We’ve already traveled some of the mileage we covered today. In fact, over two hundred miles were repeated today. It wasn’t until we turned right onto the Richardson Highway outside of Anchorage that we found ourselves traveling “virgin territory. Before we left the Kenai, we had one more thing to do, visit Portage Glacier. We drove up to Portage Lake formed by melt water from three different glaciers as well as snow melt from the surrounding mountains. The water was a chalky gray, much like most of the rivers and creeks we‘ve encountered. Carl was surprised by how much the glaciers had receded since his visit in 1984. During his visit, he was able to stand on shore and watch Portage Glacier calving into Portage Lake, but now it has receded back around an outcropping of a smaller mountain and we were unable to see Portage from the Visitor Center. We did get an up close and personal view of Byrne Glacier and watched a very informative movie on the formation, life and even the death of a glacier. Then, the screen lifted, curtains parted and there on the other side of the glass was a marvelous view of Portage Lake and Byrne Glacier. Boat trips to the foot of Portage Glacier were available but Carl wanted to get going. He had miles to go before he slept. We did take an additional 15 minutes to listen to the ranger talk about the town of Portage and the devastation of the 1964 earthquake. I’m finding the devastation was not restricted to Anchorage although it’s there the news footage came from. Turnigan Arm dropped more than 20 feet and never rebounded. The Tsunami wiped out several towns on the coast and causing one to relocate 5 miles inland. As a result of this earth movement, the Arm or bay now has a bore tide of more than 4 feet. That’s a minimum of a four foot wave rolling in all at once instead of a slow and gradual rise of seawater twice each day. When the moon is full, the bore tide is even more. We drove though the Mat-Su valley, short for Matanuska Susitna. During the past 3 weeks, we’ve been driving by road signs shot full of holes. With more Alaskan residents carrying guns than not, it seems most have decided to use the highway department signage to get a bit of target practice in, including the one that reads “No discharge of firearms within 25 yards of the highway.” I knew Carl wanted to cover a lot of miles today but I wanted to stop at this one Scenic Overlook to get a really good look. The Matanuska River winds it’s way, in typical braided glacial fashion, filling in more than a dozen eroded pathways in the river bed. My attention was drawn upwards to catch a pair of dueling eagles mid-flight. As they got closer, I discovered they were juveniles practicing maneuvers that will aid in their hunting abilities. Matanuska Glacier was visible from the road so there was no need to park the truck and walk in. I was reminded of the Egyptians reverence for the pyramid when we drove by King Mountain. Once we reached Glenallen, it was time to find a gas station. We had fueled up in Anchorage for $3.84 a gallon. Here in Glenallen, it was $4.41 per gallen. So much difference in 186 miles. By this time, my head was pounding and I needed to take some medicine and go to bed. Carl insisted on driving a bit further. He’s done such a good job of keeping us on schedule, I hated to be a wet blanket. Eventually, shortly after a nice sighting of Mt Drum at 12, 010 feet, we found the Tonsina River Lodge. They advertised $10.00 campsite with free wi-fi. Carl pulled in, registered us and drove to a spot on the grounds with a fire ring only. We’d paid for a dry site, which basically means no amenities like water, electric or sewerage. The Lodge was run by a Russian family who offered a Russian/ American menu in their dining room. I opted for the Pilaff ( their way of spelling ), rice cooked in broth with meat and vegetables added, which sounded great but was told the last serving had just been given to the table before us. My second choice was a buffalo burger. It came with a heap of French fries, mushrooms and Swiss cheese. I know I would have enjoyed it much better without the headache. By 9:00PM, I was in bed with my eyes closed. Even free internet couldn’t keep me from getting my head on the pillow.
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