July 4 and we’re on the Matanuska Glacier

Mile marker 102 of the Glen Highway captured our interest today—just needed to get out of the little Mat-Su Valley and get out of the rain - see some sunshine and blue sky. This little jaunt did just that!

Let’s catch up on the 2nd and 3rd first though. It rained off and on for 48 hours and was on the chilly side. We drove out so John could fish on the last day of king salmon on the Little Su River, but the only interesting thing we saw was the Alaska Department of Corrections fence. Just laughed then yesterday we went back into the same area only towards the southwest and came upon a huge construction site—the new Alaska prison. They currently send most prisoners to Colorado, but decided to keep them at home in the future

Also visited the Iditarod World Headquarters in Willow. They had a man with a team of 8 dogs hooked to a wagon and he was giving rides, but we didn’t bite. The film presented was informative with some beautiful scenery. Can you imagine standing on the back of this sled, filled with all your gear for 1049 miles from Anchorage (ceremony only) and then again the actual start for your timed run in Willow and end up in Nome. Days of going over 100 miles with your team of dogs; this year it took the winner 11 days to complete the race. It’s an expensive, beautiful sport, but man on man not for the faint of heart.

Today we drove 60 miles northeast to the only glacier you can get to in Alaska via automobile, the Matanuska Glacier which is 24 miles long and 4 miles wide at the terminus which exists on a valley floor. We walked to the end of the trail and as you can see from the images below it was beautiful, but dirty. The first two images John took with his new camera and the part that looks like regular ground is actually dirt and stone over the top of the ice.

In this image you can see the melted waters running into the Matanuska River.

John walked out on the glacier further than I did and I caught him coming back – can you believe how well he is walking?