June 6th, 2024 - Part 1 - Travel to Glennallen

We woke to another beautiful day, packed up and headed south.

If you look at an Alaska Road Map, the major roads go in a circle around the cities/towns.  Many folks do the counter clockwise version - Delta Junction, Fairbanks, Anchorage, Kenai, Valdez and back to Tok (with many side journeys in between.)  We did that in 2007 and 2009 but this year we decided to do the counterclockwise version.  One of the reasons is that we did not spend much time in Valdez.

In 2007, we spent a few days and in 2009, we skipped it totally.  This year my intention was to spend at least a week there.

So I am getting a little ahead of myself here but my plans were to spend 2-3 days getting to Valdez.  Our first night plans were to stay at a state campground near Glennallen, the second night would be spent at another state park near the Thompson Pass and then we would be in Valdez.  WELL! that didn't happen because both state parks were closed because of the snow - LOL!  (Yes, I did check the websites and both said they were open as of mid-May!).

We did stop at both state parks, also in Glennallen and did end up going all the way to Valdez.   We had reservations to stay a week in Chena RV park in Valdez and, Thank God, she (Judy) had openings for us to come in early!

This blog will be broken into two parts: from Tok to Glennallen and then from Glennallen to Valdez.  All I can say (I know, again and again), the scenery was SPECTACULAR, AWESOME, BREATHTAKING, and very emotional for me!

So this blog and the next will be picture intensive.  

Enjoy.

The mountains, the trees and the rivers:

Spectacular, isn't it!

Yes, we did have bumpy and dippy roads.  Some areas were not good BUT this was a piece of cake compared to what we did previously on this trip:

The St. Elias Mountain Range - it looks like a picture, doesn't it?!:

One of our stops:

Many trees:

WOW!:

This is the Subauroral  Geophysical Observatory in Gakona: 

I put this in here because this is a really interesting program being done by the University of Alaska.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-frequency_Active_Auroral_Research_Program

We were going to camp at Dry Creek State Recreation Area but as we approached, the gates were closed.  So we went on to Glennallen where we stopped for fuel and lunch.  I made a stop in the local Safeway but, WOW, the prices were much too high.

We decided to continue our journey south and check out other places to stay.  That journey continues in Part Two.

June 4-5, 2024 Back to Tok - Fun with Pancakes

June 4th, 2024 

We woke to a semi-cloudy day and we were on our way south:

Very interesting road:

What a joy to see this creature:

He even posed!:

Sights along the way:

It truly is a desolate road!:

We landed at Sourdough Campground.  We spent time here in 2007 and 2009 (in fact, our pictures are still on the wall from 2007).  They are famous for their pancake toss - Fun.

In 2007, Ken and Anne owned the park and it was entertainment every night.  In 2008, Ken passed from a snowmobile accident and Anne and her sons took over.  In April 2009 when we came thru, it was not open but we stopped to see Anne (God bless her!).  We did stop on the way back in 2009 and the kids were doing a good job in keeping it going.

Since then, it has been sold and they are trying to keep the tradition up.

Penny and Mike came by once they set up and we had a nice afternoon.

Andy and I went to supper in the restaurant for their Sourdough Bread Bowl Chile - it was okay.  Then we met up with Penny and Mike for the campfire and pancake toss.

Tim, the new owner and chef:

Pancake Toss - you have a pancake and toss it in the bucket.  If you win, you get $10.00 off for breakfast.  (The rules have changed from 2009 but that is ok.)

We each got a practice shot and then the real shot.  No one made it on the real shot but these folks made it on the practice shot so they got the coupons.  Penny and Mike made it!

The rest of us were losers - LOL!

Stats for today:

Miles Traveled: 79 (Very Bumpy) Miles

Routes Traveled:

Alaska:AK-5 (Taylor Highway);  AK-1 (Alaskan Highway); AK-1 (Tok Cutoff Highway)

June 5th, 2024

We met Penny and Mike for breakfast (Rhubarb Pie was AWESOME!) and then said our "see you laters".  They are off on their next adventure and hopefully we will see them along the way.

Today was a take it easy, planning day, get some stuff done day and just hang out.  And that is what we did!

Tomorrow we head towards Valdez so stay tuned and enjoy today.