Chicken, AK to Gakona, AK 7/1/14

Day 60 of our summer trip.  Taylor Hwy, Alaska Hwy, Tok Cut-Off

We left Chicken on the Taylor Hwy. heading south to meet the Alaska Hwy. again.  It was a very foggy, cloudy, rainy day, all day.  The road was dirt/mud and gravel, to start with, and had many pot holes to dodge.  Every now and then, we would get some asphalt for a short distance, then it was back to gravel, dirt and mud.  Gradually, the road improved and there was more asphalt than mud and gravel, but we still had to be careful and drive slowly because there might be a pot hole to miss.

This photo is not very clear, but I wanted to show what we were driving in.  Lots of fog and rain.

We have made it to the Alaska Hwy.  The road  is finally in great shape!  We're ecstatic!!!  We won't be on it for long, though.  We are only going to Tok, then we make a turn.

Tok, AK is a small town that is the first town that you come to in Alaska that has all of the services a traveler needs.  You have to pass through Tok in order to get to the interior of Alaska or to get back into Canada, if you are driving.  Anyway, we had several things to do in Tok.   It had taken about 2 hours to drive 77 miles and it was lunch time when we got there.  Lunch was at Fast Eddie's restaurant, a place recommended by some friends who had been there.  It was very good and we also recommend it to anyone who may be in Tok at mealtime.  The next order of business was to get groceries.  We picked up some information at the Visitors Center.  Then, after we filled up the truck with fuel, we were heading down the Tok Cut-Off portion of the Glenn Hwy. on the way toward Valdez, AK.  OOPS!!  We were about 13 miles down the road when we remembered that we had forgotten to pick up the mail at the Tok Post Office.  So, we turned around and went to get the mail that our son had mailed to us.  While we were parked at the post office, we noticed something strange.

 

Do they really mow the roof???  It sure looks like it has been mowed. 

Well. this time we are headed down the Tok Cut-Off for sure.  The road has improved greatly and we can actually go faster than 30 mph with out shaking everything up.  The road borders Wrangell-St. Elias National Park.  The Milepost guide book keeps referring to different Mountain peaks that we are supposed to see at the pull off view points.  Are those mountains that we see in the distance?

 

 Sure enough, I believe that it is the bottom of a mountain.  That  is about all we saw.

 

 

Later on, we came to a view point where we were supposed to be able to see some of the 12,000 ft. peaks inside the National Park.  We saw some nice lakes and a pretty green valley, but no snow covered mountains, only cloud covered ones, no matter where we looked.

So, I decided to include some pictures of the wild flowers that were along the road at the pull off.

We have stopped for the night at the Gakone Alaska RV Park and Cabins.  It is a nice campground next to the Copper River.  There aren't many people here tonight so the internet is working better for me.  I have several posts ready to publish, so I hope that I can get that done tonight.  I'm so far behind, that it will be nice to have something for you to read.