Day 50 Ends in Glennallen

Today being Monday, we got caught in construction delays on the way back down the Richardson to Glennallen today. Not sure exactly what is being done, but the project looks bigger than what might be accomplished in what is a short construction season in Alaska.

We had two reasons for coming to Glennallen, which is at the junction of the Richardson and Glenn highways. Both reasons had to do with our plans for later this week when he head to McCarthy/Kennicott.

Since we are planning to drive the motorhome to McCarthy, we wanted to get an idea of what the road conditions would be like. We had already tried calling the National Park Service Ranger Station in Chitina and gotten voice mail. So, we decided to ask our questions at the main Visitor Center for the Wrangell-St Elias National Park and Preserve ... just 8 miles south of Glennallen.

As has been the case at every national park we’ve visited since COVID-19 reared its ugly head in 2020, the VC is closed, but rangers are on duty outside. The good news is that the ranger didn’t blink an eye when we said we planned to take a 28-foot motorhome over to McCarthy. Though he suggested we leave the toad in Chitina — which we had already planned on doing — he said the road was fine and we’d have no problems, except perhaps a delay at bridge that is undergoing inspection work.

The road question answered, next we needed data/cell signal to confirm a few other plans. So, we drove back up to Glennallen and settled into one of the few 30A FHU sites at the Northern Nights Campground. The place is nothing special, but it is clean and well-maintained. It also has speedy wi-fi ... though the owners don’t guarantee that will always be the case. The property is next to a cell tower, so our data is strong anyway ... thanks to GCI’s partnership with T-Mobile.

Since our schedule has loosened up, we are going to spend a second night here and use tomorrow to do some sightseeing along the Glenn Highway.Read more