Denali Highway ~ Paxson to Clearwater Creek

12:30 pm turn onto the Denali Highway, Alaska Route 8, it is 136 miles from here to Cantwell.

Mile 6.5 we take in the breathtaking views of the Alaska Range. We can see Summit Lake to the east (right side in this photo) and Fielding Lake to the north, and we get our first glimpse of the Amphitheater Mountains. The two days of snow accumulation in this area have hampered the driving and today the road was closed until 1:00 p.m. or until further notice. When we passed a State DOT worker driving a dump truck/plow, he gave us a thumbs-up, which is the okay to continue driving.

 

1:12 p.m. mile 10, it starts to rain and snow.

1:50 p.m. we entered the Tangle Lakes area, and have a good view of Round Tangle Lake, and the Tangle Lakes Delta River w

3:12 p.m. mile 30.6 we reach Glacial Gap. There are only partial views of the Amphitheater Mountains because of the storm clouds. The road we are traveling follows the crest of a Terminal Moraine deposited by a glacier moving south through Glacier Gap during the pre Wisconsinan time.

3:32 p.m. mile 32 it starts snowing sleet balls with almost white-out conditions with low visibility. We are giddy as schoolchildren who might not have to go to school because of a snow day.

3:35 p.m. mile 36.9 Maclaren Summit and what is supposed to be views of the Maclaren River Valley but there is nothing to see here so we motor along.

There is still some remaining snow from winter along the road sides.

Maclaren River and the Maclaren Glacier in the distance. We have only traveled a few miles and the weather improved dramatically – welcome to anywhere Alaska

4:32 p.m. mile 47.5 Tundra Swans.

5:02 p.m. Clearwater Creek Wayside mile 55.5 we decide that this is an excellent place to make camp for the evening.

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