Chitina and Copper Center

We left Valdez yesterday morning.  After being dry camped for nearly a week there is always much to do before you hit the road.  We had to gas up, dump, fill the propane, fill the water tank and get some groceries.  After all that was completed, we didn't get out of town until afternoon.

It has been raining the past two days.  The clouds were right down to the water.  It was very dreary.  Darlie and I sit inside out of the deluge and read while others are out fishing and romping about in the rain.  Many of our neighbors are Alaskans.  So that isn't unusual for them.

Alaska route 10 to Chitina.  (pardon the buggy windshield)

As we climbed up out of the valley through Thompson Pass, the sky became brighter.  The heavy rain was confined to the coastal area.  Once into the mountains, the sun broke through for periods of time.

Main St. Chitina

We decided to drive down to Chitina.  It is an old gold rush mining town.  We just finished a book, "Sisters", which was a true story that took place in the Copper Valley which includes Chitina.  Some of the old village buildings still exist and some are still in use.  A photo display at the village way station showed a community filled with people trains and boats back in its heyday.

From Chitina we drove to Copper Center.  This also was in the book.  The Copper Center Roadhouse is still there and it is fully restored to new condition.  It has suffered a fire and a flood over the years.  It still houses a restaurant and sleeping facilities upstairs.  Copper Center also has a small museum with collections of tools and other gear the prospectors used.  The curator of the museum even knows Sammie, one of the sisters in the book.  She is in her 90s now but still visits Copper Center each year.  She says Sammie is a real character and full life.

Copper River

We made our camp near Glennallen.  We are back in a very thick forest.  Darlie reports hearing something growl back in the bushes.  I didn't tell Darlie that the growl was probably the gas I have from eating greasy chicken at a takeout place in Valdez.