We are in REAL Alaska now – TOK is our overnight stop.
I thought it timely to start a new page (go to the Menu bar to read previous posts).
Lynne found a gem of a campsite – Tundra RV – full hookups, laundry and their very own bar frequented by the local TOK residents.
Lynne kindly sent me off to the bar so that she could make dinner in peace. Reluctantly I went off to try an Alaskan Amber!
As I walked in, the power in the entire town went out. I thoughtfully informed Lynne and suggested she use our Inverter to operate the air-fryer (so happy we have 400 Amp hours of Lithium).
The beers were cold in the bar and I settled in to try the Alaskan Amber. A strange looking man (in his late seventies, early eighties) sat across the bar from me and nodded a greeting to me as I sat down. He was wearing a Spider-Man suit – I kid you not!
Just me, the female bar-tender and Spidey! Oh shit – how fast can I drink this beer.
Earl (aka Spider-Man) started talking and at the same time he drummed his fingers on the bar as if playing a virtual piano – very distracting and somewhat disturbing.
Well, in 5 minutes this ol local had me in stitches regaling me with his stories, littered with F-bombs. Another local arrived and Earl called him a “dip-shit”, to which the bartender said – “BE NICE EARL”
These two were genuine Alaskans – Earl arrived in TOK after graduating high school and worked all over Alaska.
Earl bought us all a round and I got to hear more stories and hear about Earl’s vast gun collection. Even the bartender said you wouldn’t want to be anywhere near Earl’s house in a wildfire, so much ammunition.
I returned to the RV giggling like a little boy to tell Lynne all about Earl – perhaps you needed to be there to really get it.
I never did find out why the hell he was wearing a Spider-Man suit but I did promise to return to Tok for another beer with Earl.
A short ride today to the Glenallen area with better roads (we averaged 40 mph).
There are over 1 million Caribou in Alaska (twice as many as there are people) but we never saw one today, despite the numerous road signs!
We spent a night at Tolsona Wilderness campground in the Glenallen area. We had a nice pull through site by the river so we didn’t need to unhook the tow. As we were packing up a local Alaskan guy stopped by to chat and give us advice on areas to visit. He recommended Chitina where you drive onto the river bed and park for free with great views. He did warn us it might be busy if the “reds” were running and locals dip netting.
Well – what a nightmare! It looked OK to begin with.
It was like a zombie apocalypse! Crazy folks tearing around in ATV’s and boats hauling large salmon out of the Copper river and gutting them. The place was full of fish heads and salmon offcuts. The wind and dust kicked up by all the vehicles was suffocating. Lynne persuaded me to move so we headed out and found a roadside spot by the visitors center for Wrangell St. Elias NP.
Wrangell – St Elias is the largest National Park in the USA at 13.2 million acres with glaciers, volcanoes, stunning wildlife and 9 of the 16 tallest peaks in America.
We departed our roadside night spot early for Valdez. Another beautiful and stunning drive!
Valdez is a quaint and gorgeous little town. The campgrounds were fully booked for July 4th so we boondocked by the Mineral Creek river at (61.14147213699056,-146.36268557590003) thanks iOverlander.
We went for a 2 mile hike with ZuZu along the Mineral Creek trail, dodging ATV’s and dirt-bikes, to Horsetail Creek Falls.
We are still waiting for our campsite reservation so another free night in the parking lot of the Solomon Gulch Fish Hatchery on the opposite side of the Valdez Harbor. Numerous Bald Eagles in the trees behind us.
6 Facts about the state of Alaska:
1. Alaska has more coastline than the entire contiguous United States combined
2. It is estimated that it has over 100,000 glaciers
3. There are eight national parks in Alaska
(These are Denali, Gates of the Artic, Glacier Bay, Katmai, Kenai Fjords, Kobuk Valley, Lake Clark and Wrangell-St. Elias)
4. Almost one-third of Alaska’s land is in the Arctic Circle
5. There are more active glaciers and ice fields in Alaska than in the rest of the inhabited world
6. Alaska has more than 100 volcanoes, and some are still active, such as Mount Redoubt and Mount Spurr.
We drove to Old Town Valdez, destroyed by an earthquake/tsunami in 1964, the largest recorded in North American history at a magnitude of 9.2!
We wound our way up a rough road in the Trailblazer and when the road ended I walked up a path to take a picture of Valdez from an elevated viewpoint,leaving Lynne in a locked car. As I approached the crest there was aloud rustle in the bushes next to me but I couldn’t see anything. The next thing was the car alarm going off! Lynne had seen a bear looking at me curiously with a cocked head and had opened the door to warn me!
I didn’t waste anytime retracing my steps to the safety of the car where we had a good laugh!
We snagged a great site overlooking the Valdez Bay and then explored more of Valdez on a cloudy, drizzly day.
ZuZu eventually adjusted to the time change. My 6:00am alarm woke him up today instead of ZuZu’s recent routine of walking on my head at 4:45 am .
We had a fantastic 8 hour cruise to Meares Glacier with sightings of Humpback whales, seals, porpoises and puffins.
We stopped by the Valdez Ferry terminal to assess our chances on the waitlist to travel to Whittier. Chances were slim and they have a first come first on system. Rather than wake up at 4:00am to get in line we decided to cancel and drive to the Kenai Peninsula. We spent the day exploring Valdez and departed around 3pm.
These two pieces of fire apparatus were beautifully restored. The Ahrens Steamer was not suited to AK conditions and was only used once!
Another spectacular drive in late afternoon/early evening light to a campground at Matanuska Glacier.
We are spending a few nights at Williwaw Campground near Girdwood. We splurged and took a double site by the river. ZuZu loves the trees and squirrels.
We walked about 4 miles this morning on the Trail of Blue Ice, nicely laid out with bridges and boardwalks to cross the little river multiple times.
On the afternoon we went off to the Alyeska Tram, a 6 minute ride to 2,500ft.
At low tide it looks like a beautiful beach to walk on but it is like quicksand!
Once I had taken ZuZu for a stroll Lynne and I headed off to see Whittier after our Ferry plans from Valdez fell through. To enter Whittier requires a $13 fee for the longest tunnel in the USA – 2.5 miles. It is only wide enough for one-way traffic so on the half hour you line up to enter the tunnel from the north and on the hour when you depart Whittier.
There was not much to see in Whittier. We entered the tunnel at 10:30, did a load of laundry, ate a salmon bagel at the Lazy Otter, walked around the harbor and managed to make the noontime tunnel return!
We departed Williwaw for Hope AK. Our Alaskan buddy Nick said it was his favorite place and to make sure we ate at the Dirty Skillet.
We lucked out again – found the last available site at Porcupine Campground in Hope AK.
We are spending another night here – so peaceful and beautiful. The food is amazing at The Dirty Skillet so going back there tonight. Tomorrow we are off to Homer for 3 nights, planning a fishing trip and a flight to Clark Lake to see the bears.
ushingi 