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…
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…
We had read in The Milepost that the Alaska Highway could have bad spots despite the boastful claim of being paved over its entire length. Until the leg between Whitehorse and Beaver Creek, we had not experienced anything out of the ordinary. That all changed about a hour out of Whitehorse. Of course, the improved…
