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| Our view on Kluane Lake |
Some places are magical.
Is it the light? Or is it something more? I don’t know but magical is the word that comes
to mind when staying on the Kluane Lake.
This area is just about one of the most remote places you can drive to
in the North American continent. I fell in love with area the last time we came
through and my feelings have not changed.
Cottonwood RV is a small park right on the shores. Just about the only human establishment except
for a small gas station a few miles up the road. Ask for one of the dry camping sites and you
will feel like you are the only folks on the planet and this beautiful place is
for you alone. Rainbows play along the
shores all day and the light is at the right angle that this happen more often
than you may think. We had a small
campfire and coffee off the fire and watched the lake for hours. Sigh.
It was hard to leave such a beautiful place.
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| Weather and road turning bad! |
The road and weather turned progressively worse the closer
we got to the Alaska border. It was a
long hard drive to Tok on some of the worse roads we encountered so far. Shortly after we crossed the border the rain
started. Cold and dreary and we were
hungry. No quaint roadhouse stops along this stretch. Just endless road and rain, we found a small
gas station to stop. Deep fried takeout
food and no place to sit. We snacked on
chicken strips standing in one of the aisles. At least we had a warm dry truck to continue the journey. Not so lucky a drenched couple on motorcycles taking
the same refuge in this desolate gas station. They were talking to a third man who was
going to find a new tire for one of the bikes. A reminder of the remoteness of the area and
thoughts of “Did we make the right decision to come to Alaska?” going through
my head. 
Whew! We made it to Tok.
What does one say about Tok?; lot’s of RV parks and not much more. It is a stopping place for the night on your
way to other destinations. Still, the rain
stopped and we were happy to hunker down for night. The
next morning we continued down the road via the Tok Cutoff towards the Glenn
Highway. We stopped at a small roadside coffee stand at
the junction of the Richardson Highway and the Cutoff, we talked to the owner
Jeannie and her mom for awhile. Nice
folks. And the sun was out, amazing how
that can change your perception of an area.
A little further down the road and we turned west onto the Glenn Highway.
Valdez is to the south, Fairbanks to the
north, and Anchorage to the west with Glennallen at the intersection. We’ll
catch Valdez on the way back and skipping Fairbanks this time around.
The drive down the Glenn Highway is a beautiful one and
right about in the middle is the small Grand View RV Park that was the
destination for a few days. It overlooks
Sheep Mountain on one side and the Matanuska Glacier on the other. It is one of my favorite little spots. You can see Dall sheep on the mountain. They like to lick the mineral deposits. One night we saw a mama moose and babies on
the glacier side. It is a beautiful spot and worth stopping for
a few days. See my earlier post on this
area, yummy food at the cafe too! A
short drive away is our next stop Palmer.
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| View at Grand View |
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