Remembrance and History

Clouds and sun mixed as we headed south down the Parks Highway. We passed Summit Lake and climbed through Broad Pass. The mountain pass is one of the lowest summits in the North American mountain system. The mountain valley, bare in spots, and dotted with scrub spruce in others is surrounded by spectacular snow capped peaks. Fortunately there is very little wind as we cross the 550 ft deck of the Hurricane Gulch bridge looking down 260 ft below to Hurricane Creek! The highway winds through Denali State Park and past several trailheads and pull offs with views of Mt McKinley, except today it’s sleeping in a blanket of clouds.

Our first stop is the Medal of Honor Loop which leads to the Alaska Veterans Memorial. A gravel path leads to an alcove in the woods and a semi circle of 20 ft tall concrete panels. The panels represent each branch of service with inscriptions at the bottom and a large star at the top. Plaques also pay respect to the National Guard and Merchant Marines. The memorial reads: " We dedicate this quiet place to the remembrance of the veterans of Alaska who have served their country at home and through out the world. We honor their herioism and dedication". We spent about ½ an hour in this beautiful and peaceful spot. It’s a very moving memorial.

Back on the road we stopped at Mary’s McKinley View Lodge. This is the historic homestead of Mary Carey. Mary, recently widowed, moved to Alaska from Texas and homesteaded before the state park was created. She fought for highway completion to shre her magnificent view with travelers. We had a great lunch - grilled roast beef sandwich - and met Mary Carey’s daughter Jean Richardson. Jean signed the book she wrote about her mothers life in Alaska “Alaska, Not For A Woman” . I can’t wait to read it.

The landscape has changed again and is more like New Hampshire with rolling hills and lots of deciduous trees. Wildflowers in purple and hot pink dot the sides of the road. We passed towns like Trappers Creek, Talkeetna, and soon arrived in Willow.

We found the RV park at Susitna Landing which had changed hands and was state owned now - no showers or wifi - hmm - we had to go to Caswells store for showers! We found our site in the wooded area. Most everyone was gone and we had a beautiful site.

The hard core fishing folks were in the “rough it” section down near the Susitna River. The river is a very popular King Salmon fishery and we walked over to watch the “Combat Fishing”. This type of fishing is where they stand almost shoulder to shoulder and cast so the line floats toward the next person. Then they reel it in and recast. - No Thanks too close for me -

We went to Caswells for our $5 showers which were great and then back to camp. We had dinner and wandered back down to the river. We saw one person catch a fish, but there wasn't much action. The people fishing had all been there for hours. Later we sat outside for a while and then went to bed.

It was good day.

Pictures: Alaska Veterans Memorial (3), Susitna Landing Campsite