The Inuvik coordinates were 68°21’39″N and 133°43’47″W, which placed it 124 miles north of the Arctic Circle. I referenced this to make a comparison with my assignment at Thule Air Base, Greenland from Dec 17, 1976 to Dec 17, 1977. For accuracy, Thule was renamed Pituffik Space Base in 2023, since it had become a…
The distance from Anchorage to Tok was simply too far to squeeze into a day’s drive. According to RV Trip Wizard, our only interim-stop option was Red Eagle Lodge in Chistochina (population 60). This lodge was a throw back to Alaska’s roadhouse system, when in the late 19th early 20th centuries entrepeneurs built them to…
The Harding Icefield was an ice cap sitting atop the Kenai (Key’-nigh) Mountains, which formed Alaska’s Kenai Peninsula 80 miles due south of Anchorage on the Gulf of Alaska. This ice cap was the largest of the four remaining icefields lying solely in the United States, and covered 700 square miles, or 1,100 square miles…
On the north side of the Whittier Tunnel, we took the Portage Glacier Highway north to Sterling Highway (AK 1), hung a left to the Seward Highway (AK 9), and finally another left on AK 9 which terminated at the southern end of Seward. We took a rest stop along Portage Lake for more glacier…
Our next stop was Valdez (population 3,985), and we drove there the same day we toured Matanuska Glacier. We followed the Glenn Highway (AK 1) until it intersected with the Richardson Highway (AK 4) just past Glennallen (population 439). While the scenery along AK 4 through the Tsina River valley was purported to be the…
I planned our route for the remainder of Hanna’s visit, before we departed Palmer. The Matanuska Glacier was only an hour east and on the way to our next stop in Valdez. I reserved a 2-hour glacier tour for 10 AM, and we headed out under mostly sunny skies. As had become routine, the scenery…
The distance to our next campground near Palmer, AK (population 7,456) was just under 200 miles. We drove south on Parks Highway (AK 3) until in intersected with Glenn Highway (AK 1) just past Wasilla (population 10,838), about 40 minutes drive northeast of Anchorage. We learned, while touring Denali National Park, that the best views…
The drive from Fairbanks to our campsite near the Denali Park entrance was only 130 miles. We crossed the Alaskan Inrterior and once again were in awe of the magnificent scenery. We considered ourselves so fortunate to have such clear weather for taking pictures. Only two of the six Denali Park campgrounds were open for…
The drive from Tok to Fairbanks (population 31,856) was only 202 miles. We followed the Tanana River Valley the entire distance and paralleled the Delta Range along its eastern boundary. The scenery was dotted with snow, and the weather was clear for the most part. We stopped for gas at Delta Junction, the original north…
We picked up an enhanced and improved Arthur at Ultimate Airstreams in Clackamus, OR on 22 May, and after driving 3,388 miles over 42 days, we were finally in Alaska until mid September. Woo-hoo! Our last stop was at the Tundra RV Park in Tok (population 1,243) for 3 nights before reaching Fairbanks, our first…
