2024 Alaska Road Trip (Day 39)
This journal posting chronicles Day 39 of a road trip to Alaska and back with Diane, Kenny and Deneen.
Day 39 - Wednesday July 31st
Today we left Valdez and drove to Wrangle View RV Park near Chitina, AK. We drove 119 miles/192 km today.
We started out traveling north on the Richardson Highway (Hwy 4), until we reached the Edgerton Highway (Hwy 10), and we started heading east toward the Wrangell St. Elias Mountains.
Sunrise in Valdez was 5:17 AM and sunset was 10:19 PM.
The weather cleared up this morning in Valdez and we could actually see some of the mountain tops around town.
Bear Paw RV Park, Valdez, AK
We did not confirm this, but one of the RVs in the RV Park looks a lot like it hit a moose.
Moose Strike? - Bear Paw RV Park, Valdez, AK
Since we were in a full hook up RV Park, my morning job was to take care of the needful…
The Needful - Bear Paw RV Park, Valdez, AK
As we drove back out of Valdez along the Richardson Highway, we had a nice view of Bridal Veil and Horse Tail Falls in the Keystone Canyon.
Bridal Veil & Horse Tail Falls - Keystone Canyon, Richardson Highway (Hwy 4), AK
There was a lot of effort put into creating a railroad to Valdez which resulted with a small battle between two rival railroad companies wanting to use the same railroad tunnel. The end result was that no railroad was ever build to Valdez, but instead it was built to Cordova, AK.
Below is a photo of the remnants of a never used railroad tunnel in the Keystone Canyon.
Never Used Railroad Tunnel - Keystone Canyon, Richardson Highway (Hwy 4), AK
Then back over the Thompson Pass, but this time in clear skies.
Thompson Pass, Richardson Highway (Hwy 4), AK
I found this extremely fascinating, it shows the path of a snow avalanche that presumably happened sometime over the winter. We could see fallen trees where it crossed the road.
Avalanche Trail - Richardson Highway (Hwy 4), AK
Once we reached the Edgerton Highway we turned east and found a long straight stretch looking at the Wrangell St. Elias mountains in the distance.
Edgerton Highway (Hwy 10), Kenny Lake, AK
As we got closer we started to see some large glaciers.
Long Glacier in Wrangell-St. Elias National Preserve - Edgerton Highway (Hwy 10), Kenny Lake, AK
We fueled up on diesel in Kenny’s namesake town.
Kenny Lake Mercantile - Kenny Lake, AK
Dinner was Deneen’s excellent Chicken Cordon Bleu Casserole.
Dinner - Wrangle View RV Park, Chitina, AK
Dinner - Wrangle View RV Park, Chitina, AK