The Richardson Highway is the first road built into Interior Alaska.
368 miles from Valdez to Fairbanks, it was built in the 1940's
and paved in 1957.
Until then, only dirt or gravel roads led into Fairbanks-
hard to believe but true.
That wasn't all that long ago.
We took that Richardson down to Valdez for our cruise.
The road itself was a beautiful adventure,
reminding us that life is in the journey, not the destination.
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Remember the blogpost on "The Milepost" book?
{Hint: July 17 post}
This cute truck/camper seen in Valdez must be home to one of the editors
that make the annual trips down each road, reporting updates.
During the miles of the highway, we noticed numerous signs like this--
some reading "Entering" and some "Leaving", such as this one.
Native Alaskans still live a subsistence lifestyle and have different
hunting and fishing restrictions than others.
First glacier Jack has seen, it is possible to walk right up to the edge
of the Worthington Glacier and touch the glacial milk that is melting off.
Isn't this amazing to look at this river of ice as it creeps down the mountains?
Mt peaks from the Wrangell-St Elias Range stayed in our view
through much of the trip. Many of these peaks are over 12,000 feet tall.
The haze from the cloudy weather made this look photo-shopped in.
But, trust me, this is the real deal!
Thompson Pass goes right through these tall mountains just north of Valdez.
The views down both sides of the highway aren't for the faint of heart.
This reflector signs show drivers where the road edges are during times of
heavy snows and whiteouts. Known to be one of the most dangerous stretches of road for crews to keep plowed and maintained in the long winters.
The annual average of snow in Thompson Pass is...
SIXTY FEET!
We followed that pipeline the whole way but it deserves its own post.
Keep tuned!
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