Wednesday, July 20, 2011

A Drive on the Hatcher Pass Loop

Today we packed our lunch for a drive to Hatcher Pass on a loop that goes between Palmer and Willow, Alaska.  We started off from the Palmer Elks lodge where we’re camping and picked up the Hatcher Pass Road a little north of Palmer.  The road parallels the Little Susitna River and this next photo was taken from a viewpoint looking back at the bridge crossing the river.

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The area we traveled today had some spectacular sweeping views and I tried experimenting with the panoramic feature on my new camera.  With the camera set on panorama, I took my first shot, then standing in place it shows a plus sign in the viewfinder that I move to and it automatically clicks on the next photo, and then the same thing again for three photos that it combines into one.  Looking at the photo I can see the obvious three photos where there is a slight point in the road base.  I’ll have to work on that a little bit more.

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We arrived at the Independence Mine located close to the summit of Hatcher Pass and took a few photos of the mine which is now a State Recreation Area.

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This hillside had a very interesting texture to it.

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Continuing on up and over the pass we stopped at Summit Lake.

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And here are a couple of scenic shots along the Willow Creek which originates from Summit Lake.

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Coming down the pass and into Willow, we had a terrific view of Mount Denali aka Mount McKinley.

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It was still early afternoon when we got down to the Parks Highway, so we took a side trip on Big Lake Road and drove into Martin Buser’s Happy Trails Kennels.  We didn’t have our toursaver coupon book with us and didn’t want to start a tour anyway, so we continued on down the road.

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When we were in Seward over the 4th of July, we camped next to a retired teacher who had written a book about Joe Redington, Sr. that was due out in 3 weeks or so.  We stopped by the Iditarod Headquarters to see if it was available yet.  In asking about it, it sounded like she might be there for a signing during the time we’re scheduled to be in Denali National Park.  We picked up a few things in the gift shop and then drove into Wasilla to get stocked up on groceries for our trip to Talkeetna and Denali National Park.  There were a few puppies outside doing their puppy thing looking cute and cuddly.

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We will be leaving Wasilla tomorrow and have reservations in Talkeetna Camper Park for the next three nights and are looking forward to seeing that area again.

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