Summit Lake to Mt. Redoubt

August 14, 1992

On the way to breakfast at about 6:30 am, we came over a hill and nearly ran into this herd of eleven caribou. Max braked hard and I grabbed for the cameral.

We had breakfast at the Sourdough Roadhouse, the oldest roadhouse in Alaska that still operates in its original building. The breakfast was fine, but I wouldn't have wanted to spend the night there. They had small cabins with no electricity, and no inside plumbing. There were outhouses out back of the lodge.

We talked to a guy there who had his diesel pickup running outside while he came in for a bite. He worked for the pipeline, and he said when winter hit he didn't shut off his diesel engine until Spring. He said the same was true with all their diesel equipment.

Traveling westward from Glennallen on the Glenn Highway, we got a nice view of the Tazlina Glacier in the Chugach mountain range (above). In the foreground is fireweed.

At left is a view of Caribou Creek and part of the canyon with the Matanuska Glacier visible in the distance. Below is a view of the glacier from a short distance further west.

Brenda with a view of the Matanuska Glacier and the end of the Matanuska Valley. The map below shows the locations of the pictures since we left the Sourdough Roadhouse above. We returned here two weeks later on August 31to a dramatically different view.

Brenda with a view southwest along the Matanuska River valley. Below, Brenda, Max and Anita with the end of the Matanuska Valley in view.

All the members of our Mt. Redoubt construction team met up at the Anchorage Airport on Friday afternoon and started the journey around the Turnagain Arm to Kenai. Gene Allison, our team leader is in the center.

On the way along Turnagain Arm, we came upon a large collection of cars with people out with cameras and binoculars. These dall sheep had come down the mountain within a few yards of the main highway.

One of the glaciers up on the mountain on the way to Portage Glacier from Anchorage.

On the shore of Portage Lake, Brenda, Anita and Max are joined by Amanda Weaver, Debbie Weaver's daughter. Debbie and Nan Weaver had driven up from Kenai to meet us. The icebergs in Portage Lake came off the Portage Glacier.

Brenda with a background of the blue ice of the icebergs in Portage Lake.

The blue from the cavities and ledges of the icecberg reminds me of the blue you get about a hundred feet down scuba diving. It has the same origin - water or ice absorbs the red end of the rainbow spectrum more than the blue, so when light scatters around in the ice crystals in the iceberg and travels a long way before it comes out again, it looks blue.

The icebergs are constantly being renewed, so the view is never the same when you come back.

We made the final leg of our triip around to Mt. Redoubt Baptist Church. This was its appearance when we arrived, with siding and a roof having been added since Jeff and I left last year.

Brenda, Max and Anita work on our sleeping area in the back part of the present church. We settled in for our first night at Mt. Redoubt Baptist Church and looked forward to getting started with the work tomorrow.

Another view of our sleeping area in the nursery of the church.

To August 15 and the start of the work
Index

1992
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