I left my campsite on the spit at Homer fairly early in the
morning. The only route off of the Kenai Peninsula to Anchorage is
back over the road I came in on. It is a beautiful drive.
Rev. 07/09/01
Alaska & beyond - continued 7/9
Homer to Cantwell (Denali NP)
I left my campsite on the spit at Homer fairly early in the
morning. The only route off of the Kenai Peninsula to Anchorage is
back over the road I came in on. It is a beautiful drive.
I stopped at where the village of Portage. The village at the very end of Turnagain Arm, where the earthquake sank the land 6-12 feet, flooding the village. There, I was able to take a couple of pictures. And I put one in the 7/07 web page.
From there I went through Anchorage and started up the road to Denali National Park.
Along side the road, the Lupines were profuse. They created a purple blanket at times.
Finally
the road came to a vantage point, where, on a clear day, you could see Mount
McKinley, 20,320 feet high, highest point in North America. Today I
was able to see the very top, sticking up above the clouds
It was difficult to find a parking place at the turnout. There was a truck, in the parking area, with any "Over Size Load" sticker on the front. The sticker was a gross understatement. The truck was pulling a trailer with a fishing boat on it. The boat was more than twice as wide as the truck and a good 5 car lengths long. It took up most of the parking spaces. I have never seen such a big load on the road in my life.
A general comment about the road condition and about the traffic. The roads are about the same as one will find in the western states. So far they have been all paved, except for a short stretch, 30 or so miles, of the Cassiar Highway. Even there it was comfortable to drive it at about 40 mph. Some stretches are being rebuilt, but that is no different than any other road. The longest I have had to wait for construction is about 30 minutes.
As for traffic, there is a pretty steady stream of traffic.
About the longest time between vehicle has been about five minutes.
Some stretches have actually been crowded. I have been surprised
at the number of motorcycles making the trip, and the number of people on
bicycles, complete with all their gear in saddle bags. And there have
even been a few hardy souls with back packs along the route.
The trees up here are getting smaller and more sparse, as I travel further north.
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