To get to the Arctic Ocean, we needed to drive 654 miles across the Alaskan interior, cross back into Canada, and reach Dawson City, YK for final preparations. The travel plan for Alaska included 3-nights in Anchorage, 3-nights in Chistochina, and 3-nights in Tok. Step one was getting back to Anchorage, by far Alaska’s biggest…
Our drive to Soldotna (population 4,719) was only 94 miles west toward Cook’s Inlet. We passed through some of the best fishing areas in Alaska along the Russian and Kenai Rivers. As we drove past the confluence of the two rivers on our left, I was describing to MFI and Hanna my view of 10…
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 planned stop was Seward (population 2,796) at the head of Darby Cove along the eastern side of the Kenai Peninsula. To drive there from Valdez would have taken about 9 hours of road time, covered 420 miles, and required an interim 3-day stay at a RV park mid-way. No thanks! We had places…
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…
