Valdez to Palmer, Alaska – 27 July 2024

As we neared the Matanuska Glacier State Recreation Center where we hoped to spend the night, we were presented with the most incredible view of the glacier.  From the broad side of the glacier at the top of the mountain we could see it continue along the valley for quite the distance ending in a gray white mineral river.  The views of the glacier from the roadside disappeared as we entered the park, but we were able to view the end of the glacier from a view point and there were walks up to it from the park.  This was a first come first served situation and by this time it was already 3.30 pm and all the larger sites had been taken. So we ended up retracing our steps 11 km and got into the Grand View RV campground instead. While we could not see the glacier from there we had at least managed to take some really nice photos of the glacier from the roadside on the way.

Grand View RV Campground was surrounded by mountains of all different colours, and that evening we were treated to some really nice views of the sun setting and painting the tops of the Talkeetna and Chugach mountain ranges, as well as Lion’s Head a uniquely shaped ancient volcano, in bright orange.

The only thing very annoying was that in spite of signs saying “Pets on leash”,  guests allowed their dogs to roam freely.  This created a lot of anxt for me as one young friendly dog made a bee line for Jax, who inspite of being on leash, nearly bit the dog’s head off. So no long walks that day!  This is a pet peeve for me. Pet owners think because their dog is friendly its fine to let them loose, but they don’t know what it is like to have a reactive dog.