Days 30 & 31: On to Anchorage

Day 30
Wednesday, July 19, 2017
On to Glacier View en route to Anchorage

Today was a driving day. There is only one road in and out of Valdez, so we started by backtracking on the Richardson Highway. We drove 3.5 miles to mile zero of the highway. Mile zero marks where the old town of Valdez was located. The original town was decimated by the Great Alaska Earthquake of 1964. That location was deemed unsafe, so they moved the town 3.5 miles to where it is today. Although there was no loose gravel on this section of the highway, it still was another of those “shake, rattle, and roll” drives.

When we reached the town of Glennallen, we headed west on the Glenn Highway and road conditions improved greatly. Once again, the mountain views were everywhere.

Once settled at our site, we hiked the trail from our campground to a bluff overlooking the Matanuska Glacier and a mountain called “Lion’s Head.” As has become our habit, we carried bear spray with us. When we checked in, we were told that the night before a bear had been roaming the campground.

Day 31
Thursday, July 20, 2017
Glacier View to Anchorage

We enjoyed a leisurely drive to Anchorage today. We had less than 100 miles to drive, so we took our time, stopping at overlooks to take more pictures of the mountains (you can’t have too many).

Just before we reached the town of Palmer, we stopped to tour a Musk Ox Farm. The farm is dedicated to the domestication of the musk ox. There are about 80 musk oxen on 75 acres. The temperature was about 70 degrees and the oxen were all panting from the heat.

According to our guide, the founder of the non-profit wanted to bring an economic opportunity to rural Alaska. The farm raises the oxen for the qiviut, a soft undercoat that is sheds annually. A cooperative of Native knitters take the raw fiber from fluff to yarn and then to hand-knit items. The qiviut fiber is eight times warmer than wool and is softer than cashmere. It is also very expensive. The qiviut yarn was for sale in the gift shop for $95 an ounce. The hand-knit scarves and hats started at $280! At those prices, I wondered if they ever made

any sales in the shop. I asked a clerk and she told me that she had sold three $280 scarves to one person earlier today.

We set up the motor home mid afternoon at Centennial Campground, which is owned by the city of Anchorage. It is just outside the city, but with its heavily wooded sites, it has the feel of being in the middle of nowhere.

Then it was off to the kennel to drop off Sandy and Pilgrim for a two night stay. I am keeping my fingers crossed that it works out. I doubt that Pilgrim has stayed in a kennel since he was a puppy and Sandy’s only time at a kennel was a Joanne Baum’s, which is more like staying with “Aunt Joanne.”