On the way to Anchorage from Valdez

So our side trip to the Copper River didn't pan out.  We turned around and returned to the main highway and spent the night in Glenallen, where we stayed before.

Valdez is down there

However, the country we traveled through coming north form Valdez deserves some commentary.  As you leave Valdez, you climb up another long run to the summit of the Thompson Pass.  Valdez is one of the snowiest places on earth so I was told.  The pass was closed last year for three weeks and the only way they had to get food into town was by ferry boat.  Given that cantaloupe were $4  each and watermelon were $9 in the summer, I would have to stop eating in the winter.



 The scenery is spectacular.  It is interesting that a pass only 2678 feet high is this rugged and the weather so severe.  It is true tundra country and I was lucky to be there when some of the plants were blooming. 

Cloud bank working its way up from sea level

Worthington Glacier

I was there photo,  note cave into glacier

Crossing the summit, you come close to the Worthington Glacier, one of the most accessible glacers in Alaska.  They have made a nice stopping point there so we at lunch and I climbed up to the foot of the glacier.  Amazing (I seem to overuse that word).  That ice has been there for a very long time although I have no idea how long it is from the time snow fall on the top of the glacier reaches its foot.  What is amazing is that there is so much pressure on the ice at the bottom of the glacier that even in the winter there is water flowing out from under the glacier.  This water runs between the bed rock and the glacier and acts as a grease to allow the glacier to move.  To me, the most striking thing was the blue color the ice has.  In spots it is as if the ice were dyed blue.  Here is a picture of the ice coming out from under the glacier into a cavern melted into its base.

 I will write more about glaciers in a few days. They are fascinating, even though Pat says they are rocks, ice, and water. Can't argue with that. After you leave Thompson Pass, you enter the Copper River valley. This is one of the most famous salmon rivers in Alaska. The areas we were in were only open to Native Americans and Alaskan citizens, so I couldn't fish. However, if you go to Dorothy Lane Market and see the $35 a pound slamon about this time of the year, it came from here. Buy some and cook it until its just done.  You'll never eat better. The captain of the halibut fishing boat that I chartered grew up in Dayton and worked in the meat market at Dorothy Lane Market in Oakwood he is my source for this info. Its a small world indeed. I plan on fishing the other great salmon fisheries on the Kenai penninsula later in the trip.

We left Glenallen for Anchorage on June 24th and drove west. The highway was a really good road with the promise of the only 4 lane divided highway in Alaska. I wondered why they hadn't extended it to this nice road I was traveling. Boy did I find out. Amazing mountains, 20 mph turns and beautiful scenery. We ate lunch at the head of a beautiful valley, went past another glacier (they're everywhere!) and arrived in Anchorage in the afternoon.  This is a special stop for me, I have wondered about this city for years and am glad to be here to see it.