Day 45: Tolsona to Eagle River

May 29, 2014

This morning it was again pretty cool at 35 degrees and mostly cloudy. We saw some sun this morning but not much and had some drizzle intermittently. Not a bad day but not as pretty as yesterday. Isn't that always the way it is – prettiest days are when you are working. Any way, we pulled in the slides and headed what is actually south from Tolsona to Eagle River, AK. Eagle River is actually just a suburb of Anchorage – about 13 miles from Anchorage.

Today we saw 3 different glaciers as we traveled in toward Anchorage. First was Tazlina Glacier which feeds the Tazlina River. We did not get a good picture of that one. Then we saw the Nelchina and lastly Mantanuska Glacier.

Nelchina Glacier

Matanuska Glacier

We plan to visit the Mantanuska again Sunday, doing a little hiking. The Mantanuska Glacier is 4 miles wide at its terminus shown in this picture. Scout seemed impressed by it.

Otherwise we saw some beautiful mountains, went through some windy and high mountain passes and just really enjoyed the scenery.

 

 

Oh, and did a little geocaching when we wanted to stretch our legs. The bent poles on the sides of the highway are for guiding the snowplows in the winter. We think that any where they need poles like that is not a place we want to spend the winter.

Speaking of winter, we received a Special Weather Statement this afternoon stating that “after a stretch of record-setting summer-like heat and dry May days over much of southcentral Alaska a powerful blast of Arctic cold will move inland from the Bering sea Friday and Saturday.” They are calling for more snow in the mountains at 2000 feet (where we will be Sunday/Monday). Anchorage is only about 100 feet above sea level so we shouldn't have any problems but could actually get some snow showers here Saturday. What was that we said about the never ending winter?? Oh well – Donna really wants to see some snow so maybe she will get her wish.

For RVer's: If you are planning to come to Eagle River Campground, as of today there is still no potable water for filling your fresh water tanks here. The road from Tolsona to here is in fairly good shape except for a few frost heaves. The Milepost is pretty accurate in identifying the rough spots, but some will still slip up on you. Very few are marked by flags or signs.