11-16 Aug 2017– Soldotna to Palmer, Glennallen and Valdez

We had planned to stay a night or two at Alyeska Resort, to take the ski tram up to the hiking trails and restaurant at the top – but the rain had settled in, and clouds cloaked the mountain in fog, so we decided to go ahead to Palmer. As has been the case throughout our journey, the RV park was far from full and we had no trouble going in 2 days before our reservation. 

Chugach Mountains just beyond the aptly-named Mountain View RV Park

Sue Rajek had told of us a good restaurant in Palmer, the Turkey Red, so we gave it a try. Sue was right – we had an excellent meal with friendly service, and took home enough roasted vegetables to feed us another night.

Wasn't it nice of them to name a town after Tom?

This old train engine is the site of a supposed geocache - both we and a couple of tourists from Nova Scotia hunted for quite a while, but did not find the cache

We did a little geocaching, since we had extra days in Palmer, but were stumped more often than usual. Not sure if the caches we were looking for had been removed, or whether we’re just out of practice. That said, we did log six finds, two of which were along scenic trails in the Matanuska River Park, a city park where we would certainly stay should we ever return here. Tom searched the stores for a cap that said Palmer, AK on it, but was not successful.

Our last day in Palmer, we drove up to Hatcher Pass, the site of an old gold mine. We took turns going through the visitor center while the other stayed outside with Shelby – but it was so cold and windy that Barbara retreated to the car with Shelby while Tom walked around a bit through the mine site before he too had to get out of the wind. On a warmer day, we’d have joined the few people up on the hillsides harvesting wild blueberries! The drive back provided some nice views toward the Mat-Su valley and the Chugach Mountains beyond.

The old mine buildings, with the tailing piles visible in the background

Looking back toward the Matanuska River valley and the Chugach mountains beyond from the road to Hatcher Pass

The  Little Susitna River along the road to Hatcher Pass

The drive on the Glenn Highway from Palmer to Glennallen is reputed to be one of the most beautiful stretches of road in Alaska, and it did not disappoint. Although it was partly cloudy, we could see most of the mountains and glaciers, and across the vast valleys between. The road was actually in good condition, with fairly few frost heaves and no construction.

The headwaters of the Matanuska River just west of the glacier. At one time the glacier filled this whole valley, leaving the cutbanks on the far side as it retreated.

The Matanuska Glacier. 18,000 years ago, it extended 50 miles westward, almost to present day Palmer. This shot shows only the foot of the glacier - it  extends 27 miles back into the mountains.

The Glenn Highway descending toward Glennallen, with the Wrangell Mountains in the background.

We decided after looking at weather forecasts and road condition reports to make a day trip down to Valdez instead of spending three days there. While the Wrangell/St. Elias Mountains were clouded in, when we got near the Thompson Pass, the views were spectacular and the waterfalls gorgeous.

The Wrangell Mountains east of the Richardson Highway en route to Valdez

The Worthington Glacier near Thompson Pass. We parked and walked down near the base of the right hand arm, but the view were actually better from this pullout.

The Chugach Mountains at Thompson Pass. Note the people standing on the ridge overlooking the valley far below.

Bridle Veil Falls on the left

Horsetail Falls, with interesting rocks to the left

Huddleston Falls

We started at the visitor’s center in Valdez, where we admired the native American artwork on display, and found the photos of the old roadhouses on the Valdez to Fairbanks and Valdez to Eagle (in the Yukon) roads in the early 20^th century quite fascinating. The fur-shrouded people who braved these routes in early open automobiles were far hardier than we are.

On the recommendation of the person at the visitor center we had lunch at the Totem Inn. Our halibut was again perfect – fresh, not overcooked, and complimented by the house-made tartar sauce.

We visited the Valdez Museum and Historical Archive, which presented interesting exhibits on Alaska history, including the 1964 Good Friday Earthquake that wiped out the original town site and on the Exxon Valdez shipwreck and oil spill.

We thought we’d see another good glacier by driving out Airport Road to the Valdez Glacier, but found that the views from the highway were actually better than those from the little city “park” – which was just a dirt area for parking.

Valdez Glacier is way the back at the center of the photo; this little pond with ice floes is meltwater from the glacier.

On our way out to see the Solomon Creek fish hatchery, we saw a number of dry camping sites run by the city of Valdez that had quite nice views across the bay to Valdez – a place to consider should we ever return. 

Looking north toward Valdez from Dayville Road, on the way to the fish hatchery

The fish hatchery has a short walking tour along the fish ladder explaining the processes used to the keep the salmon stocks recovering. This was the first place we’ve seen salmon on the way to spawn – and boy were there salmon. Thousands of pink salmon (humpbacks) were vying for position, trying to get up the small creek, while a small weir was attempting to steer them toward the fish ladder and hatchery. So many fish were frantic to move upstream that the water was churning and virtually no spot was empty of a fish. Many dead salmon who hadn’t made it up either way littered the shoreline. We were surprised that there were neither eagles nor bears making a feast of the riches presented here. Perhaps the 25 or so people watching the spectacle were too much for the predators.

Pink salmon trying to get upstream to spawn

Sea gulls feasting on dead salmon, and resting in their nests along the Solomon Gulch Bridge

Entrance to the fish ladder leading up to the hatchery

A harbor seal enjoying the bounty

Solomon Gulch Falls - any salmon making it over the weir would have to climb these falls to get to spawning grounds.

One of the tunnels created in the effort to build a train line from Valdez to the copper mines in Kennecott via Keyhole Canyon. Nine different companies were competing to build a rail line in 1906. This tunnel was excavated by hand. No company actually completed a rail line.

The rain held off on our return trip to Glennallen, and we enjoyed several nice views of the Wrangell Mountains to the east.

Wrangell Mountains east of the Richardson Highway, with glacier fed cascades

View across Willow Lake to the Wrangell Mountains

Mt. Drum seen from Glennallen west of the junction with the Richardson Highway

8-10 Aug - Soldotna, AK

The drive from Seward to Soldotna was interesting even in the rain. One 15 mile or so section of the road is very narrow and curvy with no shoulder and a 35 mile an hour speed limit – makes for some fairly tense and tiring driving. The rest of the 94 mile drive was not bad, and we did get some nice looks at Kenai Lake and River.

We again stayed at an Elks Lodge in Soldotna, but decided later we should have gone to the Lodge in Kenai instead; to get to the Soldotna Elks we had to drive 3 blocks off the main road on a dirt road that was so thoroughly pot-holed that even at less than 10 mph we really bounced around. The lodge provides 20-amp power and water to 8 sites in its dirt pot-holed lot.

The road into the Soldotna Elks Lodge and our motorhome parked in the lot

After stopping by the Soldotna visitor’s center, which is home to some really nice mounted displays of native species including the world’s record salmon, we drove across “the flats” to Kenai. A caribou herd calls the flats home, but they were not in evidence on our drive. Kenai has an interesting old Russian Orthodox church and chapel, and a continuously occupied rectory that was built in 1881. We started to walk up the path to the chapel, but were told by people leaving the site that the buildings are not open on Mondays. On our way back to the motorhome, we stopped by the Kenai Elks Lodge and found that it’s right off a paved road, and has 30-amp power and water. Should we ever return to this area, we’ll stay there!

Les Anderson, a Soldotna auto dealer, caught this 97-lb king salmon on 17 May 1985 using spin-and-glo and salmon egg bait. This fish remains the world record catch for rod and reel fishing.

Instead of taking the motorhome down to Homer, we made a day trip from Soldotna. The clouds had lifted a bit, and we were able to see Mount Redoubt and Mount Iliamna volcanos across Cook Inlet from Kalifornski Road. 

Mt. Redoubt -10,197 feet, 54 miles away. Last erupted starting in March 2009, continuing for several months and coating Anchorage, Valdez, the Matsu valley, and the Kenai peninsula with ash. Some ash reached as far as Delta Junction, with ash clouds reaching as high as 65,000 feet.

Mt. Iliamna, playing peek-a-boo in the clouds -10,016 feet, 52 miles away. Iliamna has not erupted since before the first European presence in Alaska, but it does emit steam frequently.

When we arrived at the overlook before dropping down into Homer, we could see the Mount Augustine volcano way in the distance, but it was too hazy for good photos.

Homer Spit and the mountains and glaciers of the lower Kenai Peninsula viewed from the Homer Overlook Point

We drove by the Homer Elks Lodge, and saw that they had a few spots for RVs, but after crossing the many road construction sites on the drive down (it looked like they were replacing culverts all along the Sterling Highway), we were glad we hadn’t driven the motorhome down.

The famous Homer Spit seemed to us to be one tourist trap after another – one more reason not to spend a lot of time here. We went to the Land’s End Resort at the end of the spit and had an excellent lunch at their Chart Room restaurant – grilled halibut sandwiches cooked just right, with a tarragon aioli that perfectly complemented the fish. After lunch we walked out on the rocky shore of the spit and watched the various boats coming and going. Shelby just wanted to go roll in the band of dead seaweed on the high tide line. 

Two resident eagles overlooking Kachemak Bay seen from the deck of the Chart Room Restaurant

More boating activity in Kachemak Bay - note the hanging glacier between the mountains

Barbara and Shelby on the rocky beach in front of the Lands End resort. Note the taut leash, as Shelby was trying to reach the dead seaweed at the high tide line.

On our way back to town, we walked through the Salty Dawg saloon, which is famous for all of the one dollar bills signed by the donors, tacked to the walls, ceiling, and every other imaginable surface. If the place ever burns down, the owners will lose thousands of dollars. Since it was packed, and Shelby was with us, we didn’t stay for a beverage.

Driving on out East End road, we stopped at the Bear Creek winery, which makes wines from local berries and wine grape juice imported from the lower 48. They actually had some interesting wines, more for afternoon on the patio sipping than dinner wines, but still quite tasty. Then it was up to Skyline Drive, along the ridge above Homer and facing the lower section of the Kenai Peninsula across Katchemak Bay. Some pretty spectacular views across to mountains and glaciers.

Grewingk and Portlock Glaciers in Kachemak Bay State Park, with float plane flying by, seen from Skyline Drive

Homer Spit seen from Skyline Drive

 On our last day in Soldotna, we went to the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge visitor center, and walked the 1 mile Keen Eye trail. Although the trail is noted for bird watching, we heard a boreal chickadee but did not see it – and that’s all. Clearly if one wants to see many different bird species on the Kenai, spring is the time to do it.

Keen Eye Trail

This bronze moose in front of the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge Visitor Center looks like he's objecting to being polished

Fishing from shore and by boat on the Kenai River in Soldotna