Week Two

This is a beautiful time of year in Central Alaska!  Fall is well underway.  Colors are abating, the yellow of aspens backdropped with the black spruce and the orange and rusts of the shrubs, among them the low-lying blueberries.  The other vibrant red color is the last mutation of the state flower, the Fireweed....it starts out in the spring as a lovely maroonish leaf with a pink flower, lining the highways and anywhere the wind blows it.  As summer wears on the flowers vanish and the 'fluff' left fades until in the fall you see here the bright red leaves.

The Wrangell Mountains are visible from Glennallen to the east.  They lie on the edge of  the Wrangell-St. Elias National Park, the  third, and latest of the national parks in Alaska. Mt. Drum on the left is actually the shortest of the four, but it is closest, so looks taller.  This photo is taken from Willow Lake to the south of us, so Mt. Sanford, the one covered by clouds a bit, is 4,000 ft taller, but farther away.  The one on the right, Mt. Wrangell is 3rd tallest, at 14,163 Ft(still an active volcano)A.  And the tallest one is out of view to the right......16,390 ft.  Whether we travel north or south on the Richardson Hwy., these mts. are our touchstone, though changing appearance as we go.  We are told this lake is shallow enough for a moose to stand in the middle.  I keep looking for the moose.
      Entertainment is in the eye of the beholder here.  With no TV, sports teams, concert venues, etc.
we make our own 'fun.'  Jon is on call most of the time he's here as that is what helps the Nurse Practitioner and Physician Assistant who do all the doctoring.  They need time off to do their own appointments (usually in Anchorage) and R&R.  So, the other night after work, Jon and I drove west and parked facing the highway and watched the traffic.....hunters and fishermen pulling their  trailers and some moose, local folks.....all kinds of dirty cars and trucks.  Then Jon found a photo op. (top picture) and here.....
      
     Sometimes we eat out, just us, or with others from the clinic. The touristy place, the Fireweed Cafe, is just across Hwy 1 in full view from our kitchen window. There your order is always in doubt. They may advertise what's available on their menu, but we have found that it depends.....try Copper River salmon, or if they are out of that, reindeer sausage pizza, or if they are out of that spaghetti, or if they are out of that, hamburgers, or if they are out of that, salad.  Our favorite place is the Tok Thai van on the Hub of Alaska parking lot at the Glenn/Richardson junction with fine view of Mt Drum. Then we can sit down for dessert at the Freeze just south on the Glenn Hwy from the Old Paths Baptist Church (hopefully they will still be open-the owner needs to go bring her husband home, but says the kids will keep it going another 2 weeks before closing for the season- the Freeze, that is, not the church)   If Jon is on call, pizza at the Grizzly Road House  at mile post 92.8 near Willow Lake on the way to the Worthington Glacier and Valdez is too far away for an adequate response at the clinic.  It’s moose season, could get some fresh moose burgers if we are lucky.
We were blessed with two meals of Copper River Salmon last week as a new couple here invited us over for dinner, then gave us some to take home.  It's so common here (salmon) and free from the fish wheel that it loses it's intrigue to locals.  They'd prefer beef!






     Jon has been busy, as I mentioned.  He medivac-ed two patients to Anchorage last weekend...one of the leaders of the Ahtna Athabascan people.  He attends the Gulkana Village church we attend when we're here and always closes the service in prayer.

     Monday was the first of Jon's two days off so we drove to Valdez.  The day was a blue-sky day and perfect for photos.  Beginning in October the snow will start to fall and these colorful mts. will turn white.  Valdez is a little port town surrounded by the tallest coastal mountains in N. America, rising from sea level to an elevation of 7,000 feet.   The Chugach Mountains here get the most snow of any in Alaska......record of 560.7 inches in Valdez in 1989-90. The average annual is 325.6 inches. Thompson Pass boasts between 600-900 inches.   

  We stopped at two glaciers that one can 'touch.'  Worthington Glacier and Valdez Glacier both head into lakes created by their runoff.  Jon even retrieved a chunk of glacial ice.....

How clear it is!

Then it was back home to Glennallen.  Couldn't stop at the Grizzly for Pizza as they were having a special function.....sawhorses in the entry.  Shucks.