Weekend adventures

Sunday, Frank and I went to Talkeetna. This is a small town near Denali National Park, and happens to be the town which was the basis for Northern Exposure. Unfortunately we did not see Denali, but we did see a Moose:


Frank in Talkeetna

Fall is certainly falling here, and our birches are turning a nice shade of yellow. It's interesting how in such a small area you will see such vast differences in scenery. For example, here's a picture of a pond in Talkeetna -- contrast this to some of the pictures of Whittier this month.

Pond near Talkeetna

After eating lunch in Talkeetna, we stopped in at a little espresso shot, and the cappuccino lady was kind enough to suggest an adventure up Hatcher pass. This is a mostly gravel/dirt road through the mountains in between Willow and Palmer in the Mat-Su valley, and just happened to start right at this little coffee stand.

The Willow side was nice but somewhat similar to what we had seen on our way to Talkeetna:


River on Willow side of Hatcher Pass

....but then it started to turn incredibly colorful as you got further along in the road. I'll just let these photos speak to how beautiful it is up there:

Hatcher Pass View


More Hatcher Pass Photos


Another Hatcher pass pic


At the top of the pass


Snow already!


Shot through the pass

Isn't that great! It's incredible to be so close to a place that looks so much like a postcard!

At the bottom of the pass near palmer, things look completely different:

Creek at the bottom of the pass at Palmer