Copyright 2019, CABS for Reflections From the Fence
July 28, 2019
Woke to zero rain and more visibility than we have had in days.
A caravan that was here all weekend pulled out. Lots of diesel pushers and the accompanying sounds, and smells.
This would have been our view if we had paid for a premium site. See where all the caravan peeps moved out.
Sony III and zoomed, cause it's a waterfall.
As we head out at least we can see shapes of mountains, and yes, still some cloud cover, but, the color is showing a bit, not all gray, I like it!!
River, mountains, clouds, and some color. Yep, I like it!
As we towards Thompson Pass, the visibility is much better than the trip in. Seriously, on the drive in, we had no idea there were still mountain tops above us. It's nice to see them, even in the photos where it is mostly silhouette.
The Bridal Falls, again, from a different vantage point, I think it is prettier this way.
Shot one of a glacier, not sure of the name of this one.
Thompson’s Pass clear. Stopped near top. Skeeters. 48 degrees. This is a trail that some of the gold rush people took in 1898. A lovely panoramic at the top of Thompsons Pass (or near enough to the top for me! LOL)
Closer to that glacier, nope, I cannot stop taking photos. Cause they are disappearing, and believe me, the local residents that have lived here for decades, they can confirm the disappearing glaciers, and can tell you where that glacier was 10, 20, 30 and 40 years ago.
I found this shape to be amazing, and of course, there are water falls. Water falls from disappearing glaciers.
First construction zone, we missed the pilot car by a minute or two. Upside, we will be first in line, only following the pilot car, for a better view?
Man was impressed with the skills of this operator, to get up on that hill perched that way. This is the same equipment Man saw coming in. He was impressed both times!
More water falls, has that glacier silt in it!
Second zone, traffic light controlled.
Willow lake. Some rain and plane with pontoons flew over us.
Wrangler-Elias National Park stop. This park is HUGE! And much of it is just not accessible. The landscape is stunning and unforgiving. This was not on our radar earlier, but, we are so glad we stopped.
Lunch. Presentation on Wolverines.
Look at those paws. By the way, this was donated to the park by one of the local native hunters. (Please forgive my errors if some of the exact details are "off". It was a fascinating presentation and lots of facts.) The ranger told us that a wolverine can cover twice the mileage of a human being walking, in the same time frame. And, do it through deep snow and up and down mountains. They are quite solitary.
We saw the National Park movie. Came out from the movie and we were going to take a hike. But, it started raining. No walk.
Fuel stop at Glennallen.
Dry. Rain. Dry. Rain. Repeat and repeat again.
Boy, we could see so many miles out today, this obviously was during a dry part of the ride. You know how Mother Nature is, let it rain while the sun is shining. Silly girl.
Tok cutoff. I wrote this on a Facbeook group that I belong to, that covers travel to and from Alaska, etc. Great group.
"Just drove the Tok cutoff from Glennallen to Tok.
Some frost heaves east of Glennallen. Some loose gravel sections, which are surprisingly smooth. A few pot holes and I mean very few. One 15 minute delay waiting for the pilot truck. This was before we got to Slana. It was a few miles of pilot truck. Mostly smooth. One soft spot. A bit of mud, it has been raining.
I think it might be your prior experiences and what your thresholds are, but we found this very doable.
If the loose gravel spots suggested 35 mph, that’s what I did. I did hit one small pot hole filled with rain, that’s it.
It’s doable. Have a safe trip."
Note the fireweed has not only finished blooming here, but are empty stalks, altitude around 2400 feet.
Rain and more rain.
And still raining at 8:14. The lemonade of all this rain, when we arrived in Alaska the fire danger was “very high”. A few days ago I saw a “high” warning and today I saw three, one “low”, one “medium” and another “low”.
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