Alaska Trip 2011: July 10-13 Anchorage, Palmer, and the Road to Valdez

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Sunday we continued our journey around the state, moving eastward now. We drove past Anchorage to Palmer, to get away from the city. From there, we drove the car back to Anchorage a couple times, for a little sightseeing and some errands. Then we drove from Palmer all the way down to Valdez, passing by a couple spots we will see on the way back.


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Anchorage

At about 275,000, Anchorage is the largest city in the state, and home to 40% of the population. The next largest cities are Fairbanks and Juneau, both in the 30,000 range.

We stopped at the visitor center downtown, where we met this sleepy-looking bear. A drive around the harbor yielded a view of the city skyline. The last view is from Earthquake Park, which commemorated the 1964 earthquake. The bluff we were standing on is above where the ground sunk during the quake. That spot will probably go down in the next quake. The clay underneath is of a type that basically turns to jelly when it shakes. This is only a matter of time, since this part of Alaska is on the Pacific Ring of Fire.

Alaska Native Heritage Center

We visited the Alaska Native Heritage Center, which had a museum, and some examples of native dewllings from the various tribes found in Alaska. There was also a presentation of native dancing. The strange-looking archway is the jawbone of a whale.

Palmer

Not much to see in Palmer. Supposedly they grow the world's largest vegetables, which they attribute to lots of sunlight from the long days, and lots of rain. We didn't see any of the giant veggies here, but we didn't look, either.

Palmer to Valdez

We stopped at Hatcher Pass, where the overlook gave us a really good view of what a braided river looks like. The water wanders about, changing course frequently within the wide banks. The gravel bars that have been around for a while start to grow vegetation; the others are bare. Ironically, when we walked back from the overlook, we met a couple taking a picture, not of the scenery, but our motorhome. They were from South Africa, and apparently they don't have big motorhomes there.

The Matanuska Glacier was visible from the road. As you can see in the pictures, this one is fairly large compared to some of the other glaciers we have seen.

More views from along the Glenn Highway, between Palmer and Glennallen, including Fireweed, which is just now starting to bloom.

Oh No! Flat tire!

At Glennallen, we turned south toward Valdez. When we pulled into a rest area a little past the turn, we discovered a flat tire on the trailblazer. There were no signs that it had run on the rim for any distance, so it was either a slow leak, or it just happened when we pulled in. We went the rest of the way to Valdez on the spare. It was a pretty big piece of metal, and the tire had to be replaced. The last picture shows the whole piece of metal after it was pulled from the tire.

Glacier Preview

Here is a preview of Worthington Glacier, as seen from a pullout on the road. We will visit this area later in the week.

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