The drive yesterday from Denali to Glacier View was similar to all our drives so far, very easy and very scenic. The first part of the drive (Denali to Wasilla) was retracing our drive we made a few days prior. Along this part of the drive Beth caught a brief glimpse of a wolf or coyote. She made a quick turnaround, but by the time we got back to where she had spotted him, he had moved on. For the sake of this blog, we'll call it a wolf.
The wolf, along with the Dall Sheep, that can easily be seen on the mountains behind where we are staying (Sheep Mountain Lodge), mean that she has seen all of "Alaska's Big Five" (Bear, Caribou, Wolf, Moose and Dall Sheep). Maybe we can find another wolf sometime before we head to California next Tuesday (just to be sure). As an added bonus, the weather was clear for the drive. This meant that we often had great views of Denali as we made our way south.
We stopped briefly in Wasilla to pick up a few groceries. We also enjoyed a picnic in Newcomb Park, which is located on the shores of Wasilla Lake. While in Wasilla we didn't catch a glimpse of either Sarah Palin or Russia. We did however get a kick out of watching several children playing waist deep, without hesitation, in the VERY cold waters of Wasilla Lake. Just a month or so ago the lake was completely frozen over and people were enjoying ice skating and playing hockey on it. I'm guessing they were true Alaskans!
The second part of the drive from Wasilla to Glacier View was along the Glenn Highway. Glacier View is a very small (2019 population was listed as 220) census designated place, that as it's name implies, has a view of a glacier, the Matanuska Glacier. This glacier is 27 miles long and 4 miles wide and is the largest glacier accessible by car in the US. Unlike many glaciers that are decreasing in size, the Matanuska Glacier moves at less than one foot a day. This means that it is being replenished at a rate that has allowed the termination point to remain close to the same spot for over 30 years.
We're staying at the Sheep Mountain Lodge, which was originally called the Sheep Mountain Inn. When it opened, it had one room (not sure how many it slept) to serve trappers passing through the area, and construction crews building the Glenn Highway. Business must have been good, because in 1946 a two story structure with thirteen rooms was built. Fast forwarding through numerous owners, a fire and rebuilding and expansion, it now has eleven cabins, a guest house, RV park, a restaurant and a wonderful hot tub. The restaurant doesn't open until this weekend but they are offering room service meals. Last night we enjoyed some amazing bruschetta and triple berry crisp. The triple berry (strawberries, raspberries and blueberries) crisp was voted the "best baked dessert in Alaska" by the Food Network. We can attest to it living up to it's recognition. We dove into it so quickly that we didn't get a picture, but fear not, we've already ordered more for tonight. Hopefully we can practice enough patience for a quick photo before diving in!
In 2015 Mark and Ruthann Fleenor purchased the Sheep Mountain Lodge. We enjoyed visiting with Mark briefly at check in yesterday. He is both a helicopter and fixed wing pilot............weather permitting there could be some adventures in the air later today or tomorrow morning!
