Moving On :: Anchorage to Glennallen

Friday morning (August 20th) arrived with mostly blue skies. And sunshine for the third day in a row! There was very little wind as I drove along Turnagain Arm, on my way once again to Anchorage and points beyond.

The lack of wind made for extremely calm waters, perfectly reflecting the blue sky. This is where Turnagain Arm joins the Cook Inlet, south of Anchorage. What may look like clouds where the water meets the sky are actually the snow-capped mountains on the far western shore of Cook Inlet!

It was after noon by the time I left Anchorage (after stopping at McDonalds for two hours to use their wifi, and eat lunch, of course). By then clouds had begun to move in over the mountains.

After weighing my options, I decided to head for Haines on the north end of the Inside Passage. From Anchorage, I took Highway 1 (also known as the Glenn Highway) east towards Glennallen, a distance of about 190 miles. This is the same route that Sue and Fred took on Tuesday (the 17th).

A portion of the Glenn Highway is designated a National Scenic Byway. It was a nice drive. The road was in fairly decent condition but it did have several rough sections. I hate to say it, and I certainly don't want to alienate any Alaskans, but at times it was also rather boring. I'm sure that when the road was first constructed the views were magnificent. But the trees have grown taller and sometimes it is like driving through a channel of green. All you can see are the trees on either side and the sky overhead. It is the same way on many highways, not just those is Alaska.

I've gotten “frustrated” more than once upon seeing a sign that says “View Point” or “Overlook” or one that has a nice graphic of a camera indicating a photo-op ahead and then, when you get there, what do you see? Nothing but trees. Now, I have nothing against trees. I love them. We need them. And I don't expect highway departments to cut them down just so I can get a nice photo, but, well... Anyway, every once in a while you do get see a wonderful view and then you appreciate it even more.

For much of the way, mountains rise on either side of the Glenn Highway. This is the Matanuska River Valley, formed many, many years ago by a glacier of the same name, which, at one time, extended all the way to Palmer (about 100 miles west).

Merely a “shadow of its former self” the Matanuska Glacier still exists and is still changing the landscape. The glacier is 27 miles long and it averages 2 miles in width. The “face” of the glacier, what I'd call its “front” and is technically called its terminus, is 4 miles wide! It's one huge chunk of ice!

Matanuska Glacier is accessible from the privately owned Glacier Park. I drove down the steep, winding, narrow one-mile long dirt road and crossed over the river on a rickety wooden bridge to the park office. There I found out they charge an admission fee of $20, which allows you to hike a trail to the ice that takes about 15 minutes... but in listening to her describe the trail to someone else (very, very muddy due to all the rain they've had) , I decided not to go on that hike. Hopefully, sometime during my stay here in Alaska I'll get “up close” to a glacier.

I drove on to Glennallen, at the junction of Highways 1 and 4, and stopped at the Northern Lights RV Park and Campground. It was one of the nicer RV Parks I've stayed at since leaving Montana. Unlike most, it wasn't just a parking lot with hookup stations. There was some degree of privacy, which was nice. Also flush toilets, showers and wifi. And although the wifi wasn't the fastest, it was okay and I was able to get a couple more blog posts scheduled.

Another Beautiful Day!

Thursday morning (August 19th) brought another day of beautiful sunshine! I was up and on my way to Anchorage a little after seven o'clock. While I was still in Seward on Tuesday the “Malfunction Indicator Light” in the van had come on. The owner's manual says it is part of the onboard diagnostic system that monitors engine and automatic transmission control systems. It further stated that certain conditions such as a loose or missing gas cap or poor fuel quality could illuminate the light and that the vehicle should be serviced if the light stays on after several typical driving cycles. What is a typical driving cycle? I removed the gas cap and put it back on in case it had been loose, but that didn't help.

Well, the light came on every time I started the engine, irritatingly beeping at me each time as a reminder. Not that I needed a reminder with that silly light staring me in the face! So, along with an oil change, which was past due, I needed to get this Indicator Light checked out. I had located a Dodge dealer in Anchorage, via the internet, and got there without any problems. It took them a while to get me checked in (the young man definitely was not computer savvy) and then it was another four hour wait.

Turns out that the malfunction code had something to do with the emissions system and the people that do the oil changes (quick maintenance, they called it) don't work on that stuff so I had to go talk to another fellow. He seemed to know what he was talking about. He said that they could charge me $100 to run diagnostic tests or I could simply get a new gas cap! Apparently, Dodge Vans have a problem with gas caps... so for $26 the gas cap was replaced and they cleared the code. The indicator light hasn't come back on so I'm hopeful that the problem has been solved.

It was rather frustrating to wait there for nearly five hours with such a beautiful day outside. I drove through Anchorage just to get a feel for the place. There was a lot of road construction going on but it was still relatively easy to get around. I found my way to Earthquake Park, an area set aside to commemorate the 1964 Good Friday Earthquake which devastated southern Alaska. On clear days it offers views of the Knik Arm of Cook Inlet and Mount McKinley, only 200 miles away. On this day McKinley was visible, but just barely. It was rather ghostly looking and melted into the sky.

At Earthquake Park I connected with the Tony Knowles Coastal Trail, which is a paved bicycle and walking path that meanders along the coastline. I followed it for a couple of miles, nearly getting run down by several cyclists, but the weather was beautiful as were the views that I could see through the trees.

Expansive views of Cook Inlet were not to be seen since much of the trail that I walked was tree lined on both sides. It was just nice to be outside with no rain! Anchorage has an extensive park and trail system (120 miles of trails) as well as many other attractions and activities, but I was being lazy and didn't do much of anything.

I hadn't yet made up my mind as to where I would go next so I returned to the campground at Bird Creek, 25 miles southeast of Anchorage. It is a lovely drive along Turnagain Arm and the paved trails in that area offer some nice views.