A couple of trips north...but not too far.....it's a big state and winter in Alaska

Matanuska River at sunset

The morning starts with cinnamon rolls and tea as I sit and watch the sky begin to grow brighter at 9:30am in south central Alaska.  The plans this morning were to go to the DMV to take the test to get my drivers Alaskan drivers license.  I'm not sure why I need to take a test given that the legal age to get a permit here is 14 and the state doesn't require a vehicle inspection nor proof of insurance to register a vehicle.  Plus Alaska only has 5 state highways and most of the state is only accessible by plane or boat but I digress.  Today's plans not consist of heading to the square to view the ice sculptures that the artists have been working on all week downtown but first some time to blog.

I've driven a couple of times north past Eagle River up the Glenn Highway to explore.  It's hard to get out of Anchorage too much in the winter due to the icy roads.  They are not well maintained and the highway folks here could take a lesson from New York State.  The first trip north only took me as far as Palmer via the old Glenn Highway that is a two lane road that winds through a deep mountain valley into the backside of Palmer.  The road had avalanche warning signs consistently and didn't provide much opportunity to pull over and take pictures of the beautiful winter landscape.  It was a frigid day with the temperature hovering around -3 so getting out of the car wasn't too inviting any way.  That was back toward the earlier part of winter before my blood thickened. The cold then had a terrible dry bite to it.  Now I didn't even flinch when it's that cold.  I don't even zip my coat until it's below 20 degrees.  It's amazing how you get used to things.

The road wound through the mountains and eventually crossed a couple of the rivers that flow into the east end of Knik Arm.  Knik Arm is a portion of the North Pacific that extends from Cook Inlet forming one side of the triangle that encompasses Anchorage.  Turnagin Arm making up the other side with Elmendorf Airforce base hemming it in on the third side.  Eventually the road crossed one of the rivers and it was funny to see that the old bridge that the road used to travel on is still standing.  I've noticed that a lot up here.  They just abandon the bridges and don't tear them down for some reason.  The sun was setting early when I crossed the Matanuska River.  I did venture out of the comfort of the warm car to snap a picture of the setting sun in the late afternoon.  After passing through Palmer and into Wasilla it was an hour drive back down Route 1 to Anchorage for the night.

Matanuska River at sunset on a frigid day

Downtown Talkeetna, Alaska

Driving north on a warm 20 degree day led me through Wasilla up the Parks Highway through Willow and the Talkeetna area.  Willow, Alaska is where the Ididerod Sled Dog Race actually begins at the beginning of March.  The ceremonial start is in downtown Anchorage on 5th Avenue the day before.  I plan to attend both events in March.  The road was mostly clear as the car headed north from Wasilla and the houses became fewer.  The Parks Highway runs north from Wasilla 300 miles to Fairbanks and passes the edge of Denali National Park about half way between.

 I made a quick venture down the 14 mile long spur road that leads into Talkeetna revealing a quaint village made up of the original buildings from its heyday as the supply point for the gold miners panning for gold in the rivers among the Talkeetna Mountains.  The roadhouse and hotel are still there with a few original houses. The Talkeetna Roadhouse has been featured on Man vs Food on the Food Network.  The village today is used as the starting point for expeditions climbing Mount McKinley (Denali to the natives), the highest point in North America.  Mountaineering groups arrive by bus and car with tons of gear to prepare for the onslaught of climbing the towering mountain.  Numerous flying businesses in town offer flight seeing views of the mountains and services to shuttle the mountaineering groups to the base of the mountain 65 miles to the north. The brave pilots land their small planes on the glaciers at the bottom of the mountain using skis instead of wheels for landing gear.  The day I visited, the giant mountain wasn't visible due to cloud cover.  Another trip north will be planned on a more clear day when the roads are in decent shape.

After leaving Talkeetna, a drive of about 20 miles north up the Parks Highway through the endless Alaskan taiga, revealed it was time to turn around.  Denali was not going to present itself to me on this mostly overcast day and the sun was beginning to set although it was only 2:30 in the afternoon. Even just a 130 miles north of Anchorage and the sun was beginning to set even earlier as it was only mid afternoon.  The vast taiga (low land peat bogs and lakes marked by arctic spruce typical of many parts of Alaska) stretched to infinity on either side of the road.  Once turning around to begin the drive south I searched for places to pull off to take pictures of the sunset along the fairly deserted highway.  Finding a beautiful view was easy.  Finding a place to access it was another story.  I decided to climb down from the road to the edge of a frozen pond to take a picture.  The snow along the road looked to be only a foot and a half deep.  A few steps on top of the packed highway snow along the road then down the hill and I sank to my waist.  The snow off the road had to be over 4 feet deep.  Naive me thinking it would be an easy task to jump out of the car was cursing myself for not donning snow pants or strapping on my snow shoes.  Wading through the snow back up the hill to the car was exhausting but worth getting the shot.  I can't wait until the weather clears and another trip north can be planned.

Sunset on the taiga at 2:30 pm

"God never made an ugly landscape. All that the sun shines on is beautiful, so long as it is wild."  John Muir