If the leaves on the deciduous trees are a microcosm of life, then death is starting to appear in Alaska. In Maine, about now I would expect to start seeing the glorious red and orange hues of the maple trees as they shed their adornments. There are even a few maples in southern Minnesota near where I worked. But the colors in Alaska are more like northern Minnesota, birches and poplars which turn yellow like the one at the left. All the leafy trees are starting to blush in pale yellow here in Alaska.

We've been doing the last few thing in our list before we head back towards Canada. We developed a problem with our generator, it cranked very slowly, but would not start. Our friends on the Alfa web site suggested a starter was the problem. We brought the coach into a shop in Anchorage on Monday, they confirmed the diagnosis, and they have ordered a starter which they will put in on Friday. Have to get that done before we leave.

Meanwhile, we came up to Palmer, back to the Elks Lodge on Finger Lake. The loons here haunted us soon after they arrived. Such a familiar sound from our time in northern Minnesota, but we both had to take pause and remember what that sound was.

Hatcher Pass

On Tuesday, we packed a lunch and climbed back into our car to take the Palmer Willow Fishhook Road road through Hatcher Pass, another item on our list. The clouds lingered around the mountain tops, with overcast above. We passed the Independence Mine, which we had visited in July, and continued up the steep, rough, washboard dirt road up to the top of the pass. We were above the treeline, into the tiaga and tundra. The road kept our speed to 20 mph or less, washboard on the slopes, and potholed on the flats. The view from the top was pretty good. Still would have liked to have seen it on a clear day. About 2/3 way through, the clouds were clearing to the west, and a snow covered mountain range came into view. Could have been up in Denali, but we may never know.

We continued on down the hill to Willow. We realized, after about 15 miles of the 40 mile trip, that there are no restrooms on the mountain tops, and not even a bush to hide behind. Fortunately, the last 8 miles or so were paved, and we hurried on to Willow and relief in a rest room.

South Rolly Lake

By the time we got to Willow, the clear sky was above us. We looked for a place to have lunch, and stumbled into the Nancy Lake Recreation Area, one of the parks in the Alaska State Park system. We found a picnic table overlooking South Rolly Lake, had our lunch, and then wandered up to the campground to look around. Got some nice pictures of the lake.

Our list also included going to the Alaska State Fair, which started today in Palmer. We arrived 2 hours before they opened (some sort of a record for us) so we went touring for a while, east of Palmer toward the Chugach Mountains, across the Matuniska River, until we bumped into the Reindeer Farm. We stopped and toured that for 1-1/2 hours.

Consuelo feeding the reindeer

The farm gives the visitors a 10 minute talk about the farm and the reindeer, then hands out some pellets and turns us free in the pens with the reindeer. The reindeer they let us go near were pretty friendly. They got visitors all the time, so they knew what the routine was. People who walk into their pen usually have food. Follow them around and maybe they'll get some.


400 lb pumpkin

After the reindeer farm, we went back to the state fair. After waiting in our car to park and waiting in line to get in, we toured the fair from one end to the other. We had heard about the giant vegetable the Alaskans were able to grow in the extended summer days, and we got to see some in the vegetable exhibits: Pumpkins, almost 400 lbs; 70 lb rutabagas; 90 lb cabbages; 133 lb watermelons; and 15 lb beets. Way to go, Miracle Grow!

Quilts on display

The fair had the usual assortment of other competitions: chickens, turkeys, rabbits, livestock, sewing, photos, and more. The streets were lined with food vendors, trinket shops, service clubs. 4H had their own building. One of the most spectacular was the exhibit of quilts, some 250 were entered into the competition. Quilting is a perfect hobby for long, dark winter nights, and Alaska has more than their fair share of fabric shops, we've notices.

We spent 5 hours wandering around the fair, were completely tired out.