The 1.5 hour drive through the Chugach National Forest from Whittier to our next destination, Kenai Princess RV park at Cooper Landing, was uneventful. With the exception of its western shore, most of the Kenai Peninsula is owned by the federal government and incorporated into one of the following: Chugach National Forest; Kenai National Wildlife … Continue reading
Early Thursday morning we left Eagles Rest RV Park in Valdez and drove through town to the Alaska Marine Highway dock to catch the ferry to Whittier over on the Kenai Peninsula. Loading was by way of a ramp through the side of the hull, just like at Skagway, but this time the tidal differential … Continue reading
Good Friday is a good day to avoid Valdez, Alaska. In fact, Good Friday is probably a good day to avoid Prince William Sound entirely, judging by history. On Good Friday, 1964, the most powerful earthquake in U.S history – and the second most powerful earthquake in recorded world history – ripped right through Valdez, … Continue reading
We left Kennecott on Saturday morning, August 4, and returned to the motorhome in Glennallen, hooked up the Jeep, and headed south on the Richardson Highway to Valdez (pronounced “Valdeez”). The Richardson Highway is said to be Alaska’s first road, originally built by the Army to facilitate the migration of prospectors into the interior at … Continue reading
Simultaneously with the construction of the Copper River & Northwestern Railroad, mines were being dug high up on Bonanza Ridge, together with a tramway to bring the excavated ore down from the mine openings at 6,600 feet to a more accessible 2,200 foot elevation where a bunkhouse, sawmill, blacksmith shop, storehouse and office had been … Continue reading
The morning of our second day in Kennecott, we went down to McCarthy to be fitted for drysuits we would wear kayaking in the meltwater lake at the toe of the Kennicott Glacier. Suited up, we climbed into the company van, then were shuttled to the launch site upstream of the pedestrian bridge over the … Continue reading
After lunch, we grabbed our daypacks and headed down to the ranger’s station to meet our guide for a hike out onto the Root Glacier, some 2.5 miles distant. The trail to the toe of the glacier proceeds first through the old Kennecott Mill, then makes its way along the lower slope of Bonanza Ridge, … Continue reading
We departed Glennallen in the Jeep early Thursday morning, August 2, leaving the RV behind for a few days while we went on an excursion to the remote Kennecott copper mill company town and its sister sin-city, McCarthy. The 65-mile drive from Glennallen to Chitina, where we stopped for gas at a 24-hour automated station, … Continue reading
The road from Tok to Glennallen is the worst we’ve traveled so far and I suspect it may prove to be the most damaged pavement we will encounter on this trip. Most of the length of this segment of highway is one frost heave or subsidence after another, making the ride more of a rollercoaster … Continue reading
The day after our last hike in Kluane NP, July 29, we drove northwest on the Alaska Highway to the U.S./Canada border, then on to Tok (“Toke”) where we turned southwest onto the Tok Cut-Off, Alaska Route 1. Not long after leaving Tok we saw a cow moose and her calf grazing on the edge … Continue reading
