Alaska Redux - Montana Creek

Alaska Redux - Montana Creek…

We planned on a short jaunt from Denali, about 3 hours at most in the motorhome. What we didn’t plan on was miles and miles of road under construction...more dirt on the motorhome. The rain, while we were in Denali didn’t do us any favors on the car or coach so a little added mud didn’t make much of a difference. Montana Creek Campground was in the middle of the stretch of construction that was underway.

A sign on the edge of the entrance to the campground announced that the “Silvers are in”. The number of campers in the campground reflected that announcement. Campers
everywhere, in tents, in trailers, motorhomes, 5^th wheels, class As, Class Cs, you name it. This campground is literally on the bank of Montana Creek.

We had a big “uh oh” when we checked in…no sewer hookups! Why didn’t we know this before we left Denali where we could have emptied our tanks??? Rob and I had stayed here before and didn’t remember that they didn’t have sewer connections. Usually when that happens there is a dump site on the premises. Not so here.  Since our tanks were more than half full and we were signed up to stay 3 nights we needed to find a place to dump them. There just happened to be one at a gas station a few miles back the way we came in. We unhitched the car and returned to the station. We encountered a slight problem because traffic was being controlled with pilot cars. Well, we didn’t think it was a problem. Since there were no flagmen (or women) at the entrance to the RV park, and since there was no visible traffic right then, except for the huge dirt hauling, side dumping trucks, we pulled right out. Apparently the truck drivers didn’t appreciate us being in their space. I based this on the looks we got as we pushed them over to the side of the road to allow us to pass. A shake of the head from a flagwoman holding up oncoming traffic until we cleared the road confirmed we cut in line. It turns out there was a sign by the entrance to the park that said to wait for a pilot car, but neither Rob nor Steve saw it. The next day there were extra flagpeople at every possible entry onto the roadway. Mission accomplished, we dumped our tanks, after paying the $15 fee to use the facility. We did have to wait for the pilot car on the return to the RV park. With empty tanks we could comfortably stay the three days we’d reserved. Jeannie would have to go light on laundry in the rig tho’.

There is a bridge over the river right at the front of the RV park. I walked over it and looked down into the river. I saw very few fish that first day. The next two days the numbers increased. I couldn’t tell exactly what I was looking at, but a young boy (probably 10 or 11) identified a “Red”, “Silver” and “Chum” for me. We watched as the various campers, many attired in waders, headed for the river. We never saw any with fish when they came back to camp.

Being as the weather was crummy and the fishing was lousy Rob and I took off for Talkeetna, a few miles north of Montana Creek. As we approached Talkeetna the weather started to clear. Before we got to town we rounded a curve and had a clear view of Denali (Mt. McKinley). We phoned Steve and Jeannie with the news and they promptly came running. Denali is most often shrouded in clouds, especially in inclement weather.

Montana Creek was to have been a hot fishing spot, especially because the Silvers were running! The Silvers must have been resting up for their long journey upriver while we were there. Neither Rob nor Steve got their lines wet.

Sunday was our day to leave Montana Creek. Hooray for us, no road work on Sunday!. Ten miles of construction in our direction turned out to be only a few miles of gravel then the rest of the way was virgin road that was still destined to be torn up.

The picture of Denali is the only picture I can find from our days at Montana Creek. Some gremlin decided to delete all the pictures I took, so you'll just have to use your imagination.

The distance to the Kenai Peninsula from Montana Creek was still too far to travel in one day. We made reservations at a park in Palmer, close to Anchorage, but not in Anchorage. We were warned that Anchorage has become a high crime area so we wanted to avoid it, but we also wanted to be able to make a Costco run. We knew the checkin time was at 12:30, but because Palmer was so close to Montana Creek, we were going to be there around 9:30. I called to see if there was a place we could park until our sites were ready. I was told, reluctantly, we could park “on the grass, in front of the trash”. That was okay with us. We didn’t want to be in the way or inconvenience anyone. We pulled in and parked as directed. Jeannie jumped out to go register and was confronted by an older man from the balcony of the office. He told her in no uncertain terms to get off the property and come back after 12:30. We thought that rather rude, given that we had called ahead.  So, we left, headed south and scrambled to find another place to stay. Once again we lucked out. A park, although in Anchorage, could accommodate us even tho’ many of their sites were taken by a caravan. As luck would have it this park was literally across the street from Costco. Having to change our planned RV park stop saved us a 40 mile drive into Costco and 40 miles back to Palmer.

Rob penned a brief note to the Palmer RV park expressing our displeasure with their treatment of us. That generated a profuse apology and an offer of a free night on our return trip. We had initially reserved another night on our way out of Alaska. We politely refused the offer. Too bad. It looked like a nice, pretty, quiet park with a view of the mountains.

Since I didn't take any photos of Costco, I think we all know what it looks like, it's not any different in Alaska, I'll just throw in some scenic shots along the way, most taken at 55 mph.

This is a closer view of the same glacier above.

Pass enterin Valdez, very narrow

Scenic vista typical around Valdez

View from campground in Valdez