I am writing this on Monday, 9/2 (Labor Day).

That’s what the license plates say, and this trip has been a grand adventure so far. If you prefer a more cynical title, I suggest “Alaska: Beautiful Country, Ugly Houses”. As much fun as we are having visiting, I wouldn’t want to live here. We’ve been noodling this trip for many months. We certainly were not like the couple Danita saw at the Anchorage airport who were calling hotels: “Do you have a room? Do you have shuttle service to the airport?” We got settled in our hotel bed about Midnight AK time (that’s 3 AM EST).

These Anchorage Mountains were an Emergency

Cliff Ahead, Stay on Trail

The first order of business today was to pick up our rental car. When I made the reservation, I decided the only car to drive in Alaska is an SUV. Ours ended up being a perfectly adequate Subaru. On the shuttle from the hotel to the rental car agency, we got our first peak at the mountains just north of Anchorage. The way the mountains were playing hide and seek with the low-lying clouds was quite dramatic. Not long after we got on the road, the clouds suddenly changed and covered the mountains so thoroughly that one couldn’t tell the mountains were there. A few minutes later, the clouds had parted and the mountains were clearly visible. The signs said not to pull over except in case of emergency. This dramatic shift in scenery was an emergency to me. That’s how we got the pic above. The weather continued being incredibly changeable. About 15 minutes later, a very strong wind hit, nearly blowing us out of our late. A few minutes later, the wind died completely. And so it went.

Thunderbird Gorge

Not far out of Anchorage, we saw signs for Thunderbird Waterfall. We decided to walk the 1-mile trail to the falls. We found that Alaska has three tacks to get people to stay on the trail: 1) Authority – “Stay on Trail”. 2) Ecology – “Prevent Erosion, Stay on Trail”. 3) Safety – “Cliff Ahead, Stay on Trail.” None of these are particularly effective against Alaskans, as we learned when we took an unofficial but well worn side trail to a very dramatic and unprotected cliff. Most of the land between Danita and the edge of the cliff had been undercut! This is a beautiful area.

Mushroom

The species of trees and bushes is different than what one would find in the Appalachians, but the area has the same feel as any woodland area one might find on the east coast. This brightly-colored red mushroom was common in the area.

Su River

Our next destination was Hatcher Pass and the Independence Gold Mine. It took us quite a long time to get there, because we kept on stopping at pull-overs. This view of the Su river is typical of some of the dramatic scenery we saw. Finally, when we were close to Hatcher Pass, I said, “I’m not going to stop again until we reach Hatcher Pass”. Of course, I almost immediately saw an astounding view and I had to pull over and stop.

Hatcher Pass Lodge

Independence Gold Mine

Hatcher Pass lived up to its reputation. The scenery in this part if Alaska is astounding. The view at Hatcher Pass is stunning. The road to Hatcher Pass has one lane in each direction. They placed signs all along the road telling people not to stop. Never the less, when we first saw it, I had to slow down dramatically. I got the pic above from a pull-over a little further down the road. Independence Gold Mine is just behind the lodge.

Looking back through the Fireweed on Hatcher Pass

We weren’t the only ones to have a problem keeping our car moving at Hatcher Pass. We had lunch at the Hatcher Pass Lodge with another stunning view, this time looking back on the way we had come. After taking in the view for quite a while, we finally noticed that just about every car that came up the road either slowed dramatically or stopped all together. One man stopped, got out of his car, and walked around taking pictures. We were there on a cloudy day at the end of the season. This road must be a mess in the summer time.

We arrived at our final destination, the Talkeetna Road House, about 3:30. Danita was tired and I was exhausted. We rested until dinner and went across the street for some excellent calzone. We had been dodging the rain all day. We had been lucky in missing the rain while we were hiking around. But the rain became steady as we got to Talkeetna. My initial impression is that Talkeetna is the perfect hippy town. Well it’s time for me to visit the bakery at the front of our road house. It’s been many long years since I have seen rhubarb pie. Yum!