Valdez to Anchorage
Thursday, July 31, Day 59 of the Alaskan Journey
300 miles to go
52° |
| In Old Town Valdez |
I am going to back this narrative up just a little. On the way out of Valdez, we had made a side
trip through what was left of Old Town Valdez to visit the nearby mechanic shop
and to find a seafood market. Daisy and
I had spent our time in the new town site that was built 4 miles from the old one,
which had been severely damaged when the 1964 earthquake triggered the
advancement of 98 million cubic yards of soil into the sea. The old town site
had been built on loose granular glacial outwash. It is documented that with
the earthquake, this soil became saturated with water and sloughed off into the
ocean, creating a 30 foot tsunami that traveled away from the town.
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| Truck repair facility near Old Town |
The town was then moved to a more solid location. Fifty-three buildings were moved from the old site to form the core of the new town.
It was overcast as we climbed up to Thompson Pass, entered the clouds, and drove down the other side. We had 300 miles to get to Anchorage and the nearest full-service RV repair shop. In route we would be stopping at Wrangell-St. Elias National Park.
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| Worthington Glacier just beyond Thompson Pass |
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| The road ahead |
It did not take us long to realize that as well as getting the slide motor fixed in Anchorage, we might also have someone look
at the truck clutch. It just did not feel right. I reduced the number of times I had to shift
and double clutched for every gear. It was working, but I was still
uncomfortable.
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| We shared the road with many |
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| Including the pipeline |
The Trans-Alaska Pipeline follows the Richardson Highway as
far as Glennallen, where we turned off to follow the Glenn Highway back to
Anchorage.
Wrangell-St. Elias National Park
Ten miles south of Glennallen, we stopped at the Wrangell-St. Elias Visitor Center. This park is the largest in the United States and is equal to 6 Yellowstone National Parks in area.
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| Mount Drum on the left, Mount Wrangell on the right |
This park contains more than 13,200,000 acres. It appears to be nothing but peaks and glaciers. It hosts North America’s largest coastal mountain range, including Mount St. Elias, which is 18,008 feet. The park has America’s largest wilderness area. Glaciers here are constantly advancing and retreating, grinding rock, and making the streams they feed milky white with silt. Nine of the 16 highest peaks in the US are in this national park. Mount Wrangell (at 14,163 feet) is the only active volcano and often vents volcanic gases and steam at its summit.
Native
people (the Athna) call it “the one
who controls the weather,” or “the one with smoke on it.” Mount Drum is the
closest to the highway and appears to be the tallest at 12,012 feet. At one
time it was 2,000 feet taller, before it blew its top off. As one who has seen
up close the destruction caused by an active volcano (Mount St. Helens), I was
in awe.
Another well-known feature of the visitor center area is the mosquitoes. They were large and out in force. We kept moving when outside, and I was fortunate that they liked Daisy better.
Another well-known feature of the visitor center area is the mosquitoes. They were large and out in force. We kept moving when outside, and I was fortunate that they liked Daisy better.
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| Mount Sandford (16,237 ft.) is hidden among the clouds. |
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| The valley corrals rivers of ice. |
At Glennallen we thought about stopping for lunch. Back at
the visitor center, however, I had some difficulty shifting, so we decided to
continue on to Anchorage and available Ford dealerships and transmission shops.
We had to go 189 miles via the Eureka
Summit and then down a steep 25-mile curvy road section with limited turnouts
before we would reach our destination. 
This part of the journey was on the
Glenn Highway, which runs through Alaska from east to west. We would be
returning on this same route when we headed to Tok on our way back out. We
climbed all the way to the Eureka Summit with no major issues. The truck has 6
manual gears and I was able to access 5th and 3rd. On the climb, I got it in third gear and let
it stay as we slowly ascended. I was able to allow others to pass in places where
we were still in a wider portion of the road with moderate grades. I kept it in 3rd gear on our descent
and was pleased that we had an exhaust engine
brake to help minimize using the truck brakes and overheating them. As we
approached the Matanuska Glacier, I let Daisy
know that we would not be stopping for pictures on the way to Anchorage but
would stop on the way out with a properly operating tranny. She said “no
problem” and shot pictures on the move.
We finally hit the dreaded 25-mile narrow, winding, 7% downgrade portion
where there were no passing lanes and only a few pullouts. (To be of any use to
us, a pullout would have had to be quite long, because I would not be stopping
the truck and trying to restart and engage it in 3rd gear.) To make
a long story short, I pulled over when possible but otherwise backed up traffic.  |
| Sheep Mountain |
We took a deep breath when we got out of this portion of the highway. Then, we reached civilization and traffic lights…oh shucks. We still had 42 miles left before we arrived at our destination in Anchorage.
Daisy planned a route that would hopefully minimize the lights. Without using the clutch, I was able to gear it to 2nd. This allowed me, from a full stop, to get moving. I also ran a few lights turning from yellow to red when traffic permitted and again stacked up town traffic in a few places because I could not shift to a higher gear.
We made it to the campground. Daisy had called ahead and they had reserved for us a pull-thru site that we could drive straight into. Whew, what a ride.
It was 5:30 pm when we arrived. We had made arrangements on the road for a mobile RV shop repair person to meet us to check out the slide motor. He arrived 25 minutes later. Daisy and I had gotten the slide out and we were ready for him. He got the information needed to order the part and have it air shipped from the lower 48. Hopefully, they would have one in stock. He also gave us advice on where to seek Ford clutch repair. After he left, we walked to a Denny’s that was just on the corner. We were beat. For dinner: comfort food was in order. Remember we had missed lunch. That night we had country fried steak, mashed potatoes with gravy, broccoli, and Caesar salads. We walked back to the RV and were in for the night at 8 pm.
Friday, August 1, Day 60 of our Alaskan Journey
70°
It was a clear, sunny morning and I made calls to two tranny
repair facilities. One had just had a fire so was out of business and the other
said to bring our truck in after the weekend and they would “work it in.” Now Anchorage is not a small city that we
could walk across, so we made plans to rent a compact car at the best available
price: $89/day. After reconsideration, we decided that public bus
transportation would be satisfactory and much cheaper, so we cancelled the
car. I called the RV repair facility to
give them our credit card number to order the slide part. We had stopped at the
same shop our first time in Anchorage to get the refrigerator fixed several
weeks before. The owner answered the
phone and remembered us. He was also aware of our truck issue and suggested
that we let him look at our truck on Monday before we went to the tranny shop,
which was just down the street from him.
He had a hunch that it might be something he could fix, so of course I
agreed. We took some Alaskan salmon out of the freezer, made a pitcher of one
of our favorite libations (called “skip
and go nakeds,”) added a great tossed salad, and set up the lawn
chairs. We decided that we might as well
enjoy our time in Anchorage.
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| For me, that means looking at airplanes. |
Saturday, August 2, Day 61
We slept in on Saturday morning. We took the 1:35 bus downtown, connected with another bus out to the airport, and then a shuttle to the Alaskan Aviation Museum. We looked around the static exhibits and from the outside observed float planes taking off and landing.
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| I have flown this model... |
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| N754 "Pinocchio" |
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| and this without the floats. |
After the "hanger flying," we saved time by
taking a taxi back to the downtown area and the Glacier Brewhouse restaurant. We sampled a flight of craft beers and had a pint of our favorite—an amber for Daisy and a hefeweizen for me.
We added a calamari appetizer; a beet, arugula, and chevre salad; tempura green beans; and a beer-battered cod. It was all very tasty. We later had time to walk around the downtown and take the last bus back to the campground.
That evening I noticed that the refrigerator wasn’t cooling as it should have been. OK, guess we would have the RV tech check that out as well. At least we were in a place that could be done easily.
Sunday, August 3, Day 62
Another day to sleep in, and we awoke to rain and clouds then
had a brunch of scrambled eggs with cheese and bacon. We caught up with web-based
activities, and when the sun came out went for a walk around the
campground. There were lots of hanging pots of flowers.
It's amazing what 22 hours of sunlight will do for growth and color!
Lawn chairs and iced teas wrapped up the afternoon with us taking out some smoked salmon to add to cream cheese and onion for a delicious dip. A bowl of tomato bisque soup finished the light meal.
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| Our travel slogan |
Monday, August 4, Day 63
57° and light rain
My birthday!
Daisy gave me a birthday card and a small stuffed otter that
she named “Salty.” I already had a small stuffed Jersey cow named “Elsie”
that has been on my truck dashboard for good luck for 15 years. Now the cow had
a friend to ride with and share the road. We were able to off-load the truck camper from the truck and, with minimum gear changes, make our way across town to the RV and auto repair shop. After checking the physical repair on the clutch master cylinder, which was satisfactory, the owner told me that the previous shop had failed to do a power-forced fluid bleed of my hydraulic system to get the air out of the lines. This required a specialized piece of equipment to do, so small repair shops (like the one in Valdez) did not have it. The good news was that he had that equipment and could do it right then! Another piece of good news was that a thermistor was all was needed to fix the refrig and I could do that myself. The bad news was that the slide motor would have to be manufactured, because it was no longer available in stock. The good news was that they could construct it at the factory in Indiana, but it might take a week before it would be made and arrive in Anchorage. All we had to do was pay $720 upfront to authorize construction.
Hey, I got the truck back without having the tranny rebuilt. I got the parts to get the refrig working and it was possible to get the slide moving again. And it was my birthday. Needless to say, we paid the $720. On the way back to the campground, the truck performed like it was supposed to, and I decided that I wanted to celebrate by cooking my own birthday dinner. So we stopped at Safeway and bought got some large local shrimp and corn on the cob. That evening, I boiled the shrimp and cooked the corn in the husks in the microwave. Cooked this way, the corn slid out of the husk easily with no silks attached, ready to be buttered. All in all it was a good birthday.
Tuesday, August 5, Day 64
The refrigerator fix worked somewhat. Daisy spent the day
reviewing the flower pictures she had taken so far and selected 18 of the best
for a Facebook wildflower album called "The North Country in Bloom." We also made reservations for a float plane
trip on Friday from Anchorage to the Knik Glacier for airborne pictures and a
landing in Lake George for more pictures near the Colony Glacier. There had been
bear sightings on the previous trips so we were excited.
Wednesday, August 6, Day 65
As was our custom on the past few days, we slept in. We would
not be able to do that once on the road. Daisy discovered that her wildflower
album did not go out on Facebook beyond herself. We found a sharing default
that needed to be removed and almost immediately began receiving positive comments. I
borrowed a step ladder from another camper in the park and added a second
external cooling fan to the refrig compartment.
I did TC battery maintenance and reinforced a latch on the TC awning
that had shattered from fatigue. Daisy wrapped up the day by doing laundry. That
night we were tired and dined on tuna melts (using canned tuna) and lima beans.
Not exactly an Alaska seafood dinner, but still tasty.
Thursday, August 7, Day 66
We took the bus downtown about 1:30 and visited the Alaskan
Native Arts Gallery. It was beautiful to see, but there was nothing we wanted
to buy. We walked to the visitor center and caught a free shuttle to the Ulu
Factory. 
The Ulu (pronounced oo-loo) is
an implement that has been used for centuries by the native Eskimo people of
the Arctic in the field and in the kitchen.
As a knife and cutting tool, its design offers good control. There we watched a demonstration on the use
of the Ulu and also watched them being made. We did buy one and a companion bowl
in the “seconds” area. 
Outside the factory is the Ship Creek area of the river where many say the town of Anchorage really got started as a tent city.
We watched
folks fishing the silver salmon run. The
daily limit is three and several folks had that. 
Many of these salmon make it all the way to where their life journey is successful--to their death. But in that death there is life. They spawn, continuing life, and their decomposing bodies bring food for other animals and enrich the biotics of the stream and streamside’s soil and plants, nourishing the environment.
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| Notice the full flower pots all over |
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| Bay view from restaurant |
Due to a conversation with the host at the visitor center, I
had made a dinner reservation at Simon-Seafort’s Saloon & Grill, a highly recommended seafood
restaurant. It was a six-block walk but we had plenty of time. The restaurant
had white linen napkins but not tablecloths.
We had good margaritas and hot sourdough bread to start. I had cioppino
with mussels, salmon, king crab, scallops, and halibut in a rich tomato
broth. Daisy had asiago and almond
crusted scallops with mashed Yukon potatoes, vegetable medley, zucchini straws,
and beurre blanc sauce. Everything was
good. When making the reservation, I
mentioned that it was my birthday celebration. So our table was decorated with
colorful ribbon curls and I got a free piece of key lime pie for desert,
including a lighted candle straw.  |
| My meal |
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| Daisy's |
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| First time I ever had a flaming straw as a birthday candle |
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| The ritual is still the same. |
Another good day in which we made more Alaskan memories.
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| Downtown Anchorage: Skyscrapers and Truck Campers |
Friday, August 8, Day 67
It was a cloudy, windy day and had rained overnight. Our float
plane reservation was scheduled for 1 pm.
When Daisy called to confirm, they told us that there were nasty
conditions in the flight area and that they would call us back. One hour before
flight time, we called them and they had to “pull the plug” and wanted us to
reschedule. That was the bad news. The good news was that we got a call that our
slide motor had arrived and the technician would install it that evening. We
would be leaving the next day, so had no opportunity to reschedule the float
plane trip this time. Oh well, at least we got the t-shirts!
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| Potted plants everywhere |
Leaving Anchorage
Saturday, August 9, Day 68
Saturday, August 9, Day 68
54°
334 miles to destination
We finally got on the road again after spending a week on
our second stay in Anchorage. Our next planned stop was Tok, Alaska.
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| The Tok road |
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| Northbound |
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| Up we go, with Salty photobombing |
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| Glacier meltwater in a braided channel |
We did take the time to park along the highway and get some great pictures of the Matanuska Glacier that lies south of the Glenn Highway. (Remember I did not dare stop here on the way in for fear of not being able to get moving again!) This road-accessible glacier is 27 miles long and averages 2 miles wide.
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| Matanuska Glacier |
At its terminus it is nearly 4 miles wide. A pretty large river of ice.
We stopped for lunch at Nitro Burgers in Glennallen, which is the access point for the beginning of the Tok Cutoff. On the way, we saw trumpeter swans and a moose.
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| We also found more frost heaved roads. |
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| The scenery was worth slowing down for. |
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| Not far to Canada from our destination |
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| Aspen |
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| Conifers |
In Tok we got gas and groceries before
stopping at the Sourdough Campground. We had been here before on our way to
Fairbanks. At the campfire activities that evening, we again tried the sourdough
pancake toss, but still didn’t win a free breakfast. So we listened to some
country music and danced at bit.  |
| Yep, we were there. |
We even ran into Jim and Becky from Abilene, KS, whom we had met at a Truck Camper Rally in Texas several months before. They also were on their way back to the lower 48 and would be traveling down the Cassiar Highway as we were.
Even in such a big state as Alaska, it is still a small world.
Sunday, August 10, 69th day of our Alaska Journey
It was 52° as we turned onto the road we had been on before. We were heading home, but there was still more adventure to be found.
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| Hwy 2 is called the Alaskan Highway |
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| Haines Junction was our destination. |
We immediately encountered black spruce forest, gravel, and frost heaved sections of paved roads. All this means is to really slow down.
Our next stop was to cross the Canadian border into the Yukon Territory. We would be returning to Alaska a little later on in our return trip.
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