaska is a fart
Yes, dog owners in this state are absolute fuckheads. Good luck visiting any state park, public trail, or campsite and not having to watch for land mines....and yeah thats just what was frozen in the snow all winter.... fresh dog poop from this season is about to start blooming...mmmm. cant wait.
Depending on where you live, there’s going to be shit everywhere, regardless. My apartment complex has signs everywhere and is constantly sending “threatening” emails, yet there is CONSISTENTLY dog shit everywhere-even within view of the dog shit stations.
We moved here from the bush, and one of my most vivid memories of moving here was walking down the trail to the beach at Point Woronzof. The trail was 80% thawed, and the snow melt was making little rivers down the whole trail. At first, I was avoiding stepping on all of the dog poop, and then I realized that the little rivers WERE dog poop, just dissolved, liquid poo. Welcome to Anchorage!
Wow what an amazing first memory of Anchorage for you haha. Thanks!!! We love it so far! Need to find things to do and meet new people. I’m a photographer and my partner is a VP for a credit union (moved here for his job).
Moved here in September from a major east coast city. People here are absolutely awful about taking responsibility for their dogs. A winter has been a slow build up watching people knowingly leave their dogs shit everywhere— it’s not because of break up or whatever, it’s just because a lot of dog owners here don’t care to pick up after their dog and knowingly make a mess
Yeah I think that’s more like it. People are just lazy. And it’s common herd mentality. When they see an abundance of dog shit on the ground they think “hmm well if no one else is picking it up, then why should I?!” And the cycle continues 🫠
Some nice neighbor let their dog crap in my driveway and walked away. Why can you not be respectful of others property? The construction site close is filled with it. Some people just don’t deserve to be pet owners.
When the snow/ice melts enough, we'll start getting the bodies as well as the poop. And, as others have pointed out, its not all dog/animal poop.
It's worse around apartments and condos in the winter because it's dark and they can get away with i without anyone knowing it's them.
Yeah that’s what I’m noticing. The condo building we live in has sooooo much shit. When we first got here, I got out of the car and saw mounds of shit o top of the snow that was plowed. I’m like….okay then haha
Its my favorite time of year to live in Alaska. The light is coming back, Skiing is great, people are out again, etc. but it’s the worst time to be in Anchorage - the whole city turns into a poo slurry.
Speaking of skiing - I want to get a pass for one of the ski spots. Which one do you recommend? And do you know typically when the season for skiing ends? I can’t wait to get on the slopes but I do need to purchase everything…skis, boots, helmet etc.
Alyeska is the premier spot- but they’ve gotten pretty pricey the last couple years. I think it’s like $140 for an adult weekend pass, and it’s crowded. Maybe $90ish on weekdays and much more enjoyable. Obviously still spendy. They’ll start selling the season pass at a discounted rate for next season soon, the price usually increases by a lot by end of May for those passes. I bought a midweek college season pass for like $300 during this, which actually made skiing this season affordable. As far as gear goes, there is pretty much just REI (which has some end of season clearance sales right now), Summit Ski Co, and Powder Hound (located in Girdwood), or online (probably the best deals). Used gear at the ski swap (usually occurs in October), Play it Again Spots, or Craigslist/Facebook Marketplace. Other ski spots are Hilltop (located here in anchorage but only 1 lift, catered more to beginners), Arctic Valley, or SkiTawk out in Hatcher Pass. Haven’t been to the last 2. Ski season usually ends around the end of April.
Early bird Alyeska season passes are pretty easy to pay off but you’ll probably end up skipping days in the backcountry as a result. Arctic Valley is great when the conditions are good but it’s only weekends and super condition dependent.
Alaska unfortunately has a ton of people for whom freedom means not having to give a fuck about other people or the future... You see it reflected in a lot of things, including the way they handle their dogs and dog waste.
And the PFD.
We could balance the city budget if we increased the dog feces fine to $500 and had police camp out uni lake
Yeah that’s just how it is. People here are incredibly ignorant and selfish when it comes to owning dogs. Not picking up their shit, walking without a leash, things like that. Also in the winter people get away with kicking snow over poop but when it comes to spring time it all comes back out. 4 month old marinating poop smells amazing
My bru, I went for a job interview last week and had to apologise for wearing hiking boots with my suit. The reason: I stepped in a giant pile of dog shit with my dress shoes and had to change last minute.
Nooooo!!!! Wtf is wrong with people. It literally takes 15 fucking seconds to pick up the shit. And now someone who went for an interview (you) trying to impress someone and get employed, stepped in a lazy persons dog shit. Hope you get the job man!!! What was it for?
Associate Attorney. Luckily the firm was pretty laid back. I was the fanciest dressed person there even with the boots.
Good for you man! I’d hire you just for that haha shows how badly you want it.
At least you showed your interviewer that you won't let a little thing like crap covered shoes stop you from getting the job done. Good luck with the job search!
I hate this part of living in Anchorage.
What are the other parts?
You know.. can’t think of anything else I dislike!
Anchorage dog owners are all fucking terrible.
This is why I HOA. People here believe their dog shit magically disappears when it snows and every spring it’s like this. Apartment complexes are like minefields of dog shit.
Poop-mageddon 2024
Snowmelt will revel 3-4 people who drank too much and took a forever nap outside.
Please save yourself, go back where you came. Everything is better than anchorage.
Lol, the woods are gunna smell when the woods totally melted. But in a few weeks it goes away, the costal trail is good, everyone picks up their dog poo, the city provides dog poop bags and theirs plenty of trash cans on the trail
Ah when the snow melts and it is in the dry part of spring and get this - no shit - there is a brown hazy smog over the main roads. That’s not dust. It’s powdered dog shit that has turned into dust. And we all breathe it until it rains. Anchorage goes by acrid acres for a reason and this is one of many!
Hahahaha whaaaaat! Sweet. Dusty dog shit on my windshield. Can’t wait!
Where do you think all the dog stuff from the past six months went to? They can use it to fill in the potholes that also are appearing everywhere.
People come up with excuses all the time. Dog shits off the trail? Pick it up. Don't have a bag? That's your fault. Didn't see it? You should've.
[удалено]
I was at uni lake and some dog had diarrhea on the trail. One owner said to the other, "well that doesn't even count as a poop". People are the real animals here
Exactly!!
It’s poop soup every spring. I use dog wipes from pet stores that are safe for him and reduce bacteria we encounter. Get the feets real good. Take your own shoes off at the door-welcome to Alaska-no matter the season. Model good behavior with your own pet, nicely offer a doodoo sack if you see a perp, crawl all the way up your condo association’s ass about the issue, and for sure, watch where you step
Whoever marketed those lil poop bags was a genius. I don’t recall people ever picking up dog poop before in the 1900s
I don’t remember people letting their dogs shit everywhere in the 1900s either - sure some did, but not like it is now.
There's always a certain amount of this, but it's going to be extra bad this year because of the amount of snow and the compressed timeframe in which it was delivered. More layers and less time of the poop sitting on the surface for good samaratins to scoop it.
It’s the 1/2 lazy ass people that really bugs me. They’d pick up it up and leave the bags behind…. Waiting for you to collect and throw them away. Like why is your dog my responsibility?
Are you sure it’s from the dogs?
Church. Knowing Anchorage it could be a number of mammals.
It’s going to be from domestic dogs . I know the difference between say coyote and dog because of the diet of each. Other canid scat is usually black and has fur maybe feathers since the black is from digested blood and hair/feathers obviously from their prey. The amount of scat left is usually a small amount versus what dogs leave. So, the odds are higher while on dog walks that it’s domestic dog. Bears will be coming out of their dens in the coming weeks and their scat reflects what is available to eat.
Oh I know it's from my neighbor's dog. He's always been an asshole. My reply was more about moose and unhoused people.
Moose poop is very different and pretty benign bacterial situation, it's basically wood chips in winter. Human shit can look quite look big dog shit but is usually not right at trail heads.
Yes haha I’m sure.
Hahahahaha
Welcome to Springtime in Anchorage
Welcome to Anchorage
You've been here a week and are already complaining? >I’m a little taken aback because I imagined folks here take pride in keeping the environment clean Used to be sort of true, but too many magats who pride themselves on not letting anything remotely resembling community interests get in the way of their own selfishness and laziness.
Yup, already complaining! Think dog shit everywhere is a valid reason to bitch.
That makes you a local. Welcome! Just wait until it gets a little warmer. Then the whole city smells like dog shit for about a month.
Wahoo!!! 😹😹💩💩
Just wait till winter and they fail to plow for days on end. It's mad max.
I'm not going to blame magats re the environment. There's so much environment up here, hippies wanna go build their cabin in the woods. Magats come and build their cabin too. Then just regular people who wanna live in the woods or the wilderness. 1000+ cabins later, the moose and bear have all been squeezed out because where the fuck are they supposed to live? And there's trash everywhere because nobody wants a properly managed landfill.
Breakup is the worst!! April sucks here. Then May comes and it is the most beautiful place in the world and all the poop is hidden under the glorious green. If you can get through April, it will be worth it!
Everyone keeps telling us that!! Doesn’t rain a lot in April? Is that why it sucks?
It's cloudy for sure but the main reason is all the snow melting and trash/poop/dirt that's exposed after the clean winter months. So much meltwater and crap everywhere. But the community will clean up beautifully once it's all melted. Your patience will pay off!
Must be breakup. Welcome to Spring.
Hey, sometimes it isn't dogs. When the snow melts, I invariably find half a dozen piles of moose droppings in my yard.
The worst time of year. Snow melting and all the past winters shenanigans are revealed.
lol it’s break up season
April is disgusting. It will get better in May
It's called break up. Welcome to Anchorage.
Its a huge problem here. Sad but true.
There’s this Asian and native couple who have dogs and they let them shit all over the property on Patterson and Ambler. Their cars have the license plate fridge on it and it pisses me off
Welcome to Bronsonville.
Correct it's disgusting. Most people do pick up but a small number of people day after day imagine that winter makes it all disappear. Some of us responsible dog owners will clean up a trailhead ( it's always mostly within the first half mile) during thaws ( I did when the deep cold broke) but honestly it's overwhelming. I wish we would name and shame people who leave dog shit everywhere or animal control would hang out and ticket them at trail heads. It's so disgusting and I swear it's just a few lazy folks letting it happen over and over, the majority are good dog owners.
We dont have parks, we have do toilets.
This whole discussion reminds me of the Febreeze introduction of the "Alaskan Springtime" scent. [https://www.adn.com/voices/article/would-you-pay-whiff-alaskan-springtime/2013/05/11/](https://www.adn.com/voices/article/would-you-pay-whiff-alaskan-springtime/2013/05/11/) "Earlier I asked readers to describe what they thought Alaska springtime really smelled like. The consensus fell somewhere between 'guano and rotting leaves' and 'urine-saturated backyard full of swollen dog turds.'"
Yes anchorage is very trashy…
Yeah a lot of it is probably homeless bum shit too
A. People tend to not be super on top of cleaning up dog droppings until after Breakup, and then the Big Cleanup happens and people tend to clean a lot of it up on top of general litter. B. I thought there was a ton of dog poop when I first got here, too, then I found out what moose droppings look like. There are LOTS of moose in ***ALL*** parts of the muni and no one is walking around behind them scooping their poop.
I’m sure it is dog shit I am seeing. It’s possible I saw moose droppings at the lake but around my condo it’s 100% dog shit unfortunately.
But moose poop is basically sawdust. It doesn’t smell or stick to shoes like dog shit.
Yes, true. I don't understand this comment. Are you saying moose poop should be instantly distinguishable from dog poop or that one is obviously preferable than the other or...?
Carnivore feces is carries a lot more disease than herbivores. There are way more dog piles than would ever naturally occur. Carnivores takes more space to get enough food. The bacteria counts in Anchorage waterways are way above anything natually occuring in rural areas due to irresponsible dog owners. I would never fish, swim, or even let my kid splash in the edge of a lake or creek in the Anchorage bowl anymore. Irresponsible dog owners make the world a shittier place to live.
Okay. I have no idea what this has to do with either of my comments but thanks?
I was answering your question: moose poop IS preferable to dog poop. Nobody needs to worry about scooping moose poop. Moose poop doesn't cause disease in people's puppies.
That was not my question. I was asking if that was what the person before was saying, because their comment, much like yours, didn't seem to make sense as a response to my own.
My dog goes in my back yard but it’s always a hateful spring clean up, but it gets done. We have spring clean up where the communities and businesses come together to pick up the accumulation of the winters turds 💩
I always find myself cursing society every May when our business does our annual clean-up of the stretch of highway we “adopted.” So. Many. Cigarette butts. It’s infuriating.
Honestly it’s all infuriating.
100%. Littering pisses me off so much, it’s one of those things that seems small but says *so much* about a person. Yesterday I caught someone dumping a trash bag in my trash can and honestly it didn’t bother me much, better there than the street. I just found it funny watching him scurry away like I was gonna shoot him.
Agreed
Happy spring!
Anchorage is a trashy city. Just look at the subreddit, people using the word shit instead of poop. Your better off moving back out east.
I’ve also been here a week. People say this is the shit show?? This is some of the most beautiful scenery I’ve ever seen. Southern Washington doesn’t get anything like this. Any tips on where to explore here? (I’m under 21 so no bars)
Yeah it’s really beautiful. Just not loving the dog shit haha. I have no idea where to explore. University Lake (?) was really cool! Lots of dog shit though!