This is continued from our Alaska trip in August. With so much to see and do I fell behind on the blog and skipped day 9 – 13.

We departed Porcupine Creek Campground in the rain after some Starbucks coffee. We were en route to Valdez, instead of Girdwood as originally planned. We were heading south, along the Tok cut-off, in search of the sun.

We stopped at the Slana post office (a community post office, not a town post office) located at the northern access to the Wrangell/St. Elias National Park on Nabesna Road to mail some postcards. Apparently the mail only goes out once per week so we hope they make it sometime!

Along the way we looked for the Wrangell Mountains but they were still hiding in clouds of rain. Also took a side road wanting to fish but gave it up.

We stopped at the Headquarters of the Wrangell/St. Elias National Park. What a great national park! It is the largest national park and is equal to 6 Yellowstones. It is 7 times the size of Switzerland with taller peaks. Unfortunately, we could not see the peaks because of the weather.

We met a ranger, who had built his own cabin in the woods (seems that many do this) who surprised us, revealing that many Alaskans (who live outside the towns) buy showers as they do not have running water because of the -40° winters . What a concept for the Class B traveler – a Eureka moment and one that was to change our trip! You can buy a shower!!

Hearing we were planning to visit Denali via Anchorage, he suggested by-passing Anchorage and traversing the Denali Highway, a much more scenic, mostly unpaved, route to Denali.

We headed back north on Highway 4, the Richardson Highway. We went a couple of miles west on Highway 1 to stock up on food and drink in Glenallen. We were also looking to buy a shower and for a place to dump holding tanks and fill with water. Groceries were no problem. Everything else was a slight challenge. We went the Northern Lights Campground, which had no water the day before, and found the office closed until 5pm. No problem – we would leave $5 each for the showers and for dumping. The showers as it turned out, operated only with tokens that could be purchased at the office – so much for showers. We did dump and fill and left $5 under the door of the office. Now, the drink . . . liquor being illegal in Glenallen, the liquor store was located 5 miles from town back on Hwy 4 (the liquor stores have to be 5 miles from the center of the community, the post office, 5 miles from schools and 5 miles from each other).

The liquor store had a great supply of wine as long as you wanted at best, the Sterling Vitner’s Collection. This was the best wine we had found so far but left a bit to be desired. The store was for sale with the owner planning to move back to Tracy, California. Small world.

Still heading north towards the Denali Highway and in search of showers we passed through miles of boreal forest before landing at the Sourdough Creek Roadhouse for showers ($3). We decided to stay here instead of the Sourdough Creek Campground (BLM). The campground is a good choice with nice sites and next to the Gulkana River. All the campgrounds have out-houses, almost none have water.

We camped near next to Sourdough Creek and Debbie headed for the shower. She went first and came back with her report. The shower (yes, just one) was moldy but by Alaskan standards was fine. Showers often include towels as this one did. We were glad to get a shower! Keith did a little fishing, again with no joy, but made up for it with breakfast at the Roadhouse the next morning. The next morning, Debbie went into the dining room to buy a second shower, wearing her parka. She was greeted with, “You must be the lady in the Mercedes.”

It is sometimes hard to be from California!

Footnote: The most common thing in Alaska is the out-house. Since water is mostly hauled in and with the freezing temperatures this just makes more sense. One thing one in our party can testify to is to make sure the door is well fastened. If a wind comes up and blows the door open a 180°’s and you are sitting there it is very difficult to get up in a refined manner and shut the door.