WELCOME!

Follow us as we embark on what some describe as the "trip of a lifetime"..........ALASKA. We will start out experiencing the Calgary Stampede finals, the "Greatest Outdoor Show on Earth." Then on to the beautiful Canadian Rockies before we finally reach Alaska, the last American Frontier.

Sunday, August 12, 2012

Day 34: Travel to Anchorage, Alaska


Another beautiful travel day as we journeyed 246 miles from Denali RV Park to Golden Nugget RV Park in Anchorage. 

Leaving Denali
After what started out as a cool cloudy day, the sun came out and opened up beautiful scenic mountains and valleys of forests, tundra and rivers.  We passed through Cantwell and entered Broad Pass, one of the most beautiful areas on the Parks Hwy.  “A mountain valley, bare in some places, dotted with scrub spruce in others, and surrounded by mountain peaks, it provides a top-of-the-world feeling…although it is one of the lowest summits along the North American mountain system.” (Milepost.)  It marks the divide between the drainage of rivers and streams that empty into Cook Inlet and those that empty into the Yukon River.
We stopped at several lookout areas to try and get a final glimpse of Mt. McKinley.  Although where we were it was a beautiful cloudless day, there were the ever present clouds around the great mountain!  We managed a few pictures of the lower ¾ or so, but the top continued to elude us—all but the very tip of her.  There were great views of glaciers on the Alaska Range as well as the Talkeetna Mtns. that sort of made up for not seeing the BIG mountain in all her glory!

Talkeetna Mountains

We made a quick stop at Hurricane Gulch, elevation 1732 and took a few pictures, but the bridge didn’t leave room for foot traffic and signs posted told us to stay off!  The 550 foot deck of the bridge is 260 feet above Hurricane Creek. White Yarrow and Fireweed still in bloom were present there as well.


Hurrican Gulch
Alaska Fire Weed
Another area surrended with greenery

We passed over and alongside many rivers, streams and RR crossings.  At one RR crossing there was a “solar collector” (panels) that help power the warning signals. 


The next stop was at the Alaska Veterans Memorial, an alcove and semicircle of five 20-foot-tall concrete panels, one for each branch of service.  Panels and plaques also memorialize the Alaska National Guard, the Merchant Marine, the Submariners—victims of the Air Force C-47 crash on nearby Kesugi Ridge in Feb. 1954—and other memorials.

Alaska Veterans Memorial

Some of the folks in our Adventure Caravan group stopped at Talkeetna, a nice little historic town with a unique blend of old-time Alaska and modern tourist destination, but we did not take the time to as we would have had to disconnect and drive in by car and we didn’t want to take the time.

We continued on through Willow, where the Iditarod Race restarts on Sunday after the ceremonial beginning in Anchorage on the first Saturday in March.  Between Willow and Nome, they are on the trail for 1,049 miles.

In our little pod of 3 RVs, we rarely miss an ice cream stop, so Miller’s Place in Houston was our afternoon break! 
Joan & Rita going for the ice cream

Our last stop before reaching Anchorage was at the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race Headquarters in Wasilla, where we viewed historical displays on the Iditarod, a video of the race and dogs, and saw some summer cart rides with an Iditarod musher and dog team.  

Sled Dogs at the  Race Iditarod Headquarters

More views of the Chugach Mountains came into view as we neared Anchorage. 


Chugach Mountains
After a fun Social next to our Wagonmaster’s rig, we spent a relaxing evening at “home”!


Submitted by Rig # 16

Nancy & Dan







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