So we’re driving down the Old Glen Highway, headed for Kenney Lake. I have my arm out the window enjoying the beautiful, warm, sunny day when I feel something bounce off my hand, then ricochet off my neck and fall down the back of my shirt. Just about the time I wonder what “it” might be, I find out as it starts stinging and biting me! So I am telling Jim to PULL OVER PULL OVER as I attempt to trap “it” and squish “it” into submission. Jim whips the trailer to the shoulder, hops out, and runs around to me. I ask him to find “it.” He pulls up my shirt and says there’s nothing there, and then he says OOPS I think I dropped it down your pants! So there I am right out in the public right of way, in front of all passerby’s, dropping my jeans to my ankles to find the offender (thank God I had on pretty panties.) And there he was, a yellow jacket, squished to death by my powerful fingers (HOORAY!) Jim says I have several spots on my back where he attacked me, but other than all the pain, I seem to be OK. We decide I am not going to die of anaphylactic shock so we return to the road EpiPen in hand.

The Old Glen Highway is a National Scenic Highway. On this drive you can see four mountain ranges at once; the Chugach Range, the Talkeetnas, the Wrangell Mountains, and the Alaska Range. The highway takes you past Matanuska Glacier, one of the few vehicle accessible glaciers in Alaska. This is one of those roads, where you need to stop every half mile to take more pictures.

We spent the night in a campground at Kenny Lake. There were 12 million yellow jackets flying around, so I hid in the 5th wheel, afraid of getting stung again. The purpose of camping at Kenny Lake was to see the 12 million acre Wrangell St Elias National Park and Kennecott Mine and Mill. The Wrangell Mountains are pretty cool, they include twelve mountains over 13,000 ft. and two over 16,000 ft. Mt Wrangell is a massive active volcano that is 14,013 ft. high. It has been active for more than 750,000 years!

To get to Kennecott Mine we drove 65 miles one way on a BAD dirt road. Originally a railroad grade, the state just buried the whole thing under a lot of dirt. Now the old rail is showing in some places and vehicles driving the road get lots of flats from old railroad spikes. We passed a car that had a flat, put on the spare, had a flat in the spare, sent the flats back to town with a passerby in the hopes one could be repaired. They were almost 50 miles down the dirt road when we stopped to see if we could help them.

On the way to Kennecott we crossed the Copper River where Alaskans fish for salmon using fish wheels and dip nets. Residents can take 300 salmon during the fish wheel/dip net season. The fish wheels have been used by the Eskimos (not Indians) for hundreds of years. They’re pretty ingenious and efficient! Normally, the fish wheels are not standing so far from shore but a small dam broke up stream and there is a lot more water than normal.

On the drive to Kennecott you pass through the itty bitty mountain town of McCarthy. The town sprang up to support the miners and railroad workers. Like Kennecott, it was abandoned when the copper boom was over. Now there are 47 residents and the town provides services to tourists. I loved this town, loads of charm and really good huckleberry ice cream!

Kennecott was a copper mining operation that ran from 1900 until 1938. Construction of the mill was financed by moguls Guggenheim and JP Morgan. In 1938 when the mill was closed, the company walked away leaving everything there. The place looks like everyone went to lunch and never came back. We got a chance to tour the power plant with a ranger and the place was MASSIVE! They used steam power, diesel generators and pelton wheels. The mill is 14 stories tall and takes up the whole side of a mountain. The National Park Service is in the process of restoring several of the dilapidated buildings. The mill sits right next to the Kennecott Glacier. The red and white buildings set against the Wrangell Mountains and the Kennecott Glacier was pretty spectacular!

I forgot the most important part – THE SUN WAS OUT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 1 ½ glorious days of SUNSHINE and 79 degree weather! I told people that Alaska has ruined us, it was 79 and it felt hot out.

Now we’re off to Valdez where the weather forecast is for 7 days of rain and temperatures in the 50’s.