Alaska Road Trip: Chugiak to Valdez

Our 600+ mile weekend road trip.

For Labor Day Weekend, my husband and I decided to take the RV on a road trip to Valdez, Alaska. Generally, when we take the RV out, we park it and stay for the weekend.  This weekend found us parked at a new site every evening.  The weather was BEAUTIFUL!

Setting sun lights up the yellows of the trees across the Little Nilchina Creek

Our first evening we camped free on the edge of Little Nelchina River.  It is an old campground that is no longer maintained, so it was free!

Our home for the evening.

Another beautiful view across the river.

Morning fly fishing as the sun lights up the trees upstream.

Over morning coffee in bed, we looked through our Alaska Camping Book and Mile Post to plan our day on the road.

A view of Tazlina Glacier.

While fishing in Little Nelchina Creek we realized we didn't have the fishing regulations for this area, so stopped at a nearby tourist shop.  While discussing our plans for the weekend, it the store owner recommended we should drive up Lake Louise Road to for the best view of Tazlina Glacier, followed by a stop at Willow Lake to see the Wrangle Mountains.

Willow Lake and the Wrangle Mountains.

We had planned to eat lunch at Willow Lake, but it was nothing more than a pull off, with a lot of people stopping for the view.  We traveled up the road and decided  to pull off on a gravel road and see what we could find.  We were not disappointed!

Our lunch stop - in a BEAUTIFUL peaceful valley.

I'll let the pictures do the talking. 

After driving through a short treed area, it opened up to flat gravel with short trees.

Just the three of us and our RV.

We made it to Valdez and decided there wasn't must to see or do. It's a fishing town and the end of the Pipeline.  This really wasn't about the destination, but about the drive. The waterfalls in Keystone Cannon are a MUST stop!

Bridal Veil Falls

Horsetail Falls

We camped at Blueberry Lake Campground - the bugs were so bad, we cooked and ate dinner inside the RV.  After dinner, we dawned Mosquito Nets and attempted to explore.

Quite the fashion statement!

A trail lead us to a beautiful overlook and a patch of Blueberries - which we picked for pancakes the following morning.

Early morning walk before breakfast at Blueberry Lake Campground.

We attempted to catch some of the many Rainbow Trout the lake held.

They kept jumping 10-15 feet beyond our casting range!

We hit the road after pancakes with those wonderful blueberries
our first stop was Worthington Glacier.

Worthington Glacier

Up close and personal with Worthington Glacier.

 While we were here, people were going inside the glacier for picture opportunities. 

This is NOT something I recommend as one never knows when a piece will pop off and fall!

Looking down the valley from Worthington Glacier.

Our last night on the road was spent at Tolsona Wilderness Campground.

The sun shining through a pine tree across the creek.
Bugs were hovering around the pine tree.
They glowed and appeared to be little fairies. 

It was the first time we've had hookups (electric and water).

We arrived ready to just sit by a campfire and relax after three days on the road.

I have to admit, it sure was nice to be able to wake up to the smell of coffee brewing!

Normal mornings involve waiting for "quiet time" to arrive (usually 6 am) so we can crank up the generator and start the coffee pot.

For our liking, there were too many people making too much noise late.

People pulled into the site next to ours around 8 pm, then their dogs barked late into the night.

Others arrived back at camp after 11pm and were loud.

Breakfast was followed by showers and we hit the road for home.

Beautiful fall colors

We put well over 600 miles on the RV.

It was a great end of the summer trip for us!