Susitna Landing, AK

Tuesday, July11, 2017

Today we are moving from Denali to Susitna Landing about 165 miles towards Anchorage. It rained most of the night and off and on in the morning while we were getting ready to leave. The entrance to Denali is at Mile 237 of the Parks Highway. The miles count down to zero at Anchorage.

As you can see the highway is wet.  Not sure if you can see the rain on the windshield. Forecast is to start clearing about noon.
 

Wow we got to see a moose this morning.  It started out close to the road and was running for the trees, but I did get her.
 

 Streets still wet but looks like the clouds are breaking up.
More of the Alaska Range (I think) is coming into view.

Tried this black and white of the clouds over the mountains.  I like how it turned out so you get to see it.  Hee Hee
 

Now we are at Mile 162 at the "North" view of Denali in the Denali State Park.  While the clouds are covering part of Denali, we are seeing a different side of Denali.  Below Tic zoomed in.

Two glaciers are in view on the side of Denali.

This is another mountain we could see from the same pullout.
 

At Mile 147 was the Metal of Honor Loop to Alaska Veterans Memorial/POW-MIA.  
 

There were lots of fireweed around here also. We were told that the flowers start opening from the bottom.  By the time the top flowers bloom there is only 2 weeks until winter.  You can see there are still a lot of buds unopened.
 

We stopped at Mile 135 in hopes of seeing Denali again.  We could not, but this mountain got our attention.  The glacier at the top surrounded by pointed rocks looks like a crown. Below is a close-up.

I believe this is Ruth Glacier.  Awesome!

Today is our 36th Anniversary.  According to Mile Post book there is a restaurant at Mile 99.5 called His & Hers.  It is known for their bread pudding, which is my favorite! So I convinced Tic to stop for lunch.

Above and below is part of the inside of the His & Hers Restaurant. The structure of the building was magnificently built.

Above is the view we had out our window next to the table.
 

Tic ordered a patty melt & I got a regular hamburger. They were both huge and made the old fashion way. Even the fries were hand cut and deep fried. We were disappointed in the bread pudding so no picture.  We enjoyed our lunch enough to make up for the bread pudding.  Great stop!


After many stops on the way, we finally reached our campsite for the night; Susitna Landing & RV Park.  It is basically a fishing camp.   

We are in one of the few sites with electric.  There are no other hook-ups.  We drained our holding tanks and filled with water this morning before we left, so no problem.
 

This is our view as we look out our windshield. This is the Kashwitna River.   

There are several fish cleaning tables along side the river.
 

The Kashwitna River flows into the Susitna River.  See the change in the color in the water?  That is the Susitna River.

This is a nice quiet spot for the night.  We should sleep well tonight.