Loading the car the next morning was put on hold when we spotted a pair of bald eagles on the neighbouring roof, too good an opportunity to miss. We had heard their distinctive call the day before so we knew they were around and we watched them for a while, retrieving food for their nearby young.
Our destination the next day was the Matanuska Glacier, a fairly long drive so we were breaking the journey at Summit Lake Lodge, only a few hours up the road which meant we had time to do our laundry in the fanciest laundromat I’ve seen in my travels so far 😁
We arrived at the lodge mid afternoon after an uneventful and rainy drive.
Summit Lake Lodge is built in your typical wooden ‘American National Park’ lodge style and our room was compact but warm and served the purpose for an overnighter. The dining room wasn’t open but an onsite pizza house served up a ‘one size feeds many pizza’ which we didn’t put much of a dent in.
We went for a wander around the grounds which were pleasant but then rain forced us inside for an early night.
The next day we traversed the Turnagain Arm again and then basically had to bisect Anchorage and head north toward Palmer before getting on to the Glenn Highway toward the glacier. Unfortunately the GPS had other plans and delivered us to the entrance of the Joint Base Elmendorf–Richardson, a US military facility! We were met by a fresh faced young man with a rifle over his shoulder who very kindly put us on the right track and we continued on.
Stopping for morning tea at a marked picnic spot we discovered it was also a very popular salmon fishing area and the anglers were out in force (as were the mosquitoes.)
I had read about another really interesting place to visit in this area and so a little later we pulled in to the tiny car park of the Eklutna Cemetery.
The Athabascan people have lived in this area for centuries and historically their dead were cremated but when Russian Orthodox missionaries arrived in the 1830s the two cultures began intermingling. The Russian tradition forbids cremation but believes that there is a 40 day period during which the spirit of the dead make their journey from the grave. Burial became widely accepted but the Athabascans began building tiny houses over the graves so that their spirits would have somewhere to rest until they were ready for their final journey to ‘higher ground.’
They are brightly painted in the deceased’s family colours, sometimes including windows, verandahs and other ornate features and they are allowed to naturally fall into disrepair. Part of Athabascan tradition dictates that whatever is taken from the Earth must be allowed to return to the Earth.
It was a very interesting and unique place to visit.
As we resumed our journey along the Glenn Highway the scenery was increasingly stunning, necessitating lots of unscheduled photography stops.
The reason for us taking this route initially was so that we could take a guided tour on the Matanuska Glacier but unfortunately Russell wasn’t feeling up to strenuous climbing so I dropped him at our beautiful Glacier Overlook cottage and hastened back to the glacier entrance point for my 1pm departure.
Matanuska is a valley glacier and the largest accessible by car in the US. Having said that, the land surrounding the glacier is locally owned and you have to stop at a boom gate and buy a guided tour, there is no independent access to the glacier. I was aware of this but saw lots of disappointed tourists baulking at the $125 tour fee and turning away.
It was definitely worth the guided tour especially given that I was allocated to a small group of six instead of the large group which contained several toddlers 😁 Our group made it to the highest point with a fairly challenging climb so I was quite pleased with myself as the rest of them were half my age.
Matanuska was pretty spectacular, many shades of blue and endless beautiful formations. This glacier is 27 miles long and is advancing at about 30 cms per year but due to ablation the ‘toe’ remains at about the same place each year.
By the time I got back to our cottage Russell was ready for dinner, our options here were somewhat limited as there was no town nearby but we found the Long Rifle Lodge was still open according to google and we hastened to get there before closing.
We ended up having the best chicken burger of the trip so far and where else can you gaze at a glacier whilst sipping your wine??
Tomorrow, the pace continues, on to Fairbanks.