We got up in Homer, AK, about 6:30 am to a cool 46 degrees. A woman in a tent beside us told us about an eagle sitting on a rock on the beach below. I got my camera and walked around bank where I could see it.
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| Here is the view looking left from the eagle south down the coastline. This is about 7 am. |
We loaded up and headed out with liners in, plugged in and turned up. Electric gear is great, until something stops working, then you really miss it. A day or so ago my right glove stopped working. So now on these cool mornings I am nice and toasty in my jacket, and my left hand is warm while my right hand just burns in the cold 65 mph wind. Rather annoying but you just ignore it and wait till noon when it warms up.
As I like to do Sandy and I rode an hour and a half up the highway before we stopped for coffee and breakfast. We stopped at a nice sports bar serving breakfast and got a really nice one. Three eggs with smoked salmon and reindeer sausage. That got me going! I took the time then to upload the pics from the previous day with their wifi.
A while later we stopped for gas and I commented to Sandy about the large female moose I pointed out in the field on the left. He said I missed the other one before that on the right.
Driving down to Homer and back was worthwhile. It is beautiful countryside with lots of forest, lakes, fly fishing rivers, and mountains. I had no idea all that was south of Anchorage.
After lunchtime I noticed there seemed to be a lot of traffic coming the other way (south). Then later I noticed it was a non-stop stream of RVs, large fishing boats, cars, and trailers. Then it dawned on me - this was Friday afternoon on the Fourth of July weekend. All this traffic was the entire city of Anchorage headed south for the weekend. It looked like what I imagine Houston looks like during a hurricane evacuation!
As we rode into Anchorage along the Cook Inlet I saw a woman standing on the side of the road with a camera. Well by now I know what that means and I looked at where she was pointing. There about 20 feet up on a rocky cliff over the highway was a white Dall Sheep. I just saw the one in a quick glimpse as we rolled by. I couldn't get a pic and the traffic was too heavy to even consider turning around.
We got through Anchorage and rode on up to Wasilla and turned right onto the Glenn highway which goes east, northeast 150 miles or so to Glenallen. I knew we were going to get into some mountains so I decided since it was about dinnertime we should get something to eat before we ran out of places for the evening. I found a rustic little cafe and I had a hamburger and Sandy had a burrito. Then we motored up the road.
It was a nice twisting mountain highway that started climbing upward. As we went along we could see the large, rugged mountains getting closer and taller - some with snow still on the tops. Then the temps dropped and it got much cooler as we rode into the low level clouds surrounding the mountains. Then we got into the clouds and it started raining and the temps dropped from about 65 where we ate dinner to 45 degrees. I slowed to 40 to 45 mph and cracked my visor as it was fogging over in the cold wet air.
I was watching our altitude climb on the GPS until it seemed we peaked about 3400 feet and rode along the tops for a while (50 - 70 miles? it was a long time).
The views were amazing! While not very high the mountains were very rugged and rocky, with a lot of snow on the tops. The clouds were in wispy horizontal patches that looked like cotton strewn about the dark forested background. Then we rode by a glacier (can't remember the name of it). We could see the large blue ice which was huge considering our distance from it. It was a shame it was raining because that was some of the more National Geographic type scenery I have seen on the trip and I couldn't take any pictures.
Then we finally started coming down and the rain quit and we got out of the clouds. Of course my feet were wet again which was rather uncomfortable with my feet out in the 45 degree wind.
We stopped and talked about possibly getting a cabin at one of the cafe/RV parks we passed. We stopped at one and decided we didn't like it, but the guy there said if we continued we would get lower and warmer, especially to Glennallen which was still 60 miles or so away. So we continued riding and sure enough we dropped 1000 feet and the temp increased 4 or 5 degrees all the way up to 53 degrees. Woohoo! We kept going and finally arrived in Glennallen. There doesn't seem to be much of a town there, just a bunch of small rustic style businesses scattered along the road (with a lot of old dead businesses too).
We stopped and talked about possibly getting a cabin at one of the cafe/RV parks we passed. We stopped at one and decided we didn't like it, but the guy there said if we continued we would get lower and warmer, especially to Glennallen which was still 60 miles or so away. So we continued riding and sure enough we dropped 1000 feet and the temp increased 4 or 5 degrees all the way up to 53 degrees. Woohoo! We kept going and finally arrived in Glennallen. There doesn't seem to be much of a town there, just a bunch of small rustic style businesses scattered along the road (with a lot of old dead businesses too).
We stopped at the first RV park and checked it out. Seemed passable but with a loose gravel drive and pad. Let me tell you that was a hard thing to do. When you are tired and cold and wet all you want is a warm comfortable motel room, or even a cabin. But we decided to stay at the RV park and tent again.
We got set up and went straight to bed. I think the day was just a little short of 400 miles that we came up from Homer. It was a long and arduous ride and we were tired.
We got set up and went straight to bed. I think the day was just a little short of 400 miles that we came up from Homer. It was a long and arduous ride and we were tired.
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| Camp at Glennallen - TONS of mosquitoes! And a cold night... |
Whew, what a day! Here is a map of our route today. 406 miles!
