Frosted

In Alaska, the air is dry. Any bit of moisture freezes instantly, and makes the dry trees and shrubs look Christmas-y. This was my last stop before Glenallen. A lone restaurant in a long, and otherwise lonely stretch.

These are the last of the Chugach mountains/Matanuska Glacier arms seen from the Glenn Highway. Only a few miles away lie the Wrangell Mountain National Park, where my destination was.

In the middle of nowhere

Alaskans are amazing people. They live in the middle of nowhere. Literally. You will see houses completely out of the blue, in the middle of nowhere, at least 2-3 hours away from any major city, with no electricity or running water. Living like this is a choice, not a necessity for most of these people. It always amazes me. It seems to me like all you can do there is to live, and not much else. Generators for electricity, water is from a nearby stream,

or by melting snow, and hunting and fishing are main sources of food. Rough life, but the reward ? The beauty and serenity offered by the mountains and the calming snow.

Would you like to live here ?

Matanuska glacier

Okay, so one would think that if I have travelled on this road about 5-6 times before, I would know if you could see a glacier from it. But then one would be wrong. May be I was sleeping during this particular patch on my other trips, but I just came up on this glacier, and was utterly surprised. I knew there was a leg of the Matanuska glacier somewhere here, but I didn't know you could see it from the road! Or may be I did and have forgotten. In any case, here is the Matanuska glacier, as seen from the Glenn Hwy, in all its glory.

Shades of Fall

It's fall. In Alaska, the trees are already sans leaves. Everywhere, only 3 colors and their shades are visible. White, Blue, and Brown. Occasionally though, you see a red house propped up in the middle of all that brown.

On the road again

This is the first time I've had the opportunity to stop wherever and whenever I wanted on the road from Anchorage to Gakona and take pictures. So I took advantage of it. Although at one point I had to make a conviction not to stop until and unless I see the "scenic view" road sign. Yeah that didn't last long. So anyway, these are taken on hwy 1/Glenn hwy. At one point I saw someone else taking a picture and that made for a nice frame.