Photo taken at 9:12 PM
ROTEIRO DE RETORNO
Nosso objetivo foi alcançado – de chegarmos até Homer e Homer Spit – ao sul da Peninsula de Kenai.
Assim, daqui iniciamos o trajeto de retorno pela Sterling Highway passando novamente por Anchor
Point, Ninilchik, Clam Gulch, Soldotna, Sterling, Cooper Landing, Portage, Girdwood ate chegarmos novamente a Anchorage.
De Anchorage seguimos em direção a cidade de Palmer, em que acontece a Feira Estadual do Alaska, sempre na última
semana de agosto. E’ uma cidade tranquila com uma população de 6.000 habitantes, onde originalmente habitavam os Dena’ina e Ahtna Athabascan. Eles praticavam um estilo de vida de subsistência e negociavam com outros grupos nativos
locais. Os primeiros assentamentos foram de imigrantes que criaram uma comunidade permanente desbravando esta área selvagem do Alaska. A construção da ferrovia e do sistema de rodovias aumentou o crescimento populacional e Palmer e’
atualmente uma cidade dormitório para Anchorage.
A partir de Palmer passamos a viajar pela Glenn Highway – 1 – tendo as Montanhas Chugach ‘a nossa direita e as montanhas Talkeetna ‘a esquerda. Aqui se encontram vários
glaciares, entre eles o glacial Matanuska que pode ser avistado da rodovia e e’ de fácil acesso. Um espetáculo da Natureza. Aproveitamos para comprar charque de carne de caca numa tenda no caminho. Delicioso...
Este trecho da Glenn
Highway e’ um espetáculo, passando por vários povoados e vilas ate’ chegar a cidade de Glennallen, conhecida pela bela paisagem que a circunda e boa pesca, principalmente do Copper River Salmon. Ela esta’ localizada na
bacia do Rio Copper – o decimo rio mais longo dos Estados Unidos, na junção das rodovias Glenn e Richardson. Aqui acampamos no Northern Nights Campground.
Em Glennallen seguimos a estrada chamada de Tok Cut-off e esta rodovia
vai costeando o Copper River. Varias comunidades e vilas estão nesta rota tendo as montanhas Wrangell ‘a direita e o maior parque dos Estados Unidos – o Wrangell-St. Elias National Park tem seu acesso pela cidade de McCarthy, e onde se encontram
a vila fantasma de Kennicott e a mina de cobre abandonada de mesmo nome.
Chegando a Tok, abastecemos o motorhome e seguimos para a passagem na fronteira de volta ao Canada’.
THE ROUTE BACK
Our purpose of getting to
the southernmost point in the Kenai Peninsula – Homer and Homer Spit- was accomplished.
So, from here we started our route back through the Sterling Highway, again passing through the communities and villages we had been to on our way down to
Homer – like Anchor Point, Ninilchik, Clam Gulch, Soldotna, Sterling, Cooper Landing, Portage, Girdwood up to Anchorage.
From Anchorage we went towards the town of Palmer, home of the Alaska State Fair which happens in the last week of August
and is known for world record sized vegetables. Surrounded by Alaska’s rich history and lore, it is a quiet town, with a population of 6,000. It was originally settled by the Denai’ina and Ahta Athabaskans who lived in the area for thousands of
years. They practiced a subsistence lifestyle and traded with other local native groups.
The first white settlers were homesteaders who carved a permanent community out of the Alaska wilderness. Construction of the road system and the Alaska railroad
fueled population growth and Palmer is now a bedroom community for Anchorage.
From Palmer we started traveling the Glenn Highway – route 1 – having the Chugach Mountains to our right and the Talkeetna to our left. This is an area of many
glaciers, among them the Matanuska Glacier, a four-mile wide glacier that can be seen from many viewpoints at Glenn Highway and at mile 101 there is the Matanuska Glacier State Recreational Site – which gives access to the glacier itself through a one-mile
trail. Gorgeous views…fantastic landscape…
We took the opportunity to buy some venison jerky and smoked salmon at a stand by the road…delicious snacks…This part of the Glenn Highway is spectacular, giving access to several
small native villages, getting to the town of Glennallen known for its outstanding scenery and great fishing, especially the Copper River Salmon. It is located in the Copper River Basin, at the junction of Glenn and Richardson Highways. Glennallen is the gateway
to Wrangell-St.Elias National Park, the largest national park in the United States and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Here we spent the night at the Northern Nights Campground.
At Glennallen we took the road known as Tok Cut-Off which takes us all the
way back to Tok – where we entered Alaska. This road passes through several small communities and villages, parallels the Copper River, having the Wrangell Mountains to the right – where the National Park is located – having access to it
at the town of McCarthy – and in the Park there’s the ghost town of Kennicott and the abandoned copper mine of the same name.
Upon arrival in Tok we refueled the RV and headed to the border crossing station to reenter Canada.