Day: March 8, 2026

September 22, 2025

Here are more of the things I saw as I drove south on Hwy 4 towards Valdez.

I stopped at a much smaller lake, Lake Pippin, on my right.

I then came to another access road for the National Park. I was glad I already knew it was closed for the season.

The sun had come out briefly near Pippin Lake but as I got closer to the big mountains in the Chugach Range the clouds above many of them began to influence the sky above me.

That sign pertained mostly to the mountain in the photo above it. The road ran very close to the base, and there were more after that. I came back to take a photo of the sign.

My “2 1/2 hour drive” had already stretched to almost 4 1/2 hours and I still had a ways to go. Believe me, I took lots more photos than I am posting but I have tried to select the best ones for you to see.

(Continued in next post)

September 22, 2025

From Gakona I would go back to Hwy 4 and drive south to where it ends in Valdez. Google maps indicated it should take 2 1/2 hours to drive but that is without stops and as you will see, I stopped quite a bit to take photos.

Just my luck that everything here was closed for the season. People were allowed to park outside the gate and go in the Park to hike. There was a map posted which shows where I started and where I am going.

Further down the road I saw the Trans Alaska Pipeline again, on my right.

This sign was at an access road which indicated they didn’t want the general public going in to see it up close.

I soon came to a big lake on my left with some signs in the parking area. With their help I could identify the two large mountains on the opposite side of the lake.

This is Mount Wrangell, which rises to an elevation of 14,163 feet:

And below is Mount Blackburn, further away from this vantage point and also further south than Mount Wrangell. Mount Blackburn is 16,390 feet tall.

It’s underneath all those clouds but I believe I could make out the outline of it. I stopped at this lake on my way back to Gakona later in the day but the view hadn’t improved any.

(Continued in next post)