Alaska - You Didn't Let Us Down!

Room 129, Princess Wilderness Lodge, Copper River, AK
17.43 Thursday 10th May

With apologies for the number of pictures here today. It has been so difficult weeding them out.

We drove out of Anchorage after a motel breakfast, leaving just after 8 and joining the swirl of Anchorage traffic. (Bob just read a comment in Lonely Planet about Anchorage: "work in progress"!) My, what a busy place. And for 30 or so miles the traffic was still pouring into the city. As we got out into the "wilderness" we left most of the traffic behind and the road became remarkably quiet. The season is only just starting (handy hint, come early) so really very few travellers. We saw a few campers of various sizes, shapes and condition (a couple we saw were all-but falling apart).

Our first stop was the village of Eklutna, a small town inhabited Upik natives who were converted to Russian Orthodoxy by Russian missionaries. They have preserved/restored their church and other building for the benefit of visitors and for themselves.

We turned off the main highway onto the old Glenn Highway where we were held up briefly by various roadworks. Always fun to be leading a convoy, behind the pilot car, through the works. We returned to the main highway at the town of Palmer.

We really had expected the Glenn Highway to be much busier. It forms Highway 1, presumably the main route in from "The Lower 48", across Canada and into Alaska's biggest city. So we were really pleased that we had huge stretches of highway to ourselves.

The cloud had built up round the higher mountains and, for a while we could not see the tops. Gradually the clouds got higher and this part of Alaska, in all her glory, was revealed to us. Stunning. Yes, we felt stunned. We could not believe what we were seeing. Vista after vista was revealed to us. Lakes, rivers and shambolic huts and cabins. As well as a few smart ones. Then a young moose crossed the road in front of us.

We stopped constantly for photo opportunities. One particularly memorable stop was a viewpoint to admire the Matanufka Glacier.

We trundled on, craning our necks, staring up at the cliffs on our left in the hope we would see some of the Dall sheep that call those vertiginous slopes their home. But this time we saw nothing but rocks and trees.

Our dream catcher working overtime!

After the humble little town of Glenallen, we turned right off the Glenn Highway onto the Richardson Highway that, tomorrow, will take us down to the infamous town of Valdez.

We easily found (despite TomTom telling us to turn up a non existent track) our stop for the night. The extremely cosy Princess Wilderness Lodge at Copper River. Built by the cruise ship company to provide its passengers some light relief in the wilderness. Presumably they are bussed up from their boats, tied up in Valdez.

These views from the lodge grounds, including the Trans Alaska Pipeline, which terminates in Valdez. Here we are looking towards the volcanic Wrangel Mountains.

Looking forward to dinner in the comfy looking (but not cheap!) restaurant.

Why did the moose cross the road? Small prize for the best answer!

PS Just saw a dog sled (with wheels) pull off from in front of the lodge. 4 smallish dogs pulling 4 large and 1 normal person! And they were so happy about it! Pictures soon!

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