Better late than Never!

Erin and I decided to round out my half of the Alaskan adventure with a trip to Wrangell-St. Elias park, Southeast of Fairbanks and East of Anchorage. The weather on the trip was a little wetter than we had been used to so far, but still beautiful. After a great drive down on the scenic Richardson Highway, we spent the night camping near Glennallen, at Lake Louise state recreation area. After trying a couple of campsites on for size, and trying to wait out the rain, we put up a very effective and dry shelter using our trusty tarp and about seventy feet of rope. The nice warm fire was very much appreciated, and we both managed to stay very warm all night. In the morning, we were greeted by a surprise, our sleeping bag having frozen to the ground during the night, and the entire campsite covered by a thin glaze of ice....not frost, ICE. Campfire to the rescue! Even with our excellent camping and survival skills, we both agreed that breakfast would be better spent in Glennallen at the diner, where the waitress informed us that the low temperature the night before had been around fifteen degrees....that explained the ice.
We then continued our journey on the Richardson Highway to the Park visitors center. The park is hard to access without a bushplane or about three days of walking, but we were treated to breathtaking views of the Wrangell Mountains. We then decided to make the drive south to Valdez, at the bottom of the Richardson Highway. Just when you think the scenery can't get any better. As if mountains weren't enough, the Richardson Highway on the way to Valdez is also home to a large number of waterfalls that are right next to the highway. After seeing another glacier on the way down to Valdez, and getting much closer to this one, we continued south to the Ocean.
With Valdez seemingly shut down for the Winter, we enjoyed a hike around a small island in the harbor, again lamenting our lack of bear spray, and then went back north, camping at a little campground we found on the way south Saturday morning. Another cold but wonderful evening later, and we drove back to Fairbanks.
I do apologize to our loyal readers for taking so long to update this, even two months after leaving Alaska, typing this makes me want to empty my checking account and jump on a plane, but Erin will be back in a few weeks, and then I will have my favorite part of Alaska here with me. Thanks for reading about our trip, we are glad we could share it with everyone!