Saturday, September 7, 2019
Tonsina to Girdwood
This morning we backtracked a few miles north to Glennallen to pick up the Glenn Highway, where we turned west toward Anchorage. The Lonely Planet describes the Glenn Highway as “jaw-dropping,” and we were looking forward to another day of astounding views.
We enjoyed clear skies as far as Glennallen, with fantastic views of the Wrangell Mountains. The Wrangells are my pick for the prettiest mountains I've ever seen!
Wrangell Mountains
One last look behind us at the Wrangells
Unfortunately, it wasn't long before smoke from wildfires obscured our views, and we could barely make out the Chugach and Talkeetna Mountains. It was disappointing, but the Glenn Highway is close enough to Anchorage to day-trip from there, so we'll just have to come back to Alaska sometime!!! At least the fall colors were still nice.
Through the smoky haze
I wish the sky was clear!
Matanuska Glacier, 27 miles long and four miles wide, is the largest glacier accessible by car in the U.S., but to reach the glacier, you have to pay $30 per person to cross private land. We already touched an Alaskan glacier. Haha! We'll just look at this one from afar.
There were a lot of people camping along Glenn Highway, in spite of the smoky conditions, but it's probably one of the last weekends before the snow comes, so I guess they were making the best of it. It seemed like every camper had an ATV, a canoe, or both.
Pioneer Tom at the water pump
Fall quickly turning to winter
We took a detour down Chickaloon Branch Road just to see what was there and found a cool old covered train bridge, no longer connected to any tracks.
Along Chickaloon Branch Road
Driving through Sutton, Alaska, we spotted some old mining equipment by the side of the road and pulled over at the Alpine Historical Park, where we wandered into the community's fall picnic, which we were invited to join. How nice! I tried the butternut squash soup, moose chili, and moose vegetable soup. Yum!
Besides the mining equipment, the park displayed an interesting replica of a traditional Athabascan winter lodge, a wall tent used by Glenn Highway workers during the highway's construction, and “historic” pioneer homes from the 1960s. It started drizzling about this time, but we made the best of it.
Alpine Historical Park, Sutton, Alaska
Athabascan winter lodge
Traditional Athabascan sled
Another RoadsideAmerica.com posting led us to Matanuska Cannabis Company in Butte to check out their totem pole commemorating the honorable personages of Bob Marley, Cheech and Chong, and the venerable Willie Nelson.
Non-traditional totem pole
Decrepit bridge, Butte, Alaska
The drizzle turned to a pouring rain as we drove through Anchorage. The rain stopped as we reached Seward Highway heading south out of the city, but the sky was still dark and gray, which much diminished our views of the Turnagain Arm. We'd been extremely lucky with the weather on this trip up to today, so I'm not going to complain. Well, okay, maybe just a little bit of complaining...
Turnagain Arm
After the multitude of stops, we finally reached the Ski Inn in Girdwood around 7:15. Our room was small but very cute and warm. The bath was shared, and breakfast was included in the price. At $90, it was a good Alaska deal!
We had dinner at Chair 5, right behind the inn, a very large, delicious house pizza and a pitcher of Midnight Sun Sockeye Red. A great way to end the day!
Ski Inn, Girdwood, Alaska
Tom
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