ALASKA - PART 1 "WE ARRIVE!"

Well, after 1200+ miles on the Alcan (Alaska) Highway, we could finally toast to our accomplishment. It is a joyous feeling to see the Alaska welcome sign, so we made an event out of it. LOL

After spending a quiet night outside of Tok, we decided that "Flow" and "Ebb" needed a good bath!! We found a nice RV park which also operates a car wash (i.e., hose and brushes), and we used our muscles to clean the brown dirt off the vehicles. We had forgotten they were mainly white!

We then headed out towards Wrangell St Elias National Park. The mountains in the distance were gorgeous. We wanted to find a quiet place to boondock for a few days, and we needed internet, as we had been without for awhile. We had to catch up on picture editing, blogging, bill paying and social media, of course. We found a great spot, about 11 miles down a gravel road, and sat idle for 4 days. So much for washing the vehicles, but the views surrounding us were awesome.

Walking around the National Park's visitor center, we found some interesting artifacts (e.g., elevated cabins, antique fish traps and even evidence of how mail was delivered in 1899). There also was an awesome view of the surrounding volcanoes, Mt Drum and Mt Wrangell.

Our next destination was the McCarthy/Kennicott area. We had seen mixed reviews of this journey, as the route is almost 30 miles on a dirt/gravel road. We started out thinking we would take the RV, however after negotiating the narrowest mountain cut-out and warning signs everywhere, we decided to park "Flow" and take our jeep. We slowly performed a precarious u-turn on a rocky riverbed, not to my liking, and found a campground in Chitina to base our operations for a few days. Turns out the warning signs were leftover from winter, and we probably could have taken "Flow", but then again "why take chances?".

We made our way to McCarthy the next day, which took over 2 hours by jeep to travel 28 miles. It is a beautiful drive that includes a one lane wooden bridge towering over the river below.

McCarthy is a unique town and is only accessible by foot to visitors, and most residents. Apparently, there is a vehicle bridge on private property that can be used, but the annual fee charged is $350, whether you use it once or everyday. Needless to say, most everyone walks. There is a large gravel parking area at the end of the road, and then you walk on a foot bridge to cross the river. We met a local man, who walked with us into town and also gave us some information about the area.

It's almost as if this town is frozen in time, from way back when 😳. Antique cars line the streets, original buildings are still standing and electricity is provided by a town generator. Their water is even obtained from a stream outside of town. Most of the town was still closed until Memorial Day, but we enjoyed walking through this town from the past.

Luckily, a shuttle bus had started up that day to take visitors to Kennicott, an abandoned mining town. 5 miles up the road. We jumped on the free shuttle quickly, as our only other option was to walk. Not today, as it was already afternoon and snow was visible in the distance.

We basically had the entire mining town to ourselves, since they technically hadn't opened yet. This place is amazing! The National Park Service has restored some of the original buildings and is still working on others. Kennicott is located in such a remote location, but was a booming mining town at one time. It's really interesting to think about what life must have been like there and how many people lived and worked in the town.

You can also view the Kennicott Glacier below the town and the beautiful lakes surrounding the area. They were frozen at the time of our visit, but the vibrant colors could be seen under the ice.

There was even a dump area where they had disposed of anything and everything, the only remaining items were metal.

After a wonderful day in the area, we headed back to the RV and Harlie. It was definitely worth our time to visit these remote locations. Our thoughts on our trip are, "We might not ever return to this area, so we will try to see everything we possibly can!".

Heading down the road to Valdez, we passed a roadhouse advertising fresh pie. Well, that was right up our alley, so we turned around and made a pit stop. Turns out the pie was not that great, but we did meet new friends, Paul and Nancy, that had the same taste buds as we did. Crazy enough, they were also from Florida! We decided to caravan for the day, stopping at Worthington Glacier along our way. The roads into the the glacier visitor area were still snow covered, so we hiked in. All was good until I (Sybil) stepped into snow as deep as my mid-thigh area. It was quite comical to just be walking along and then sink so low!! We had no idea what we were walking on. Unfortunately, no pics of this adventure.

The drive into Valdez was spectacular with the snow covered Thompson Pass, numerous waterfalls and deep gorges which quickly headed downhill into the town. Honestly, these pictures do not even begin to describe the drive.

We ended up staying at the same RV park as Paul and Nancy, with spectacular views on the water. It was great getting to know them and hope to reconnect someday in Jacksonville.

We enjoyed walking the harbor, biking around the town, visiting the breweries, seeing the Valdez Glacier and eating at the "Potato", a great restaurant with a menu based on the potato. Instead of biscuits and gravy, they serve french fries and gravy. Good thing we weren't in Valdez long!!

Just wanted to mention again, look at these "snow markers"! Can't even imagine winter around here! 🥶🥶🥶

Our drive to Palmer took us by the Matanuska Glacier, so we stopped for some photo ops!

We stayed in Palmer for a week, as we needed internet access again. Cell phone coverage is something we take for granted and is necessary in an RV lifestyle, as it is usually our only access to internet service. We found a nice quiet riverside campground, Matanuska River Park, and set up for the week. Little did we know what kind of air traffic flys over this park daily. Never counted, but sure it is in the hundreds of flyovers daily. Luckily, for the most part, they are fairly quiet prop planes, but they did start up around 4:00am and didn't end until midnight. Remember, we are currently experiencing almost 24 hours of daylight.

It's all about planes here. They even use them as weathervanes!

We purchased mosquito racquets and use them day and night, as the mosquito is comically referred to as the "Bird of Alaska". We learned about these in Valdez, from Paul and Nancy, and found that you can have a lot of fun killing bugs. Honestly, the best invention since sliced bread!! Can't wait to use them in Suwannee.

Next stop, and the final one in this blogpost was Houston, to visit Stacey and Gary of RVing to Alaska. They operate a Boondockers Welcome site. We enjoyed a quiet stay on their property, as well as a tour of their beautiful new home under construction. Stacey took this gorgeous picture around midnight the last night of our visit.

During our stay, we took a drive and spotted Denali from a distance (over 100 miles), in the clear sky. The top of the mountain is famous for being clouded over, or smoke covered, so we took this opportunity for pictures. Hopefully, when we visit in August, we will have clear weather again for a closer view.

In the beginning of our journey, we thought arriving in Alaska so early in the season was a mistake, but what we realize now is that it was a blessing. Not everyone visiting here in the summer gets to experience the beautiful snow covered mountains of Alaska and Canada.

NEXT UP: ALASKA - PART 2 "ANCHORAGE AND BEYOND"