6/28/2015 - Final Days in Alaska

We drove from Valdez to Copper Center where we spent 2 nights @ Squirrel Creek Campground.

Dash Cam shot of Glacier leaving Valdez

While Scott was setting up the camper, an eagle landed on the beach 50 feet away.

Had dinner with Lil & Terry Gilmore and Molly McCormick at Tonsina Lodge – a restaurant that served ethnic Russian food. Very nice meals. Lil, Terry and Molly split their time between Kenny Lake AK and next door to us in Silver City, NM.

Copper River in Wrangell-St Elias

We spent the following day driving in Wrangell-St Elias NP to the mining towns of McCarthy and Kennecott. The road is a 60 mile section of gravel road that was once part of the railroad bed for the 196 mile train that ran from the Kennecott Mine to the town of Cordova on the coast. We saw a porcupine on the side of the road at one point, and later on we saw what we think was an Owl fly across in front of the truck. The town of Kennecott is only reached by shuttle vans from McCarthy. To get to McCarthy, you park on one side of the river, and cross a foot bridge, then walk a half mile to town.

Ma Johnson's Hotel in McCarthy (Not quite Johnson's Boarding House)

Kennecott Copper Mine

The park service has been working on restoring the Kennecott Mine building for a number of years and it appears that they have many more years till it is finished. 

On the way back from McCarthy, we had the second flat tire of the trip. We are getting good at putting on the spare in short order. The next morning we were able to get the tire repaired in Copper Center, then hit the road to Tok, AK where we picked up the Alaska Highway to start the trip east. We had intended on driving to the Tetlin Nature Preserve for the night, but ended up staying at a nice rv park in Tok that had great showers and laundry. This was our last night in Alaska, so we both had Alaska Halibut at the restaurant next door to the campground.

Overall we traveled about 2,500 miles in Alaska. The total trip is well over 8,000 miles so far. There are only about a dozen numbered roads in Alaska. We traveled on some part of most all the numbered roads that were paved. The road construction was a constant frustration. Most all the road work is done in the daytime, and they typically close one lane for large stretches. As a result you often wait up to 30 minutes for the pilot car to take you through each of the construction zones. The only real warm weather was in Chena and Fairbanks. The coastal areas are much the same as the Pacfic Northwest – cool and wet. The number of forest fires grew to over 300 during our stay, but started to diminish by the time we left. We expected the long daylight hours to bother us, but we all slept well despite it being light out.

We will be spending July 4^th at Liard Hot Springs on our way to Jasper and Banff.