A view of the Matanuska river delta from high in the hills
Moose trying to hide… but we saw her.
May 13: King Mountain to Sheep Mountain – 38 miles
Climbing up, up, up! Mountain peaks and glaciers, all day long. This highway is phenomenal, and I can highly recommend it, at least when the weather is this perfect. Despite another cold morning, it warmed up by the afternoon. We rode through the small town of Chicaloon, which was all but abandoned since both stores closed down in 2012. No espresso for Daisy today!
After climbing all morning we had lunch and a nap on a turnout next to the road, then descended down to the river again. We thought the climb deserved a summit sign, but no luck. We did, however see four more moose! The Matanuska glacier could be seen across the valley, and it was beautiful. We stopped at the glacier viewing spot and took a little hike around to read about the area. I love the informational signs… We learned that there is a giant piece of glacier ice that has been abandoned to the side of the active glacier, and it just sits there slowly melting. It melts so slowly that earth and trees start to grow on it! When it melts, the trees begin to tilt and eventually fall.
The Matanuska Glacier. It is four miles wide at its base!
We made it past Sheep Mountain with much more climbing, saw ten Dall sheep, and found a lodge that looked closed. We found a person there to ask about where we could camp, and it turned out we could camp there! For $20, of course, but we were happy because there was fresh water, electricity to charge our various devices, and showers(!!). We had more dehydrated beans for dinner, and washed off three days worth of dirt.
Rusted Gypsum made the hills near Sheep Mountain bright and beautiful.
Just as we crawled into the tent at 8:30 it started to rain. A storm had been gathering all evening, and it finally reached us. We were so happy to be warm, clean, and dry! It was a restful, and cold, night.
What an incredible spot for camp.
May 14: Sheep Mountain to Glennallen – 76 miles
A stunning day to ride over the highest point on the Glenn Highway! We awoke to ice (it really was cold) and crisp clear skies. With many layers on, we ate a warm breakfast and got on the road. The first 15 miles were mostly uphill to the pass, and at the top we could see in all directions. We could particularly see a restaurant with coffee, burgers, and french fries.
Two happy cyclists near the top.
The folks in the restaurant had all passed us on the road in the past day or so, and were so friendly! We have been hesitating to tell the folks we meet about our entire route, sometimes telling them that we are going to Mexico instead of Argentina, just because the folks in Pennsylvania that we met were so boggled by the idea. The folks here just take it in stride though, so we decided to tell them the whole story from here on out. Except if we get a bad vibe, in which case we tell them we are visiting our friends in the next town!
After our delicious first lunch, we started down the pass. It quickly moved away from the mountains and into a never-ending forest of stunted spruce trees. Actually, it was visually striking if somewhat monotonous. The four giant mountains in the Wrangell range slowly came into view as our day got longer and longer.
The road leads straight towards the Wrangell Mountains
Stunted trees as far as we can see.
We had second lunch at a rest area with a single, sad picnic table. The road rose and fell for many many miles through the spruce forest, until we stopped for dinner on the side of the road about 15 miles from Glennallen. We decided to eat dinner, and then ride to town and find a spot to camp. There are campgrounds here, but they don’t open until tomorrow!
Luckily, we saw the library… three ladies were sitting in a truck in front of it, and we stopped to ask about camping. We asked if anyone would mind if we camped behind the library and they said ‘This is Alaska!’ Apparently, we can pretty much camp wherever we want! They were very nice, and even told us about the WiFi here. Wow. Tomorrow we will ride through town first thing, and hopefully find some espresso for me… and of course re-stock some food supplies too!
I’m driving the Alaska Highway from Bellingham to Fairbanks June 1st – 6th. Am I going to pass you guys on your way south?
Casey, you might! We may be on the stretch of highway between Whitehorse and Watson Lake… If you see us you should stop and say hi!
It looks so peaceful! Is there always a nice shoulder on the road and what is the area next to the shoulder for? How much traffic is there and are they locals or tourists or truckers? Any other bikers? Why did you go this route instead of toward Denali (which I think you originally planned?
The Glenn Highway had a great shoulder the whole way — except where the road was damaged and there was gravel. Very little traffic right now, a mix of locals and RVs and a few semis. The season is just starting up here, and doesn’t get really going until around memorial day weekend – next week. We haven’t met any other bikers, but have heard of a couple others that passed through before us. (Hope to meet them along the way somewhere!) Decided on the Glenn Highway because we were told/convinced it would be more beautiful than the ride al the way up to Fairbanks and back down. Sad to miss Denali, but we’ll hit it another time and I actually think some of what we saw was very similar, based on my memories from a few years back (large braided river valley, snowcapped mountains, etc).
Brrrrr. You two rock!
Millie
Glad you finally found some espresso! And hamburgers too!
How fun! I will definitely keep an eye out for you guys on the way up. Stay safe and have fun. Hopefully we will cross paths!
The pictures you took are sooo cool. ( I like the couple’s-back-selfie in the last post :p )
I think you could publish an album out of this!
Thanks Yihan! We have a huge number of photos already – it is going to be a giant task to create a ‘best of’ album at the end of this trip. I hope you are doing well in Chicago!!
Great pictures. I am glad you are finding the occasional hot meal and espresso. We will have to do this some day – by RV.