Monday, May 29, 2023
This morning we woke up to clouds, a few sprinkles of rain, and a temperature of 44 degrees. Soon the sun came out and the temperature ended around 60 degrees. Today we are leaving rainy Valdez and heading for Palmer, Alaska.
We traveled along the Richardson Highway (Alaska Hwy 4) with our first stop at the Worthington Glacier.
It wasn't too long (at Milepost 29 miles from Valdez) and we began to see Worthington Glacier to our left.
Worthington Glacier usually has easy accessibility of the highway and a short path to the toe of the glacier, however there was still a lot of snow drifts to the trail so it was closed. The Worthington Glacier melts and flows into the Tsina River.
Worthington Glacier was designated as a National Natural Landmark by the National Park Service in 1968. The dedication reads, "This site possesses exceptional value as an illustration of the nation's natural heritage and contributes to a better understanding of the environment."
Back on the road again, we continued on Richardson Highway.
And then we hit an area of road construction where we had to sit and wait until the pilot car could lead us through the construction site.
The road got pretty gnarly at times as you can see above and below.
The road construction lasted for about 12 miles. Once through the road construction, we passed over the South Fork Squaw Creek.
Continuing on, we were now about 138 miles from Palmer, Alaska.
We passed a Lake Louise Recreation Area -- not to be confused with the Lake Louise in Canada.
With another 30 miles under our belt, we continued on.
We crossed over Mendeltna Creek and the dark clouds began rolling in. Soon we were getting sprinkles on the windshield.
It was now getting close to lunch time, so I was looking in the Milepost to see if I could find a good turnout for us to stop and make a sandwich. We found this wonderful turnout with fantastic views and a memorial to Trooper Bruce A. Heck.
Here's a little bit about Alaska State Trooper, Bruce Heck, who was smothered or strangled during a "hand-to-hand fight" with a fugitive he chased into the woods after a stolen car chase on January 10, 1997. The fugitive, John Kevin Phillips was released from the Spring Creek Correctional Center in Seward after completing a 5-year sentence for escaping from an Alaska jail.
Phillips was angry over his belief that he had been "ripped off" by a fellow inmate in prison and went to Anchorage the day after his release and robbed the "5th Avenue Furs" store owned by the inmate's father. He held a killing knife to the stomach of the storeowner's daughter who was seven months pregnant and threatened to slice her open if he was not given money. He cut her hand to the bone to demonstrate that he was serious. Phillips also beat the father's head on the floor and threatened to push the knife through the man's skull. He took $300 and fled.
Then Phillips called for a taxi to pick him up in downtown Anchorage and take him to Palmer. When the taxi arrive in Palmer, the taxi driver got out of the vehicle to check an address and Phillips slid over in to the driver's seat and took off with the taxi. The taxi cab driver reported the stolen cab.
Trooper Heck spotted the stolen taxi at Mile 153 heading toward Glennallen, and signaled the driver to pull over. When Phillips did not stop as directed, Heck radioed for assistance. At 9:35 p.m. the taxi left the road and flipped over landing in the ditch at Mile 158 -- two miles from the Lake Louise cut-off (Mile 160).
Trooper Heck then parked his car next to the overturned taxi and continued the chase on foot through the rural, snow-covered, wooded area. It was 10 degrees below zero. Signs later indicated that Heck and Phillips engaged in a "hand-to-hand fight" in the snow about 150 yards from the road. Heck was able to get one handcuff on Phillips before he was overpowdered and rendered unconscious -- and according to the autopsy, smothered and or strangled.
Later a second trooper, Don Pierce arrived to help out, and found Heck dead on the ground with his face covered with a pyramid of packed snow. Piece then realized that the fugitive Phillips was still in the woods. Pierce feared that Phillips would make a run for his patrol care and grab the mounted shotgun -- therefore Officer Pierce took off running back to his patrol car, while Phillips was also running at parallel path to the patrol car. When Pierce got closer to Phillips he shouted for him to raise his hands or he would kill him. As Phillips raised his arms, "Heck's handcuff dangled from his wrist."
Such a sad story, but Trooper Heck will not be forgotten! (Below is a closeup of the memorial.)
Continuing on, we saw lots of beautiful mountains. The highway curved up and down hills.
Above is Sheep Mountain, a 6,223-foot elevation summit located 50 miles northeast of Palmer in the southern Talkeetna Mountains in Alaska. This landmark is set midway between Palmer and Glennallen with the Glenn Highway traversing the southern base of the mountain at mile 113.
We are now about 60 miles from Palmer and we are driving through Grand View.
We passed by the Matanuska Glacier State Recreation Site and can see Matanuska Glacier coming into view on our left side. (As we are heading to our campground in Palmer, we will come back on another day to get a better look at Matanuska Glacier.)
We're only about 50 miles from Palmer and we see a couple moose on the side of the highway.
The highway gets pretty rough again through a rock slide area.
We next go by Long Lake in the Matanuska Valley just 3.5 miles southwest of Palmer.
Soon we are almost to Chickaloon, which is located at Mile 76 on the Glenn Highway and is surrounded by the Talkeetna and Chugach Mountains and flanked by the mighty Matanuska River. Chickaloon was originally a center of trade by the Athabascan people how brought copper, sheep, and goats from the north to swap for salmon, beluga whale, and fur seals from tribes from the south.
In 1898 an Army exploration party located a vein of high-quality coal near the Chickloon River. The isolated Chickaloon deposits were not mined until the winter of 1913-1914, when Jack Dalton used the frozen Matanuska River to haul a shipment of test coal from the area.
Crossing over the Kings River, we saw a large crane with the American flag.
We then crossed Granite Creek -- which is definitely full are granite rocks. Granite Creek is a tributary to the Matanuska River.
Next we drove by Sutton, Alaska which is 14 miles from Palmer. (We will be back on another day to visit the Sutton Alpine Historical Park.)
Crossing over Moose Creek which flows south to the Matanuska River and is located about 5 miles from Palmer.
Seeing the sign to the Independence Mine State Historical Park, we take note to make a side trip there another day.
We are now arriving in Palmer, Alaska and soon will be crossing over the Matanuska River.
We continue on our way to find our campground in Palmer -- Mt View RV Park and Campground.
Palmer has a
population of 6,296 and an elevation of 240 feet. Nestled at the mouth of the
Matanuska and Knik Valleys, Palmer is a small town that prides itself on
agriculture, arts, and the outdoors. This beautiful place at the intersection
of rivers and mountain ranges has been occupied by the Ahtna Athabascan people
for over 2,000 years. What is now Palmer was originally home to Athabascan
Indians before a trading post was established in 1890 by George Palmer. A
railway station on the Matanuska branch of the Alaska Railroad was built there
in 1916 and it developed into a town.
In 1935, the
town was founded by a New Deal program, relocating 203 farm families from
Minnesota, Michigan, and Wisconsin to form Alaska’s first and only farming
colony in one of the most unusual experiments in American social engineering,
the Matanuska Valley Colony. These families of hardy Scandinavian descent were
picked because they thought they would have a natural advantage over other
ethnic groups.
This federal relief program, created during Franklin’s
Roosevelt’s first year in office, moved American farm families from the
northern counties of Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota, to Alaska. Palmer is
Alaska’s only community that developed primarily from an agricultural economy. The
Matanuska Colony Project offered each chosen family 40 acres of land, a new
house, a barn, animals and equipment to support a farm family. The Matanuska
Valley is the richest agricultural area in Alaska. It has a relatively long
growing season, averaging 100 to 118 days a year, with long daylight hours. It
has rich soil, and a unique microclimate that, along with the long hours of
daylight in the summer, allows farmers to produce giant vegetables.
The
Matanuska River flows right behind Palmer and borders several dramatic peaks:
Lazy Mountain, Wolverine Peak and Pioneer Peak. You can reach Hatcher Pass from
Palmer at MP 49.5 of the Glenn Highway.
Palmer is
the only community in Alaska that developed primarily from an agricultural
economy. It continues to be the most productive farming area in the state.
Turning onto Smith Road, we head toward the Mt View RV Park and Campground.
Our campsite in Mt View RV Park (site 29).
Tuesday, May 30, 2023
Woke up this morning to a sunny day and a temperature of 49 degrees, which would reach 53 degrees in the afternoon. Because it was nice and sunny, we decided to take off toward the Matanuska Glacier.
About an hour out on our way to the Matanuska Glacier, we saw a mama moose and her twins along the side of the highway.
In the picture above, you can see mama moose is taking her twins into the woods.
We have been receiving some sprinkles as we near the Matanuska Glacier State Recreation Site, but our view of Matanuska Glacier is much clear today, so on we go.
Right off the bat when we get parked at this site, we are told there is a moose right over the hill.
After watching the moose for a while and reading the information on the glacial pace, we then get our first glimpse at Matanuska Glacier.
We now are ready to walk the Edge Nature Trail, which is a fairly easy one-mile trail that explores the top of a nearby morainal ridge deposited long ago when Matanuska Glacier was parked atop the land on which we are now standing.
The 4-foot wide, unpaved trail took us to clearer views of the glacier. Along the way we found interesting information boards exposing the mysteries and facts about the glacier and forest.
The first information board we come to tells us about the rock glacier seen on the mountainside across the road.
This rock glacier looks more like a pile of rocks or a landslide, but this glacier is a lot of rocks of all sizes and even though they form differently, they move like ice glaciers.
The above information board tells how the barren landscape exposed by the receding Matanuska Glacier is now the base for a succession of plants and animals.
The information board above tells us how the glacier-ground silt is a very important factor in the growing of the giant vegetables in the Matanuska Valley.
The above information board tells us how the left side of glacier has stagnated and is no longer connected to the active right side. Then that stagnate ice area is covered with debris that is so thick in some areas that trees begin to grow.
Beautiful views of the Matanuska Glacier and the bridge crossing the river.
The forest trail we followed.
This information board tells how the Matanuska Glacier is always moving, creeping and sliding downhill.
This information board tells us what silt is and how it spills across the valley.
This information board tells us about the giant quaking aspen and how they clone themselves to cover the land exposed by the glacial recession.
The above flowering plant is a Nootka Lupine that we found on the Edge Nature Trail.
A few more views of the Matanuska Glacier.
Long Lake is a beautiful lake located on the Glenn Highway, 32 miles northeast of Palmer in the Talkeetna Mountains and spans for 106 acres. The Long Lake Recreation Site offers parking, picnic tables and an undeveloped boat launch.
Our next stop today was at Sutton. The
Sutton-Alpine area has a population of 967.
Sutton was established as a railroad siding in about 1918 for the
once-flourishing coal industry at Jonesville Mine, which operated on and off
from 1920 until 1959. A post office was first established at Sutton in 1948.
Underground and surface coal mining in the Jonesville area on Wishbone Hill
north of Sutton dates back to the early 1900s. Jonesville Road leads north
through Sutton residential area.
The Alpine Historical Park – is an open-air historical park. This museum complex is on the
site of the Sutton Coal Washery. Among the buildings preserved there are the
Chickaloon bunkhouse and the original Sutton Post Office from 1948.This
includes the Ahtna-Dene (Athabascan) culture, coal mining, and construction of
the Glenn Highway.
The history of
the ruins of the Sutton Coal Wash and the washing operation on the interpretive
panels around the museum grounds are interesting. Who knew coal had to
be washed? Or dried, for that matter?
The U. S. Navy was
already involved with the Chickaloon Coal Mine for several years when the coal
wash was built in nearby Sutton for military use between 1920-1922. Two weeks
after the coal wash was opened, the Navy decided it was no longer interested in
Alaskan coal because the quality wasn't high enough for naval vessels. The coal
washing plant was closed for lack of business and usable materials were
dismantled and recycled for other purposes.
The Sutton
plant had two main structures -- a powder house and a washer. All
that remains of those buildings are the concrete foundations and supports. The
plant was designed to wash a maximum of 1,250 tons of coal per 24 hours. Pipes
were laid to deliver water to the plant for power and washing the coal. Chutes
were built to feed the coal into the washer and four rail tracks were built to
haul the material in and out. Parts of these structures and other equipment
from local mines are on display at the museum.
The coal
washer built in 1941 for the Eska Mine, was housed in a large wooden building
and had catwalks surrounding it for easy maintenance by the workers. Rock with
coal in it was crushed by another machine and conveyed to the washer, where
three plungers similar to those used in today's washing machines cleaned 25
tons of coal an hour. Agitation forced the lighter-weight coal to float to the
top and the heavier sedimentary rock sank to the bottom. Then a large elevator
hauled the washed coal to a conveyor belt to the dryer and a smaller elevator
carried the rejected rock from the washer.
After going
through the washing process, coal was conveyed on a belt to a dryer, which was
an eight-foot diameter metal dryer from the Eska Mine. This dryer had a motor
in the top that produced a centrifugal force of up to 1,850 revolutions per
minute to reduce the moisture content of the coal to 8 or 9 percent. The dry coal was
removed by a chute under the dryer and was conveyed to a storage bin.
The Chickaloon Bunkhouse was used by the railroad and road crews while at the Moose Creek townsite.
The Chickaloon Bunkhouse is pictured above.
The Lucas House served as the Officer's Quarters during the Navy's short period of coal production in Chickaloon.
The Lucas House is shown below.
The Mary Geist House was once a guesthouse for Phil and Jean O'Neill and was move to its present location in the early 1990's.
The Mary Geist House is shown below.
The Mary Geist House is home of the "Old Timers Hall of Fame."
Ray Roberts/Phil O'Neill House was originally built by Ray Roberts and his family with the help of local friends and neighbors in 1949.
The Ray Roberts/Phil O'Neill House now serves as the Sutton Visitor Center as shown below.
This shovel arm was used in the construction of the Glenn Highway.
The Hitchcock Cabin was made of spruce logs and constructed by Jim Hitchcock in the late 1960's.
The Hitchcock Cabin is shown below.
The Wall Tent has been part of the Alaskan camps and settlements since the late 1800's.
A Wall Tent is shown below.
Information board on the Winter Lodge structure.
A Winter Lodge is shown below.
Information board on petrified wood that was found at the Wishbone Hill escarpment, just north of here.
Petrified wood is shown below.
A Spirit House -- this is the gravesite of John Goodlataw.
Spirit House that is really the gravesite of John Goodlataw is shown below.
The concrete foundation ruins is all that remains of the "Sutton Coal Washery" built by the Navy between 1921 and 1922. The Washery removed intrusive rock and other undesirable additives in the coal mined at Chickaloon. The Washery was an enormous but graceful building . In its day, only the huge mining complex at Kennecott near McCarthy was bigger.
A 1942 Motor Blower is shown below.
Trencher or Bank Loader is shown below.
Information on the Powder Magazine is below.
This concrete building, a powder house or cache was built on site in 1921 by the Alaska Engineering Commission as a storage area for high explosives used at the Eska and Chickaloon Mines.
Information board on the Coal Wash Plant is shown below.
Information on the boilers is shown above on the information board. The two boilers are shown below.
Information on the Eska Boiler is shown above, while the actual boiler is shown below.
Information on the large hoist is shown above and the actual hoist is shown below.
Information on the circulating fan is shown above and the actual circulating fan is shown below.
Information on the Buckeye Shovel is shown above and the actual Buckeye Shovel is shown below.
Information on the Eska Coal Washery is shown above and the actual Eska Coal Washery is shown below.
We walked around the Sutton Alpine Historical Park for about two hours and found it very interesting. We then stopped at the Great America Pizza store in Palmer and took advantage of the customer appreciation special -- a medium pepperoni pizza or 5 wings for $6 each.
Afterwards we went to the Matanuska Brewery. Mel had a couple craft beers while I tried their homemade root beer.
Root beer cheers to you!
Shirley & Mel
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