WiLDFILLY's ALASKA ! Monday

Monday

found us heading north of Anchorage, through the town of

Palmer and then some 60 miles north of that. We followed the

Matanuska River to its source, past still ice-locked lakes,

up winding roads, and across a huge valley, to the base of

the Matanuska Glacier.

I took the picture used for the background in the above banner

across the valley from the glacier !

The Matanuska Glacier

Once there, we hiked up over a low rise and then down to the

valley floor, where the glacier melt started the river. Even

though we were standing on a huge field of ice, with icy water

swiftly rushing past us, I was not cold. The dry air of Alaska's

glacier fields seems to just drain the cold right along with

moisture from the air. On our way down, we saw where moose

had eaten newly budding tender branches & bush shoots to

the ground........moose are on my list, more on that later.

Slammin' on the brakes !

We hiked back up to the car, got back to the highway, then

drove another mile north, for lunch. (I need to get the names

of all these neat places we stopped at to eat!)

	*The trail down to the glacier...*
*Ice-locked lake, fed by the Matanuska River.*

Afternoon

found us heading back down the mountain, to Wasilla,

home to my web partner, and the Iditarod Trail Headquarters

and Museum. Mark had told me it wouldn't take 15 minutes

to see the entire museum, and he was very close !

I guess I was just expecting for Doug Swingley, (this year's

race winner) to walk up, introduce himself & offer to take me

for a sled dog ride, LOL*

From there, it was back to Mark's house, and a tour of his

grounds. On the walk back to his garden, we noticed several

piles of moose sh....cr.....err, droppings. HE claims to have

moose in his own backyard ! More on moose later......grrrrrr..

those critters are on my list !

Mother dug up a baggie from the car, and asked Mark to

gather her some sh.....err, droppings. For a souvenir? to

spray paint gold for Christmas decorations? Not sure, but

that baggie of sh.....err, droppings graced the dash of the

rental car for the rest of the trip, LOL*

From Wasilla, it was on the road again, back through

Anchorage, and 40 more miles south, along the Turnagain

Arm and the tracks of the Alaska Railroad, to Girdwood and

Aleyska Ski Lodge & Resort.....in preparation for Tuesday's

cruise of Prince William Sound !

	*Turnagin Arm* *Alaska Railroad tracks*
*Aleyska -- View from our room*

Join us on our journey !
By Day	By Location
	Anchorage
Sunday	Matanuska Glacier
Monday	Portage Glacier
Tuesday	Big Game Alaska
Wednesday	Whittier
Thursday	Prince William Sound
Friday	Kenai Peninsula
	Trapper Creek
Moose	Alaska Facts
Denali	Chugach Range
Approximate Driving Distances

COOL Alaska links
AWARDS

The Matanuska Glacier

is the largest road-accessible glacier. Measuring roughly

27 miles long, and 4 miles wide, it is one of the very few in

Alaska that you can actually walk up to and hike on.

A young New Hampshire man fell to his death there last year.

It is presumed he fell down one of the many abyss' or

sinkholes there, as his body was never found.

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