Anchorage to Cantwell via the Denali Hwy.

Saturday morning we left Palmer (northeast of Anchorage) in order to drive the Glenn Highway and the Denali Highway, which leads back to Cantwell, where we had stayed Wednesday night before heading to Anchorage. The Denali Highway is supposedly one of the most scenic drives in Alaska, so we didn't want to miss it, even though it's mostly gravel (which never deters Ernie). We had chosen to drive from Denali to Anchorage previously on the Parks Highway because it supposedly had some great views of Mt. McKinley when the weather is right (which it wasn't on Thursday when we drove it). The weather was beautiful when we started out Saturday, with sunshine and blue skies, and the scenery on the Glenn Highway was breathtaking. We decided it rivaled some of the drives we had previously deemed the most beautiful (we keep finding new favorites!) Stopping often for pictures slowed us down, of course, so the 350+ mile drive didn't go as quickly as we expected.

The view from Homestead RV Park in Palmer, where we spent Friday night

A bald eagle perched in the top of a tree behind the RV park

Some scenes from the Glenn Highway between Palmer and Glenallen

The Matanuska Glacier in the Glugach Mountains

The Glenn Highway winds along the Matanuska River and the mountains, so we had several different views of the glacier at different angles (some are zoomed in more than others, also)

The Glugach Mountain Range

We didn't make it to Paxson, where the Denali Highway begins, until about 6 PM. By then the weather had turned very cloudy and stormy-looking, so the scenic drive we were anticipating turned out to be cloud-covered and very windy. The Alaska Range of mountains that we could see at the beginning of the drive were completely hidden by clouds and fog by the time we got a little further into the drive.

Gulkana Glacier in the Alaska Range

Rolling hills in front of the mountains

Alaska Range with glacier again

Some views from a rest stop

By this time, it was getting very cold, windy, and rainy

Landmark Gap

This looks upside-down, but the light color is water, not sky, and the grass is on the opposite bank of Waterfowl Lake. If you look very closely, you can see two white specks in the middle of the lake, which are wild trumpeter swans. A couple ducks are also swimming to their left.

Two caribou were standing in the road as we approached and proceeded to trot down the road in front of us until they found a path leading off the road.

We didn't make it to Cantwell until about 11:30, so we were pretty worn out! Today (Sunday) we hung around the RV park, did laundry, and watched it rain! All the locals are complaining about the incessant rain and cold. But I think it's probably better than the record-breaking heat we've been hearing about back home in Indiana! Tomorrow it's back to Anchorage . . . or at least heading in that direction. Who knows how far we'll get . . .