Home Eagles! Fireworks Wolf at the Door? Thunderbird Falls! Coyotes & Mountains Peters Creek Eklutna Lake

January 6th and we did a long haul along a tiny little itsy bitsy bit of the Chugach range... These mountains extend from Anchorage all the way past Valdez. That's 304 miles. There are ranges much longer, but these are impressive mountains all the same ;-)

We were heading north on The Glenn Highway (Highway 1) and just about in Palmer. I looked back and there was one of the brightest definitely most spectacular sun-dog I have ever seen. It was right above Pioneer Peak, a mountain of some 6,398 feet (we are just about at sea level in Palmer) so it is quite spectacular all around with these little mole hills about ;-)

Although the forecast was for clearing skies, you could have fooled us. It was overcast and snowing. The temperature was about 10 degrees and the mountains were hidden by cloud and falling snow. We were heading into Interior Alaska, a place where temperatures and storms can be brutal. However it was just gloom today. We stopped at the Chickaloon River, near King Mountain State Recreation Site. A 5,809 foot mountain loomed in the gloom, behind which 10,000 foot peaks were shrouded in obscurity. I opted for something more mundane, but something we could at least see, the Chickaloon River as seen from the bridge. It may have been well below freezing, but currents in the mountains are swift and powerful enough to keep the river open. It would have to be a lot colder than this to freeze over this river. This all made for some nice photos. My 16-35mm camera came in handy, but looking down you can see considerable distortion at 16mm so I tried my best to take photos on somewhat less extremes.

With the Talkeetna Mountains to our north and the Chugach Mountains to the south, we headed east along The Glenn Highway following the Matanuska River, the main drainage between the ranges. The road was not desolate, but oncoming cars were few and far between.

The road was white with ice and snow. Even more scarce than traffic are guard rails. In many places the road dropped off hundreds of feet to the river below. This all made for an interesting drive. We were glad we had 4wd, but felt for those who didn't.

The air up here may be a tad bit nippy, but it is so dry you do not really feel it. It certainly does not feel as cold as it does back in Indiana where humidities run high even in winter, and the winter winds are strong.

Needless to say, we both became a bit parched. Up ahead, right in the middle of nowhere was a coffee stand. A drive up coffee stand. Hick's Creek Alaska and you can get a large Cappuccino! The man in the stand, who looked like an old sourdough wannabe, he at least needed some more gray and wrinkles to complete the effect, was quite memorable. The story I heard was that his wife decided to start the stand to make money when times are slow in the winter, but he gets to man the lonely position of making coffee for the few and far between travellers like us. Regardless, it was sure nice to get a Cappuccino out in Interior Alaska ;-)

We did not really have a goal, we were just looking for clear skies, or jokingly, to head back when the temperature dipped below zero. I took some gloomy photos of the Matanuska River and then of the Glacier of the same name.

This glacier is clearly visible from the road, but like all glaciers up here, it is receding rather quickly up the valley as the climate warms. Strange to say that, for the temperature did dip below zero, but fortunately, after we passed Meeking Roadhouse, we came to clear skies so we ignored our joke about turning back if the temperature dipped below zero....

As the clouds parted, the scenery up here went from the sublime to the unbelievable. Only a diluted reference to what we could see was captured on camera. You really had to be there to take it all in. The sun was below the mountains to the south, Alpenglow just touching a few remaining clouds over their peaks. Everything was blue-white. It was cold, but the winds were light. It was a calm, peaceful, cold.

We continued almost to the Eureka Roadhouse, but the light was almost gone so we stopped one more time and I took a wealth of photos from this one spot in a pull-out on the road. Looking south was Lion Head, an outcropping of rock somewhat resembling a lion's head. Looking Northeast was the South Fork of the Matanuska River. And, of course, mountains all around. Even the continuing road ahead was picturesque. We were hoping for clear sky and mountains and we found it!