RV ALASKA - Traveling Highways in Alaska Leads to a Gem in Palmer

At 586,000 square miles of land, Alaska is, by far, the largest state in the union.  It’s more than twice the size of Texas, and larger than the next three biggest states combined (Texas, California and Montana).  Texas has 314,000 miles of public roads; Alaska has less than 18,000.  It doesn’t take long to become familiar with the major highways in Alaska simply because there aren’t that many of them.

When we left Tok, we could have driven a counterclockwise loop west on the Alaska Highway to Fairbanks and then south on the Parks Highway to our destination – K’seugi Ken Campground in Denali State Park.  Deciding to avoid the smoke from the wildfires burning north and south of Fairbanks, we instead followed the Tok Cutoff southwest to the Richardson Highway and turned south, then headed west on the Glenn Highway and north on the Parks Highway.  With nearly seven hours of driving ahead of us, not counting any gas stops or restroom breaks, we split the drive into two days, and overnighted in the small city of Palmer (population 6,304).  We could have shortened our drive by cutting west on the Denali Highway from the Richardson over to the Parks, but chose not to since the Denali was reported to be a bit rougher than our preferences would allow.  Our drive was interesting enough as it was.  (See the Laugh of the Day, below.)

Date(s) – July 2nd

Total Miles Traveled to Date – 8,755

Wildlife Sightings to Date – We saw no wildlife between Tok and Palmer, so our counts remain at . . . One grizzly sow with two cubs on the side of the road; 1 snowshoe hare; 2 more rabbits, bringing our total to 3 (including one very fast bunny that just managed to cross the road safely); several small herds of bison with at least 2 dozen young calves;1 dead cow moose on the side of the road (just a placeholder until we see a live one!); one back end of a grizzly bear, 1 more black bear, bringing our total to 6; 9 deer (2 of them bucks with their racks covered in velvet); 9 mountain goats (including 3 tiny and adorable kids); 23 bighorn sheep; 62 elk (including 7 calves that hadn’t yet lost their spots and a number of bull elk with full racks covered in velvet); several small herds of pronghorn antelope (including 2 mamas with 3 newborn fawns between them); 7 eagles (including 2 fledglings); 3 great blue herons; dozens of American white pelicans; at least a half dozen families of adult geese with goslings; and several dozen ducks (with lots of little ducklings).

Highlight(s) – The scenery, yet again, was one of the highlights of the day, especially since we were able to see the Matanuska Glacier from several viewpoints along the Glenn Highway.  But the small city of Palmer and the Matanuska River Park Campground proved to be a couple of gems, too.  Palmer is big enough to provide the services travelers need, but small enough to remain quaint and friendly.  On our way to the campground, some poor guy was trying to push his stalled pickup truck from the middle of the road all by himself.  As we inched past him so that we didn’t block traffic further, I asked Alan if we should stop to help.  A quick glance in the rearview mirror told him there was no need – others had already stopped, and about 10 guys were helping to push the truck to the side of the road.  As we would later find out, Palmer and Wasilla (its neighbor about a dozen miles to the west) were in a central location that would prove to be key for repositioning and reprovisioning.  Fun fact: Palmer is located in the Matanuska-Susitna (Mat-Su) Valley, a region known for its rich farmland where record-size vegetables are grown.

Lowlight(s) – The weather is a bit depressing, and it doesn’t look like that’s going to change anytime soon.  We are missing the sunshine which makes the mountains look spectacularly gorgeous.  (Now they’re just spectacular!)

You know that we’re big fans of public parks and campgrounds, but I have to say that my disappointment with Alaska’s State Parks and its State Recreation Sites that allow camping is growing.  Alan and I had planned to overnight at the Matanuska Glacier State Recreation Site along the Glenn Highway.  We knew the campground was small, and that we might not get a site.  (Only a handful of state campgrounds allow reservations.  That doesn’t sit well with me at all.)  But we understood that you could park overnight in the day use lot for a small fee, and that was our Plan B, if the campground was full.  The campground was full, and the information provided at the Fee Station didn’t address the cost of overnighting in the lot.  At least we had cell and internet service, and I was able to find the number for the concessionaire that operates the State Recreation Site on behalf of the State of Alaska.  (This is another common practice here that annoys me due to the inconsistency of process and information.)  When I reached the concessionaire, I was told that it would cost $25.00 per night to park in the lot.  You know what?  I wouldn’t have blinked twice – except for the fact that it only cost $20.00 per night to camp in a campsite there.  What the heck?!  That raised our hackles, and we decided to move on to Palmer.  We later found out that this, indeed, was the State’s policy and fee schedule for the Matanuska Glacier State Recreation Site.  Is it just me?  Or is this state not going out of its way to win friends?

Campground(s) – The small Matanuska River Park Campground, run by the local government, has a couple of serious negatives.  The sites are tight.  And I do mean tight.   Our slide is about 48” inches wide, and Alan and I spent about 10 minutes trying to position our trailer as close to one line as possible so that a camper coming into the open site next to us would have enough room to get their rig in.  As it was, another travel trailer came in late that night.  If we had needed the proverbial cup of sugar in the morning, we could have reached across the open space between us to borrow it.  The other negative was the park’s proximity to the airport.  (In addition to regular airports in the larger cities, it seems that almost every small town has an airport, as well.  Travel via small plane is common here due to the vast distances between cities and the lack of public roadways.  We’ve seen a number of ”runways” in some unusual and remote places.)  The park was near the approach to the runway, and air traffic was steady in the evening – most likely commuters returning home.  It was much quieter in the morning, and I’m guessing the planes were taking off in a direction away from us.  The noise wasn’t terrible, as the engines on most of the small planes were fairly quiet, but if air traffic would annoy you, this campground isn’t going to be a good fit.

Aside from the close quarters and the air traffic, the Matanuska River Park was a gem.  The sites were grassy, we had electric and a picnic table and there was a dump station available - all for just $30.00 per night.  The park was well-maintained, too, and the staff member who checked us in was friendly and helpful.  As soon as we put our aversion to tight spaces on hold (a necessity up here), our affection for this little campground grew by leaps and bounds. We'll be back!

Laugh(s) of the Day – Remember my description of frost heaves from a previous post – dips, swells and bumps that can cause a lot of damage?  I trust that you also remember “Crazy Pants,” who probably hit a frost heave and damaged his fresh water tank, spilling the contents all over the road?  Those frost heaves are not just on the Alaska Highway.  Any roadway built on permafrost is susceptible to frost heaves.  I don’t remember if it was on the Tok Cutoff or the Richardson Highway, but we did run into some frost heaves.  At one point on the drive, Alan commented that someone was coming up to pass him.  Now?  Yes.  I looked ahead and saw a huge swell coming up in the passing lane and the passing vehicle was headed right for it.  Yikes!  (Well, that’s not really what I said, but I won’t print the actual exclamation.  If you saw the frost heave, you’d understand why I said what I did.)  For those of you who don’t know him, Alan is good driver, but not a slow one.  He was, however, being exceptionally cautious with the frost heaves because neither one of us wanted to damage the new truck or our beloved trailer.  “Son of Crazy Pants” went flying by us – a pickup truck towing an ATV on a small, flatbed trailer.  When that trailer hit the frost heave, it literally went airborne, as in tires off the road, an ATV on a magic carpet ride.  If THAT didn’t rattle the driver’s cage, he or she must be a born and bred Alaskan.  Fortunately for us, the ATV was strapped down well and remained on the trailer.  AND the trailer remained hitched to the truck.  Son of Crazy Pants continued on his speedy way.  (Note to self:  Do not ever buy a used vehicle in Alaska.)  

Pic(s) of the Day

Mostly scenes from the road.  Pics taken through the windshield or from a roadside viewpoint.  Glacier photo taken with zoom lens.  Please forgive any “dirty windshield” shots.

See?  No guardrails.

Matanuskka Glacier, as seen from the Matanuska Glacier State Recreation Site

Entrance to the Matanuska River Park Campground in Palmer

Site #2 - Our picnic table was halfway into Site #1 (with their permission).

Up Next – A three night stay at Denali State Park – one of the best places from which you can see Denali.  It’s time to place bets on whether or not we’ll see the mountain!