6/29 - From Byers Lake, we headed towards Talkeetna where I stayed at a BW in town. Anja and Bob left their camper at Byers Lake, but did a day trip to Talkeetna where they let me buy them lunch at Talkeetna Spinach Bread (YUM!). What a great business they have. They charge $9 for basically one slice of pizza. A while later, we grabbed a beer at Denali Brewpub and then we went out separate ways. I wonder when/if I'll see them again in Alaska. They are headed east across the Denali Hwy and onto Valdez, while I'm heading to Palmer, then Anchorage and the Kenai Peninsula. It is very possible that we'll cross paths somewhere along the way.
I ended up going to the Denali Brewpub for dinner, though I was ambivalent and probably shouldn't have gone. I wasn't too happy with my meal and I felt lonely being there on my own. Even though there were many open tables (I think due to lack of staff, not low numbers of customers), the host seated me at a high table with a wine barrel as the base. This is fine for just drinks, but quite uncomfortable for trying to eat a meal. I asked the waiter if I could move and he was very accommodating. It's one of those ways they discriminate against solo people as I believe they'd be less likely to seat two people for dinner at one of those tables.
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| People were trying to socialize these adorable little bunnies, so I got to hold one. So cute and soooo soft. |
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| I like this town! |
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| Cottonwood fluff |
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| Cottonwood snow |
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| Can almost see Denali |
6/30 - Laundry day! There was a laundromat two houses down from where I stayed and so I got to do laundry. I got lots of steps going back and forth! There was also a shower, so the plan was to go back later and get a shower. We picked out a site at the little Riverside campground in town. It said no RVs, but I asked the host and he asked if I had a black tank or gray tank. I was thinking the kind on official RVs, so I said no. I don't have a black tank, but I do have the gray tank under my sink. Anyway, I moved there and then Zoe and I walked around. We went to the airport and I chatted with the owner of K2 aviation and I decided that I really wanted to do the flight (though that's not what we talked about). I hadn't really thought about it, but being at the airport, I got to thinking that I should do it.
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| Zoe's new friend. This little boy, just loved her and she, of course, was super chill with him. He wanted me to go on their flight and said he'd pay. 😂😂😂 |
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| If you're ever in Talkeetna, go here! So yummy! |
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| Such great salmon patties. I had a 2nd serving! |
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| Yay! We can see the peak! |
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Where did she go?
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7/1 - I wasn't sure the weather was going to be great for a flight, but decided to investigate it. I ended up booking it with K2 even though the earlier flights hadn't had a glacier landing yet. I was nervous about Zoe in the van, but then found a spot across the road near a bike rental place that was fully shaded. I asked at the bike rental and she said, the railroad owned the land, but the other two vans that were there have been there forever and the railroad hasn't said anything. She also said she'd check on Zoe, so I felt comfortable. I left the AC on and windows closed (mostly due to the Cottonwood fluff flying everywhere). I really didn't worry about her at all. The flight was so amazing that it would have been a real bummer if I spent my time worrying about her. So many people say they never leave their dogs in their van, but I need to do things for myself sometimes!
I picked the Grand Tour that was 2 hours with a glacier landing (if possible). Dorothy was our pilot - nice to have a woman pilot! She asked if anyone wanted to fly in the copilot seat and many of us raised our hands. She gave the spot to another woman and to me for the ride back, if we did the glacier landing. I did get the seat for the way back, but I really wished I had the seat on the way out. Basically we flew towards and around Denali on the way out and on the way back, we just headed back to the airport. Oh, well. The flight was amazing even from the back of the plane! The pictures are beautiful, but it doesn't even come close to the feeling while experiencing it. The scale of things is just too hard to fathom.
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| First view of Denali |
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| The blue areas are water on the ice |
Alaska is estimated to have 100,000 glaciers. This number is based on estimates, as many glaciers are unnamed and small. While the total number is high, it's the total glacial coverage, which is roughly 5% of the state's area, that is more frequently studied. This glacial coverage is about 128 times greater than the rest of the United States combined.
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| Landed |
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| Me and Dorothy, our pilot |
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| Ready for takeoff |
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| Water flowing under the glacier can cause these collapses |
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| So many rivers of glacier water |
We walked around town after and I considered staying another night, but I didn't feel like going out, so I decided to leave. I ended up finding a place that was not marked on the road as a campground, but it had shown on iOverlander. I was there all on my own, which if I didn't have Zoe, I might not have stayed. It was really nice to be out there all on my own. It was quiet and surprisingly not buggy at all, even though we were in the woods.
7/2 - Departed the campsite and headed towards Palmer, with a stop in Wasilla to walk Zoe at a park on a lake. It was a beautiful day and so many people/kids were out. Oh, right, school is out...
Lots of beautiful views as I was driving, which is basically the norm in Alaska.
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| Wasilla park |
Got to Palmer and ran some errands, including a shower, which always feels good. Then we headed out to Glacier View where I was meeting Jerillyn for the 4th of July Car Launch. She said she was going and asked if I wanted to join her and I said, why not. We ended up camping there for 3 nights, which was nice to just hang out. Definitely not something I'd normally do, nor she, but when in Rome... OK, yes, my concern was about fuel and other fluids leaking into the ground. I was told that they remove the fluids, but they drive the cars off (using a rock or whatever on the gas pedal), so there has to be gasoline in there. It's probably not the most environmentally friendly thing to do, but they do an amazing job cleaning up afterwards. They do remove the glass before going off the edge, but I did notice pieces of glass inside the cars, so I'm sure they are glass remnants on the hill. They have people go up the hill and throw down/pick up all the debris. Someone said they were raising money for the veterans, but I didn't see that on the website, but they don't need to advertise because it's huge and they sell out the 7000 or so tickets.
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| Matanuska Glacier |
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| The setting for the car launch. They go over where the flag is. |
7/3
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| Camp spot. J had gotten there early to get a spot and she texted me saying it was very dirty and muddy, so I was envisioning us parked on dirt/mud and I was not happy about that at all, especially having a dog. So, I was pleasantly surprised when I saw we were parked in grass. It wasn't muddy at all! |
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| Zoe thinking that J should share here muffin |
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| The barbie car |
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| The loader filled with windshields/glass |
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| I guess these rubber ducks are for people to collect after the launch is done. |
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| Great view of the glacier |
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| These folks kayaked in and camped on a sandbar in the river to watch the car launch |
7/4 - I woke up around 8:30 after a terrible night's sleep and there were tons of people walking down the road towards the viewing area. The launch isn’t supposed to start until two but I guess there’s gonna be like 7000 people there. Somebody last night mentioned a lot of guns which is worrying and I have to say that I’m pretty upset after the passing of the disgusting bill by the Republicans and I have zero tolerance for anybody who would continue to support Trump so today could be very trying! It’s becoming very sunny and I don’t know what to do about Zoe. I can’t imagine having her down there is a good idea.
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| View from above at around 9:30 AM. Still a steady stream of people showing up. |
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| As you can see, I brought Zoe with me. Amazingly, she hung out on the mat under the umbrella for the full 3 hours. That is not like her, but she must have somehow known that this was the best place to be. It was only about 70 degrees, but the sun is so strong. There were many very pink skinned people there! |
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| Me, Jerillyn, Sharon, John. Sharon and John are from PA and they were camped next to us. |
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| Heather, an Australian, who was alone looking for her friends, so we invited her to join us. |
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| Military jet flyover |
If you want to see the excitement of the event, watch this quick video:
Car Launch Video |
| Once the cars have all been launched, people are allowed to go and grab whatever souvenirs they want. I saw someone with the hood of a car! |
There were at least 5 planes and 3 helicopters that had landed on the sandbars to attend the launch "for free". It was fun to watch them land and take off. Here is a bush plane takeoff. It was cool to see how little "runway" is needed for these planes to take off.
Video of Plane takeoff
7/5 - the aftermath
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| No one here anymore, but the cleanup has begun |
Views from the top where the cars were launched.
After leaving Glacier view, we stopped at Kings River, which we had passed on the way in. So pretty!
Then we headed up towards Hatcher Pass.
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| Little Susitna River |
Hatcher Pass
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| Tiny wedding going on |
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| Hang gliders. It looks so relaxing! |
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| Brrr! |
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| This woman in the rear has an oxygen tank on. It's so nice to see that she continues to get out there! |
Independence Mine -
The Independence Mines, now Independence Mine State Historic Park, is the site of a former gold mining operation in the Talkeetna Mountains, across Hatcher Pass from Palmer, Alaska. The area's mining history dates to at least 1897, when active claims were reported in the vicinity of Fishook Creek. These early mining efforts were eventually joined to form the Wasilla Mining Company, which worked the mines from 1934 to 1943, and again from 1948 to 1950. The mining operation at Independence was the second-largest hard-rock gold mining operation in the state, after a larger site near Juneau. The company and the miners that preceded it built a substantial mining camp, with as many as sixteen wood-frame buildings, which were originally connected to each other by sheltered wooden "tunnels". When the company ended operations in 1950, it had expected to eventually resume operations, but never did; this resulted in a particularly well-preserved collection of mining equipment and buildings, although the weather has since taken a significant toll on the latter.
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| Over 150,000 oz of gold were removed from the mine between 1936 and 1943 |
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| "Shoveling and lifting rocks: 8 hrs/day, 7 days/wk, year-round, dark, damp, and dangerous working conditions. Men with claustrophobia need not apply. $7.50/day plus board." Sounds like a great job, huh? During the depression it was a good job. |
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| It was cold even just stepping in the opening of the tunnel. It maintained a year round temperature of 38 degrees! I'm sure it was warmer where I stood, but still cold. |
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| Until the water tunnel was created, all the ore was removed and transported to the buildings via an aerial transport system. |
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| The battery car, I suspect to power the train. |
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| Tons of pressure lines ran into the mines to pressurize the pneumatic drills |
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| As with so many mining towns, it turned into a ghost town after the mine closed. |
Back in Palmer at the Palmer Alehouse with Jerillyn. We ended up sleeping in a parking lot across the street after a couple of beers. My beer was kinda strong and I didn't want to drive. It wasn't very glamorous, but it worked out well. I was even able to fill my water at the Alehouse in the morning as they had an accessible faucet.
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| Fabulous pizza called The Rock: Garlic butter sauce, chicken, mozzarella, spinach, bacon, red onion, and cream cheese, topped with diced tomato and fresh grated parmesan. So yummy and lots of leftovers. |
7/6 - After leaving, I followed J to her work where I had Zoe's meds and my drivers license sent. I left there and headed towards Eklutna Lake Campground based on a recommendation. Along the way, I stopped at a fishing area on the river. Amazing colored river again.
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| Eklutna Trail race, where there were so many people fishing |
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| It looks like an old junkyard, right on the water. 😏 The cars were super old, so it hadn't been used in a long time, thankfully. |
Eklutna Lake Campground. I expected this to be a quiet night, but in the end, I was busy all evening long. Mike and Cindy (from Chicken) showed up and invited me over to their site. I didn't really want to go, but felt I should. A couple from Idaho stopped to chat because she's from the Burlington, VT area and saw my plate. We chatted for quite a while, and then J showed up too. I'm sure there will be plenty of alone time for me in the future, like tonight while I'm finally catching up.
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| Looks like a nice place for a wedding. |
7/7 - rainy day. I did not want to get out of bed as it is so cozy in the van. Not optional when you have a dog, though.
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| This is at the outlet of the lake, but I don't know what it's from |
I convinced myself to leave and headed to Anchorage. I parked in town in a lot near the Anchorage Museum. I probably could have found cheaper parking, but I didn't know and ended up paying $18 for 6 hours. Not too bad, but 2 hours was $12, so I did 4 hrs for $14, and then extended another 2 to walk around after the museum and have dinner. It ended up being an expensive day between parking, the museum and dinner, but worth it. The museum was really good and I could easily go back multiple times. They had a big experiential area, plus a lot of native Alaskan stuff. I spent about 2.5 hours there. I went because Hilary told me about the Dog exhibition they had, but that was definitely not the highlight. Lots of the art was beautiful and the final exhibition that I spent time at had a lot of info and relics of various tribes. I definitely would have liked to see more of that. I'm not a huge museum person, but I'm really glad I went here.
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| There was a panel of photos of rust colored rivers that is due to the permafrost thawing. Permafrost is the layer of soil that remains frozen throughout the year, but it is thawing at an unprecedented rate. This exposes the pyrite rich bedrock to water and oxygen, causing rivers and tributaries to flow orange with oxidized iron and sulfuric acid. The thawing of this matter releases vast amounts of stored carbon and methane and accelerates global warming in a feedback loop. Temps rise, more permafrost thaws, carbon is released into the atmosphere, and temps rise again... 😞 |
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| Beautiful paintings of the snow covered mountains. I'd like to learn to paint like this! |
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| This artist (I don't show their work), creates are from fish skins and marine animals raising awareness about customary Indigenous practices grounded in respect between humans and other living beings. "Before I hunt I smudge and pray, asking the animal for its life; after the hunt, I honor the animal by giving it its last drink of water." If only the white people would have such respect for others, including other people! |
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| So true! |
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| Excellent horseradish encrusted halibut at Humpy's! The mashed potatoes (baby red with skin), and steamed vegetables were cooked perfectly and not overly seasoned. Very impressed. |
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| I parked at the Bass Pro shop (formerly Cabela's) and there much have been at least 50 rigs there. Wow! There aren't a lot of places to park for free in Anchorage, so it is so wonderful that they allow it and are so accommodating. They have a separate area for overnight RV parking, but I, along with 30 others, weren't even parked in that area because it was full. |
7/8 - Heading south towards the Kenai Peninsula.
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| Stopped at Beluga point. No Belugas... |
I went to Hope, which is one of the original Gold Rush towns. Some of the original buildings still stand. I stayed at Porcupine campground, which was nice and on the water. I learned that Hope is basically a weekend town, 'cuz there is not really anything going on during the week. Hope isn't on the way to anywhere, so I guess it's not surprising.
Tonight I'm parked at a big pullout on Trail lake near Moose Pass. So many rigs here. It's been pretty rainy today and so we didn't really do much. I didn't get my steps in today!!!
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| From my spot |
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| Out of my drivers side window |
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