Girdwood, AK to Eureka Summit on the Glenn Highway – 172 Miles
After breakfast we spend several minutes reorganizing our food supply. We are carrying our extra non-perishables in a big plastic bin stowed in the back corner of the cab-over bed, which we use for storage rather than sleeping up there (we sleep on the fold-out couch). After completing that chore, we drove the half mile or so down into Girdwood to take a shower at the combined laundromat/showers. Then it was down to the main highway for gas and to dump our holding tanks. I used the wi-fi at the adjacent café to upload yesterday’s blog post, then it was off to Anchorage and beyond. We did stop at a Fred Meyer store in Anchorage to pick up a few groceries as we passed through, though. From Anchorage it was east on the Glenn Highway through Palmer and then toward Glennallen, where we’ll turn south down to Valdez. But that will be tomorrow.
East of Palmer the Glenn Highway is a narrow, twisting road up through the mountains in some of the most beautiful scenery we’ve seen so far. Around Mile 100 there are several overlooks that allow views of the Matanuska Glacier, a large landlocked glacier feeding down out of the Chugach Mountains south of the highway. At one of the overlooks there is a short trail that leads down through an aspen forest to a steep cliff above the Matanuska River, which is fed by the glacier. There is a State Recreation Area at this overlook with a few campsites, and we almost stopped there for the night. But since it was only about 4:00 we decided to press on for a few more miles.
A few miles east of the glacier overlook we hit a construction zone where several miles of the highway are being re-paved and a large culvert being installed. Traffic is one-way for a stretch of a couple of miles, so we had a ten-minute wait for the westbound traffic to pass. On the north side of the highway at the point where we stopped are a couple of unusual mountains called the Sheep Mountains. They are distinct because they are very red in color compared to the gray peaks all around them. Living up to their name, we spotted a small band of Dall sheep, way up on the side of the mountain a thousand yards or more away. If they weren’t moving we would have thought they were just rocks. I was about to get my binoculars out to get a better look at them, but just then the westbound string of traffic, led by a pilot car, arrived and we had to get moving.
Over the next few miles, we could catch glimpses of the ice field which is the source of the Matanuska Glacier, high in the upper reaches of the Chugach Mountains behind us. I’m sure the views of this ice field would be more spectacular for westbound traffic, but unfortunately we won’t be coming back this way.
A short way east of the Sheep Mountains the terrain opens up into a broad valley, punctuated here and there with small lakes. This is the high point, elevation-wise, of the Glenn Highway at just over 3300 feet. This elevation is just about timberline here, so the vegetation is mainly stunted spruce trees and tundra for several miles.
Both the Milepost and the Church’s Campground Guide list the Little Nelchina State Recreation Area at Mile 138, so that was our target. This campground is just off the Glenn Highway on a short piece of the old highway beside Little Nelchina Creek, a few miles past and roughly a thousand feet lower than the Eureka Summit. Being off the main road, the campground is no longer maintained, but still accessible by a now well-potholed road. So far it’s 7:00 pm and we’re the only ones here. Maybe a moose or bear will wander through – I’m glad we’re not in a tent.
Jeanette’s Addendum: Ditto on the beautiful scenery. I would have to add that it was the most beautiful we have seen so far with the snow covered peaks rising just above the ice field. Clouds were coming in behind the mountains which added to the majesty.
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