990 July 19, 2023 Nabesna Road Reconnaissance

We had drenching rain again this morning.  I went for my walk wearing Tim’s yellow raincoat and I carried an umbrella.  We didn’t get any exercise yesterday so I was determined to get out there.  I walked on the bike bath along Glenn Highway.  On the way back up the hill, the wind was in my face and the umbrella was useless…I was wet but I did get a 3-mile walk done.

I went with the Jeep into the small village of Glenallen to get a few groceries and a bundle of firewood.

Tim drove the RV in the steady rain to Slana.  It was a slippy, sloppy, goopy, soupy day.  The good thing about all this rain is that the wildfire danger is low. After last year, that is a blessing. for those that live and work here.

We stopped at the ranger station for Wrangell-St. Elias National Park.  We wanted to inquire about road conditions.  It has been raining and all the streams and creeks and rivers and ponds and lakes are overflowing.  There are three stream crossings on Nabesna Road.  The ranger said that they were flowing fast and that we should use our best judgement before crossing any of them.

We were headed to Hart D Ranch to camp.  When we arrived, there was no one at the office.  The place appeared to be deserted.  No one answered the phone.  We decided to back into a site and wait for someone to come.  All at once, an older woman popped out of the door.  She told us that the campground was closed.  She had broken her leg and she was not open for the season.  We were not welcome to stay.  We asked if we might leave the RV for a short time while we looked for another place to stay???  NO! Go park at the Post Office!

So, we turned around and parked at the tiny log cabin Slana Post Office. 

We called and found a place to move the RV tomorrow. 

It rained and rained.  We rested and then we decided to go looking.

We ended up driving on Nabesna Road; doing reconnaissance.  We were looking for a spot to camp overnight if the weather improves tomorrow.

The rain stopped and we had a few spots of sunshine.  The clouds lifted just a little.  Wrangell-St. Elias National Park is America’s largest park.  It is more than 13 million acres.  It is accessible only be two roads.  Nabesna Road is the northern entrance to the park.  It is very remote and not well traveled.  That makes it even more appealing for us!  We know that there are gorgeous mountains out there; some of the highest in North America and we want to see them!

The first 15 miles of Nabesna Road is paved.  It has lots of potholes and it is kind of like a video game where you have to avoid the obstacles.  Then, the road was gravel with potholes.  There were lots of trees and lots of lakes and creeks.  We saw a ptarmigan and a couple of squirrels. 

We got to the Trail Creek stream crossing and it was okay.  I took video while Tim drove through.

At Lost Creek, the current was muddy and swift and we could not tell how deep it was or how steep the bank on the other side might be.  We did not cross.

We did find several promising campsites and we will return tomorrow for the rest of the Nabesna Road adventure!