August 5

Awoke to steady rain and a shroud of fog that blankets the mountains and the harbor.  It’s not cold, just damp and clammy.  Time to go!  Hot showers, breakfast, quick stop at the grocery and we head out of town.   Time to leave the various town characters:  Bunny Guy, Strange Gift Shop Guy, and Rock and Roll Guy.  The rain coming down off the mountains and the glacier melt has made flooding in the lowland with streams running out of their beds.  It’s a fast and furious current.  The water is running beside the road at our level.  If it wasn’t for the levees they have constructed to divert the flow the road would be flooded.  But we start to climb up to Thompson Pass, one of the beauty spots in the state.  First we pass through narrow Keystone Canyon with many waterfalls, particularly Bridal Falls.  At 2500 plus feet with our ears popping we are in dense fog and it obscures our views.  We drive down out of the pass and come to Worthington Glacier.  A very impressive high mountain glacier that is very close to us. We get a quick pic, it is still raining steadily.  We flatten out on our drive passing the Ak Pipeline along the way.  We stop at Tonsina Lodge for a lark.  Truth is stranger than fiction in Alaska.  It’s an old log cabin roadhouse with a bar and dining/entertainment hall.  We are greeted by women of Russian birth who explain their Russian sauna, complete with birch branches for self-flagellation to stimulate circulation.  Then she reviews the Russian items on the menu.  We are also greeted by two ‘in charge’ tea cup terriers who run the place.  We get coffee to go and a few pics. On down the road we stop at Willow Lake to eat our RV lunch.  The clouds lay heavy and low over the mountains.  It’s a shame because the three volcanoes would have been in clear view.  Mt Wrangell still blows off steam from time to time and is the northernmost active volcano in the Pacific Ring of Fire.  We take a brief diversion to the historic mining town of Copper Center.  We visit the museum and speak with a young girl whose great grandparents settled the area.  Next we stop at the Copper Center Princess Lodge, of the Princess Cruise Line operation.  The Lodge is beautiful and we get some bargains at the gift shop.  We see an eagle fly over being chased by ravens.  The Lodge sits high above the Kluchina River, famous for huge King salmon and currently part of the famous Copper River salmon run.  It empties just below us into the Copper River.  On up the road we stop off at the Wrangell-St. Elias NPS visitors center.  It is the Centennial for the NPS so there are celebrations going on.  It’s a beautiful collection of rustic LEED certified buildings full of displays and a great 20 minute film of one of the most remote parks.  Less than a hundred miles of road into the park that is the size of New Hampshire and Vermont put together.  Next we stop in Glenellen for gas.  Pat and Minde run over to the visitor’s center and meet a couple locals.  Pat accepts a used dog bootie memento from the Iditarod Dog Race and a baggie of dried moose droppings for good luck.  Only in Alaska!  If we turn west we would eventually end up in Anchorage, but we head further north toward Fairbanks (not our destination).  There are very few people living up here and not many cars.  They have improved the highway in some parts but much is still frost heaved and uneven.  The clouds grow heavy again and we are in rain.  It’s too bad because the views would be great.  We are still paralleling the Ak Pipeline at this point.  We finally come to the town of Paxson, looking more like a ghost town.  We turn onto the Denali Highway which has been on our bucket list.  The road is closed in winter and is not paved but the views are supposed to be spectacular.  We continue to climb to various summits entering the alpine tundra, leaving the spruce trees behind.  We have to imagine the views because the clouds are low and heavy not showing us much.  The campground that we wanted to stay at is full.  Can’t believe how many people are in it.  But other campers are pulled over on the pull outs on the side of the road so we do the same.  Off in the near distance we can hear a creek and can just make out a beaver lodge.  This is supposed to be remote Alaska but we have vehicles driving by about every 15 minutes to this point of 11:30PM.  We are kind of alone in this spot and other than the cars we have dead silence.  Up and down the road about a quarter mile there are other campers who have done the same thing as us.  So, we’re not entirely alone.  We are self contained so we have our basic needs.  After a dinner of Barbeque ribs, tater tots, salad and blueberry cheesecake we play rummy.  Minde has to remind us how to play.  Aunt Pat has to catch up!  We take a brief walk around the pull out area, Pat sees sign that moose have been eating the bushes.  Minde is becoming expert at identifying their droppings, we have some and they are fresh!  Now if we could just see the actual animal.  Driving the rest of the Denali Highway tomorrow to Denali NP for 3 nights.  Hope the clouds lift and we can see what everyone says about this little traveled highway.  It seems we’ll have to return to see it in full glory.  A caribou herd migrates through here in September, now that would be something to see.  It’s fun to have Minde with us, she is giving us extra energy!   It looks like we will have darkness tonight for sleep given the dark storm skies.  Time for bed.  Night!