Road Trip 2010: Day 31Mendeltna to Anchorage

Friday, July 9
Mendeltna to Anchorage

We slowly roused ourselves Friday morning and managed to hit the road west from Mendeltna Creek Lodge heading to Palmer and Anchorage.

Every twist and turn of the highway, every rise crested, every clearing between spruce trees produced another spectacular view. One might almost believe that you could get jaded by such breathtaking scenery…almost. There’s a bicycle “race”called the Fireweed 400 that runs from a place called Sheep Mountain Lodge east and then south to Valdez. Today and tomorrow are the days of this year’s event. Our starting point today—Mendeltna—lies east of Sheep Mountain and, as a result, we saw numerous cyclists peddling in the opposite direction. None looked to be in a big rush and we found out why when we were stopped at a pullout enjoying and photographing yet another grand view. Three cyclists (two girls and a guy) came into the pullout and immediately started “oooh”ing and “aaaaah”ing over the view. One of the gals—who lives in Anchorage—said she has peddled in this “race” five years running and this is the first time she could actually see anything. So much for being jaded by the scenery!

View from the road west of Mendeltna

View from the road west of Mendeltna

Gunsight Mountain

View from the road west of Mendeltna

View from the road west of Mendeltna

Lions Head

We drove passed the Matanuska Glacier and got a real good look at the ground moraine it has laid down as it has retreated.

Matanuska Glacier

The world’s only Musk Ox Farm is to be found along the later stretch of our route today. Just east of Palmer, it’s open to the public between May and September. This is a private, non-profit organization that collects the musk ox “wool” or qiviut that is sold in Skagway and in Anchorage. They also work in cooperation with native Alaskans who knit beautiful scarves, hats and shawls from this very, very fine material. The farm (and the associated shops in the above mentioned cities) then serves as a retail outlet for the finished product. At $300-600 for a shawl, it’s a bit out of my price range regardless of its insulative—supposedly 5x that of regular wool—qualities! Terry asked if they sold the raw stuff thinking she might get some for Jessica to spin but was told all their wool goes to the cooperative effort they have with the native peoples. We decided to pass on the guided tour of the farm ($8 per person) and thus did not get up close and personal with the shaggy beasts.




While paying for a few items at the Musk Ox Farm, we ran into several folks from PA. One family was from Erie area and one of the sales clerks was from down near Philly. When we went across the highway to a pull out overlooking the Matanuska River to eat our lunch, a couple from Maryland pulled in with their Anchorage relative showing them the sights.

Matanuska River

The last few miles of our trip took us passed both Fort Richardson (Army) and the exit to Elmendorf Air Force Base.

Having arrived at our destination on the north side of the city, I made a phone call to Rev. Paul and made arrangements to meet on Sunday when he will show us around the Anchorage he knows and loves.

Later, as a group, we went to dinner at the Sourdough Mining Company. Many of us attended the Dusty Sourdough show afterward and then went to the Chocolate Factory

Dusty Sourdough

Chocolate Fountain

Terry and Me at the Chocolate Factory