Heart of Alaska

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This is a catch-up post: I was in Delta Junction at the end of July before Fran came. This feels like old news, but I guess it's good to reflect back on my initial impressions of this country, some of which I've been over again in the past few days with Fran.
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I feel like am in the heart of Alaska, which (at least for me) is a triangle from Fairbanks on the north, Tok on the east, and Anchorage on the south.

Storm clouds above the Delta River

Of course, I am only now realizing how vast Alaska is. Alaska has 7 of the 10 largest national parks in the US, with only Death Valley (#5), Yellowstone (#8) and Everglades (#10) being the non-Alaska parks making the top-ten list. Somehow, it doesn't really sink in until you see how big this land is.

Alaska is #4 in the percentage of acreage of federal lands (after Nevada, Utah and Idaho). That's a lot of land!

The northern terminus of the Alaska Highway,
in Delta Junction

Delta Junction: End of the Alaska Highway

The Alaska Highway system can be a little confusing. Most people refer to highways by their names, rather than numbers. (This seems to be a regional convention: I remember being confused by an exit for the "Pear Blossom Freeway" in southern California when I was looking for a number!)

The northern terminus of the Alaska Highway is at Delta Junction. But some people consider that the Alaska Highway (here aka State Hwy 2) actually goes all the way to Fairbanks.

There was a helpful visitor center there, with a very chirpy woman named Julie ("It's my last day!") who seemed to know everyone in the area, and gave me a stop-by-stop account of the Steese Highway, which goes out to Circle, a town with gold-mining origins on the Yukon River. ("Be sure to stop by Bob and Shirley's place, and ask Bob to tell you the 'duck story!'" she said.)

I thought it might be interesting to go to Circle when Fran comes to visit, as I was under the impression it might be something like the Taylor Highway — that somewhat terrifying one-lane, twisty gravel road — that went out to Eagle. Unfortunately Circle Hot Springs, one of the attractions along the Steese, is closed, and Circle looks even smaller than Eagle, so perhaps it more adventure than we might be up for. Will discuss!

Harebells

Delta Junction is an army town. Lots of guys in uniform, shopping at the local IGA "supermarket" or going into the local eateries. It's been a long time since I've seen such a concentration of camo uniforms! Apparently, there were 4,000–5,000 troops in from Hawaii and elsewhere here for training. It was a busy place.

While the town of Delta Junction is small (population of about 1,000), it acts as a hub for the surrounding area, and, with the military there, it's a busy place. It's actually an agricultural center, which surprised me somewhat, being even farther north than that Canadian breadbasket, Alberta. They grow short-season crops: barley, oats, potatoes and hay; vegetables; dairy and meat cattle, and other meat animals that are more adapted to the climate. Think reindeer, yak, bison and elk. In fact, Delta Junction is the home of the Delta Sausage & Meat Company, which uses local meats. It's pricey, but tasty.

One of the things Delta Junction had going for it was reputed to have a library with after-hours (24/7) wifi. I was very happy to work in the library, I think the first time since in what seems like quite awhile with power AND wifi together for a couple of hours and catch up on the blog a bit.

Marsh grass of Parnassus

Unfortunately, the ONE DAY that I was going to be there, the library was having a one-day special closure to "update their electronics," and that wifi would "probably" not be available. Argh...

And it turned out it wasn't available at all, so this is one of the reasons that posts have been delayed.

But this is part of life on the road. Things happen!

Food

I did need to stock up a bit, and wanted to make a few comments on food prices. Yes, in general, food is more expensive than "outside," but you can find some deals if you shop store brands or sales and aren't picky. "Regular" prices of meat, bread, boxed cereal and snacks can be pretty pricey. Here are some of the ranges in prices:
- ground beef: $3.99/lb (on sale) - $6.99/lb
- whole-grain bread (something like Oro-wheat): $4.49/1-lb loaf
- GM Cheerios (12 oz box): $3.49 (on sale) to $5+
- potato chips (6 oz bag): $1.99 (Safeway Snack Artist) – $6.89 (I kid you not)
- Yoplait yogurt  (6 oz): $1 – $2.49
- block ice (7-10 lb): $2.99 – $4.99

Surprisingly, some produce is available at a very good price, I can only think it's local in the summer:
- celery (huge bunch, crisp and tasty): $0.99
- iceberg lettuce (huge head): $0.99
- tomatoes: $2.49/lb
- avocados: $1.50/each on sale

If you're curious, the IGA Food Cache even has a website, with weekly ads. I ended up buying some "Asian pork" here — with all the rain, I've found that buying pre-cooked meat may be more expensive, but at least I can eat it right out of the icebox: in either a sandwich, on a salad, in a tortilla wrap, or even just by itself!

On the road again

One of the places I was considering going was Donnelly Creek Campground, but was warned that it might be closed because the army was conducting military exercises near there.

When this happens, the area is "red flagged" so that you know not to go enter. True to form in this friendly and close-knit community,  the visitor center lady called her father-in-law to find out if the army was indeed "on maneuvers" in the vicinity, and found out that they were not, so it would be safe to go.

I love this; it makes you feel like part of the community right away!

Another stormy day over the Alaska Range

Glad not to be cannon fodder, and with a full icebox, and with the tantalizing snow-capped Alaska range beckoning, I set off again.

Turned out that Donnelly Creek campground was a mosquito-ridden swamp, so I declined to stay there, and pressed on, even if there were no army maneuvers being held nearby!

I was glad I did, as it was a beautiful drive, dramatic drive, despite the clouds and occasional rain.

Granite Range across the Delta River

The road rises gradually, following the braided Delta River, with the Granite Range (I think) on the other side of the river. As much of this trip, the clouds played cat-and-mouse with the mountain peaks and glaciers. It was an exercise in imagination to think about what the mountains actually looked like!

When the clouds parted or lifted briefly, you could see glaciers tumbling from the steep walls of the mountains.

Glaciers tumbling down along the slopes of the mountains

If this was in Canada, they'd call it the "Icefield Parkway"
... and it would be really crowded

As it is, there are few people here, even in mid-summer.

This is such beautiful, glorious, wild country! The massiveness of the mountains, the power of the water rushing from the glaciers, the HUGE alluvial fans that are built from all the material being carried downstream by the power of ice and water is just mind-boggling.

There is supposed to be a bison herd here (imported from Montana, and doing a little too well here, thank you). They migrate and wreak havoc with the afore-mentioned agricultural area, thus there is approved hunting, and the sausage company is also doing well, thank you very much. Despite looking with binoculars, I didn't see any bison. Perhaps they were off eating barley.

One good view, for a moment before the clouds and mist came down again. Tantalizing!

There really are glaciers everywhere — off to the left, to the south, peeking between peaks, and slithering down like stealthy, sneaky ice snakes, low, where you might not even expect them to be. They are everywhere!

(in the interests of getting this blog caught up, I'm posting more photos, and writing less...)