There’s a glacier in our windshield!

M 26.4 Richardson Highway, across the road from Worthington Glacier, AK – August 9, 2014

Mountains, mountains everywhere. It seems as though no matter what direction you face, there they are. And as many as you see, it’s only a tiny fraction of what’s here.

Our first stop today was going to be Glennallen. It is here that you turn left to go to Tok or Delta Junction, or turn right to go to Valdez. There’s also an IGA grocery store here, an espresso hut, and a couple of filling stations.

We check GasBuddy and find out that diesel is cheaper here than in Valdez. So we fill up. Apparently everyone else uses the same app, because the fuel lanes are packed. While I fill up both Big Guy and the Element, EJ checks out ‘The Hub"’, a store attached to the filling station. And she finds a neat doodad that will be a nice present for some friends who will be tying the knot very soon.

Famished by all this activity, we check out the Tok Thai Truck as we have heard good things about it. Food offerings in Alaska are unique. They might come from an abandoned school bus, a converted RV, a portable building, a tent or even an old work truck. We were not disappointed with our selections and even had leftovers for another meal.

We pass by Copper Center and decide we’ll save it for the trip back. We want to get close to Valdez today so that we’ll have a short leisurely drive tomorrow.

Continuing on towards Valdez. Ahead, someone has found a little boondocking spot right next to the road.

Now we see more glaciers. But not the one we’re looking for just yet.

There it is. that’s the one we’re looking for,Worthington. We find a large gravel pullout across the road and stake out our spot.

The windshield is a little buggy so out comes the ladder and cleaning supplies and Frank goes to work on the windows, and the bugs go to work on Frank.

Ahh, that’s much better.

Across the road from us sits a small plane and what appears to be a runway of sorts. We were hoping to see it take off, but no such luck.

It has been drizzling off and on and cloudy, but the full moon gave a valiant effort to shine through over the glacier.

It’s going to be tough going back to the flatlands after constantly having incredible views like this. One of the folks we met this summer who has already headed home, said “everything is so stunning but I’m absolutely stunned out”. We haven’t reached that point yet, and don’t know if we ever will.

Palmer, a Hit and a Miss

Road Side Pull out near Eureka Roadhouse, AK – August 8, 2014

We made the move to Palmer and zeroed in on a pull out near the Matanuska River Bridge. Days End indicated this was suitable for big rigs, but we found the drop offs from the paved road to be a little too drastic for Big Guy. But the access road had an area where we could park temporarily while we took the Element to search for a more suitable spot.

We checked out the Matanuska Park, a city run campground and found it to be an acceptable alternative. But before we make the move, we decide to explore Palmer and see if there is enough to keep us occupied for an extra day.

We check out Friday Fling, a small Farmers Market, and find some huge vegetables.

We make a few small purchases, cauliflower and golden raspberries. There were two containers of raspberries, but they went very quickly. You couldn’t eat just one!

We get a couple of Thai spring rolls from one of the vendors for a light lunch. Then we walk over to the visitor center and it’s gardens. The bounty grown here is harvested and supplied to the local food bank to help out those in need.

The flowers and vegies are so hugh and colorful.

Now that’s a patch of greens.

We walk around searching for ‘town’ and find several restaurants and bars, but not much else. However, Palmer does have a brewery and we go off to find it. It turns out to be in an industrial area, like several other we’ve visited.

We sample several brews and talk with some locals. They only have 3  varieties and we like two. I’m sorry that my growler is full and I have no room for another. Oh well, our sampling complete, we head back to Big Guy. We’ve decided we’ve ‘done’ Palmer and might as well head on down the road.

We pass by the Matanuska Glacier. It’s chosen #2 as the best glacier to visit by Alaska Magazine. It is another state rec area that is handled by a concessionaire. Guess we’ll pass on it this time.

Our day is about done as we are approaching the roadside pullout we’ve selected for the evening. We pass these multicolored mountains as we near our night camp.

Tomorrow we’ll find a spot to hang out just north of Valdez.

The Hatcher Pass Adventure

Eagle River State Campground, Eagle River, AK – August 6 & 7, 2014

Arriving on a Wednesday afternoon, we were really surprised to see the campground almost full. As the afternoon wore on, more and more RVs circled the campground being unsuccessful in securing a site for the night. Good thing we got here early. We managed to snag a primo spot, in fact it’s the same one we saw a moose and her baby wander through last time we were here.

Unfortunately, the facilities here at the campground continue to deteriorate. Last time we were here, the fresh water supply was inoperable, and this time, that still hadn’t been fixed and now both dump stations are out of order. I’m guessing that since it is so late in the season, these things will not get repaired until next summer.

But, we are going to be away for most of the day exploring Hatcher Pass, which is on a 49 mile stretch of road, mostly gravel, running from  just north of Palmer to Willow. And let me tell you, the GPS is doing everything it can to avoid this road.

Between Eagle River and the intersection with the Parks Highway you must first go through the Palmer Flats. This is a huge swampy plain at the base of the mountains where the winds constantly blow. The Element gets blown around pretty good, I can only imagine how exciting it will be tomorrow when we drive Big Guy through here.

Along the way to Independence Mine State Historical Park which is at Mile 17 of the Hatcher Pass road, the scenery is all around us. It is soooo green.

At the turnoff to the mine is the Hatcher Pass Lodge. The only place to stay over night and get a meal  on this road.

We arrive at the Independence Mine visitor center. It was formerly the mine managers house.

Although some of the buildings have been repaired, many are left in an unrestored state. Most of the actual mining structures are what have been left untouched. They had several hiking paths so off we go.

Many pieces of equipment were left just where they were when the mine shut down in 1951. When the government fixed the price of gold at $35 an ounce, the Independence, like many other mines, could no longer make a profit and eventually ceased to operate.

This is the entrance to the water tunnel which dramatically streamlined the mines operation.

The remains of the tram tower that was formerly used to transport the ore from the mine to the processing plant before the water tunnel took over that function.

Several Artic Ground Squirrels came out to entertain us.

The elevation here is 3500 feet and if you look really close you can see that the temperature is a balmy 50 degrees.

With our explorations of the Independence Mine complete, it’s time to continue on the Hatcher Pass Road.

We arrive at the Pass, named for Robert Hatcher, a prospector and miner who began the gold boom in the Willow Creek mining district of the Talkeetna Mountains in 1906.

It’s all downhill from here. We we let some of the faster traffic past us, well one truck, and continue on down the mountains towards Willow in first gear. We pass by more current and abandoned mining operations,

Hungry after all of our exploring we find a small pullout next to a vigorous creek and stop for a bite to eat. It’s windy and there is a slight drizzle, but the Element provides a nice cozy sanctuary from the weather.

Ahh, peace and quiet.  All you can hear is the chuckling of the creek.

On the final leg to Willow, we stop and wait for this flock of grouse to cross the road.

It’s been another full day. Time to return to Big Guy and prepare to move to Palmer tomorrow.